Monthly Archives: July 2014

I would like to deeply apologize to all of you for linking to this article in Playboy by Gilbert Gottfried. It's all about apologies and it's full of very naughty words.

One thing Mr. Gottfried doesn't address and which I think has caused him some of the problems he writes about is that while he is very dirty and very funny, there are a lot of comedians around these days who've only mastered the first half of that parlay. They write down the "f" word and then they have to figure out something to put around it so it sounds like a joke. I think a lot of those guys should apologize, not for the vulgarity but for not having much else to offer. Gottfried's not one of those comics but I can easily see how some people might get confused.

As history, Yankee Doodle Dandy was a pretty bad movie, starting with the fact that George M. Cohan was not born on the Fourth of July. Furthermore, the film invented a largely-false narrative of his life, making him seem like a helluva great guy when, in truth, not a lot of people who knew and worked with him felt that way. Corny? Predictable? Full of a shallow kind of patriotism? Yes to all three.

But I don't care. James Cagney is terrific in it and even when you know what's coming, the story is irresistible. Just writing this and posting the trailer makes me want to watch it again. Here's that trailer…

Workplaces of great artists.

Comic-Con International convenes in San Diego three weeks from now. The convention will be there in 2015 and 2016 and then…

Well, 2016 is the last year under the current contract so we'll soon have the usual rumors of the con moving elsewhere as various parties threaten and promise and negotiate. It's a lot like a comic fan haggling with a dealer over the price of a much-needed issue of Wonder Woman. Then, it is my prediction, a deal will get made and the con will stay right where it is for another hunk of years.

But there will be weeks there when we hear it's moving to Anaheim, it's moving to Los Angeles, it's moving to Las Vegas, it's moving to Tony Isabella's back yard in Medina, Ohio…and so on. Of that list, I think only Anaheim is viable with Tony's place a distant second.

The L.A. Convention Center is the convention center from Hell. Terrible facilities. And the whole financial dynamic of the con would change without all those bucks spent by congoers staying at hotels near the convention, dining near the convention, etc. In San Diego, we impact the economy of the entire city. In L.A. and in Vegas, we'd make a difference in about a four-block-square area and that would change nothing about the economy there and everything about the con.

As for Vegas: Well, here it is…July. And temperatures in that city are expected to hit 111° next week. I shall say no more.

I do not want to go to Anaheim. If you think the traffic and parking are bad in San Diego, try going somewhere three blocks from Disneyland at the peak of tourist season. You know that joke I do every year about how if you want a parking spot for Comic-Con next month, leave now? In Anaheim, I'd have to make it "next year."

And I don't think we will go there. I think San Diego will make a deal and that they'll continue the planned expansion of that fine convention center they have there. Then again, there are those arguing that convention centers around the country, including the one I'm heading to in three weeks, are a foolish waste of taxpayer dollars. Some are campaigning to not expand the place, which might have some effect on the convention's ability/desire to stay.

Recently, a San Diego newspaper ran this article about a new book that argues convention centers are losing propositions for their locales. It's by a gent named Heywood Sanders, described as the nation's ranking expert on convention centers. I'm not sure who ranks such people but the fellow seems to have good credentials.

You'll notice it says in the piece…

When it made its 2013 forecast, San Diego's center claimed that each Comic-Con attendee would spend $613.20. That's absurd, says Sanders, noting that locals make up much of the audience.

That sounds high but not absurd to me. My curiosity is that this year, the convention did not sell four-day passes. Someone who wants to be there all four days had to buy four one-day passes and of course, not everyone could. The hall will be packed every day but I'm wondering if this means we'll have more people who attend at least one day of the con, as opposed to as many who attended all four. (I didn't phrase that well but you know what I'm trying to say.) If so, I'm wondering what this means for the local economy.

I'm also wondering what is a realistic figure of what each Comic-Con attendee spends. Like I said, $613.20 doesn't sound that unreal to me. I know attendees who spend that much to stay at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista for the duration. And you should see what the Best Western is asking near Tony's house in Medina.

Kentucky is the latest state where a judge has struck down a ban on Gay Marriage. It's on appeal but so far, I don't think any of those appeals have succeeded.

One thing I find fascinating about all this is how weak the arguments against legalizing Gay Marriage have been. If you're angry that Proposition 8 was overturned in California, go find and read the transcripts of the oral arguments. You'll wind up thinking the guy arguing for Prop 8 had been bribed to throw the case.

The one in Kentucky is really feeble. Essentially, the attorney arguing to keep the ban argued that traditional marriage contributed to a stable birth rate and, therefore, the state's long-term economic stability. In other words, if we let gay people marry, straight people will begin having an unpredictable number of children. In knocking this down, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II wrote…

Even assuming the state has a legitimate interest in promoting procreation, the Court fails to see, and Defendant never explains, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage has any effect whatsoever on procreation among heterosexual spouses. Excluding same-sex couples from marriage does not change the number of heterosexual couples who choose to get married, the number who choose to have children, or the number of children they have.

Years ago, a gay friend of mine said that one of the problems he and other gay folks faced was the vast number of straight people who just plain didn't understand Gay. He said, "They think they can pass laws to make us all straight." I thought that was silly when he said it but this is not the first time I've thought, "Hey, maybe Jonathan was right."

If you want to read Judge Heyburn's decision, it's here but the gist of it is when he writes of the Defendants' positions, "These arguments are not those of serious people." He actually wrote that.

The case against Gay Marriage was not made by the state's Attorney General, by the way. He refused to go in and defend the law so the Governor hired an outside law firm to argue that position. That was sure money well-spent.

Here's another number from a Gypsy of the Year competition in New York, this one from 2010. As I've explained, this is an event — two performances only — held by the most excellent charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Every show then playing on Broadway contributes one sketch or song and a lot of it is very "inside" humor for those in the industry. There's also always an amazing opening number and this was the one for that year, featuring a bevy of chorus boys and Carol Channing. Ms. Channing is 93 years old now but that year, she was a much more youthful, spry 89…

$61.97. A new low.

And now it's jumped up to $62.99. As several folks have written to tell me — and as I kinda already knew — Amazon is "fulfilling" orders for other companies and as the number consigned by each outside vendor is sold, the page offers copies of the same product from another vendor who might have a slightly different price…or a planned price drop as they reach or don't reach certain sales goals by certain times. I'm going to stop watching this. If you want a copy of this great Blu-ray set, here's the link for the last time. Maybe.

The price of The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at Amazon has gone down yet another penny to $61.98. When it was at $61.99, it said "One copy left." Now it says "In stock," which presumably means they have more than one. If $61.98 is low enough for you, here's that link I keep pasting in here. How low will it go?

The price of The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Complete Series on Blu-ray has now dropped eight more cents to $61.99. Here's that link again. This reminds me of a stock I once bought for a buck a share. I purchased it just after breakfast, it was down to 83 cents by lunch and 79 by dinner and before the week was out, I owed them more money.

Before their big show, the Monty Python guys did what seems like hundreds of press conferences and promotional events. For one of them, they had Mick Jagger appear in this short film…

The price of The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Complete Series on Blu-ray has dropped another penny! It's down to $62.07. If you passed on it before because it was too expensive, maybe it's well within your budget now. Here's that link!

The New York Times reports on the first of the Monty Python reunion shows in England. The size of the event and remarks that most of the live audience had to watch the thing on huge monitors, makes me kinda glad I wasn't there for it. Hope Larry Storch doesn't do the same thing.

Yesterday, I told you that The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Complete Series on Blu-ray was marked down on Amazon to $62.12.  Well, it's just had another exciting price reduction.  It's now $62.08. Here's the link to order it…and sorry, those of you who ordered yesterday.  I didn't imagine that if you'd waited, you could have saved four cents.

The photo above is of me at a party a few years ago flanked by two great comic actors — Ken Berry on the left, Larry Storch on the right. They've done lots of great things individually and one great thing together — a TV series called F Troop.

In the next week or three, I hope to get around to a series of posts about MeTV, a cable channel named after my life and featuring shows I watched while I was growing up as much as I ever grew up. Some of them, I look at now and wonder what it was I ever found of merit in them. Have you tried watching Petticoat Junction lately? Good heavens. But some shows hold up great and F Troop is/was one of them.

Larry Storch is also a stand-up comedian and impressionist of great reknown. Back in the fifties, he was the guy all the singing superstars wanted as their opening act…and at age 90, he's still at it. Last Thursday in New York, he appeared at Standup NY, a club on W. 78th St. Amazingly, he was not the oldest comedian on the bill. Professor Irwin Corey, who's closing in on 100, was.

Then on September 11 here in Hollywood, Mr. Storch is doing what is being billed thusly…

Comedy Legend Larry Storch makes his final Los Angeles stand-up comedy appearance back where it all began 60 years ago. Before it was The Comedy Store, it was the fabled Ciro's nightclub. This stage was the spot where Larry Storch made his first professional comedy appearance after serving in World War II. Larry returns one more time, with the help of some very special guests, to say good-bye to L.A.!

And one of those special guests will, I'm told, be Ken Berry. Tickets are on sale here and I already have two of them. Thanks to my pal Jeff Abraham for letting me know about an evening I sure don't want to miss.