We mentioned here a few weeks ago the rumors that Young Frankenstein, now playing on Broadway, might not be doing anywhere near the business its backers anticipated. In this article, one of its producers says it's doing okay but admits to some marketing and strategic errors.
Monthly Archives: February 2008
Happy Creig Flessel Day!
Last year on this date, it was our honor to wish a happy 95th birthday to the great comic book artist, Creig Flessel, whose work began appearing in comic books about the time original material began appearing in comic books. The cover at the above left was by him and it ran on Detective Comics #3, which was cover-dated May of 1937. The one on the right is from two years later.
Mr. Flessel is a fine, talented gentleman and an important figure in the history of this particular art form…so it was an even greater pleasure to wish him a happy 96th birthday here today, and I expect to tell him in person at this year's Wondercon in San Francisco. Rumor has it he'll be putting in an appearance. If he isn't there, it's okay. I can just wish him a happy 97th next year.
Today's Video Link
From the February 28, 1966 episode of the TV pop music series Hullabaloo, George Hamilton and Lainie Kazan introduce the show's dancers dancing to the theme from the concurrent TV hit, Batman.
For those of us steeped in Industrial Grade Trivia, there are three other connections in this clip to the world of comic books. One is that many years later, Mr. Hamilton would be involved briefly in an aborted business enterprise with Stan Lee. Another is that a few years after this show, Ms. Kazan would appear in the pages of Playboy and that layout would inspire Jack Kirby to create a memorable comic book character named Big Barda. And lastly, about the time this show was on the air, a noted comic book artist was involved in a romantic way with one of the ladies you see dancing in this number. More than that, I dare not say.
Recommended Reading
Michael Kinsley with another article about how Ronald Reagan was not the man his current worshippers say he was.
Mission Unaccomplished
Anyone here been watching Deal or No Deal? I gave it up for a time — too much forced melodrama, too much padding, too many games where the big amounts were gone before the midpoint — but I'm back. Admittedly, I TiVo the thing, watch the first few minutes and then zip ahead to when it gets interesting, if it gets interesting. That it occasionally does lately is because of a stunt they're doing called The Million Dollar Mission.
After all this time on the air, no one has won the mil, which I'm guessing troubles the producers. They apparently figure that if they never award that amount, America will soon give up on the show. With so much of NBC's ratings riding on the program and a weekday version starting shortly, they probably need to give away a million smackers and soon. So what they do during the Million Dollar Mission is that every time a contestant doesn't win that amount, they add another million dollar amount into the briefcases. Instead of one, there's two, three, four, etc. The other day, a lady played a game where nine of the 26 cases contained one million bucks. She still didn't win the big prize so as they're advertising like crazy, Monday's episode features a game where there will be ten (10) one million dollar prizes in the cases.
The commercials make it sound like you'd better make sure you tune in because this looks like the night someone finally wins the big award. And I'm here to tell you it's not so. The contestant doesn't win the million.
How do I know this? Because the listing on my TiVo for the following week's show (February 11) says, and I quote…
"Eleven $1 million cases" (2008) The Million Dollar Mission continues with an unprecedented eleven cases on the board, holding $1 million each.
So no point in watching Monday when there are only ten $1 million cases. And you don't even have to have a TiVo to get this information. If you go to Yahoo TV right now and search for that week's episode, you'll see…
I'll bet the secret is also blown on most of the online services that provide TV listings. But actually, you could probably have deduced that the contestant on Monday's show doesn't win the million…because the promos, which they're airing every three minutes on NBC, don't come right out and say it. They say it's the biggest night ever, the most exciting and spectacular must-see episode…and they lead you to believe it's going to happen…but they don't say "Tune in and watch someone finally win the million dollars!"
That will happen shortly…and I have the oddest hunch that it will happen before the end of the February "sweeps" rating period. In fact, since they tape way ahead, I have the hunch it's already happened and that they've been scheduling episodes and inserting repeats in order to make sure it happens on a February show, preferably a late February show. What's more, when they get to that week, they're going to make sure everyone knows it, which means they won't be able to just say it's the biggest night ever, the most exciting and spectacular must-see episode, etc. That's what they say when the contestant doesn't win.
Instead, they'll say something more explicit…and then to make certain everyone knows, they'll leak it to the press or get it up on the Internet somehow…or something. What they won't do is let it be an actual surprise. TV doesn't do that anymore.
Today's Video Link
This one will be of interest to a lot of you but especially to those who grew up in the Los Angeles area in the sixties and seventies. One of the top local disc jockeys from that era was The Real Don Steele, who was heard on KHJ Boss Radio. He was quite popular and an awful lot of other radio personalities — in L.A. and around the world — wound up imitating The Real Don Steele.
He had a fun, energetic sound and as you can see in today's presentation, was wildly enthusiastic about absolutely everything. Every L.A. kid of my era knew that sound and also his catch-phrase. Throughout his radio shows, he'd often play a short clip of a female voice yelling, "Tina Delgado is alive, alive!" Who was Ms. Delgado and why was it so significant that she was alive? Mr. Steele never said, and you got the idea that even he didn't know; that it was just a stunt to get people curious.
Off and on, he also hosted various TV shows, mainly of the "dance party" variety. This is an episode of The Real Don Steele Show that aired on May 11, 1974. It starts with a commercial that includes a then-unknown-but-soon-to-be-famous Farrah Fawcett and then the show runs about a half hour over the four parts posted here. You will enjoy the musical acts of the day, lip-syncing to their hits. You will enjoy the teenagers dancing to the records. You will enjoy Mr. Steele's energy. And you will really enjoy some of the commercials.
One other thing: I'm assuming they taped in the KHJ studio, which was about the size of a three-car garage — one of those facilities that was erected in a building that was designed to do radio…and without a live audience. I know this show looks real cheap but considering what they had to work with, the producers and director worked miracles.