The Late Show

This ran here on 8/15/10. It's another one of those posts I should probably rerun every few years…

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For a few months now, I've been in private correspondence with a gent who's fairly new to the art 'n' craft of writing comic books. He's sold a number of things and seen them published…and he'd hoped that by this time, his career would have picked up some momentum and he wouldn't still be scrounging for assignments like an absolute beginner. That has not happened. His old credits have not led to new ones and his dream — to give up his non-writing day job and become a full-time professional author — appears more remote than ever.

Many e-mails have been exchanged and we got to talk for a bit at San Diego. He suggested I quote here, so all could read them, some things I wrote to him in recent messages. I edited hunks of a few messages together and made a few changes so it makes more sense yanked out of the context of our back-and-forth…and here 'tis, for whatever it may be worth to someone. This is me writing advice to a friend who's having career trouble…

Your problem, pure and simple, is that you were late with your work. It is all well and good to rationalize, "Well, it's more important that I deliver a good script than that I deliver it according to some editor's schedule"…and yes, there are times when a deadline is utterly arbitrary and they tell you they need it in June when they aren't going to do a damn thing with it until August. But not all deadlines are like that and to let a real one go by unattended is a luxury that we rarely have in the writing game, especially when in a new relationship. There are times even then when they can give you an extra two weeks. There are also times when they can't…or when to give you that two weeks means taking it away from your collaborators; i.e., the artist is going to have to draw the comic in three weeks instead of the five he expected to have.

You may also have harmed his income. He expected to have that script next Tuesday. He planned his life and maybe turned down other work so he could start drawing your script then, plus he counted on being paid for it by the time his next mortgage payment is due. But because of you, he has nothing to draw next week and no way to make money on the days he cleared to draw your script…and he may have to turn down the assignment he was going to do after he finished your script because he's now not going to be done with it when he expected to be. Ask anyone who's worked in comics for a few years and they'll gladly unload a tirade of anecdotes about how someone else's lateness screwed up their lives and maybe even prevented them from doing their best work.

There is nothing noble about being late, nothing that suggests your work is better because you fussed longer with it and did that extra draft. Creative folks can meet deadlines and still be creative. Laurence Olivier somehow managed to be on stage when the curtain went up at 8 PM. He didn't tell them to have the audience come back at 9:30 because he needed more prep time to give the best possible performance. You can do good work and get it in when it's supposed to be in…or reasonably close to it. (When I write here of being late, I'm not talking about being a day or so late or even of skirting phantom deadlines. I'm talking about being late on a real deadline such that it causes problems.)

In San Diego, you went on and on about how [name of his editor on a recent project] had screwed you up by not answering questions or getting you certain reference materials you needed or…well, I'm sorry but my brain tuned-out after a certain amount of that. But let's say you're right. Let's say he is a bloody incompetent who couldn't handle his end of things. That does not give you special dispensation to be late. It's not like "He did these things wrong so I'm allowed to do some things wrong." If his actions made it impossible for you to meet the agreed-upon deadline then you should have told him that at the time and worked out a new, realistic deadline. (One thing I've learned to do: If someone hires me to write something that I can't start until they send me a piece of reference, I don't agree to deliver by a specific date. I agree to deliver X days after I receive the reference material. The clock starts ticking when I can start, not when they hire me to start. It minimizes the problem you had.)

If you don't renegotiate the deadline, you should still meet it. Why? Because it's professional and because it gives you standing. I'm going to tell you something I've learned in more than four decades of professional writing for a pretty wide array of media and editors and producers: On any project, you should never expect to win an argument about anything unless your work is more-or-less on-time. If you're late to the point of creating production problems, you lose some or all of your rights even if it's someone else's fault. If the work is on time, you have standing to complain about what others do to your script, you can debate changes that the boss wants to make, etc. If the work is late, you lose a large chunk of the moral authority to say, "This needs to be fixed."

Two other things about being on time. When you're late, it's the easiest thing in the world to have a good reason why it isn't your fault. I know writers who are often tardy and they always have a good reason. Always. There's a power failure or a sick mother or a dental emergency — and they aren't fibbing. I used to say of one writer I worked with, "His greatest skill is in having disasters occur when a deadline is looming."

Eventually, I thought of a clearer way to look at it. Disasters can and do happen to everyone — I've certainly had them interfere with my writing — but some folks make those situations more destructive to the schedule than necessary. I'm talking about the kind of person who, deep down, is always looking for reasons not to work. So if Mom gets sick or the computer's on the fritz, they immediately let that stop them. It doesn't always have to. There's a famous story they used to tell around the Marvel offices about the great New York blackout of 1965 when power was off everywhere for about twelve hours one evening. Most everyone showed up at the Marvel office the next morning without their homework, figuring they couldn't be expected to write or draw by candlelight. Stan Lee, however, came in with all his pages done, having labored by candlelight. And the point of the story was that Stan was amazed that everyone else hadn't done that. It had simply not occurred to him not to write even though he had a perfect excuse. Which is one of the reasons he's Stan Lee and you and I are not.

Disasters are also more likely to stop you if you're the kind of writer who puts things off 'til the last minute. If you have all of November to write a script and you don't start 'til the day after Thanksgiving, you're gambling. That guy I said was really good at having disasters occur when a deadline was looming…I think that was his problem. He wasn't to blame when that car hit him two days before the script was due. But he was to blame for not starting on the script until three days before it was due.

The other thing I need to say is this: Don't get mad at other people because you're late. Don't get mad at people who may have contributed to your being late and especially don't get mad at people who didn't. I did this a lot when I was starting out. Secretly, I was angry at myself for screwing up but I couldn't cope with that so I found ways to direct that anger at others — at my editor, at my collaborators, at innocent bystanders even. Far better to be mad at them than mad at me. But I learned…and while I still occasionally still make that mistake, I don't make it for very long. Ultimately, it's a much easier problem to correct if you're clear on who's responsible for it.

You made a bad mistake being late with your first few jobs. I tell beginning writers, "Never get a reputation for unreliability. You will never lose it," which is an exaggeration but only a slight one. What you need to do now is cultivate the opposite rep and maybe, just maybe, the new one will trump the old one. If not…well, you just may have to look for another career. I'd check into jobs at United Airlines. Based on my last few flights with them, I'd venture you can make a good living there if you're always late.

Today's Video Link

This Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of a rather large controversy: The time Roseanne Barr — then one of the hottest stars on television — sang a dreadful rendition of our national anthem to kick off a San Diego Padres baseball game. Keith Olbermann recalls the incident and explains how he had a lot to do with it becoming a nationwide outrage…

Typo of the Day

Yes, two posts back I went to write that some people had decided Bill Cosby was a slimeball and I typed "smileball." I have fixed it. The mistake was reported by fourteen of you — or as Donald Trump would report it, 15,000 people.

However, in the above sentence when I went to write the word I intended to write originally, I typed "smileball" then deleted it and typed "smileball" again and then typed "smileball" again. It took me several tries to get it right. My fingers kept insisting on typing "smileball."

Let me practice here for a moment: slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball smileball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball slimeball.

There. Next time there's a reason to use that word — probably next time I write about political stuff — I'll get it right. I don't want to look like a bumdass.

Oh, wait. I got it wrong once in that big paragraph above. Can you find it?

This Just In…

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This is kind of what this whole Trump for President campaign is about. I don't think the guy has a clue how to run the country and I don't think he thinks it's even necessary to prove that he does or to explain what he would do other than to say, "I'll handle it." I also don't think voters are ever going to let him get close to having to deliver on any of his brags.

But he's really good at making the election be all about him. I wouldn't get a bulletin like that if Rick Santorum was speaking at the border. Maybe if he was crossing it as part of leaving the country forever…but not speaking there.

Cos and Effect

Forgive me for bringing up the Cosby matter again but I'm sorry. It's on my mind. The New York Times says his legal team has a three-point objective…

…the team's strategy is to proceed on three broad fronts: 1) to cast Mr. Cosby's use of drugs during sex as a widely accepted practice four decades ago; 2) to assert that his testimony does not change his consistent denials that he did anything criminally wrong; and 3) to argue that it was a mistake for the court documents to be released.

Working backwards: It seems to me that #3 is a waste of time in terms of public opinion. No one who decided Cosby was guilty (or even just a slimeball) based on those releases is going to take that decision back because the documents were improperly released. I'm guessing they might be able to make those documents inadmissible in certain future legal battles but maybe not. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube and so forth.

#2 is interesting because we seem to have moved from Cosby insisting he did nothing wrong to Cosby insisting he did nothing criminally wrong. In a time when we can all name things that are legal that we all know should not be legal, that also may not matter much to public opinion. This bullet point sounds to me like the defense for civil cases pending and yet to come. But it didn't help either O.J. Simpson or Robert Blake to argue in civil suits that they hadn't been found guilty or done the deeds of which they were accused.

And #1 brings to mind the parental scold, "Just because others do it doesn't make it right." I guess he's going to argue here that the women had sex with with him willingly and that they took the drugs willingly to get in the mood and that they weren't under the influence of those drugs when they consented to the sex with the older, powerful, wealthy celebrity who dangled career possibilities and then offered the drugs to them. Good luck convincing a jury on that one.

Seems to me Mr. Cosby and his minions have three possible goals here: They're fighting for his reputation, they're fighting for his money or they're fighting for his freedom. Obviously, they'd like to win on all three but I'd say his reputation is gone for good. Proving he technically isn't guilty of some of what's being said about him is not going to restore his position as a God of Comedy. There's too much of a stench around this man for that to happen.

Is he worried about going to prison? Right now, maybe not. I mean, there could be women out there who were drugged 'n' raped within the Statute of Limitations…women upon whom a solid case could be mounted if they came forward. But if there are, we haven't heard about them.

There are, however, women who can file civil cases against him. Some have…and while it might seem to be cheaper to pay them off than to fight them in court, Cosby and his attorneys could be worried that if one or two get payoffs, they'll all connect with lawyers willing to handle their cases on contingency. So far, around 40 women have claimed that Cosby molested them. That's a lot of women to settle with…and their number probably wouldn't stop there.

I may be way overthinking this but I'm imagining Cosby listing for his lawyers as many women as he can remember who could possibly claim what the 40 or so have claimed. I'm imagining that being a very long list and the attorneys telling him, "If a few dozen have come forward when they get verbal abuse but no money, think how many of them will get in line when the country is for the most part believing them and others are each collecting a few million dollars from you."

So that could get really expensive in terms of both settlements and legal fees…and a lot more women coming forward is only going to bury his reputation deeper and deeper. Not only that but more victims coming forward could also lead to the emergence of one or more in that "within the Statue of Limitations" category. Maybe the guy is worried about winding up in the slammer.

Bill…if that does happen, one word of advice: I wouldn't wander around the prison courtyard wearing the "Hello Friend" sweatshirt.

Today's Video Link

Here's a musical number from a John Wayne TV special that features a lot of familiar faces. Leonard Maltin sent this link to me…

Another Story You Won't Believe

I posted this here on August 17, 2010 and I probably should post it every five years because so many people are fascinated by this story. And yes, it's true. Absolutely true…

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As close friends of mine will attest, things happen to me…bizarre coincidences that defy common or even uncommon logic. Back in this post, I told a story about an amazing one that involved a wonderful friend of mine, Kristine Greco. Kristine figured into another incredible bit of impossible synchronicity in my life. I told the tale recently to a friend of mine who suggested it belonged on this blog so okay, here it is. If I didn't know me as well as I do, I might have a tough time buying it…

I started writing professionally in 1969…mostly magazine articles. The following year, I began writing comic books and in 1976, I broke into television work, teamed with a clever gent named Dennis Palumbo who I've mentioned here often. Our most lucrative gig was the one season we did as story editors of the TV series, Welcome Back, Kotter. It was an amazing experience — fun, educational, prestigious, even lucrative. (It was the last time I knew I was making more money than John Travolta.) It was also an exhausting job that merely consumed every waking moment of my life. For months, I could be found either at the ABC Studios or at Gabe Kaplan's house, getting home only long enough to sleep, shower and dash back to one of those two venues to write and rewrite and then rewrite the rewrites.

In the final weeks of that season, Dennis and I decided amicably to go in separate career directions and neither one of us wanted to go back and do another year of Kotter. It was pretty much the same reason that neither of us wanted to sit around in the hot sun all day breaking cinder blocks over our heads. I wasn't sure exactly what I did want to do but I knew it wasn't another season of that show, however beneficial the job had been.

Immediately following the taping of that season's final episode, there was a huge wrap party on the stage where, knowing I wouldn't be returning, I said my goodbyes to the cast and crew. Kristine was at the party since she had appeared several times in bit parts on the show and as an extra in Mr. Kotter's classroom. We had kept our relationship secret around the Kotter offices and stage because she didn't want anyone to think she'd gotten her job on the show by dating one of the writers. (In truth, that couldn't have been the case because she was hired on the show before I was.) We left the party around 2 AM and went back to my apartment.

The next morning, I woke up and realized something stunning: I was out of work. For the first time since I started writing for money, I had no assignment to write something for someone…and after my fatiguing year on Kotter, it felt good. I mentioned it to Kristine and she asked, "Well, if you could have any job in the world, what would it be?"

"That's too big a question to answer," I told her. "There are way too many possibilities."

"Then if you could get back any job you had in the past, what would it be?"

I thought for a few seconds and it was an easy answer. After all, at that point I hadn't had that many jobs. A few years earlier, I'd had a very brief-but-happy experience writing the Scooby Doo comic book for Gold Key Comics. The editor was a fine gentleman named Chase Craig, who was very nice to me and something of a mentor. The artist was one of my long-time favorites — also a fine gentleman — named Dan Spiegle. It was the first of many times Dan and I would be teamed up and every Scooby script I wrote for him was a challenge (for me) of the enjoyable kind. I had to figure out how to bring something different to that property and I had to write something that was reasonably close to worthy of being drawn by Dan Spiegle.

It was also the first time in my career I felt reasonably "in charge" of a comic. I'd written many by then but when I wrote Bugs Bunny, I was one of several guys writing Bugs Bunny, trying to roughly approximate the way everyone wrote Bugs Bunny. I was one of several guys writing Woody Woodpecker, etc. Even though I didn't consult with the others (or even know some of them) it felt highly collaborative. There's nothing wrong with collaborating on some projects but every so often, I get the urge to work alone; to create a finished product — at least, as "finished" as it gets at my end of the process — before others start discussing the joke on page eight or the plot twist on page eleven. Writing Bugs Bunny, as wonderful as the wabbit can be, I didn't feel free to interject my own sensibilites and to reshape the feature. But when I was writing Scooby Doo for Chase, I was the only person writing Scooby Doo for Chase. I'm not thrilled with those stories today but I sure enjoyed them then…and so I felt a great sense of loss when Gold Key decided not to renew their license with Hanna-Barbera, thereby ending the comic.

After all those months on Kotter — discussing every line with the producers, every line with the director, every line with the cast members, every line with the network — I guess I wanted that feeling again. So I told Kristine that what I would do if I had such a magic wish was to write Scooby Doo comics for Chase Craig to edit, Dan Spiegle to draw and Gold Key to publish. That would not be my choice today but it was on that morning. She said, "Well, why don't you call up and see if you can get that job back?"

"Would that I could," I told her…and I then explained that (a) Chase Craig had retired, so that let him out of the mix, and I didn't get along with his successor at Gold Key; (b) Dan Spiegle was now busily working for DC Comics; and (c) Gold Key no longer published any Hanna-Barbera comics. Another company, Charlton, now had the license and for a wide array of reasons, I didn't want to work for Charlton. So going back to that was simply not possible.

She shrugged and we went on to other topics. It was less than a half-hour later that my phone rang and there on the other end of the line was Chase…

"Hey, I've come out of retirement to edit a small line of comics for Hanna-Barbera. They've taken the license away from Charlton and we're doing them here out of the studio. One of the four books we're doing is Scooby Doo and I managed to get Spiegle to draw it. He asked if there was any way you could be persuaded to write it.  I know you're busy working in television now…"

I asked him what the other three comics were. He said they were The Flintstones, Yogi Bear and Dynomutt. I asked him who he had writing them. He replied, "Well, no one yet. I'm just getting started on this project."

I said, "I'll write Scooby Doo if I can write the other three, as well."

He said, "You got 'em. Hey, you free for lunch today?"

The above-quoted conversation with Kristine occurred around 9:45 AM. The call from Chase was around 10:10. I met him for lunch at 12:30. And by 3 PM, I was home writing Scooby Doo comics for Chase that would be drawn by Dan Spiegle.

I've never believed that if you wish for something hard enough, it will happen. Quite the opposite. I think you have to make things happen or they usually don't. I know people who expend a lot of effort wishing for a dream…and since they confuse that with actually doing something about it, the dream doesn't have much of a chance. But in this case — and admittedly, this was a pretty small dream — I didn't lift a finger to make it happen because I didn't think it could. And it not only happened, it happened right on cue. Literally, as I rolled out of bed, it was there waiting for me.

It turned out to be a very nice bit of employment. After a year or so, the H-B comic book output was increased — more comics for America but also comics to be printed overseas. We never (for instance) did a Jabberjaw comic book for this country because the show was no longer airing here. But it was on in France so we did Jabberjaw comics that were translated and printed in France. Chase, who didn't want to work that hard, had them hire me as the editor of everything he wasn't doing. Not long after, he decided to take his retirement back into full-time mode and suddenly, I was the editor of Hanna-Barbera's comic book division. I did that for about six years while writing other things for them and other studios. One of these days, I'll post some tales here about that chapter of my silly existence.

And I'll tell more stories about the odd coincidences that have dotted that existence. I don't understand why they happen, either. I briefly thought they had something to do with hanging about Kristine but then realized they started before that…and they've continued since we broke up late in the seventies. I know these occur in lives other than mine (no need to write and tell me yours) but I guess they just feel more amazing when they happen to you.

Today on Stu's Show!

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David Koenig is Stu Shostak's guest today (Wednesday) on Stu's Show, that great podcast on which you can hear folks in and around show business interrogated by Stu. David has written a book that may be of interest to many of you. It's called The People V. Disneyland: How Lawsuits & Lawyers Transformed the Magic. Quite simply, it's a book about all the times people have tried to sue Disneyland, usually to no good end. According to the blurbs for it, Koenig "chronicles 60 years of tumbles, attraction mishaps, ticket scams, attacks by security guards and costumed characters, disability disputes, and employees who turned on their employer. Sometimes the allegations convinced Disney to change its operations, usually secretly. Other times, they stuck by their guns, convinced the claims were bogus." Sounds like something I'd like to read and hear about. That's an Amazon link to order it that I just gave you.

Stu's Show can be heard live (almost) every Wednesday at the Stu's Show website and you can listen for free there. Webcasts start at 4 PM Pacific Time, 7 PM Eastern and other times in other climes. They run a minimum of two hours and sometimes go to three or beyond. Shortly after a show ends, it's available for downloading from the Archives on that site. Downloads are a measly 99 cents each and you can get four for the price of three.  And please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

My Latest Tweet

  • The attacks so far on Bernie Sanders all seemed based on the assumption that very few Americans know what the word "socialist" means.

Tom Moore, R.I.P.

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Tom Moore, one of the artists for the Archie comic books, died Monday morning at the age of 86. Moore, a native of El Paso in Texas, got his start in cartooning during the Korean War while he was serving in the Navy, drawing for military publications. He later studied under Burne Hogarth and others at the Cartoonist and Illustrator School in New York and soon got part-time work, like many students there, assisting artist Tom Gill who also taught at the school.

Before long, Moore got a job drawing Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the gang. That was in 1953 and he drew them, with occasional time away, until the late eighties. A lot of his early work for the company was on Archie's Joke Book, where he wrote gags as well as illustrating them. He continued assisting Gill and working occasionally for other companies (he reportedly did some Mutt & Jeff comics for Western Publishing in the late fifties) but Archie was his main account. He also for a time worked on the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith newspaper strip.

Archie fans loved Moore's renditions of the characters and mourn his loss. So do his many students in El Paso, where he had been teaching art in recent years. He was quite the cartoonist.

Trump on the Stump

Donald Trump did his now-infamous trashing of John McCain's military service at a rally staged by the the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa. According to Byron York, those remarks were the lesser of two things Trump said there that troubled the attendees.

York says the greater problem for Trump was that he failed to sound like a born-again Christian with a deep, personal relationship with God. That's what a lot of those voters came to hear. A large part of the G.O.P. base doesn't care a lot what a candidate would do in office. They care about him being properly religious their way, and presume that if he is, he'll do what's right.

That's yet another reason Trump will never be their nominee. Can you imagine him crediting all his success to anyone but himself? He'll probably try it in some manner but he sure won't convince anyone he means it.

Today's Video Link

Two years ago on this blog, I linked to a clip of a short comedy and introduced it this way…

When you think of great comedy teams, certain names come to mind: Laurel & Hardy. Abbott & Costello. The Three Stooges. Nixon & Agnew. And of course, Biffle & Shooster.

Most of you are familiar with Biffle & Shooster but just in case there's someone reading this who isn't: Benny Biffle and Sam Shooster were a popular vaudeville comedy team and they starred in approximately twenty two-reel comedy shorts in the thirties, ending with the classic, It's a Frame-Up. That last one was once thought to be a "lost" treasure but the noted film producer-historian Michael Schlesinger located and, at great personal expense, restored the film and it is now available for viewing. In fact, Mike may have done too good a job of restoration…

The print is so good that folks unfamiliar with movie history think it was shot recently; that Biffle & Shooster weren't classic comedians of the thirties but that Mike wrote, produced and directed a film in that style. And it's true that Biffle looks somewhat like the current-day comic actor Nick Santa Maria and Shooster bears more than a passing resemblance to my pal, Will Ryan. But I also know Mike and know that he has way too much integrity to phony-up a film in the classic tradition and try to pass it off as an older masterpiece…and besides, he wouldn't get away with it.

Amazingly, Mike has continued to uncover lost Biffle & Shuster comedies — so many that he's now assembling an entire program of them. Here's a preview of this fine compilation that I hope will be playing soon at a theater near you. Their comedy is so fresh, you'd think these films were shot in the last two years…

Recommended Reading

A lot of people are outraged at Donald Trump's belittling of John McCain's military service. As Joe Conason notes, some of those who are outraged have had no problem with attacks on the military records of their political opponents.

The Rumor Mill

Keith Olbermann is leaving ESPN. Rumor has it he may be back on MSNBC. I dunno if I believe that…or other rumors that he'll be paired, back-to-back, with a show starring Brian Williams.

Either one might cause me to watch that channel again. I haven't for a long, long time…and neither has almost anyone else.

Daisy 'n' Hoke

For some reason, I didn't warm to the 1989 film version of Alfred Uhry's play, Driving Miss Daisy. It won a ton of awards including the Oscar for Best Picture but when I saw it in a theater, it felt very talky and predictable to me. The folks on the screen seemed like actors performing a script and the emotional turns they were making seemed obvious and uninteresting.

This was obviously a minority viewpoint…but I have those about a number of acclaimed films. Sometimes, I say so out loud and sometimes, I keep my opinion to myself because it really upsets some people if you don't love that which they love. (You should see some of the outraged mail I've gotten from people who love cole slaw and apparently think I will someday get it banned so they cannot enjoy it anymore. I mean, they're right. I will. But they're just so nasty about it.)

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Because I do like Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones, I made a point of TiVoing and watching the new PBS Great Performances production of the play and I did like that. I'm not suggesting Lansbury and Jones are better actors than Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman from the movie — seeing the show staged as a play before a live audience may have been the key difference for me — but I felt more chemistry and more interest in Miss Daisy and Hoke Colburn. Your mileage, as they say in automotive ads and strip clubs, may vary.

I especially liked watching James Earl Jones, an actor I've always liked — which is not to say I've ever disliked anything about Ms. Lansbury. But I thought Jones was just so good.

He's a nice person, too. One day at a Garfield voice recording session, he was working in the adjoining studio and we got to talking in the area where they have refreshments and snacks. That man has one of the greatest laughs I've ever heard — deep and rich and from the heart and belly. I kept trying to think of funny things I could say to him just so I could hear that laugh.

Then, to my surprise, he asked if we ever had a role in Garfield that he could do. I think I offered to let him play anything he wanted, even if it meant firing Lorenzo Music…but, well aware he was one of the highest-paid announcer-types in the business, I warned him we only paid scale to guest stars. He said, "That doesn't matter. You just all seem like you're having so much fun in there, I want to be a part of it." He was in town the next three weeks and if we were recording again during that time — and we were — he would be glad to come in and play any part I wrote. Guess what I wrote the next day.

What a delight. The other actors were, of course, thrilled. And I remember him being very respectful to them all and even a bit timid, since he was aware they were all more experienced at this particular type of acting than he was. Someplace in there is one explanation as to why he's such a fine actor.

So I'm recommending the PBS version of Driving Miss Daisy, which reruns several times on most PBS channels (check your listing) in the next week or three. You may have to search for Great Performances to find it…and believe me, it lives up to that name.

Oh, hell. I'll make it even easier for those of you who have good Internet connections. I'll embed the video here so you can enjoy it. I did…

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