Here's an interesting clip from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show for 12/12/1972. Ed Sullivan was an unadvertised guest that night. Preceding this segment, they did a Mighty Carson Art Players sketch about Dr. Frankenstein bringing his monster to life. Throughout the sketch, the "monster" was covered with a sheet and at the end when it awoke and was unveiled, it was Ed Sullivan. Big laugh. And when they came back from commercial, Ed was in Johnny's guest chair for this awkward conversation.

Ed Sullivan was an anomaly in early television — a man with no real visible talent who hosted his Sunday night variety show from 1948 until 1971, often to sky-high ratings. Sullivan's "day job" was as a newspaper columnist, at first in the sports section. When Walter Winchell became a national sensation with his show-businessy column, he had imitators galore and eventually, Sullivan became one of them. Sullivan and Winchell had once been friends but they became bitter rivals…and with his TV show, Ed won the battle by becoming richer and more famous. (Eventually, they patched things up.)

Sullivan's non-professional presence on TV had a simple explanation: When TV started, everyone was an amateur. He got a show because his newspaper connections and the power of his column enabled him to book great acts. You didn't watch Ed's show for Ed. You watched because of who he was able to book that week. As more and more people of genuine talent moved into television, Ed simply outlasted the rest of the amateurs.

Several people I met who appeared on his show told me that one of the secrets of Ed's success was in how hard he fought to stay on the air. He was able to put pressure in many ways on performers he wanted to do his program. Movie studios and Broadway producers and record companies knew the promotional value of the Sullivan Show and dared not deny Ed what he desired. At times, he simply paid more than another show might have to get certain acts.

For a time, NBC thought they could knock him off by programming an hour with Steve Allen opposite him. The premise was that Steve, one of the most versatile talents then on television, could take down the guy who couldn't sing, couldn't dance, couldn't tell a joke, etc. But Ed prevailed, in large part because he so loved being famous and would do anything to win. He didn't want to go back to being a newspaper guy who went unrecognized on the street and unasked for his autograph. And of course, the money was also a big incentive to stay on.

With Ed, it was do or die. When The Steve Allen Show was canceled, it was not the end of Allen's stardom. There was another Steve Allen Show and another and another. But Ed always knew that when The Ed Sullivan Show went off, it was the end on any possible Ed Sullivan Shows…and when that day finally came, it was.

That happened not long before this Tonight Show appearance. Ed did his last regular show on June 6, 1971. As noted, this visit with Johnny was in December of the following year…and Ed died on October 13, 1974 at the age of 73.

What I find especially interesting about this conversation is how bad a guest Ed is in it and how Johnny is using all his skills to keep the spot afloat. This is an ability that few other talk show hosts have had…one they rarely need since interviews on talk shows today are so non-spontaneous. Some are largely pre-scripted by publicists to ensure that the guest (a) sparkles and (b) gets in all the requisite plugs for the new movie, the new series, the new album or the new whatever.

Ed came on with things to plug and both men make sure they get mentioned…but Johnny is unable to prompt Ed into a good anecdote or story. People said that after Ed's show ended, he deteriorated fast and went into deep depressions. That may be why Carson had to do all the heavy lifting in this chat…

I used to like Keith Olbermann back when he did the Countdown show on MSNBC. He had a way of looking at the news and pointing out aspects of a story that had not occurred to…well, I was going to say "anyone else" but I can't speak for anyone else. Maybe it was just me…but he was interesting and sometimes very funny, and when he had someone else on with him, he was a good interviewer.

He was not as good at getting along with Management and I dunno if it was him or the Management or what but he had a habit of disappearing on us. He's back now with a new almost-daily podcast which, so far, is just him yelling at us for 53 minutes (the first one) and 44 minutes (today's). Even when I agree with his positions, I don't like being scolded over and over in the style of certain right-wing pundits that he probably doesn't like any more than I do. This is not "preaching to the choir." It's screaming at them and saying the same thing over and over and over.

I've decided to not listen to him for a while. If he's still doing this in a month or two, I'll give him another try…maybe. If you want to give him a try, here's a link. Lower the volume on your computer speakers before you click.

You didn't have to be a huge baseball fan to appreciate Vin Scully. Some time ago, I wrote this here…

I am not a fan of the Dodgers. I am not even much of a fan of baseball. Once upon a time, I had some interest in both largely because my father did. This was back when the Dodgers were Maury Wills, Frank Howard, Willie Davis, Tommy Davis, Jim Gilliam, Johnny Roseboro, Don Drysdale, and Duke Snider.

And — oh, yeah — Sandy Koufax.

Only one member of the team is still at it today: Vin Scully. No, he didn't put on the uniform but he was the single most indispensable person in the stadium when the Dodgers played. And I always suspected he was secretly managing the team. Walter Alston was officially the manager then but it was easy to imagine Alston, just sitting in the dugout during the game, listening to Vin Scully like everyone else in the place. I'd hear Scully say, "This is the time when Walt Alston is probably deciding to take out the pitcher and bring in Ron Perranoski to throw to the next batter" and I was sure Alston would listen to that, then turn to someone and say, "Bring in Ron Perranoski to throw to the next batter."

At least, it sure felt like that.

As I've written about certain dancers and jugglers and gymnasts, there's a real beauty to seeing anyone do anything difficult and do it as well as a human being could possibly do it. Mr. Scully absolutely fell into that category. I should probably thank him just for the many hours of enjoyment he gave to my father…and anyone else who followed Dodger Baseball. Even, now and then, me.

For those of you who've never been able to attend a Comic-Con International in San Diego, someone made this 33-minute walking tour of the main hall at this year's gathering. Actually, this might even be of interest to those of you who've been there because I've been to all of them and I'm seeing stuff in this video that I never saw in person…

This video underscores the point that the convention is many things to different people and the convention you experience there will be the one you seek out…or at least try to seek out. In all my years of attendance, I've never gone near most of these corners of the con. My convention occurs mostly upstairs in the panel rooms and this year, I only set foot in the main hall on one of the days I was there…and only to sign books for an hour at a publisher's booth.

I'm not saying this is good or bad or anything; just that everyone who goes can experience a very different convention. It depends on your areas of interest. It depends on whether you're searching for certain items you want to purchase. It may even depend a lot on how much walking you're willing or able to do.

Some years, some folks seem to think I'm the Complaint Department for the convention and one of those years, a guy I barely knew sought me out to bitch about something that was ruining the con for him. It was how much certain dealers were charging for certain old comics he wanted to purchase. He seemed to think that I — or the folks who run the convention — could do something about that. And some of you may remember this story I've told here before about another complainer who cornered me at the 2002 Comic-Con…

[He] was upset that so much of the Comic-Con wasn't about comics and he felt, I guess, that I'd concur and would rush off to do something about it…maybe throw Robert Downey Jr out of the hall or something. Instead, I told him about that great panel we did on the Golden Age of Batman with Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff and Lew Schwartz. If you're interested in the history of comics, it doesn't get any more historical than that. I then said to this fellow who was complaining about the con not being about that kind of thing, "I didn't see you there."

And so help me, he replied, "I couldn't be there. I had to get in line to see the 24 panel with Kiefer Sutherland."

I now tell people that if they didn't have a good time at Comic-Con, they were either expecting something that just plain wasn't going to be there or they didn't plan well enough how to locate what they did want that was there.

Lots of stuff to get done today, not enough time to do it. So I won't be blogging much this first day of August…which is what the soup can graphic indicates. There may be a rerun or a video link or an obit here later. I hope not an obit.

Pat Carroll was a very funny woman. She was a very funny woman on stage and on screen and also in person. She was also, unlike a lot of funny people, a good audience with a great laugh and no qualms about laughing at what someone else said or did. I talked with her…oh, maybe a half dozen times, once when she was in doing voice work on a Garfield special. She was a wonderful voice actress as proven when she spoke for Ursula, the villainess of the Disney film, The Little Mermaid. That someone that nice could play someone that evil was amazing.

Brian Hull, who was so good on our Saturday Cartoon Voices Panel, has made a little trip diary of his visit to Comic-Con last week…

And here's a look at some of the amazing cosplay around the convention. It may be my imagination but it seems to me we're seeing fewer and fewer cosplays trying to look like zombies or bloody corpses and more and more posing as heroic figures…

It's hard to believe that a week ago at this moment, I was down in San Diego interviewing Phil LaMarr on a spotlight panel. It seems like ten minutes ago but it also seems like ten years ago. I'm not sure I've fully recovered from the convention.

Oh — this is probably worth mentioning: Yesterday, I had a Next Day Laboratory RT-PCR Test — that's the expensive, thorough one — and I just received the results…negative. So I guess it's safe to say I attended Comic-Con and didn't catch you-know-what. I've heard of a few folks who did but it doesn't appear there was any significant outbreak. So there's some good news.

We're hearing the word "recession" a lot lately and we're going to hear more and more of it as the next election draws near. Kevin Drum has an explanation of what it means and how it's determined. It's not just whenever your party is not in power, we're automatically in a recession.

I'm getting lots of messages about the songs written (or not) by the late Sid Jacobson. He's listed in some sources as having been the writer (or one of the writers) of "Put a Ring On Her Finger" as recorded by Les Paul but this may be an error…or it may be a confusion involving two songs with the same name. Among other songs I could/should have listed for him were…

• Earl Grant — "The End"
• Dion and the Belmonts — "Don't Pity Me"
• Frankie Avalon — "A Boy Without a Girl"
• Gene Pitney — "Oh Annie Oh"
• Clarence "Bad Boy" Palmer and The Jive Bombers — "You Took My Love"

It all makes for an impressive list. I sure wish one of the songs I'd written had been recorded by Clarence "Bad Boy" Palmer and The Jive Bombers. Hell, Stephen Sondheim probably wished one of his songs had been recorded by Clarence "Bad Boy" Palmer and The Jive Bombers. I'd like to thank Roger Green and Mike Kazaleh for info and also Devin Thompson.

In 1972 when Apollo 16 landed on that Moon of ours, the call sign for one of the lunar modules was named for Casper, that friendliest of ghosts. Devin tells me that Sid wrote this to mark the occasion…

That's almost as impressive as having a song you wrote recorded by Clarence "Bad Boy" Palmer and The Jive Bombers.

Three things you should know about cartoonist Paul Coker Jr., who died July 23rd at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico…

1. He was an important figure in the history of greeting cards. Born in Kansas in 1929, he studied art at the University of Kansas, served in the military, worked as a graphics designer at a local TV station and eventually (around 1955) landed a job at Hallmark Cards. His work there was very popular and his distinctive style was much-imitated, not just by others at Hallmark but at darn near every greeting card company in the world. Go by a display and even today, you'll see a lot of Paul Coker wannabes.

2. He was an important figure in MAD magazine. Around 1960, Coker moved to New York to seek other, better-paying work — though he continued to work for Hallmark by mail for many years. Also looking for work in New York was Phil Hahn, a close friend of Paul's who'd written cards for Hallmark. When Phil tried submitting material to MAD, he had Paul sketch out a few of his ideas and the folks at MAD decided they wanted both men in their magazine. Coker's first work for MAD was in #60 (January of '61) and he and Hahn became regular contributors, together and apart. (Together, they did "Horrifying Clichés." Coker was the fifth most prolific contributor to MAD, drawing some 372 pieces for them.)

3. He was an important figure in animation, especially for the Rankin-Bass Studio. Coker was the principal designer of, among other specials, Cricket on the Hearth (1967), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Frosty's Winter Wonderland (both 1976), Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey and The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (both 1977), Jack Frost (1979), Pinocchio's Christmas (1980), The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981) and Santa, Baby! (2001).

And since I started writing this, I thought of a fourth thing you oughta know about Paul Coker: His fellow MAD-man Sergio Aragonés called me while I was composing the above and we got to talking about what an all-around nice, friendly man Paul was. Sergio has particularly wonderful memories of rooming with Paul on some of the famous MAD trips and he said Paul often knew more about where they were and what was around than the official guides did. Great guy…great artist.

I recently bought a new laptop computer for travel. Got it from Costco on June 13 and it worked fine until the first time I traveled, which was to the Comic-Con in San Diego. The morning of July 22 when I tried to open it, the right hinge broke — or something — and parts seemed to suddenly be welded to other parts. I had to force it open, whereupon the entire housing around the screen came loose. Only later did I read the customer reviews on the Costco website and found among them comments like these three…

Computer worked fine and then one day i tried to open it and the inside of the screen started to break. It seemed like it was stuck to the keyboard and may have overheated.

The electronics work fine, but the cheap plastic bezel broke several days ago. Never dropped it or mistreated it in any way. Opened up the top and left rear hinge cracked. Tried to fix it and the bezel started coming off of the screen. Not good.

Bought this laptop in December, by March- just past 90 days developed the same hinge issue as others described, like it was melting.

That's kinda what happened to mine. I only had it for 40 days and I'd be surprised if I used it more than 12 hours, mostly to load my software and the files I'd need on the road. Fortunately, just before I went to San Diego, I backed the whole thing up to an external drive. A new laptop of a different brand arrived yesterday but it may be a while before I have the time to set it up and restore from the busted computer's backup.

Morals of the story: Always backup. Read the reviews. And buy from Costco. I bought the faulty laptop via mail order but took it back to my nearest Costco warehouse. There was a bit of delay while the man waiting on me waited for a manager who could come by and authorize the refund but there was no hesitation about taking it back. They didn't care that I didn't have the box or a few pieces of paper that came with it.

And before someone asks: Yes, I did irrevocably delete all my data from the computer before I took it back. Wiped it clean. And while I was at Costco, I blew part of the refund on english muffins, bacon, a huge bag of croutons and Rao's Marinara Sauce.

The first cartoon show that Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera produced out of their then-new studio in 1957 was The Ruff and Reddy Show. It was on NBC Saturday mornings starting in December of that year…and I'm pretty sure that five-year-old me was watching that debut episode and all that followed. It had clever stories, good voice work and animation that was a few notches below the quality of the animation in this cereal commercial. Ruff was the cat with a voice by Don Messick. Reddy was the dog with almost the same voice Daws Butler used for the star of Hanna-Barbera's second series, Huckleberry Hound…

Most people who visit Comic-Con take home to-be-treasured-forever memories, autographs, photos, merchandise and souvenirs. I always take home some of those plus an enormous feeling of accomplishment. I did all the stuff I was supposed to do…or almost all. There were friends there I didn't get to see and others I did see but didn't spend nearly enough time with. Since the con, I have had phone conversations with a couple of them — conversations that should have occurred in person — and I have a few more such conversations to have.

I mentioned a lot of trouble checking into the hotel — parking, getting our stuff up to the room, etc. — then dealing with a flurry of mysterious charges to my credit card. I should have also mentioned that check-out was just the opposite. It went like a cool breeze, including the proper resolution of all those credit card puzzles. At least, I think they all were resolved. The drive home was easy and stress-free. I've never liked driving but if it was always like that, I could possibly learn to enjoy it.

I was with my longtime friend, the lovely actress Brinke Stevens, and we stopped off to eat, stretch our legs, use our respective restrooms and gas-up in San Juan Capistrano. That is a lovely…I was going to type "city" but "village" might be more appropriate. We did the eating and restrooms at a lovely Italian restaurant called Ciao Pasta which was just opening for the day when we stumbled in so we had the outdoor patio mostly to ourselves. The contrast to Comic-Con could not have been starker and I found myself wishing the restaurant wasn't 68 miles from my home. And by the way: They make a really fine Tagliatelle Bolognese there.

Why is Jon Stewart so angry?

Jon Stewart joined an impassioned press conference on Thursday, calling out Republican Senators who are blocking passage of the PACT Act in the Senate. The bill will expand healthcare and benefits for the more than three million veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their military service. The Senate originally passed the legislation in June with extraordinary bipartisan support. The House passed it shortly thereafter, and it arrived back to the Senate on Wednesday for final passage. But a group of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Pat Toomey, decided to block the measure for purely political reasons, costing sick veterans time they do not have.

Here's what Mr. Stewart had to say this morning…