Category Archives: Popular culture

May 23

Time to face the music

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I got to thinking about TV theme music today. Most networks dramatically reduced the length of opening credits years ago, because of studies that showed they gave the audience more of a chance to change channels. But I miss the longer, more generous openings from years past. I decided I’d give you a countdown of my favorite instrumental TV theme songs, followed by some vocal TV theme songs. I’m doing this by the seat of my pants, so it’s certainly possible that I’m missing something. Of course, it’s also impossible to separate your feelings towards the theme from your feelings towards the show. There may be some quickly-cancelled show with a great theme song, but it just wouldn’t come to mind when one sits down to make a list like this. Feel free to disagree and put your own choices or rankings in the comments.

5) “Wiseguy”

Mike Post theme songs always have a bridge to them. Sometimes it works; sometimes it just seems arbitrary. Here, the bridge works perfectly. The main theme speaks of danger, while the bridge – during which our protagonist and the two men who often save his life are introduced – is a nicely heroic counterpoint.

 

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May 16

‘I wish a little of that would rub off on me’

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I just got through watching the “American Masters” episode about Johnny Carson, and it was terrific – funny, and moving, and revealing. It’s available to watch online, and if you missed it over the air it would be well worth watching it that way.

They showed a very brief snippet of Johnny’s last TV appearance, which I recall as clearly as if it were yesterday.

Johnny, of course, is widely believed to have thought David Letterman, not Jay Leno, his ideal successor. What is certain is that he never appeared with Leno after retiring.

Anyway, a year or so after Letterman moved to CBS, he did a week of shows from Los Angeles. There was a running gag that week where Dave would introduce some hugely famous celebrity who was supposed to be bringing out the Top Ten list. Each night it would really be Calvert DeForest (a/k/a Larry “Bud” Melman), although the on-screen graphic would display “CLINT EASTWOOD” or “BARBRA STREISAND” or what have you. Calvert would claim to be that person, but obviously would make no effort to actually look, act or talk like that person.

This went on for four nights. On the fifth night, Friday, this happened:

May 13

An open letter to Alton Brown

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Dear Alton,

“Good Eats,” which recently wrapped production after 14 seasons, was one of the most inventive things ever seen on American television – funny, informative, and accessible. It was good for food, it was good for science, and it was just plain fun to watch. The show was, as far as I can tell, your own creation.

I knew that all good things must come to an end, and even though I was sorry to see “Good Eats” go, I looked forward eagerly to whatever your next project would be. I knew that you could do other formats. Your miniseries “Feasting on Asphalt” and “Feasting on Waves” were travelogues that, while different from “Good Eats,” were just as good.

You may still be planning something great. I hope so. But it worries me that you seem to be ramping up your participation in Food Network’s competitive cooking shows.

I will admit it – I was a fan of the original, Japanese “Iron Chef,” and I loved the first few seasons of “Iron Chef America.” They were goofy fun, and you were a perfect choice for “Iron Chef America,” bringing your wit and knowledge to a play-by-play role.

But food competition shows have become redundant, repetitive, and overblown. They’re part of the reason I rarely watch Food Network anymore, having sought refuge in Cooking Channel, which is what Food Network used to be. (It even airs “Good Eats” reruns.) And in a crowded marketplace of food competition, the only way to stand out is to try to hype and overhype the soap-opera, professional-wrestling aspects of the competition. I felt like “The Next Iron Chef” was a waste of your talents, and now you’re barging headlong into the long-standing “Food Network Star” (formerly known as “The Next Food Network Star”) franchise.

Alton, I realize you have to earn a living, but this crap is beneath you. It’s so far beneath you it’s not even funny. The promos refer to you, Bobby Flay and Giada DeLaurentis as “food icons.” Well, you didn’t become a food icon by hosting crappy “reality” shows, and if crappy “reality” shows are the future of your career, you won’t be a food icon for long.

Please figure out some way to move in another direction. We’re not waiting for the next Food Network star, prancing around the kitchen spouting Guy Fieri-style catch phrases. We’re waiting for the next “Good Eats” or “Feasting on Asphalt.”

Please, I beg you, move on – even if it means switching networks.

May 08

He’s a pooka.

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Jim Parsons (Sheldon from “The Big Bang Theory”) was just on Letterman talking about his appearance in a Broadway revival of “Harvey.” Frank Fay originated the role of Elwood P. Dowd on Broadway, but for most of us, of course, Elwood is synonymous with Jimmy Stewart, who starred in both a 1950 movie adaptation and a 1972 TV movie adaptation!

My brother Michael played the part in Plano, Texas, with opening night on his birthday, and my parents, my sister and I drove down to surprise him.

There was also a little-seen TV movie adaptation with Harry Anderson of “Night Court,” and featuring Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Chumley. It wasn’t bad, and was an obvious labor of love for Anderson, but it had a sort of uneven tone – as if Nielsen, who by that time had been typecast in Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker style parody, wasn’t sure whether to play the part as Frank Drebin or as the authority figures he used to play prior to “Airplane!”

I’m having trouble imagining exactly what Parsons would be like in the role. But he’s a brilliant comic actor, as any viewer of “Big Bang Theory” can attest. I liked his answer when Letterman questioned him about the exact nature of Dowd’s condition. Parsons said that he plays the role as if Dowd has no “condition” – Dowd, as far as Parsons is concerned, simply has an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit for a best friend. From an acting standpoint, that’s exactly the right answer. Since I doubt I’ll make it to the Big Apple this summer, I look forward to seeing some clips. Meanwhile, I need to see if I can track down a DVD or Turner Classic Movies airing of “Harvey.”

Apr 30

This is how you do it

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Back in February, I gave an in-progress review of “meh” to Laugh Lines: Conversations with Comedians by Corey Andrew. Nothing in the remainder of the book improved my opinion of it any.

And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft by Mike Sacks is better. Much, much, much better. Sacks is a far better interviewer, showcasing the comedy talent to whom he’s speaking rather than showing off and injecting himself into subject matter.

Sacks’s interview subjects run the gamut from Marshall Brickman, Larry Gelbart and Dick Cavett to Bob Odenkirk, David Sedaris and Robert Smigel. He has a great interview with Dave Barry – which leaves me jealous, because the one time I got to interview Dave, for the late and lamented Wittenburg Door, I was starstruck, and too timid to push a couple of topics essential to the point of the interview. I embarrassed myself and produced a pretty pathetic interview, one of the great regrets of my writing career.

In between the formal interviews, Sacks puts in quotes, anecdotes or lists of writing tips.

Sacks’s book makes me want to start writing something – and I’m trying to figure out a good place to start.
Apr 28

Saturday night special

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For some years now, Turner Classic Movies has had a Saturday-night showcase of all-time great movies called “The Essentials.” Originally, it was hosted by well-known film directors: Rob Reiner, then Sydney Pollack (who was terrific), then Peter Bogdanovich. Then, TCM decided to go to a two-host format, with Robert Osborne, who already hosts all of their other prime-time movies, plus a co-host. The first such co-host was film critic Molly Haskell, who was knowledgeable but who had all the on-air personality of a test pattern. After her came Carrie Fisher, a wonderful improvement who had terrific chemistry with Osborne. Then came Rose McGowan, who was so forgettable that I had her confused with a different actress until I looked it up just now. Then came Alec Baldwin, who was popular enough to be kept on for three seasons. He’s recently been replaced by Drew Barrymore. Tonight, watching “The Third Man,” is actually the first chance I’ve gotten to tune in since she started (I did catch part of the closing remarks for some movie a few weeks ago). Barrymore seems like a great choice – actress, director, producer and descendant of Hollywood royalty.

In her opening remarks about “The Third Man,” Osborne teased her about not being convinced as he about “The Third Man” being essential. She doesn’t like what she feels is the lack of chemistry between Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli. Osborne pointed out that there’s not supposed to be chemistry so much as unrequited love – Cotten adores Valli’s character but she is still grieving for another.  Anyway, the more Drew talked about other aspects of the movie, the more excited she sounded about it – as Osborne teasingly pointed out.

Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin recently interviewed Osborne for his excellent podcast. It’s a fun interview, in which Osborne talks about the role Lucille Ball played in his career – hiring him as a young actor, but later suggesting that he might have more of a career as a writer than an actor.

Apr 28

The mad, merry month of May

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When I agreed to join the local Relay For Life committee last fall, I knew that the Relay would fall not long after the annual Symphony At The Celebration concert, one of the great passions of my adult life.

Of course, I didn’t know at the time – nobody did – about the Relay For Life “Cancer Sucks!” Crawfish Festival, which will take place a month before the Relay and a week and a half before the symphony concert. I also didn’t know that my title with the symphony concert was  to change from “publicity chairman” to “co-chair.” So I find myself heavily involved with three huge events taking place in less than a month’s time.

I’m not complaining; I’m having a lot of fun, actually, and I’m really looking forward to the next month. I just hope I can do everything justice.

First up, of course, is the crawfish festival, which will take place in about a week. We’ve already sold a considerable number of tickets. I’ll be working the water / Red Bull tent for the first six hours of the festival; after that, hopefully, I can get some photos and video. This has turned into something much larger than any of us imagined when it was first proposed. It’s a massive undertaking to stage a 12-hour outdoor music festival and crawfish boil, including a big-name recording artist as the headliner.

Fortunately, Tammy Trott, who is our lead on this project, seems to have every base covered. Every time one of us asks her about something, she’s got an answer. There are a lot of things that have to come together, but it looks like they’re going to come together. Fortunately, the ball seems to be rolling, and while I’m still trying to help out with publicity, we seem to have done a good job already getting the word out.

Our participating bands, such as Rayz’n Cain, have helped tremendously, by spreading the word to their fans. Rayz’n Cain, which includes some of my sister’s high school classmates, even created a tongue-in-cheek graphic playing off the fact that the festival takes place on Cinco de Mayo. Rayz’n Cain was sensational at our Relay For Life dance and live auction earlier in the year, and they’ll be closing out the festival for us. The cause is personal to them; one of the band members lost a family member to cancer the week of the dance and auction.

Three days after the crawfish festival will be my 50th birthday. I’m taking the day off work, but I’m not completely goofing off. On that morning, I’ll go to Tullahoma for a local-access cable talk show appearance promoting the symphony concert. That evening, we’ll have a Relay committee meeting, to discuss what happened at the crawfish festival and to make more plans for the Relay For Life coming up. (I don’t know when we’ll have the actual family celebration of my birthday; we tend to do such things on weekends, when we can get the family together.)

A week after my birthday is the symphony concert. We’re looking for another good one this year. I love telling people that this will be the Nashville Symphony’s first public appearance following their triumphant May 12 return to Carnegie Hall. That’s right: they’re going from Carnegie Hall straight to Calsonic Arena.

Calsonic Arena, which was built for equestrian events, has some permanent illuminated sponsor signs at the opposite end from where we do the concert. There’s a pair of signs promoting a local walking horse breeding operation. One sign bears the name of the operation, the other bears the slogan, “Why Breed Anywhere Else?” Last year, Maestro Albert-George Schram, in his charming Dutch accent, joked about the sign during the concert. “I think that’s great,” he said. “I think that should be the poster for dis concert next year.”

After the symphony concert, I will have two whole weeks to rest up for the Relay For Life, which will take place June 1-2 at Bedford County Agriculture and Education Center. This will be my second time to be at the Relay but my first time to be a committee member – which will be a completely different experience than being a walker, I’m sure. It’s also our first year going from a 12-hour format to an 18-hour format. We’re encouraging everyone to take shifts, but I’m going to try to be there and awake for as much of the Relay as I can, so that I can take video and photos. Some of that, of course, depends on how long I, as a committee member, will have to be there before and/or after the actual event. I still haven’t heard all of those details yet.

I may be turning 50, but I may feel more like 80 by the time the sun sets on June 2.

Apr 21

How are you fixed for blades, boys?

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I switched to an electric shaver years ago, and I’m content with it – my beard is so light in color (lighter than the hair on top of my head) that even if the electric doesn’t shave quite as close, it doesn’t matter in my case. And I save on the recurring expense of razors and shaving cream or gel.

But I followed with interest the hubbub a short while ago about Dollar Shave Club, a company which will ship you razor blade cartridges automatically for as little as a dollar a month. That $1 per month gets you twin-blade razors; four-blade and six-blade razors are available for $6 and $9 per month respectively. The $6 and $9 prices include shipping, while the $1 does not. A handle is free with your first order. The company released a viral video promoting its service.

The initial review I read on Lifehacker noted that whether the service would be right for you depends on how often you want to change the razors. Dollar Shave Club offers a fixed schedule, and there’s no way to change it if you like to change your blades more often or make them last longer.

Well, now the SmartMoney web site, quoted by Lifehacker, has discovered that Dollar Shave Club apparently gets its razors from a company called Dorco, which sells comparable razors in bulk directly to consumers for considerably less than Dollar Shave Club is charging. You can get a 10-month supply of the six-blade razors for $29 instead of $90. The founder of Dollar Shave Club responded that his company offered the convenience of monthly delivery, but Lifehacker pointed out that it doesn’t really take up that much space to store 10 months worth of razors, and you can burn through them at your own pace, not on some imposed schedule:

My biggest frustration with DSC was that I don’t like the idea of that recurring monthly bill, especially since to me, razor blades aren’t like clockwork.

I think I’ll stick to my electric shaver for the time being, but I’ll have to remember the Dorco site if I ever want to go back to blades.

Apr 21

Givin’ on a prayer

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There’s an Advil commercial with Jon Bon Jovi during which he refers to himself as “singer-songwriter, philanthropist, father.”

I don’t know anything about his charitable efforts, but I have no trouble imagining that they would be substantial, and that seems to be confirmed by this web site. Still, to me it sounds sort of pompous for anyone to refer to themselves as a “philanthropist.” Even if it’s accurate, it sounds like boasting.

Of course, I’m trying to think of an alternate word or phrase that would convey the same intent but without boasting. “Activist” sounds too political. “Donor” would be a literal match, but “donor and volunteer” might work better.

Apr 13

Stranger than fiction

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In the late 1800s, a professor named James Murray led the team which was preparing what would become one of the world’s greatest and most-renowned reference books: the Oxford English Dictionary.

Murray put out a call for volunteers to help in the arduous process of scanning centuries worth of books looking for the first appearances of words in print, or for citations which demonstrate that the meaning of a word has shifted.

Many such volunteers responded to the call, but one of the most surprising was a physician, W.C. Minor. Minor’s contributions were voluminous and impeccably-organized. The address given by Minor was a short train ride away from Oxford, and Murray eventually wanted to meet his generous and able collaborator in person. But Minor refused invitations to visit Murray or to attend a great banquet held to celebrate the dictionary project. Murray then resolved that he would, instead, visit Minor.

A widely-reprinted story has it that Murray didn’t find out the truth until he arrived at Minor’s address. The actual reveal was a little less dramatic in how it took place, but the information would have been jaw-dropping no matter how it was revealed. W.C. Minor, a former U.S. Army surgeon and a veteran of the Civil War, was a killer, found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, and consigned by a British court to life at an asylum for the criminally insane.

I first read a version of this story many years ago, in one of the book compilations of Paul Harvey’s “Rest of the Story” radio series. So when I saw Simon Winchester’s  The Professor and the Madman available for Kindle loan through my local library, I eagerly put myself on the waiting list. I had the day off work today, and – apart from cleaning my oven and going to a Nashville Symphony concert planning meeting – I’ve spent much of it with my nose in Winchester’s well-researched, well-told tale.

Winchester lays out the basics of the relationship between Murray and Minor right at the outset, but then he goes back and gives you all the nuance and pathos, including a rather gruesome detail, a little more than two-thirds of the way through the book, which I had not been expecting. It’s an amazing story – on the one hand, the book covers the great achievement of the OED, which took 70 years to complete and which has such deep importance to language, learning and England. On the other hand, the book tells a heartbreaking story about a tortured soul, a Civil War surgeon whose paranoia may have been made worse by what he witnessed in battlefield hospitals, or by the role he was forced to take in punishing a deserter. And yet, in his more lucid moments, this mental patient and American expatriate was able to play a key role in one of the crowning glories of the British empire.

Winchester covers every aspect of the tale, including the sad story of Minor’s victim and the family he left behind. It’s the type of tale that, if created by a novelist, would be called outlandish and unbelievable.

Strongly recommended.