The Criterion folks seem to have run out of copies of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World before they ran out of buyers for it during their 50% off sale. Sorry…though I am of course happy to hear it's been a good seller for them. I hear their previous Best Seller is The Seven Samurai and it wouldn't surprise me to see Mad World usurp that honor. They are, after all, practically the same movie.
Ratings were good for the debut of Late Night with Seth Meyers and they continue to be impressive for the hour with Jimmy Fallon that precedes it. I'm going to guess we're looking at at least a month before things settle down and folks in the industry get serious about gauging the winners and losers of all this. Several of the shows that challenged Mr. Carson did fine for a few weeks before the novelty of a "new show" wore off and viewers ambled back to Johnny. Regardless of where the numbers land, I don't think Fallon or Meyers are going anywhere else for a long time.
Once again, I remind you that I only post obits here when I either knew the person, felt a special connection to them, feel I have some anecdote or observation that no one else can offer, or fear that their passing will otherwise go unnoticed and I can rectify that a little. None of this applies to the late Harold Ramis, a very well-respected and liked-by-his-colleagues filmmaker, nor to the late Bhob Stewart, a longtime comic book creative person who worked a lot with Wally Wood.
Los Angeles is on Stormwatch, prepping for a one-two punch that will drop lots of water, create widespread flooding in the mountains and burn areas…and still not put much of a dent in our drought numbers. I know, I know: The weather where you live has been so horrendous this year, you don't want to hear about us lucky L.A. duckies. Just thought I'd mention it is all.
I'm planning out my panels and such for WonderCon and will be telling you about them shortly. Several folks have written to ask if I'll be repeating my little 45-minute lecture/class on How To Write For Animation. Yes, it'll be on Sunday. Yes, it should be a lot longer to properly cover the subject. No, I have no interest in teaching an actual class anywhere about it.