Just got a big crate o' books from McFarland Press, which issues a lot of esoteric books, mainly on The Arts, in what are usually limited press runs.  One (which gives me the excuse to run the photo at left) is From Beautiful Downtown Burbank (Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: A Critical History).  It's written by Hal Erickson, an e-mail acquaintance who interviewed me when he did a book on Sid and Marty Krofft, which was also issued by McFarland.  Both are good, as are most — though by no means, all — you'll find in that company's catalog.  What you will find are a lot of titles that will prompt you to say, "Gee, I've always wanted a book about that."  Hal's Laugh-In book is, incredibly, the first real history of a television program that changed the face of American TV comedy, launched several major stars and, some theorize, helped put Mr. Nixon into the White House.  Even without access to some of the key players who declined to be interviewed, Hal did a fine job and you can purchase a copy, or just browse the McFarland offerings, at the publisher's website.  Here, you'll be happy to know, is that link.

Well, if I'd wagered that the XFL ratings would go even lower last Saturday eve, I'd have lost.  I didn't expect the network to stoop as low as that promo spot in which an incredibly-cute cheerleader promised a half-time tour of the cheerleaders' locker room. Amazingly, that only boosted numbers .1 over the previous week's — to 2.8.  At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of the football players and just turned the whole thing into a big wet t-shirt contest.

The drawing above is the cover of Bugs Bunny and Friends: A Comic Celebration, a paperback collection of old Warner Brothers comic book stories that I helped assemble a couple of years ago.  Just thought it deserved a mention here as there's some neat, vintage stuff in there, especially the stuff from the earliest issues of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies comics, reproduced off copies from my very own personal collection, primarily from old Dell and Gold Key Comics.  You can get it for around twelve bucks at amazon-dot-com and I don't make another nickel off it, so my recommendation is quite sincere.  These comics were an important part of my childhood and unlike some, they actually hold up quite well in my alleged adulthood.

Well, things have been fun around here, lately.  Yesterday morn, around 2:00 AM, there was a high-speed police-type chase in my neighborhood.  It ended on my front lawn with the "suspect" (that's what they have to call the guy who ran from, in this case, the Beverly Hills Police) crashing his car into the front of my house.  He didn't do a lot of damage — one big hole in the wall surrounding a little courtyard — but it sure made things interesting.  And this is the third time cars have jumped the curb and wound up on my property in the 20 years I've been living where I live.  I'm going to have to start charging for parking in my patio.

Having decried the choice of shows honored at this year's William S. Paley Festival at the Museum of Television and Radio, I should report this: The two evenings I attended were both terrific.

Michael Moore showed three segments apiece from TV Nation and The Awful Truth.  He was so funny and real that he even "won over" a friend of mine who loathes his politics but attended, hoping to learn how to do a similar kind of show from a conservative P.O.V. I dunno if he learned that but he did laugh a lot and admit that Moore had made some solid points.  (In one segment, George W. Bush yells at Moore to go find a real job.  They then cut to Moore phoning his father and saying, "Dad, you got an oil company or a major league baseball team I can run?"  Funny.)

Eric Idle and Neil Innes were among the guests for a screening of The Rutles, the "mockumentary" they made about a group not unlike the Beatles.  When their film (aka All You Need Is Cash) first aired, it was one of the lowest-rated TV-movies ever, and I seem to recall it being generally ignored by the press.  But it's had an amazing endurance…so much so that Idle is currently assembling a sequel, Can't Buy Me Lunch, some of which was also shown.  It also seems very funny and it even goes farther with an interesting aspect that was noted about the first.  It's that many of the real people interviewed about The Rutles, such as Mick Jagger and Paul Simon, wound up indirectly expressing their feelings about The Beatles.

For the new version, Idle has interviewed — among others — Tom Hanks, Jewel, Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, etc.  And many of them, though they're speaking about the Rutles, are really talking from the heart about John, Paul, George and Ringo.  There's no airdate for this, nor has any network picked it up, nor is it even finished.  But whenever and wherever it turns up, it's a must-catch.

Funniest line of either evening: I was sitting in the front row for The Rutles, along with a bunch o' friends including writer Charles Schlotter.  Charlie asked, "Is the rumor true that all of the Rutles' songs were purchased by Jermaine Jackson?"  Huge laugh from the audience, followed by another huge laugh as Mr. Idle whipped out a pen and wrote it down for future use…then answered, "No, Jesse Jackson."

Interesting article over on Slate by William Saletan on polling methods.  You can read the whole thing by clicking here or I can just summarize it for you: The results of a public opinion poll can vary widely depending on precisely how the question is phrased.  That's really all the piece says but the examples are rather interesting.

And, speaking of Las Vegas…if you've browsed this site, you know I'm fascinated by the place, especially the historical aspects.  The other day, I came across a website that's chock full o' facts and pics about the place.  If you share my interest, you might want to surf on over to www.lvstriphistory.com and look around.  (By the way: The Holiday Casino really was designed to look like a showboat and it had a tacky maritime theme throughout.  The facade has been refurbished in a Mardi Gras decor at what is now Harrah's.  Amazingly, at one time, there were three casinos in Vegas that were built to look like big showboats…this one, the Showboat and the Paddlewheel.)

I'm posting this this from Vegas, where I've spent four days locked in a hotel room at the Fiesta, battling a deadline.  I'm winning, but not without a lot of bloodshed.

The Fiesta is a "locals'" place with a big casino and a small hotel — 200 rooms, which is the minimum a casino-hotel can have and fulfill certain rules 'n' regs of operation.  In other words, they have the hotel only so they can have the casino.  Their website may or may not still promise that all rooms have "internet access, email access, dataports,"  as it did when I booked my room.  Turned out, they have none of those. They've been planning to install something of the sort but at the moment, it means each room has a phone…and in order to log in for my e-mail, I had to crawl under the bed and unplug the wall jack.  They may change the site since I called the (ahem) discrepancy to their attention but a desk clerk told me that info's been up for months and I'm the first to mention it.

There are a lot of these "locals'" establishments, most of them far from the Strip and most offer great gaming rules and great food.  The buffet at the Fiesta is terrific, the one across the street at Texas Station is even better…and my buddies Steve Gerber and Steff Osborne took me to the one at the Suncoast, which is outstanding.  Many of these places for some reason have western themes and most have either a bowling alley or a movie theater, though they rarely have showrooms.  And the thing they really lack is a line of taxis out front since, as I said, they're mainly for Vegas residents and such folks have their own vehicles.  But as a place to just "get away," spots like the Fiesta are perfect.  Unless you have your heart set on the promised "internet access."

Sunday night, I was in the casino at the Plaza downtown when a fire alarm went off.  I've always heard that in Vegas, when an alarm goes off, not one person even considers budging from the crap table or slot machine.  It turns out this rumor is true.

Lastly, after the first four weeks of XFL Football scored overnight ratings of — in this order — 10.3, 5.1, 3.8 and 2.9, a friend at NBC e-mailed me that they'd touched bottom, couldn't go any lower and would now rebound.  Week #5 then got a 2.7.  Before I leave Vegas, I'm going to visit a Sportsbook and see if they're accepting bets on the XFL…not on which teams will win but if the ratings will get even worse.

Well, negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the AMPTP have collapsed, which does not come as a shock to anyone with a lick o' sense and a sense o' history.  This always promised to get ugly and it will surely get even uglier, even before the dreaded Writers Strike of '01 could possibly commence.

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that my brethren and I will soon be carrying picket signs…but I can tell you a few things that will happen.  We'll see in the trade papers, beginning in the coming week, pieces that quote high-profile writers as saying that strike at this time would be suicidal; that it will rip the Guild asunder; that it cannot possibly be cost-effective.  There will be articles wherein studio and network heads claim that they not only can endure a prolonged strike but might even welcome it as a chance to purge their inventories of leftover material, and to cancel contracts that they wish to get out of.  Support for the WGA from other unions will be mixed.  And at some point, the two sides will reconvene at the bargaining table and try again to make things work.  Stay tuned.

Just in case you haven't heard: NBC's Later show has been running old, chopped-up installments of SCTV.  The editing's a little weird and the selection of episodes, a little weirder.  But even with all that, it still stands out as one of the bright and shining lights of television sketch comedy.  Later follows Conan O'Brien Monday through Thursday nights.  (Well, actually, it's Tuesday morning through Friday morning, but you know when I mean…)  Just tune it in and enjoy.

One of the perks of having a web presence is that old friends find you.  In the last two weeks, I've heard from three people I hadn't talked to in a long time…in one case, since high school.  Of course, it helps to have a weird last name.  It used to be that when folks mauled "Evanier," I envied the Mike Smiths of the world.  No longer.  If you enter my name into any decent search engine, darn near every hit is me or my cousin David.  It would not surprise me if, in the future, we saw fewer and fewer people with odd surnames change them to something simpler.

If it's been mentioned anywhere in the press, I've missed it…so let me remind/inform you that in the next few days, your local PBS station will be airing a two-hour special in which Carl Reiner receives the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Award.  I haven't seen it but, given the event and the guest list (Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Seinfeld, Mary Tyler Moore, et al), I can't imagine it not being worth tuning in or programming your VCR or TiVo.  To find out when it airs in your area, you can visit one of the many sites that list TV schedules, like search/tvgrid.com or tvguideonline. Or better still, root around at www.pbs.org.  You'll want to search for "Kennedy Center."

I haven't recommended a book on comics lately so here's one.  If you're the least bit interested in the history of EC Comics (and William M. Gaines, its publisher pictured above right), you must, must, must have Tales of Terror! by Grant Geissman and Fred Von Bernewitz.  It's an exhaustive and entertaining compendium of info, interviews and insights about one of the two-or-so greatest lines of comics ever produced.  They couldn't have done a better job with this one.  This is one of those books I started flipping through, figuring I'd sit down later and read it through.  I got hooked and wound up spending an hour or three flipping through it.  Buy a copy and see if the same thing doesn't happen to you.  Reading this book is almost as much fun as reading an EC Comic.

I don't do many conventions these days but I've agreed to show my puss at this year's Wondercon in Oakland, which is April 20-22.  You can get more info at their website and you can get there by clicking here.  These are good, friendly gatherings that remind me of the early San Diego gatherings.  When one speaks of comic conventions, there is no higher praise.

This last item is for those of you who have money riding on the XFL — not on the games but on the ratings.  Let us review: First week, they had a 10.3 in the overnights, which went down to a 9.5 in the nationals.  Second week, they had a 5.1 that dipped to a 4.6.  Third week, they had a 3.8 which became a 3.1 in the nationals, making it the lowest-ranked prime-time show on any of the four major networks for the week.  Could it get worse than that?  Yes.  The overnights for last Saturday were at 2.9, so the nationals will come in around 2.6 or below, which is wrist-opening time.  (Remember: The guarantee to advertisers is 4.5)  Ratings on the XFL's UPN broadcasts aren't much better so we may be looking at the biggest flop in the history of professional sports and in network television at the same time.  Looks like the cheerleaders will all be back at their clubs offering table dances any day now…

Increasingly, cartoon voice artists are finding it advantageous to establish personal websites upon which one can hear their demo reels and, sometimes, view other fun stuff — like photos, résumés, advice to beginners, etc.  In case you're a casting director — or just a fan of folks who make silly sounds for a living — here are some sites I've encountered…

• Corey Burton — A fine announcer and character voice who is more or less ubiquitous on the airwaves.  His site also contains some wonderful nuggets of advice for those entering the trade.
• Scott Innes — When Don Messick passed away, Scott (a disc jockey by trade) turned up with the most dead-on Scooby Doo simulation imaginable.  And he now does Shaggy, as well.
• Dan Gilvezan — Another good announcer/character guy.  Once upon a time, he was the voice of Spider-Man and Dennis the Menace's father, among zillions of other roles.
• Hal Rayle & Maggie Roswell — He's a terrific mimic and cartoon voice thespian; she's a fine comedienne, heard often on The Simpsons.  Together, they're a top writing/performing team of, among other things, wonderfully inventive commercials.
• Beau Weaver — One of the workingest "promo" announcers around, but he also dabbles occasionally in cartoon voices.  (He was Superman on the Ruby-Spears series, for instance.)
• E.G. Daily — One of the three-or-so most popular voice actresses, most often heard as little kids.  She's also a terrific singer.
• Townsend Coleman — He was one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and he's also has one of those voices you hear on eight jillion commercials.
• Nancy Cartwright — aka Bart Simpson, though she's done a lot more than that.  I met her when she was one of Daws Butler's prize students and he'd be very proud to see what's become of her.
• Thurl Ravenscroft — Here's a man who's had an incredible career as a singer and cartoon voice actor, including many decades as Tony the Tiger.  And just try and spend a day at Disneyland without hearing him half-a-dozen times.
• Keith Scott — The top voice guy in Australia, the new voice of Bullwinkle, the replicator of many other classic voices and a fine historian of animation and animation voices.

I have about 50 more of these, so maybe I'll post more or even compile a big, permanent list here.  And then again, I may not.  There's no telling what I'll do.