https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adSl_tRzrEQ In tribute to Catherine O’Hara (and in memory of John Candy, Harold Ramis and Joe Flahrerty) here is an SCTV parody of the Samuel Z. Arkoff women-in-prison genre ‘Broads Behind Bars’. Every second of this sketch is brilliant, targeted satire. They even get the low-rent look right. Just in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHOmBV4js_Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EMfA5_tm8Y My go-to cartoon characters as a kid were Bugs/Daffy/Porgy (Warner Brothers) and Charlie Brown/Lucy/Snoopy/Linus Charles M. Schultz). Everything else was the bunk. I’ve written before–rather recently in fact–about my loathing for all things Disney. Ditto Hanna-Barbara and their cheap, flat animation which did nothing to enhance their cheap, flat
Here’s a clip of the majestic comedy duo Bob and Ray (Elliot and Goulding were their surnames) from what appears to be a mid 1970s Johnny Carson show. I can’t explain the condition of Johnny’s jacket in the intro but it doesn’t really matter. This is one of my favorite
Good lord! What was John Huston thinking (or drinking?) when he let loose with this rambling, discursive and largely meaningless five minute diatribe on a late-1970s Oscar broadcast? He certainly sounds magnificent and is, as always, beyond charismatic. I met him in 1981 when I was sixteen years old and
‘Their Purple Moment’ (1928) is a fine (if not brilliant) example of the L&H silent era which showcases more slapstick than wit but which gives us a nice taste of the times it was made in. The restaurant/club set is a very 20s affair, and the chic and sexy Anita
What better way to usher in the holiday that celebrates munificence, family, warmth and generosity than with two videos of Woody Allen discussing death and the meaninglessness of life. For somebody who thinks that nothing ultimately matters, Woody has certainly been prodigious in his output. In fact, it could be
With the election of the mayor of New York City just hours away, I thought it might be instructive to flashback to a very different city and time. This is a short news clip that aired on WPIX in the early-to-mid 70s in which New Yorkers are asked what they
It’s no secret that air traffic controllers have a sucko job. Actually, if you ask them, its a very cool and exciting one–just not something that can one can be expected to do ten hours a day, six days a week which is the amount of hours they’re forced to
Here’s a profile of laugh-track maestro/audio engineer Carroll Pratt working his magic on a decidedly unfunny scene from a show called “Webster” in 1983. Pratt added canned laughter to TV shows using a custom ‘laff box’ which he designed and built. He began doing ‘laugh sweetening’ in the late 1950s
Laughter is one of our most precious commodities in life, getting us through (and past) difficult situations and topics and providing a release of joy that every day life for the most part lacks. Nobody doesn’t like to laugh. (Except the current leader of the free world who can only