It is what it is!
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SUNDAY
YOU TUBING
Now compare and contrast the commercials that kids 20 years earlier (1968) were exposed to on Saturday mornings:
Odd thing is, the commercials from the 1980s are a lot closer to what you'll see today than the ads from the 1960s were to the 1980s. Just a few years later, circa 1970, this was the style of the day on Saturday mornings:
Sunday,
February 3, 2008 - 9:21am
MEETING
LOCAL HEROES
"It was probably 1960 or 1961 and Bozo performed his schitk and engaged the theater audience in songs and games and asked us all to give a loud war whoop for Princess Ticklefeather, the Native American ventriloquist Ms. Doris Faye. Princess Ticklefeather went up onto the stage where she did comedy skits with her little girl puppet (some sources say her name was "Sunshine" others say her name was "Buttons"). She gave us a lot of laughs but eventually Bozo and the Princess had to leave and the theater management showed the George Pal/ MGM 1958 movie Tom Thumb with Russ Tamblyn, Alan Young (before Mr. Ed), Terry Thomas, Peter Sellers, Jessie Mathews, Bernard Miles, June Thornburn, Peter Bull, and The Puppetoons (voiced by Dallas McKennon and Stan Freberg).
"The was the first time that I saw him play these two beloved movie comics without the puppets - he simply put on a derby hat and became Stan Laurel, then put on a fake mustache, still sporting the derby, and became Oliver Hardy. He did a skit called That Reminds Me Of Thursday or I called it The Thursday Bit With The Fingers (Chuck's Stan just holds his fingers in the OK sign and he explains why it reminds him of Thursday). "Chuck even performed his theme song from Let's Have Fun - 'Put On A Happy Face.' The show ended with Chuck's Little Orphan Annie introducing Mr. Ashley and another puppeteer (the other gentleman's name escapes me) as they came up from behind the puppet stage and waved to the kids in the audience. "Chuck offered to sign autographs but my mother and aunts, who didn't care for the show and never found these two men funny, told my cousins and I that, "we're going home!" "Damn It! I didn't get an autograph from Chuck & Paul that day but many years later I did meet them and interview them (along with Bill Britten)." Any childhood (or later) memories you'd like to share about meeting your local TV heroes? Sunday,
February 3, 2008 - 9:01am
MODERN
DAY CENSORSHIP Was Montel Williams really fired over this appearance on Saturday's Fox and Friends morning show? That's the buzz - he'll be replaced by a year of repeats next season. Granted, I hated his show, if only for that fraud Sylvia whatshername the 'psychic' he had on every week.
Supposedly, when Fox and Friends returned after the break, Montel was gone in spite of the hosts saying he would be there to talk about his book. A few days later, the story goes, Fox stations dropped Montel and he was canned after 17 years. In case you're wondering, ratings are up for Montel this season. The sad thing about this is that Montel didn't really say anything that outrageous as far as I'm concerned. Why should we be giving the deaths or outrageous antics of young Hollywood stars so much play in the media while ignoring the heroic individuals who die in uniform each month? Friday,
February 1, 2008 - 8:11am
THIS
'N' THAT "Made by Sunshine, it was one of the few chocolate cream cookies made with vegtable shortening and not with lard which is what Nabisco used in the making of Oreos.I can remember a Sunshine TV commercial where a baker comes into his boss's office with a pig on a leash and tells the head guy that, "We can bake our Sunshine cookies with lard." The head baker is outraged and said, "LARD! Never! Sunshine only uses the best ingredients in our cookies including pure vegtable shortiening in every cookie that we bake." To the idiot who suggested this, the head baker told him to, "Turn in your uniform." This jerk is seen walking out of the building in his shorts, t-shirt, socks and shoes, still walking a live pig on a leash, while an off camera announcer says, "Sunshine cookies taste better and we can prove it." "Eventually, the Kraft people decided to improve upon Oreos by using pure vegtable shortening instead of lard and their cookies tasted better. Kelloggs, who took over Sunshine and Keebler Cookies tried to improve Hydrox but it didn't work and sadly this part of cookie history is gone." "In his speech, the President asked Congress for $300 million for poor kids in the inner city. There are 15 million children in America living in poverty, how much is that per child? Correct! $20. "The President also demanded that Congress extend his tax cuts. The cost: $4.3 trillion over ten years. The big recipients are millionaires. And the number of millionaires happens, not coincidentally, to equal the number of poor kids, roughly 15 million of them. What is the cost of the tax cut per millionaire? That’s right, Richie, $287,000 apiece." Here are some cool promos for the 1966 Batman TV series:
Thursday,
January 31, 2008 - 12:44pm
PRISON BREAK SEASON FINALE
Prison Break is back in full force with the final three episodes of this truncated third season. Let me tell you, they've saved the best for last, expect edge of your seat excitement that will send chills up your spine, with plenty of 'oh shit!' moments. Fans will not be disappointed. When we last saw Bellick, Tea Bag, Michael and their sniveling, conniving new 'friends,' they were attempting to tunnel out of a Panamanian hellhole, teetering on the edge of escape. Not that things will go easy on the boys, as you would expect their great escape is fraught with unforeseen difficulties, deceptions and mishaps every step of the way. This is one wild ride from start to finish. While (most of) the guys eventually pull off an ingenious escape, you won't believe how it's done or what happens next as Bellick and Tea Bag's betrayal leads to a stunning plot twist. But then, that's why we watch Prison Break, for the unexpected bumps in the road and these episodes keep you guessing all the way with fast and furious, wild-eyed excitement. What beaten and tortured character will be digging his own grave? Who will remain in Soma prison? Will Lincoln rescue his son? And who will die at the end? I won't give much away except to say these final episodes build to a breathless conclusion, a reminder that Prison Break is one of the best written, acted and directed series on TV today, a drama so tightly edited and art directed that the season finale will have you screaming, "For God's sake, end this writer's strike and get back to producing TV's best drama!" Fox has a few shows they've been holding back for mid-season, including Unhitched from the Farrelly Brothers which I'll review next week and Canterbury's Law from the producers of Rescue Me which I reviewed last year but is not yet on the Fox schedule, as far as I know. The last three new episodes of Prison Break air beginning Monday, February 4th at 8:00 ET/PT. Tuesday,
January 29, 2008 - 2:58pm
COMING
TO A TV NEAR YOU This is not your common, everyday, rat-a-tat-tat comedian, Rick Cleveland takes his sweet time, his stories are a journey. In this special (based on his one man stage show) he devotes the entire half hour to deconstructing his meetings with Bill and Hillary Clinton when they were in the White House. I don't want to spoil it for you by giving anything away but it is flat out hysterical. Don't miss this terrific stand-up special, you'll laugh your way through the entire thing, especially if you miss the disclaimer at the beginning of the program as I did when I first saw it. Rick Cleveland - My Buddy Bill airs on Comedy Central February 7th at Midnight. Tuesday,
January 29, 2008 - 9:36am
TV
ON DVD REVIEW It's certainly not for everybody, you have to have a deep and abiding love for the weird and absurd but Aqua Teen Hunger Force season 5 is even better than year 4. No, seriously, the series still hasn't run out of steam - it's just as vulgar, just as random, just as sophomoric as ever and I loved every minute of it. Fans and the casual viewer will no doubt be very happy with this 2 DVD set. As with previous DVD releases the bonus features are plentiful. Wait until you see George Lowe in full Space Ghost regalia mugging his way through an amazingly awkward live, online Red Carpet broadcast for the film's premiere. I really admire the way he struggled though what must have been one of the most uncomfortable moments of his life and in the process was darn funny. There's more - a music video, episode promos, the two-part Christmas Special (undoubtedly one of the most bizarre holiday shows ever), porn star Tera Patrick's recording session, and a crushing response to an online critic who hated the movie (glad it wasn't me). And don't miss the absolutely hilarious Space Ghost episode with guest Bob Costas that will have you rolling. Costas is so cool. There's a lot of entertainment packed into this slim package, hours and hours of fun for around $22.00 if you order online now. For my money, this Aqua Teen DVD collection is the best of the lot. Monday,
January 28, 2008 - 9:46am
YOU
TUBING
Monday,
January 28, 2008 - 9:22am
SATURDAY Jay Blotcher points us to this obit: "Bernie Boston, the photojournalist who captured the iconic image of a young Vietnam War protester placing a flower in the barrel of a rifle held by a National Guardsman, died Tuesday at his home in Basye, Va. He was 74." This sounds interesting, from the press release: Big Shot Live is the first-ever national online talent search that gives one person, every day, the chance to audition in front of a Hollywood powerbroker for entertainment industry opportunities ranging from a guest role on a TV show or in a movie, to a model in a commercial advertisement or dancer in a music video. Each week individuals submit audition tapes in the category of their choice and then start seeking votes. At the conclusion of each category’s week-long voting period, one person per category will be selected from the top five competitors to go to Hollywood. People can vote one time per day. Big Shot Live’s managers are Brian Husky, Eddie Pepitone and Todd Glass – comedians who know how hard it is to get that first big break. They will shepherd show participants through the audition process. The website is live for registration. We already have thousands of registrants! On Monday, January 28, the voting begins. On February 11 – the first webisode will air on bigshotlive.com.
Speaking of The Flintstones, my favorite Flintstones series is coming to DVD next month - The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show which aired on Saturday mornings as part of The Flintstones Comedy Hour back in 1972. This was the first Flintstones series since the primetime show was cancelled in 1966 and it featured Pebbles& Bamm Bamm as teenagers. I thought it was a cute show at the time and a friend of mine used to say, "Oh my staaaars!" a lot at work. After the success of this show and The Archies a couple of years earlier, teenagers rather than superheroes ruled Saturday mornings. Unfortunately I probably won't get a review copy, I think Warner Bros. is pissed about my review of The New Adventures of Old Christine. Poo! Here's an nice article on Hanna-Barbera Records, they actually released a number of pop 45 rpm singles. Saturday,
January 26, 2008 - 9:08am
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"I
can recall when I first saw one of my favorite TV performers, Bozo The
Clown, played by a talented and dear man Mr. Bill Britten, at a personal
appearance at the Laconia Movie Theater at E. 225 St. and White Plains
Rd. in the Bronx.
"A
few years later, around Easter week of 1964 or 1965, I got to see Chuck
McCann and the Paul Ashley Puppets. My mother, aunts, cousins and I watched
Chuck and Paul's puppets perform their funniest skits and lip sync to
such songs as 'Hello Dolly' (the Louis Armstrong version), 'She Loves
You Yeah Yeah Yeah,' 'Love Me Do,' 'Do You Want To Know A Secret,' and
'I Wanna Hold Your Hand.' Chuck came out and did skits as Dr. Zebra, Little
Orphan Annie and as Laurel & Hardy.
Rick
Cleveland is a writer / producer for top TV shows like The West Wing
and Six Feet Under, now he's turned his sharp wit to stand up
comedy and knocks one out of the park with his new Comedy Central special,
My Buddy Bill. His deliberate, stoic delivery stands in stark
contrast to most modern comedians, this sly monologist spins a tale with
marvelous twists and turns in the great storytelling tradition of Mark
Twain or Bill Cosby.
