Monthly Archives: May 2008

Another nice memory of Will Elder from my buddy, William Stout.

Let's flash back to an interview with then-candidate George W. Bush from June 28, 2000. Here's the first paragraph…

Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.

So how's that working out?

A week ago, for reasons too boring even for this weblog, I found myself briefly in a video arcade in Westwood — one of those places where you put in money, win tickets and later find out that no matter how much you played and how much you won, you don't have enough tickets for any of the good prizes. Out of curiosity, I took a crack at the Deal or No Deal game I found there.

It's not a bad replica of the TV game. There are sixteen cases which are opened on the 36" high-def video screen by sixteen models. The models are not the ladies from the TV show and the unseen announcer/host is not Howie Mandel but they have the graphics and music…and of course, you're playing for prize tickets, not money. It costs two bucks to play and top prize is two hundred tickets which, at this arcade, could get you a package of bubble gum worth (I'm guessing) fifty cents.

I got lucky and won the 200 — a futile achievement since when I went to the prize redemption booth, I decided there was nothing there I wanted, even for free. So now I was stuck with the 200 tickets. Last time I was in this situation — Marv Wolfman's birthday party was at a Dave & Buster's — I gave my tix to a random kid to add to his already-formidable accumulation. I think he had enough to get a new Lexus Hybrid.

There was no one else in the arcade so I wandered to the back and played a pinball machine, partly because I hadn't played one in a decade or so, partly because I was hoping some worthy person would come in. By the time I'd run out of quarters, no one had…so I still have my tickets.

What was interesting about the Deal or No Deal game was the pace. The TV version has become excruciating, even when watched on TiVo and fast-forwarding from the first case or so to the last five. It can take up to an hour to play one game, opening 26 cases. I opened the sixteen in my game in well under two minutes. If I'd brought along three friends to consult with me and insist that they knew for sure the million was in my case, it might have taken four minutes.

That pace is the main thing killing the TV version. It's probably not as lethal as the fact that after all these months, no one's won the million dollar prize. On the new prime-time Price is Right, they've given away seven figure checks something like three times in six weeks and the whole hour isn't even about trying to win that amount. They also don't have the problem Deal or No Deal has, which is a tremendous number of games where the big dollar prizes are knocked out early and you have 20-30 minutes of someone playing to maybe take home ten (yawn) grand.

Obviously, winning $10,000 is no small cause for excitement but on a show that's all about winning a mil, it seems like an awful uninteresting consolation prize…especially with Drew Carey over on Price is Right handing out the big checks like they were cases of Turtle Wax. So that's one problem Deal or No Deal has. Another is that though they may try to dress it up with banker stunts and surprise reunions and doing the show from other nations, it's still the same basic game every time. And being on opposite American Idol ain't helping, either.

I don't know why this show interests me at all but it isn't because of the game any longer. It's because I like Howie and I like the way the producers initially put the program together. There was something primal and fascinating about the basic game. At least, it was kinda fun for two minutes at that arcade, even if all I got out of it was a string of near-worthless tickets. (Hey, don't laugh. There are people who've been on the show, played for a million and gone home with about that much.) But all that's gone away now and I'm kinda watching, albeit with mucho Fast Forwarding, just to see if they can figure out how to make it interesting again. Aside from having the models work nude and covering Howie Mandel with bacteria just to see his reaction, I don't see how.

My deadlines and I could ill afford the trek but I had to do it, had to drive down to Brea last night and see Frank Ferrante make like Groucho again. I took along my friend Earl Kress and he was just as impressed as I was, first time I saw Frank. If you knew what a pain it is to drive to Brea, you'd have a good idea of how much I enjoyed the loving and uncanny re-creation of the grouchiest of Marxes that was going on down there.

Abetted by a superb piano player named Jim Furmston, Ferrante walks on stage, turns himself into Groucho and proceeds to Groucho all over that stage for about 90 minutes. He tells great anecdotes as Groucho. He sings and dances as Groucho. Most impressively, he talks with the audience, ad-libbing as Groucho. The best compliment I can pay the guy is to say that in all three categories, he succeeds.

It's quite amazing. I suppose that with enough work, a decent stage performer could master the Groucho moves and learn all those anecdotes. A decent mimic could replicate the voice. But Ferrante goes beyond an imitation, somehow tapping into something primal and essential about Groucho. About three minutes in, you forget it's a guy in a Groucho suit. It's just Groucho. You don't even wonder to yourself, "Hey, how is he able to think like Groucho?" That's not something a mere impersonator could learn.

What don't I like about the show? Well, I don't like that he does it in outta-the-way (for me) places like Brea, for God's sake. He also doesn't do it often enough. Much of the year, Frank is employed as the lead performer in Teatro ZinZanni, which is a fancy and bizarre show performed in San Francisco and Seattle — Frank's usually in San Francisco — in a nightclub setting. But if and when he Grouchos near you, run and see him. According to his schedule, his next Grouchoing will be July 1 in Clayton, New York and July 8 in Mission Viejo, California. Mission Viejo is like Brea only more so.

Anyway, I'd better stop before you get the idea that I like this guy's show. If he's in your neck of the woods, go. And tell 'em Groucho Mark sent you.

The L.A. Times has a great obit on Will Elder, in part because of some rare photos. There are a couple of errors in it, however. The editor of Mad is quoted as talking about what a great job Elder did drawing the classic Mad story, "Superduperman." As we all know, "Superduperman" was drawn by Wally Wood. Also, an illustration identified as being from the first issue of Mad is not from the first issue of Mad.

Here's another one in The Washington Post.

Also, Paul Levitz of DC Comics has some interesting thoughts to offer about the EC guys. Pay special attention to what he writes about establishing the proper creative environment for work, as I think that's an important point that's often overlooked. If you want your people to create great work, you have to allow them to work in an arena where they feel great work will be recognized, appreciated and even — and I'm not kidding about this — not something for which they will be punished.

Throughout the month of June, I'll be signing Kirby: King of Comics at a number of comic book shops in the Southern California area. First up is Meltdown Comics in Hollywood on June 7 from 2 PM to 4 PM. There will also be a Q-and-A if anyone has any Qs. Details on the signing are here and the address of the store is over here.

That's a Saturday. Then on Wednesday, June 11, I'll be out at Hi-De-Ho Comics in Santa Monica. Details to come.

Also, I'll be talking about Kirby next week on Fresh Air on NPR. Details of that to come, as well. I don't know about you folks but I'm sure gonna get sick of me.

It's been a while since I've mentioned it here but I'm a big fan of TiVo. I bought one of the first ones and have never been anything but delighted with the machine, the service and the very principle of time-shifting and storing shows the way it does. Everyone I know who's got one is happy with theirs, though maybe not with the cost of month to month service. A year or two ago, TiVo stopped offering lifetime service for a flat fee, and some who make the monthly payments find it an annoying burden.

Well, guess what, TiVo Town! Lifetime service is back! For $399, you can get it on your TiVo…and I guess I oughta explain what that means. It does not mean your lifetime. It means the lifetime of the machine for which you purchase it. As long as that particular TiVo is operational, you don't have to make the monthly payments.

How long might that be? Well, I've had my current TiVos for long enough to make lifetime service a bargain. You may keep yours for quite a while. When TiVos wear out, the usual reason — maybe 95% of the time — is hard disk failure. You can have a company like Weaknees slap a new hard disk in your machine or sell you a kit to do it yourself…and the lifetime service can continue!

On the other hand! One of these days, TiVo's going to come out with a new model that will be so super-duper peachy fabbo that you may want to pitch your old one and get a new one. We've heard rumors of better TiVos for some time but no firm announcements. Next year? The year after? I dunno. I suspect — don't hold me to this — that when TiVo does bring out a true "new generation" model, there will be some offer whereby one will be able to transfer one's lifetime sub to a new machine. But that also may not happen.

Right now, here's how the math works. Regular service is $12.95 a month, $129 per year or $299 for three years. So for the $399 lifetime service to be cost effective, you'd have to keep the machine close to four years. (A few other things to consider: One is that they can raise prices at some point and that's not unlikely. Lifetime service means you don't have to worry about that…or about paying bills periodically. Also, if you have more than one TiVo, you can get a discount for additional subscrptions on the same account. You can prepay $99 per year on your second unit or if you buy lifetime service for $399, lifetime service on additional TiVos is $299 apiece.)

So does lifetime service make sense? You can figure it out as well as I can. I just thought I'd mention that option is available again.

We're directing you to a nice piece in The Independent (over in London) by Tim Walker all about Jack Kirby.