Yearly Archives: 2015

• Trader Joe's has 418 stores in the U.S. Shouldn't they collectively have more than 900 parking spaces?

I like a lot of the political articles on Salon but often feel their entertainment writers don't understand the business they're covering. An exception would be when they run long interviews. They've launched a series of conversations with folks who were once on Saturday Night Live, and they seem to be focusing on the ones who haven't been interviewed much. The first one was with Nora Dunn and they've just posted one with Gary Kroeger. Mr. Kroeger, by the way, is running for Congress and he talks a little about that in the piece.

Here's a clip from the September 2002 Actors Fund Benefit in New York. It's unlikely anyone would ever cast Lillias White to play Fanny Brice in a "real" production of Funny Girl but she sure knows how to sing this song from it…

Those of you who never liked Indiana governor Mike Pence should probably be pleased (and unsurprised) that his approval ratings have plunged since that debacle with that Religious Freedom Bigotry Restoration Act. I don't think he ever had much chance at the presidency before this but now he has about the same chance as Robert Durst…maybe a bit less.

Here's the thing: Pretty much everyone in this country has decided how they feel about Gay Marriage. If you're in favor of allowing it, you were never going to vote for Mike Pence because he's worked so much to stop it. But if you're opposed to Gay Marriage, you're also not going to vote for Mike Pence…now. You might tell pollsters you like him in order to back an anti-Gay Marriage crusader and therefore, his cause. But when it comes right down to it, you don't like the guy because he backed down on his position and his general ineptness at handling the whole matter scored a big win and a dose of empowerment for the other side. Way to go.

This year's Tony Awards nominations will be announced on April 28 by Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker. (Willis has never appeared on Broadway but is soon to open in a stage version of Misery.) The Tonys will be awarded and televised live on CBS on June 7 from Radio City Music Hall. So we know who's announcing the nominations, when the ceremony will be, where it will be held…

…but we still don't know who the host will be and that's unusual. It's 53 days until the show. Usually, that announcement would have come months ago.

The presumption is that CBS's first choice is Neil Patrick Harris. Maybe he doesn't want to host it because he's burned-out after the Oscars or maybe he wants to host it again to show the world he can still do a better job than he did on the Oscars. But then CBS has two other possible hosts to consider…

James Corden is a rising CBS star. He's won a Tony. He would be a charming host. It would sure promote him and The Late Late Show to have him do the honors.

Stephen Colbert is a future CBS star. He's never appeared on Broadway but he's done a lot of stage work and been on past Tony telecasts so few would argue he's an outsider to such a role. His Late Show won't start until September but it might not hurt to remind people he exists and he too would probably be a charming host.

And of course, there are other contenders. So what's the hold up in announcing one of these people?

Stu Shostak gets so many interesting people to appear on his weekly podcast that today, he has to interview them two at a time. One of his guests today is the fine actor and cabaret performer, Robert Clary. You probably remember him from his role on Hogan's Heroes…and he's the last surviving member of its cast. I assume Stu will be asking him about his new autobiography which covers not only his years on that program but way before that, in an actual German concentration camp. Those experiences alone should be worth two hours of Stu's Showing but there's another guest, also distinguished in the area of music and live performing. It's Brian Gari, who has also spent most of his life in show business. He's the grandson of the legendary Eddie Cantor (and the nephew of Mr. Clary) and a successful composer and songwriter. Listen in, then order Mr. Clary's book, From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes, and Mr. Gari's book, Close Encounters of the Celebrity Kind.

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 paltry 99 cents each and you can get four for the price of three. That's a lot of good listening for not a lot of loot.

Stephen Hawking sings the Monty Python "Galaxy Song"…

Here are 136 photos from The Late Show with David Letterman over the years. There are many photos of Bill Murray, many photos of sports stars, many photos of people being flown on wires, many photos of people riding horses…but if there was a decent shot in there of Paul Shaffer or Alan Kalter, I missed 'em.

Our pal Steve Stoliar wrote a piece for the Hollywood Reporter about the Gary Owens Memorial.

Hannibal Tabu covered the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at WonderCon for Comic Book Resources.

Hey, did you know that Stan Freberg was once the voice of Mickey Mouse? Greg Ehrbar recalls that and some other great records where Stan was a hired hand — or rather, voice — rather than the creator-writer.

That's three links. Count 'em yourself if you don't believe me.

I got back from WonderCon a week ago last Sunday. Since the day after, I've been suffering from what my most excellent Orthopedist has now decided is a cervical strain of my left shoulder. WonderCon did not cause this, though I might have by not bringing along my contour pillow and therefore sleeping instead on a plain ol' hotel one. Or maybe, as my doctor says, it just happened then for no discernible reason — the accumulation of stresses and strains for many months and years.

That's why my knees keep reminding me I'm 63. As if getting eight ads a day from AARP doesn't do the trick.

The symptoms of my shoulder problem? Well, it's odd. I can go hours without feeling much of anything and then suddenly — again, for no discernible reason — it feels like someone plunged an 18 inch Tramontina Bush Machete into my shoulder. That is not a fun sensation. Here — I'll show you what one of them looks likes…

Ugly-looking thing, isn't it? I've been trying for more than a week to figure out what I'm doing that triggers the machete and it seems to be utterly random. It doesn't seem to happen when I'm lying down no matter what position I'm in so sleep is uninterrupted. I'm more apt to be stabbed when I'm standing up than when I'm sitting down but it always comes as a surprise…like phone calls from people selling solar paneling, a most unwelcome surprise.

Last Thursday, it was so bad that I called my doctor to make an appointment. He was away on business and the first opening was Monday at 3 PM. I took it. On Friday, the pains disappeared so, fool that I can be, I called up and canceled the appointment. Then on Saturday, the machete was back and the next day, it became excruciating.

Sunday Morning was fine but then about two-thirds of the way through the Gary Owens Memorial, I was called on to speak. I walked up to the podium, got one whole sentence into my speech and — Whammo! — down came the machete.

My first thought was not to yell or show pain. Not at Gary's memorial, not in front of all those people. Also, Joanne Worley had just spoken and I figured she was loud enough.

I managed to not yell but I thought my grimace and manner must have given away that something was seriously wrong. I looked out at the audience and the first face I noticed looking back at mine was Sergio Aragonés'. He was seated on the aisle about six rows back and he didn't look like he thought anything was wrong except that I'd lost my place in my speech and was fumbling to locate it. Okay, I thought. It didn't look as bad as I think it did. Just go on with it. So I went on with it.

Ordinarily when I give a talk of any importance, I write the whole thing out, then see how much I can not look at the paper. I try to tell it rather than read it, referring to the text only when I get lost. This time — shaken and still wincing in pain — I just read it almost verbatim. The pain subsided before I finished and stumbled back to my seat in the front row. I was able to sit there and watch the other speakers without much discomfort.

A reception and food followed the ceremony. About five minutes into it, the machete hit again worse than ever and I decided I'd better get out of there before I disrupted things. I left and drove myself to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. A gent there doing triage filled out the paperwork and told me to take a seat, cautioning me that there were many ahead of me with more severe ailments.

By now, the pain had pretty much evaporated. I decided to sit and occasionally stand for a while in the waiting room and just wait. If they saw me, fine. If I went an hour without another machete and without seeing a doctor, I might leave. After an hour of neither happening, I went back to the triage guy…

"I told you it might be a while," he said. "We just took in several people who were in a major auto accident in Beverly Hills."

I said, "My pains have gone away…not that I'm complaining. Be honest with me. What are the chances that in the next hour, I will be seen by someone who's ever been to medical school?"

He said, "About 50-50." Just then, the automated doors that led to the street opened and a frantic young man rushed in pushing an elderly, obviously ill woman in a wheelchair. It reminded me of one of the umpteen times I delivered my mother to a different emergency room. The triage guy said to me, "Your odds just went down."

I told him I was going home…which turned out to be a smart move. I had Aleve® at home and I doubt the hospital would have done a lot more than give me something like that. The rest of the day, I had no machete attacks. First thing Monday morning, I called my Orthopedist's office and I was in luck: That 3 PM slot was still open.

I had two full-blown machetes yesterday. One occurred at my doctor's office while a nurse was posing me for x-rays. (By the way: The camera loves me.)

The other was while I was waiting on line an hour later at a CVS Pharmacy, clutching a prescription he'd given me for a topical pain-killing creme. The doctor ordered that, hot compresses and physical therapy. He thinks I'll be fine. I think I'll be fine. I considered not mentioning it here but when you feel obligated to fill a blog every day, you pretty much use everything you've got.

Longtime comic book artist Herb Trimpe passed away Monday night. Herb worked on many comics and characters during his career but is best associated with two: He drew The Incredible Hulk for Marvel for seven years and in one issue, he first drew the hero Wolverine. He was also a staff artist at Marvel for many years and his handiwork impacted books all across the line where he designed or rendered covers, did art corrections and had much to do with the "look" of Marvel. He was also a very nice, much-liked man.

Herb was born in Peekskill, New York in 1939. A longtime comic fan, especially of the E.C. line and of artists Jack Davis and Wally Wood, Herb attended the School of Visual Arts. One of his instructors there, Tom Gill, often employed students to assist him on his comic book and strip work, and that's how Herb got into comics. Gill was drawing for Western Publishing and Herb helped out with inking and backgrounds. So did another S.V.A. student, a friend of Herb's named John Verpoorten.

Trimpe served in the Air Force from 1962 to 1966 and upon his discharge began looking for a way to get into comics on his own. Verpoorten had begun working for Marvel and he helped Herb secure a job there running the photostat machine in the office. It was a low-paying position that involved inhaling photo chemicals all day but it got him into the office and it was not long before he segued into part-time art jobs and then full-time. He had arrived just when Marvel was trying to double the size of its line and many more hands were needed.

Herb drew other characters besides Hulk and Wolverine. His work could be seen at different times on Iron Man, Captain America, Sgt. Fury, Ant-Man, Killraven, Machine Man, Godzilla, G.I. Joe, Shogun Warriors, The Transformers and many more.

He lost his staff position in the mid-nineties when financial problems forced Marvel to downsize for a time but he continued to freelance for them. As he got older though, his style fell into disfavor with the current editors. In the year 2000, he wrote this article for The New York Times about ageism in comics. It got him some work but mostly, he was teaching art then instead of creating it. He also became a frequent guest at comic book conventions where fans lined up to commission sketches from him, mostly (of course) of Hulk and/or Wolverine. Later on, after he had been ordained a deacon by the Episcopal Diocese of New York, he offered to perform marriage ceremonies at cons.

After the tragedies of 9/11, Herb spent eight months working at and around Ground Zero in New York as a chaplain, helping people to cope with the death and destruction. As noted here, he later authored a book about his experiences and observations. In 2002, Comic-Con International recognized his work in this area and presented him with the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award.

I met Herb in the Marvel offices in 1970 and always enjoyed visiting with him, mostly at conventions. Occasionally when he stayed with friends in Los Angeles, we'd get together for an evening. He was a very interesting, friendly guy who cared about doing good work in comics and also cared about many, many things that had nothing do with comics or his own career. He seemed so vital and alive that it's a real shocker to hear of his passing at the age of 75. A real shocker, indeed.

Keith Bowden writes…

I'm hoping you might have a minute to address this in your blog. It's been observed that the poster, etc., credits have been revealed for the upcoming Warner Bros. feature Batman v Superman and though Wonder Woman is in the movie, William Moulton Marston is not credited alongside Bob Kane and Siegel & Shuster. Gal Gadot, the actress portraying her, appears in the credits. I'm sure Marston will be listed in the end credits crawl, but why isn't he in the main credits? What are the WGA rules on such things?

The Writers Guild has nothing to do with that. They only determine and have rules about credits for those who actually write on a movie or TV show. The "created by" credits on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman (etc.) are all contractual matters between DC Comics and the parties credited.

Incidentally — because I've been asked about this — the Writers Guild determines screen credits based on actual written material. Every so often, I hear or read an interview with someone who had verbal input (they claim) into a movie or a TV show based on a comic book and they say, "I was promised a writing credit." No one can promise you a writing credit when multiple writers are involved because the WGA has final say on that. And Sam Shmidlap is not going to even be eligible for a writing credit unless the credit arbitrators can read a treatment or script that was committed to paper and which says "Written by Sam Shmidlap" on it. Beware of those who claim they wrote a movie or TV show but have no paper to show for it. (And of course, even paper may not prove they wrote enough of it to earn a credit.)

This is the Sesame Street parody of Game of Thrones. I'm not certain why Sesame Street does parodies of movies and TV shows that its target audience hasn't seen or shouldn't be seeing. But here you are…

Steven Howearth reports of the panel I did at WonderCon with Sergio Aragonés and Stan Sakai. Yes, we're working out the details of a big, complete hardcover reprinting of Groo and some other things we've done.

And this article lists what it says is the guest list for Dave's final shows. Leno is not listed and neither, oddly enough, are Bill Murray or Regis Philbin. [UPDATE, a few hours later: The official CBS press release does list Murray.]