I’m a Jack Benny nut. He’s my favorite dead comedian, and that’s saying something considering Johnny Carson is no longer with us! But Johnny himself would bow to the greatness of Benny, and was not shy about using some of Benny’s takes and reactions on his “Tonight Show”. Though not quite as obviously as this: … Continue reading “It’s An Hour Show!”: The Jack Benny Specials Part One
Before we begin, allow me to put on my “I appreciate The Muppets on a much deeper level than you” T-shirt. I am, as many of you already know, an absolute Muppet freak. And Christmastime is a bonanza of Muppet awesomeness. There’s “Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”, a show that manages to be a Christmas … Continue reading W/O/C: “A Muppet Family Christmas”
So, Rolling Stone did an article listing, in their editors’ opinions, the 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs Of All Times. Two notes before moving further: One, these lists are generally designed to spark debate and conversation about what was included, what was not, what shoulda been, etc. So I am but a cog in the … Continue reading Ten TV Theme Songs “Rolling Stone” Missed
“Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. And then we have to say goodbye.” “Snoopy Come Home”, released in 1972, is the second Peanuts animated feature film. There are some big differences between this one and “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” For one thing, aside from certain music choices (which we’ll get into), this movie looks … Continue reading Sob Story: “Snoopy Come Home”
“But did you notice Charlie Brown?” “What’s that?” “The world didn’t come to an end.” As you have heard me grumble about previously, the Peanuts holiday specials no longer air on network television. They are exclusive to Apple TV or, as is the case in my home, a Blu Ray box set, because streaming services … Continue reading Melancholy Blockhead: “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”
Randy West is a highly regarded, very talented voice over artist who has announced a cavalcade of game shows, awards shows and the like. He is also a frequent “warm-up” man, welcoming studio audiences and getting them in the mood to laugh and have a good time. I became most familiar with Randy West through … Continue reading On The Bookshelf: “TV Inside-Out”
I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend who rents a small place in the basement of KCOW, the enterprising weirdsmobile himself, Bob S. Bestos. Bob has been making regular appearances on my morning program again after a long sabbatical in Antarctica. And I have been coercing otherwise sensible people into taping cameo guest appearances … Continue reading Crazy, Bob, Rowlf and The 2000-Year Old Man
Nobody does classic TV on DVD like MPI Home Video. My library is thick with their releases of “The Jackie Gleason Show”, “Here’s Lucy”, “The Mothers-In-Law”, Perry Como specials, Doris Day specials, all kinds of goodies. Their latest release is a genuine rarity, with MPI’s usual outstanding array of bonus features. In Spring of 1965, … Continue reading DVD Review: “Marineland Carnival” and Other “Munsters” Rarities
MPI Home Video is my favorite company where DVDs are concerned. They get that designation by default for releasing not one, not two, but three different Perry Como television shows. (I’d hope for more but that seems piggish, considering that I can’t imagine a combined sales figure of more than 27 copies for the three.) … Continue reading How Sweet It Is!
This is one of my favorite random “SImpsons” bits: Of course, the actual “very late Three Stooges” shorts…the final batch produced at Columbia Pictures in 1955 and 1956, featured Larry, Moe, and Joe Besser. I just finished a pretty lengthy autobiography that, in its initial printing in the early 80s was called “Not Just A … Continue reading On The Bookshelf: The Joe Besser Story, Available in Hardcover and “Not So Ha-a-a-rd” Cover
