Monthly Archives: April 2010

Tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM Eastern Time, Turner Classic Movies is running Norman, Is That You?, a 1976 comedy starring Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey. It was directed by George "Laugh-In" Schlatter and was, I believe, the first major motion picture to be shot on videotape and then transferred to film stock. It's the story of a businessman who is horrified to discover his son is gay. At first, he tries to "cure" the wayward lad but eventually…well, if you watch it, you'll see what happens. As if you couldn't guess.

The movie is based on the 1970 play of the same name by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick, which starred Lou Jacobi in the role Mr. Foxx would later assume with Maureen Stapleton in the role that Ms. Bailey would play. It opened on Broadway that year, got panned by the critics and closed after 12 performances. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it…but an odd thing happened. Unlike most 12 performance flops, Norman, Is That You? had a very healthy afterlife. Other productions sprouted, including a long, lucrative run at an inner city theater in Los Angeles that did it with a black cast. That seems to have been what inspired Schlatter to do it that way.

I'm a bit vague on this but I believe Clark and Bobrick have stated that they came to be very happy that their play closed so swiftly in New York. In most contracts for new plays, there's a clause that states that the producer or production company shares in the film and subsequent stage rights of a play…but only if it runs a specified number of performances on Broadway. If it closes quickly, all rights revert to the author(s). Well, Norman, Is That You? reportedly closed rapidly enough to make that happen. If it had run a few more days, the producers would have shown a huge profit while Bobrick and Clark lost a fortune.

You will note that I am not saying this is a great movie or even a good one. There's a reason for that.

I'm actually only mentioning it because of one other cast member. My collaborator Sergio Aragonés has a brief but tidy role as a hotel desk clerk. Sergio has done a number of acting roles (he recently performed a voice for an upcoming Futurama) and you might want to tune in or TiVo just for him. If you do and you should meet him some day, be kind. Don't tell him how unconvincing his Mexican accent is.

My thanks to Doran Gaston, who wrote in to remind me to tell you about this. I'd forgotten.

I hadn't meant to dwell on the subject of who's been doing voices the longest for Disney but since I'm into it, let's carry the topic to completion. As many noted, my typing fingers transposed the date when Clarence "Ducky" Nash began playing a duck named Donald. It was 1934, not 1943, and I've corrected that.

Greg Ehrbar notes that Alan Young first did the voice of Scrooge McDuck (and apparently, Mickey Mouse as well) on the 1975 record album, Mickey's Christmas Carol. In 1983, that was adapted for animation and he reprised the Scrooge role. I don't know that he (or anyone) has performed as Uncle Scrooge lately but he's still the guy they'd call if they needed the character voiced so Alan inarguably is the currently-with-us actor who's been speaking for a notable Disney character the longest…

…unless you count Kathryn Beaumont. Chuck Wedge informs me that in recent years, she's been called upon to do the voices of Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) and Wendy (from Peter Pan) occasionally. Alice in Wonderland came out in 1951 and she recorded her part a few years before that. So she'd be the hands-down champ.

And leaving Disney aside, the person who's been doing a character voice the longest is, I suppose, Stan Freberg who, every once in a while, records lines for the diaper-clad Junior Bear in the Three Bears series for Warner Brothers. Stan first did the part in the 1948 cartoon, What's Brewin', Bruin? Can anyone think of anyone who predates Stan?

Several folks have written about my statement that Eddie Carroll at the time of his death was the longest-running voice of any Disney character. Most of you understood that I wasn't claiming he'd done a certain character's voice longer than anyone else. I think Clarence Nash had that honor, having voiced Donald Duck from 1934 until '84 or '85. But at the time of Eddie's death, there was no one else around who'd been doing the voice of a Disney character for a longer period. Eddie spoke for Jiminy Cricket from 1973 until this year.

I'm not certain who has the record now…probably Alan Young, who began doing the voice of Scrooge McDuck in 1983. Tony Anselmo began quacking for Donald in 1985. Bill Farmer took over Goofy in 1986, the same year Russi Taylor became Minnie Mouse. I get the feeling I'm forgetting someone…

Despite withering reviews, The Addams Family seems to be doing good business on Broadway. Looks like it'll be there at least until next March when Nathan Lane's contract expires.

I remember when I was a lad, going to the Fairfax Theater, a once-grand, now-shabby (and shuttered) film palace located at Fairfax and Beverly in Los Angeles, catty-corner from CBS Television City. The theater opened some time between 1929 and 1932 (accounts vary) and has changed hands many times, switching between first-run and grindhouse status, even turning briefly into a legit theater that housed the local debut of Oh! Calcutta! Until recently, the back wall (visible to those driving south on Fairfax) was painted with a large sign that said, "New Fairfax Theatre – Glorifying the Talking Picture." You can read more of its history on this page.

Originally, it seated somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 (again, accounts vary). In the early eighties, it was trisected into three theaters — one seating less than 500 and two which each seat fewer than 200. For much of the last decade or so, admission was a dollar to see films which had left the first-run houses but (usually) had not yet come out on DVD. And now it's closed, its future uncertain. There's a proposal to save the historic façade and to incorporate it into a new "mixed-use" complex of condos and retail stores. There are parties that want to refurbish the place and resume showing either first-run or classic cinema. There's a group — here's their website — that just wants to preserve it and so is nominating it for Historic-Cultural Monument Status.

This is another one of those "Mark's conflicted" matters. The Fairfax has a grand history and part of me thinks it should be preserved. On the other hand, as with the Beverly Cinema which I wrote about recently here, I have no desire to go there again. The parking situation is dreadful and my last few visits there, I found the place depressing and the sound system close to inaudible. Since I've not been there in a long while, you might say, "Well, maybe they've fixed up the place since then," and I guess that's possible. But inasmuch they're charging a buck a ticket, I get the feeling that not a lot of cash has been spent on upkeep. This latest closure is because portions of the roof collapsed in the recent rainstorms.

I love old theaters and if the Fairfax looked like it probably looked back in the forties, I'd go out and march for it to be maintained. But that Fairfax is long gone and the one that stands today is just sad. I have no idea what it would cost to restore and refurbish but I have a hard time imagining that it would be worth any investor's while. Maybe it's time to let the place go.

Michael Kinsley asks, "What is a Conservative Judge?"

It's really very simple: A judge whose rulings advance your political wishlist is a Strict Constructionalist who's just interpreting the Constitution and other laws as written. A judge whose rulings go against your political wishlist is an Activist Judge who's legislating from the bench. That's how it always goes. You never hear anyone say, "Gee, I wish the law didn't say that and I will work to change that law…but that judge is just interpreting what the law says."

Some Jack Kirby news. Two of my former employers are teaming up to market some of the ideas that Jack created or helped develop for animation in the eighties. The article doesn't mention it but there's also a big art book in the works featuring some of this material.

I have, of course, zero interest in trying KFC's new Double Down sandwich, which consists of two fried chicken fillets acting as the "bread," containing two slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese, two slices of bacon and a special sauce. In most fast food restaurants, "special sauce" means mayonnaisse mixed with something else they have lying around. One Double Down gives you 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and an eyeball-busting 1,380 milligrams of sodium. That's the version with the fried chicken fillets. They also have one with grilled chicken. That has 460 calories, 23 grams of fat and 1,430 milligrams of sodium. I guess the extra sodium is to make up for any possible artery blockage you lose when you drop out that much fat.

My disinterest flows not just from the nutritional numbers. Truth to tell, a lot of us probably eat things in restaurants all the time that sound healthier but really aren't. My disinterest is because it's been a good twenty years since I had anything from a KFC that tasted like anything other than stale, deep-fried batter…and that includes the one time I popped into one to get a bottle of Dasani water. Someone could probably open a very successful fast food franchise if they could just advertise (and deliver) fried chicken as good as the Colonel's was before PepsiCo bought the chain in 1986. The decline actually started in 1971 when the company that bought out Colonel Sanders sold the operation to Heublein and it got worse in '82 when the R.J. Reynolds company acquired it. But it didn't get really bad until PepsiCo moved in and cheapened things down to inedible. Which is great. Think how fat America would be if the food at KFC tasted good.

People are acting horrified that KFC would offer such an unhealthy sandwich. This is like being shocked that Larry Flynt is putting out something in bad taste. What else do you expect? It's KFC. If you went in to eat there and they didn't have this sandwich, you'd probably order two pieces of Original Recipe fried chicken (breast and drumstick), an order of potato wedges and a biscuit…for a total of 880 calories, 43 grams of fat and 2,320 milligrams of sodium. Compared to that, the Double Down qualifies as Health Food.

Joe Conason reminds us about Ronald Reagan's approach to nuclear disarmament. It was very much like what Barack Obama is trying to make happen and very much unlike the way folks like Sarah Palin now describe it.

Fred tells us why Sarah Palin doesn't understand the new nuclear arms policies she's out there criticizing. I don't think she cares. I think she's just looking to say anything that will keep her base mad and stupid.

My right-wing friend Roger used to believe that U.S. troops were swooping down on terrorists, expertly capturing only the bastards and shipping them off to Guantanamo where they couldn't hurt anyone and would spill their guts. That would have been dandy but revelation after revelation has shown that wasn't the case; that we were just kinda locking up people at close-to-random. Some were actual terrorists but a lot were totally innocent, including very small children and very old seniors…and the axis of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld didn't care. Here's the latest large hole poked in the myth Roger used to believe.

Well, no one saw this coming: It's been announced that Conan O'Brien will begin hosting a late night show for TBS. It starts in November and will air at 11 PM, bumping George Lopez's show back to Midnight. Some will note the irony that after what went on at NBC, O'Brien's show will be forcing someone else into a later time slot…but that's the way these things always go in TV programming. You can't get a time slot without taking one that someone else wants. And for all his complaining about weak lead-ins at NBC, he's now going to be following — unless TBS has the bucks left to buy more original programming — things like reruns of My Name is Earl.

I'll be glad to see Conan back on TV and I guess this move makes sense, especially since there was apparently no acceptable offer from Fox. Lopez's show has done okay in that slot. TBS must figure Conan can helm a modestly-budgeted show that will do at least as well and probably better…and they'll have a two-hour bloc that might not be competitive with Leno and Letterman but will make money. The channel no doubt dreams of expanding its new programming and chucking the reruns some day and this is another solid step in that direction. I'm curious if they gave a lot of consideration to putting Conan on at 10 PM or earlier so he wouldn't be going head-to-head with The Daily Show followed by Mr. Colbert. Those are pretty strong contenders for his key demographic so why wasn't that done? Because Leno didn't work at 10? That show wouldn't have worked in any time slot.

No word on whether O'Brien will come to us from L.A. or New York but I'm guessing the former. I'm also guessing that TBS will run each show twice a night, as they presently do with Lopez. Given that this has to represent a hefty investment for them, I wouldn't be surprised to see them reairing shows on the weekends too, or even on weekday afternoons. I'll sure be watching, albeit via TiVo.