From 1959 to 1961, the great Ernie Kovacs had a weekly half-hour prime time game show on ABC called Take a Good Look. It was an odd game show because, at least the times I saw it, nobody won much of anything…or if they did, it didn't have much to do with winning a game. It was mostly a celebrity panel trying and (usually) failing to solve puzzles that Kovacs and his crew whipped up in little pre-taped skits and…well, you'll understand if/when you watch this episode from March 16, 1961. It was also the last episode.

The panel on this one consists of Cesar Romero, Hans Conried and Jacqueline Susann. This was some time before Ms. Susann became famous for her best-selling novel, Valley of the Dolls, and I can't understand why she was on the program unless it had something to do with her being married to the producer. As you'll see, it's not much of a game and the clues don't make a whole lot of sense…but everyone on it seemed to be having a good time and I guess that was the point of it all…

Longtime New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is now former New York Times columnist Paul Krugman…some sort of dispute about how the Times' editors were editing his work. He quit and now he writes for Substack. If you wanna read him, go here and sign up. Very smart man.

In the sixties, DC Comics did a revamp of their (now) billion-dollar property, Batman. The character had previously been drawn in a somewhat cartoony style not unlike what Chester Gould had done quite successfully with Dick Tracy in the newspaper strip of the same name. Commencing in 1964, the Caped Crusader was drawn in a more realistic form by the award-winning artist Carmine Infantino. He was also drawn by a couple of other artists who were either ghosting for Bob Kane or drawing the hero's appearances in comics in which he was not the star character. Whichever it was, they were trying to reach the same kind of realism as shown in Infantino's covers and stories.

During that period, Mr. Infantino penciled these poster drawings which have been reissued in many forms over many years. The inking on them was done by Murphy Anderson and a lot of fans will tell you he was the best inker that Infantino ever had. A lot of them love these drawings and if the original art for one ever came up for auction — as far as I know, neither has — I'll bet it would sell for some large number containing five or six digits to the left of decimal point.

I think there's something wrong with these drawings and it's always bugged me when I've seen them…and it is not (repeat: not) that in the one on the right, areas of the character's costumes are blue when they should be grey. In fact, this is not about the coloring at all and it's not about the hero not having eyeballs either.

We are now going to play a popular, widely-beloved and never-before-played-by-anyone game that I just invented called "What Does Mark Think Is Wrong With These Pictures?" I'm asking you to guess what I think is wrong with these pictures…not what you think is wrong with these pictures but what I think is wrong with them.

Do not send me your guesses. Keep them to yourselves. But visit this site tomorrow and read what I think is wrong with these pictures, keeping in mind that you may not agree with me. The correct answer is not what you think is wrong with them. It's what I think is wrong with them. So lower your I.Q. long enough to think like me before you make your guess — and remember, you can make the pictures larger by clicking your little mouse on either — then check in here tomorrow to see if you're right. Thank you.

Here are a bunch old animated commercials, none of which I remember. I dunno who did the voice in the Twinkles commercial but the first one for Peter Pan Peanut Butter has Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards narrating and he's heard in a couple of others in his most famous voice role as Jiminy Cricket. The narrator of the second commercial for Peter Pan Peanut Butter is Bill Thompson, the voice of Droopy Dog, Touché Turtle and many others. The kids in the third Peter Pan Peanut Butter commercial are June Foray and Dick Beals.

And then there's one with June Foray as Pinocchio and couple with Mickey Mouse and I pretty sure Mickey isn't voiced by Walt Disney and I don't think by Jimmy MacDonald either. Then there's a Kellogg's Corn Flakes spot with Daws Butler and (maybe) Dallas McKennon. And now, some words from our non-sponsors…

Someone who signs his name Seth wrote to ask…

You're such a consistent blogger, and it's clear you are paying regular attention to what's happening on YouTube and certain online reporting and blogging spaces. On the other hand, you don't strike me as someone who would be particularly interested in what's happening on platforms like X, Instagram or TikTok.

I'm curious what social media platforms you are part of, and which ones you pay the most attention to. What is your daily social media routine like?

My daily routine is no routine. I have a whole mess o' bookmarks and I just randomly pick ones to visit and often, one site leads me to another. I do post comic book covers daily on Instagram and often do a little following of those who follow me. I was active on Twitter when it was Twitter but when it became X, I became scarce there. I went on TikTok to sign up my name and I don't think I ever went back and…well, you can kinda tell where I've been by what I link you to.

I'm on Facebook and YouTube a lot…and Facebook often leads me to other crevices of the World Wide Web. I also, because of the blog, get a lot of e-mails from folks linking me to things they think I'd find of interest.

I do like facts so I often visit Politifact, Factcheck.org and Kevin Drum.

A few years ago, I opened an e-mail account under a bogus name and I subscribed (or somehow got on the mailing lists) for dozens of websites covering a wide range of viewpoints. They range from loathers of Donald Trump and his kind to folks who I think are up on Mount Rushmore, clearing brush to make room for his puss to go right next to Lincoln's. Once or twice a week, I will wade into the mailbox for that account and read whatever snags my interest.

I also have Google Alerts set up to show me, in that account, headlines that pertain to about two dozen names and keywords.

But like I said, I don't have a real routine. I just kinda jump around, hyperlinking my way from here to there and being very skeptical about most of what I encounter. And I don't really use the "social" part of social media to meet people because I already know enough people. Some days, I feel like it's way more than enough.

Glen K. writes to ask…

I just read your update about your ankle and it occurred to me that you have not posted about your backyard cats in a while. I imagine you are in no position to feed them. How are they doing? Hope they are OK.

Sorry to say, Glen, they're not OK. They're probably all deceased…though it's not as sad as that probably sounds. I'm fairly sure that all the feral cats that ever found their way to the AYCE buffet that used to be in my backyard lived much longer lives than most strays do. Of the four in the photo below, three passed away on the premises and Max just stopped coming around a few years ago and I think it's safe to assume he's gone too. Max is the large grey one on the right and he ate so much, I was thinking we might have to get him a gastric bypass.

I fed a succession of ferals in my backyard for years and every time one disappeared or died, there were still others showing up for food so I kept putting food out for them and that attracted more cats…and possums…and raccoons…and some neighbors told me they spotted the occasional coyote. Finally in 2021, there was an extended period with only one cat and when that one died, I decided it was the right time to stop putting out chow. It would only attract raccoons and raccoons tended to relieve themselves a lot in my backyard and pee in the pool. It smells so much better out there now.

And that decision had the added value of relieving me of the responsibility. They would get fed if I still had that hungry menagerie out there. I do get around and I have lots of folks visiting me — and two cleaning ladies — but I don't have to worry about feeding felines if there's a moment when it's not possible. And yes, I do miss them…but I think it's better to not attract them here if I can't be as consistent as I used to be. I'd sometimes feel guilty when I was away from home for a while and when I returned, they were sitting on the porch with that "We've been here an awful lot time waiting for dinner" look.

Hey, it's the latest installment of Everything You Need to Know About Saturday Night Live, bringing us up to Season 20, which led to another one of those "Is this the last season?" crisis points. Since they're now celebrating fifty years of SNL, the show obviously survived but this was one of several periods in its history when it felt like it wouldn't…

I've occasionally mentioned my longtime friend Dan Gheno on the blog. I've known Dan a lonnnnng time and have been delighted to watch him become one of the most respected painters of portraits in the field today. I'm also amazed that his career survived the days when he would pencil covers for fanzines and I would ink them. Here's a recent interview with my pal.

Almost simultaneously, two separate followers of this site sent me this graphic with a quote attributed to Stan Lee and asked me if he'd really said it. Apparently, this quote and the graphic have been going around the Internet for some time but escaped my gaze until the other day…

Here's my answer: I don't know if he ever said it but I know someone who did…me. In fact, with the word "tits" in place of "boobs" and in reference to the question of whether Marvel Comics on TV would ever replace Marvel Comics on paper, I said it to Stan over lunch one day.

That's my joke…or at least, I think it's my joke. Every so often, you make one up and later discover that someone else made it up first…and maybe it's a coincidence or maybe you even heard it without recalling that you did. Even if Stan got it from me, he may not have realized it. But of course, I'm not sure he ever said it. Does anyone have proof he did?

Keeping on the topic of Broadway musical numbers performed on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, here from the 1980 telethon is Sandy Duncan performing a number from Peter Pan. I saw her do this show with Christopher Hewett as her Captain Hook and she was pretty good…

And now here from the 2009 telethon, we have Cathy Rigby — with more cast members plus flying — performing part of the same number and part of another from Peter Pan. I saw her version of the show a couple of times and she was even better than pretty good…

In the previous post, I said that I didn't think Burke Moses was the gent playing Gaston in the excerpt of Beauty and the Beast performed on the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Well, Galen Fott — who seems to know a lot about such things — wrote me and seems sure that it was Burke Moses. I've decided he's almost certainly right. (By the way, Mr. Moses was not only great as Gaston but I saw him play the title role in Li'l Abner in a limited-run revival of that show in New York and he was real good as a hero, too.)

The fires in Southern California are still awful and still far, far from where I live. The National Weather Service is forecasting somewhere between a quarter and a half-inch of rain this weekend which will be wonderful if it happens. It would be enough to dampen things down but not so much as to create major mudslides. Mudslides are always a problem after big fires.

I'm not watching the news much and have nothing to say about the first days of Trump II that others aren't saying more eloquently and with more outrage than I can muster at the moment. Kevin Drum posted a good scorecard of where this country stood, statistic-wise, on the last day of Joe Biden's presidency. This might be handy to keep around. Inflation, for instance, is at 2.7%. A former friend of mine who loves everything Trump does even if it's illegal, was insisting inflation was at something like 20% under Biden and will be celebrating if Donald gets it down to 5%.

Posting here may be sluggish for a few days but we'll get it back up to speed.

From the 1995 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, here's the "Gaston" number from the Broadway/Disney musical of Beauty and the Beast. IMDB says this is Burke Moses, who originated the role of Gaston in New York but I don't think it is. [UPDATE, ADDED LATER: It is. See here.]

This is probably the national touring company and they were probably parked at the time in Los Angeles, which is where that year's Jerrython was produced…

One year ago this evening, I was in an upstairs bathroom here in my home, getting tidied-up because a lady friend was coming over to spend time with me. Suddenly — for no reason that has ever been determined — I was lying on the tile bathroom floor with a broken left ankle. I did not hit my head or hurt any other part of me but my ankle was screaming like Sam Kinison with his finger in a light socket.

Obviously, I needed help. My cell phone was in the adjoining bedroom and despite the pain, I managed to drag myself across the floor to the phone and dial 911. They said help was on the way. Shortly, the lady friend arrived. Moments later, two firemen arrived. A few minutes later, two more firemen arrived. It took all four firemen to carry me down the stairs and out to an ambulance.

I was very fortunate that I could reach my cell phone. I was also very fortunate that my cell phone has an app on it that allows me to unlock my front door remotely. Things could have been a lot worse for me if those two things had not been true…or if the firemen had not been so prompt and efficient. Or had the folks at the hospital to which I was transported not been so good at their jobs.

I spent four days in that hospital.  I was then moved to a rehab facility where I spent 33 days rehabbing.  Fortunately, I had a couple of real good nurses who took wonderful care of me. During that time, I had my personal assistant and a terrific plumber-handyman make some adjustments to my home so that when I returned to it, I could live upstairs. That's where I am right now — in my office and up here, I also have my bedroom, two bathrooms and a couple other rooms. Since I returned home, that's where I've lived. I only go downstairs to go to (a) doctor appointments or (b) Comic-Con.

So what happens when I need something from downstairs…from, for instance, the kitchen? I have my wonderful cleaning lady Dora here several days a week. I have my super-efficient assistant Jane here several days a week. I have folks who visit me all the time. If I plan a little, I can have someone here when delivery folks deliver or when I need something brought upstairs or taken downstairs. I can get upstairs or downstairs when I have to but it takes a while and I need both hands on the railings so I can't carry anything up or down.

Apart from that, it hasn't been that bad…and that's not sarcasm. It really hasn't been that bad. If you'd told me before I broke my ankle that I was going to break my ankle and spend over a month in a rehab facility and then have very limited walking for much of a year and struggle to get up or down stairs, I would have thought, "Geez, that sounds like the most horrible year I've ever had" but it really and truly hasn't been that bad.

I have a great support team, I spent some money wisely to rearrange my living facilities…and I was going to be spending most of the year at my computer anyway. I would say I'm like 80% of the way back to normal and that I was also lucky to get a great physical trainer. She comes by twice a week and she'll take care of that last 20%.

I am not recommending broken ankles to anyone. But sometimes you have a little catastrophe of which you're able to say, "That wasn't as bad as I would have thought." That's what I'm saying with this update.

I could have picked many, many different books by Jules Feiffer to put next to his photo but I picked the one that meant the most to me. In 1965 when The Great Comic Book Heroes came out, it filled in so much that I didn't know about the history of comics, it was like Information Overload. And along with that information came a ton of inspiration. It showed a respect for the material it covered — in short supply at that time — and this already-successful man was confessing to a love of things that I loved. The book was also, like all his cartoons, written in a witty manner that made instant contact with the reader. I would never claim I ever did it anywhere as well as he did but I sure tried.

Feiffer was a man who did something that then seemed impossible: He moved from lowly-paid work in the lowly-regarded medium of comic books to a prestigious weekly syndicated strip and from there to writing important works for the stage and screen. That became more frequent later on but at the time, it was like golfing on the moon. Obits like this one and this one will explain how he did this.

I only had the privilege of meeting him briefly on a few occasions…never long enough to get to know the man or communicate to him how much I admired his work and how much it meant to me. It meant a lot…and since I have a whole shelf of his works, it will continue to do so.

I'm hearing too much bad news these days.  I need to watch this clip and you can watch it along with me.  The young lady is Celina Smith and the policeman was played by Ben Davis. I don't know the dog's real name…