Yearly Archives: 2015

Leonard Maltin — for my money, the best film critic/historian in the biz — and I have been friends since about 1982…or in movie terms, since the year Rocky III was released. We have a lot in common but I didn't realize how much until the other day when I read this article he posted about the Laurel and Hardy appreciation society, The Sons of the Desert. Obviously, we share a love for Stan and Ollie but I knew that. What startled me was then I read this paragraph he wrote…

One of the turning points of my young life was the publication of John McCabe's loving biography Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy in 1961. Having grown up watching Laurel and Hardy on TV every day, I was eager to learn about my favorite comedy team and I devoured the book. In fact, every time I returned it to my local library I waited a day and checked it out again.

In 1997, I wrote this article about my love of Laurel and Hardy. Here's an excerpt…

In 1961, John McCabe wrote Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy — at the time, the definitive book on Stan and Ollie. It must have been definitive because it was the only one. Today, there have been around two dozen — I have them all — but McCabe's is still the best. (For the nuts 'n' bolts of their filmmaking, I highly recommend Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies by Randy Skretvedt.)

In 1964, when I was a dozen years of age, I heard about the McCabe book and began a desperate search for a copy. This was no easy feat, for it was then out of print and near-impossible to find. I hit every second-hand bookstore in town and even put the L.A. Public Library System to work, hunting for a loaner. They had none but their primitive computer system claimed that the big branch of the Beverly Hills Public Library definitely had one (1) copy on its shelves.

We lived just outside Beverly Hills but my Aunt Dot resided well within the city limits. So I could get my mitts on this book, she helped me lie that her address was my address, and the Beverly Hills Public Library issued me a card. The day I went in to use it, I felt like someone sneaking into Fort Knox with forged credentials to pull off the crime of the century. I actually put on good clothes, the better to pass for someone who lived in Beverly Hills. Though nervous and scared, I somehow managed to check out their one copy without having some librarians haul me off to a back room and work me over.

The book was well worth all that I had gone through, affording me a new insight into the lives and work of my two favorite comedians. I read it over and over and over. Then, when the two weeks were up, I took it back to the Beverly Hills Library and renewed it for two more weeks and I continued to read it over and over and over. I was heartbroken when the second two weeks ran out. They wouldn't let you renew a book a second time — and, believe me, I asked.

I briefly contemplated reporting it as lost and paying the fine but I was too honest. Fibbing about my residence was as far into the world of crime as I was willing to descend. Besides, I knew that if they started grilling me, I would crack under the pressure and spill my guts. I had to take the book back.

Fortunately, I discovered a loophole in their system. Once you'd returned a book, no rule said you couldn't check it out again.

I turned the copy back in, waited around until they returned it to the shelf, then picked it out and marched it up to the checkout counter. Two weeks later, I took it back and renewed it again. Then when that term expired, I took it back and waited for someone to replace it on the shelves…and so on. I actually managed to keep that book checked out for around six months, or until I finally located my own copy in a used book shop in Santa Monica.

It's pretty much the same thing except Leonard didn't have to get his aunt to suborn perjury to get his mitts on a copy of that life-changing book. Actually, I guess it was lives-changing (plural) and I'll bet Leonard's and mine weren't the only lives it changed.

By the way: I mentioned Randy Skretvedt's fine book on Laurel and Hardy. Randy is soon to release a new, more-comprehensive version of his it, improving upon what was already the best book possible on its topic. Many years ago, a publisher asked me to write a history of Laurel and Hardy and I said yes but was too busy to ever get around to it. I'm now glad I never did it because it would have been about one eight-thousandth as complete and accurate as the books Randy has written.

I'll let you know when his new one comes out. McCabe's book is outta-print but you can pick up a used copy cheap on Amazon. It's more personal than the Skretvedt book but not as deep into the details of their filmmaking. A true L&H fan should have them both.

Dan Gheno, who as you may recall teaches art and has a fine book out on figure drawing, has graciously agreed to abandon his career and become a full-time, unpaid reporter for this blog, reporting on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. Almost 24/7, he stands at the ready outside with camera to document how they change what's up there.

At the moment, it's an ad for Angelo's, the adjoining Italian restaurant. Stay tuned to this site for more late-breaking news on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

Twelve years ago, BBC Radio did a nice half-hour documentary telling the story of the romantic (and business) relationship of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. For the month of July, you can hear it at this site.

Two or three of my good friends are devout Lucy aficianados who knew her and loved her personally and professionally. This has occasionally made for awkward conversations since I was never a huge fan of the lady. I certainly respected her accomplishments but never really saw the comedic greatness that others saw.

It was not her gender. I adored Imogene Coca, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller, Thelma Todd, Mabel Normand, Joan Davis, Totie Fields and many others. I even liked I Love Lucy, though mostly because of Desi Arnaz, William Frawley and the writing. I think part of my problem with Lucy was that I rarely liked the character she played on-screen. I thought Lucy Ricardo — as with the later Lucies she played on her subsequent shows — was a non-adorable troublemaker who usually caused unnecessary problems for her friends and loved ones. But I'm sure mine is a (tiny) minority viewpoint.

Hey, did I ever tell the story of the one time I met Lucy? This would have been around 1978 or so. I took my friend Kristine to see another very funny woman — Lily Tomlin, who was doing her one-woman show at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Hollywood. I don't know how but I got great seats — third row on the aisle, as I recall. I was on the aisle in Seat 1, Kristine was in Seat 2…then just as the lights dimmed before the show started, two security guards escorted in Lucille Ball and her husband Gary Morton. We got up and moved out into the aisle briefly so they could get to Seats 3 and 4.

Ms. Tomlin was wonderful…truly wonderful. If you've never seen a full performance by this woman, you can't begin to understand how good she is. And that's all I think I need to say about her.

At intermission, Kristine, Mr. and Mrs. Morton and I all remained in our seats. An employee of the theater came down the aisle, leaned across us and told Lucy, "Miss Tomlin asked me to find out if it's all right with you if she introduces you in her curtain speech." Gary in Seat 3 said it would be fine and Lucy in Seat 4 scolded him a bit for answering for her. Then she told the theater employee that it would be fine and the employee departed.

I'd been looking for an opening to speak to them so I leaned over and said to Lucy and Gary, "That's not because you're a legendary star. Lily Tomlin has this custom in her shows. She introduces all the heterosexual couples in the audience."

Gary and Lucy both laughed, then Lucy glanced about at the audience and said, "That won't take long."

After the formal part of the show was over, Lily Tomlin introduced a number of celebrities in the audience, saving Rip Taylor for next-to-last and Lucy and Gary for the final and biggest bow. Lucy got a tremendous ovation and I also liked that Gary got some love.

I also recall the shocked look on the face of the man in Seat 5 who had been sitting next to Lucille Ball for the entire show and somehow not noticed. He had, however, noticed Rip Taylor a few rows back. Then again, Rip Taylor had done everything short of throwing confetti and hauling out an electronic megaphone to announce, "HEY, IT'S ME, RIP TAYLOR!!!"

Immediately upon the final curtain, the security guards were back to escort Lucy and Gary out. Kristine and I tried to get out first but the guards for some reason insisted that we stay seated even though that meant Gary and then Lucy had to climb out over us. As she stumbled over me, Lucy said, "She didn't introduce you two."

Does anyone still think Bill Cosby is innocent of all the charges against him?

Does anyone still think Bill Cosby is innocent of all the charges against him after reading this?

The California State Legislature has a proposal before it to allow doctor-assisted life-ending and I'm skeptical it will pass. Then again, I was skeptical that my lifetime I'd see a black president, legal gay marriage or the slightest interest in Ant-Man.

I have long been for this and after going through the last years of my mother's life — and seeing so many people like her suffering with no chance of getting better — I am even more for it. My friend Kevin Drum says it's being blocked largely by pressure from the Catholic church and he goes on to say…

If they believe that suicide is a sin, that's fine. They should forbid suicide among Catholics. But I'm not Catholic, and it's no sin for me. So go mind your own business, folks, and represent the will of all Californians, who overwhelmingly support bringing our state into the 21st century.

This is going to be another one of those arguments where people insist on "religious freedom," defining it as their right to not have to see the world not run in accordance with their religion. And we'll probably see someone somewhere point to this proposal and say, "See? They want to set up those Death Panels we warned you about!"

An interim episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver…

I think Barack Obama has been a good president but there are many things about this administration that bother me, mostly having to do with espionage and drone strikes. Matt Taibbi runs through some of them as he reviews the surprising number of recent accomplishments by a man who'd been written off as a lame duck.

This was posted here Christmas Day of 2009…

The Comics Journal website has posted an interesting conversation between cartoonists Stan Sakai and Chris Schweizer that's well worth your attention. And I can't resist expanding on the following, which was said by Stan…

When I was doing freelance work I met Sergio Aragonés, and he invited me to a C.A.P.S. meeting, The Comic Arts Professional Society. It was an organization of print cartoonists started by Sergio, Mark Evanier, and Don Rico. There are so many comic-book artists in the Los Angeles area, but we never socialized. I joined the second year. I was told that the first meeting was in a church in Hollywood, and it was booked right after the Gay Christians Organization or something like that.

The first two C.A.P.S. meetings were held in June of 1977 at the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church up on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, near where Don Rico and his wife Michele were then living. They went there occasionally and knew the minister, who was a flamboyant man named Dr. Ross Greek. On their suggestion, I went up to see him and check out the meeting room he had there.

Dr. Greek, I later learned, was a true mover/shaker of the area. He'd spent much of his life running this and other churches, usually staying only slightly ahead of financial ruin. He had an admirable track record for taking in kids (runaways, especially) who were homeless and/or on drugs and helping them clean up, straighten out and just plain survive. He was also a founder of something called the Lazarus Project, which has been described as "a ministry of reconciliation between the church and the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community." He passed away in 1995 and is still revered in that community.

He was an energetic, happy man who was somehow doing about eleven things at once that day. One of them was showing me the hall they had there…a facility, he said, that was open to any sort of group that looked like it might do anybody any good, no donation required. I decided it would be a decent place for this group we were trying to start and gave him $50 — which from his reaction was a lot more than anyone else had donated lately. When, I asked him, might the room be available?

He led me over to a wall calendar, studied it and said, "Well, we could squeeze you in on Thursday nights between the Lesbian Softball Team and the Alcoholic Gays." I said that would be fine and he took a pen and wrote us in…so the calendar then said…

Lesbian Softball Team
Comic Book Artists
Alcoholic Gays

…and I wondered if anyone was going to look at that calendar and say, "You're letting comic book artists meet here?"

Penn & Teller: Fool Us starts its second season tomorrow evening on the CW Network. If you've never seen this series, a quick rundown…

The idea is to fool Penn and Teller. Magicians come out and try to perform some trick that neither Mr. Penn nor Mr. Teller can figure out. This is not easy, especially the part about fooling Mr. Teller, as he is quite the expert on how illusions are performed. If the duo can't figure out how it was done, the magician who fooled them wins bragging rights and I'm not sure what else. If not…well, better luck next time.

The show debuted in 2011 on ITV in Great Britain, hosted by my buddy, British TV superstar Jonathan Ross. It did well but not well enough that anyone wanted to make more episodes. It looked for a long time like there would be no more. Then last year, the CW Network picked up those 2011 episodes and aired them to great response. I have a little bragging right of my own there because the person who told the CW Network execs about the series was me.

The shows did well enough that they ordered more so 13 additional episodes have been taped. Unlike the first series for which Penn and Teller had to commute to England, these were shot at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas where they are in permanent residence. They're not there now but that's because they're about to open a limited run on Broadway.

Anyway, like I said, Penn & Teller: Fool Us debuts on the CW tomorrow night. One of the magicians attempting to fool you-know-who will be another friend of mine, Jon Armstrong. Jon is my occasional magic tutor and one of the best guys in his field. Tune in and see if he fools them. I'll bet he'll fool you.

Here's a video about how to do Comic-Con correctly. Some of it won't apply to you — I've somehow gotten through 47 of these without ever feeling the need to don a backpack — but a lot of it will. It is important to pace yourself and to prep for the event. The most important thing I think they omit is to prepare a list in advance of panels you want to see and areas of the exhibit hall you wish to visit.

Note what they say about how people sometimes attend the panel before the one they want to see just to get a good seat. I think it was last year at Quick Draw! where on a whim, I asked the audience how many of them just sat through the previous panel so they could make sure they got in for Quick Draw! More than half the hands in the room went up. An awful lot of people attend Quick Draw! and then my Saturday Cartoon Voices panel as a double feature.

There's very little turnover in the room between them. This is because I've learned the secret of how to draw big crowds to your panels at Comic-Con: Pack them with people who are more talented than you are. Here's the video…

Here is the third part of that list of songs that Stephen Sondheim wishes he'd written.

What one notes is that for the most part, the songs he covets are ones that work in the precise context of the shows. These are not a lot of songs that someone could just sing in a cabaret act without a bit of explanation setting up the storylines.

The quality of artwork is going way down. Where? On the fake drawings that people try to sell on eBay these days. Some of the forgers used to show real talent as they traced a drawing by Al Williamson or Charles Schulz or Bill Watterson, signed the guy's name to it and offered it for sale as real. There are still a few good ones that could almost fool an expert but some of these…geez. Really awful.

Amazingly, some of the worst ones come from Certificates of Authenticity. As I understand it, the premise behind the Certificate of Authenticity is that while a forger might possibly be able to forge a Frank Frazetta drawing, he couldn't possibly forge a Certificate of Authenticity. Some frauds take the easy way out and just give you a Certificate of Authenticity they make up that doesn't have any sort of expert or recognized authority behind it.

And amazingly, sometimes organizations that have some credibility have someone on their staff who doesn't know what a real Steve Ditko drawing looks like. There are bogus drawings with real Certificates of Authenticity attached. Just the other day on eBay, someone paid several hundred dollars for a properly-certified fake that shouldn't have fooled Quincy Magoo, let alone a self-proclaimed expert.

I do not get involved in certifying drawings or signatures. There's nothing in it for me except annoyance because some people get really, really angry when you tell them that their Guaranteed Authentic Jack Kirby Drawing for which they paid megabucks is not by Jack Kirby…or at least, not by that Jack Kirby. More than once, I've been accused of being in cahoots with some guy I never heard of to work some sort of scam that makes no sense at all. So I won't give you my opinion of a given drawing but I will warn you: There are fakes aplenty out there. Be real wary.

You should stick with drawings and autographs like the one above in a Peanuts book which is current being offered on eBay. In fact, this one is probably very collectible. There aren't many autographs out there which Charles Schulz did in someone else's handwriting. And what makes it even more valuable is that he somehow managed to misspell his own name.

Recently, the San Diego Union-Tribune polled its readers to find out which of two local institutions was more important to the city — the Chargers or Comic-Con International.

As of the publication of this article, 3,327 votes has been tallied and almost 60 percent of voters (1,937) said Comic-Con was more important while only 1,390 went for the Chargers. That's not a scientific poll but I'll betcha the Chargers move out of San Diego before Comic-Con does.

Now on the other hand, if the Chargers had women walking around dressed as Princess Leia and Zatanna…

This is real short but it's a good way to conclude a safe and sane Fourth…even if it does have candy corn in it. Thanks to Brian Saner Lamken for suggesting it for this site…

People are always quoting the Founding Fathers — sometimes, not accurately — to support their political positions. See if you can tell the true quotes from the fake ones by taking this quiz.