RIP: Leslie Nielsen Merges with the Infinite

The New York Times is reporting that movie legend (in my book, anyway, and I will fight you if you say otherwise), Leslie Nielsen, has passed at the age of 84.

It's true what they say: Cops and women don't mix. It's like eating a spoonful of Drano; sure, it'll clean you out, but it'll leave you hollow inside.

It's not much of an anecdote, but the first movie to ever literally make me fall out of my chair laughing was The Naked Gun.  I don't even remember exactly what scene took the cake, but I remember being in middle school at the Arbor Cinema and Lt. Frank Drebin was the funniest thing I'd ever seen (it was likely the scene where Drebin breaks into Ricardo Montalban's penthouse). 

Anyway, what I truly remember is finding myself having doubled over and the slid right out of my chair.  Always interesting when you find out a figure of speech has a basis to it.  But that's exactly the kind of movie it is (when you're 13), and that's the kind of effect Nielsen's delivery had on me.

The great thing about Nielsen was that he seemed like the straight man, but whether as Drebin, Dracula or Dr. Rumack, he got the best dialog and he delivered it with aplomb.

Frank: It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

Jane: Goodyear?

Frank: No, the worst.

The Arbor Cinema has since been replaced by a Cheesecake Factory, and the third Naked Gun movie was, frankly, not great, but a generation of people grew up believing you need to be able to deliver ridiculous dialog with a completely straight face and tough guy demeanor.

And somewhere along the line, some kids might decide they'd rather be a Frank Drebin than a Magnum PI or whatever.  I'm just saying.



I am, also, of course, a huge fan of the movie Airplane! (and its sequel), and even as a pretty small kid thought "that doctor guy is awesome".  Nielsen played Dr. Rumack, who somehow either had the best lines or the best timing in the movie.  Who else could sell "and don't call me 'Shirley'"?



In college I finally ventured to the Paramount one balmy summer evening to see Forbidden Planet.  After having had grown up with Nielsen as a comedic actor, I was suprised to find him as the leading male star of the science fiction classic.  Every day when I pass down my stairwell, I pass under the movie poster from Forbidden Planet and Nielsen's name. 



One highlight of living in the greater Phoenix area was that I believe Nielsen appeared on local safety commercials.  I have no idea why Leslie Nielsen and Alice Cooper were teaming up to appear in these ads, but it was always a treat to see the guy show up on TV, clearly enjoying goofing around in the name of safer driving.

I am, of course, very sad to know that Nielsen has passed, but he left a terrific bunch of movies and TV shows behind (if you've never seen Police Squad!, the show that started the Naked Gun series, I highly recommend). 

Let's bid a great actor adieu.  Surely, he will be missed.

So long, June Cleaver... we're going to miss you

I failed to note this weekend's passing of Ms. Barbara Billingsley, most famous for her portrayal of June Cleaver in TV's Leave it to Beaver and later in The New Leave it to Beaver.  All in all, Billingsley played the iconic TV mom for more than ten years.

You may also remember her as the "jive translator" from Airplane! (one of the finest moments in cinema, if you ask me, thanks), and the voice of "Nanny" on Muppet Babies.

This fake family sure is swell

Sure, you can have an ironic appreciation for Leave it to Beaver, and June Cleaver has become both punching bag and icon in American culture as we've seen women's roles change over the years, but the reason we used June Cleaver as a touchstone was because if you had a TV growing up from the 50's to the 90's, its likely you found yourself watching Leave it to Beaver upon occasion.  Straight up, before there were 200 channels on the dial, who didn't watch this show, at least out of boredom?

Growing up I preferred Leave it to Beaver over Brady Bunch and found June Cleaver far less creepy (and less lazy) than Carol Brady.  Plus, you know, as a chubby kid constantly baffled by the world who had an older brother who liked to dispense suspect advice and a dad who also could be found reading the paper in the living room and who was prone to give a little lecture when you fudged up, it wasn't a stretch to see the connection.  Was the KareBear like June Cleaver?  Not so much.  She was angling for a "Maria from The Sound of Music" thing.  But she got stuck with two sons who were not playing ball.

Sure, I think reruns of this show have given a good chunk of America a pretty false idea of "an America we need to get back to".  The 50's were actually a pretty rough time for a lot of Americans.  But it does hold up an ideal of a fairly functional American family, even if the structure is outdated in a post-Betty Friedan era.

But you can't fault Barbara Billingsley for being one of the best TV moms out there.  Especially as she wasn't afraid to throw Ward in front of the bus when it came to the tasks of lecturing and setting The Beaver straight when he's once again killed a neighborhood hobo.  I assume June was downstairs having a cocktail and listening to jazz.

Tom Bosley Merges with the Infinite

Tom "Howard Cunningham" Bosley, he of the long running series Happy Days, has passed at the age of 83. 

You can read more about it here.

Godspeed, Mr. C

Tony Curtis Merges with the Infinite

Actor Tony Curtis has passed.

I am unironically sad to hear The Star Hustler has passed

My friends, I am sorry to report that The Star Hustler, Jack Horkheimer himself, has merged with the infinite.

In high school my weekend evenings usually ended the same way every week. I'd take my girlfriend home, go home and watch an awful movie or two on USA Up All Night or MST3K, then watch the PBS show "The Star Hustler", just before PBS signed off for the night.



If you've stayed up really really late, like, ever... especially in the 1990's, its likely you've seen "The Star Hustler". It was a Green Screened thing from some Florida affiliate, with a middle aged guy in a Members Only jacket or wide array or sweaters (which I found odd, because he was in Florida), and he talked about astronomy. And he @#$%ing loved astronomy.

I began to think of Jack Horkheimer as a sort of excitable sandman, the person who eased me off to slumberland with tales of stars I was never going to actually step outside to see, because I lived in the suburbs near a large street light, and then in the middle of the city. And I often pondered what an amazing life this guy had as scientist by day, and enthusiast for his own field by night. Plus, he got to get green screened, and that was neat.

He also ruined me for the one astronomy class I dropped in college. My professor was interesting in that he was a genius and had Turrets that made him do this odd "b-kok" sound every once in a while but he was nowhere as engaging as Jack Horkheimer, and had none of the knack for teaching young minds. Nor, I suspect, the Members Only jacket or collection of sweaters.

So, I salute thee, Jack Horkheimer, and bid you godspeed. Sure, I found your show because the title "Star Hustler"* sounded like it might contain boob when I was 14 or so and was staying up too late. But I was actually interested in what you had to say. the world is poorer without you in it, walking across the green-screened cosmos.

And if there's any justice, you're up there among the stars right now.

a PDF download on the show (thanks to Jeff S.!)





*Apparently in 1997, the show changed names to The Star Gazer as someone pointed out that the program did, indeed, sound like it might be a soft-core sci-fi program.

Harvey Pekar Merges with the Infinite

I was telling some folks earlier today that I was surprised that I had a moment when I read the headline.

Comics great Harvey Pekar has passed.

But, then, it kind of makes sense that, even as casual a reader as myself, might feel they knew Pekar little. To read Harvey's comics (most of which existed under the title American Splendor) was to get to know at least some version of the man. The comics were vastly autobiographical, honest, and unflinching. Sometimes funny, sometimes not, sometimes tough to read when Pekar shared his day-to-day, especially in Our Cancer Year.

If you haven't read American Splendor comics, pick up a collection or two, and if you aren't going to do that, then, for the love of God, rent the movie. The movie is actually just really, really good and stars Paul Giammti in most scenes, but it includes interview footage with Pekar, his family and the folks around him.

For a guy who outwardly seemed gruff and likely a little tough to deal with, its a bit surprising that the man more or less pioneered autobiographical comics, something that's become a huge staple of the indie comics and web comics scene. And, not to bag on anyone's efforts, Pekar is still largely unmatched. He wasn't enamored with making himself seem clever, or his life seem hip (good Lord, no), but he did like to catch the details of the everyday in a way authors, documentarians and Pekar's fellow cartoonists could only dream about.

That's a tough thing to do, and to keep it as honest as Harvey did, even through chemo and all the rest... kind of amazing.



Oddly, Harvey was never the artist of his own comics, but to work with Harvey who had started his work with R. Crumb, became a sort of thing. And to capture what Harvey was trying to put into his comics seemed to be a challenge artists wanted to rise to.

In his last few years I think Harvey enjoyed a little boost in personal fame and popularity. I'm not sure how much it helped with what seemed to be his anxiety over finances, etc... but I hope he came to see that there was a large audience out there that loved his work.

So long, Harvey. Thanks for changing comics.

I can only hope that you've got access to your record collection wherever you are.

Weekly Watch Wind: 06/18/2010

Video Games/ DC Comics: DCU Online now available for pre-order.

Great. Now I need a new computer.

Passing/ Creator: Al Williamson, a legendary comic artist has passed. Honestly, I believed Williamson had been dead for years, but... oh, well.

I know him from his work on Flash Gordon, but he also did this one short story I read in a book about the realities and speculation around space travel entitled "Rocketship". I was shocked to see a page from that story included in the gallery (image #11).

The story is basically about how man's attempts to reach the stars will be doomed by our inability to leave our most basic human failings behind when we hit the intergalactic highway. Reading this story in middle school made me believe we'd never truly achieve our potential as a species.


Batman/ Pornography: Comics Alliance posts a review of the very adult film, "Batman XXX". The review does nothing to diminish my curiosity, but I am unwilling to risk divorce for a cheap laugh (sort of). The review is NOT SAFE FOR WORK (or M-i-L or The KareBear), btw.

From the review:

...but seriously, they look like they're having fun. And why shouldn't they? I mean, Dale DaBone gets to be Batman and a porn star at the same time.

That dude is straight up living the dream.

Memes/ Keanu: Likely you've heard of this by now. It makes it no less... awesome. The Signal Watch also really hopes things pick up for Keanu by the weekend.


Liefeld/ Comics: Did you read comics in the 1990's? Well, then you likely remember oddly proportioned men and women carrying enormous weapons and smothered in dozens of pockets. This whole scene was developed by comic artist/ writer, Rob Liefeld, who now embodies the excesses of comics in the 90's to many comic fans.

Well, nothing is crueler than a comic fan with a web site and a long memory.

Two Liefeld links of note:

1) A reminder of what not to do when they give you the Captain America assignment
2) Liefeld Rulz! - tribute artists pay homage to Rob Liefeld's style

special thanks to MikeF. for the links!


Aquaman/ BP: I think Randy and Simon send me this. So sad.


E3/ Interviews: I'm not actually linking to anything here. I'm just saying: there is seemingly nothing more pointless than an E3 interview (except for maybe interviewing pop stars).


Movies/ Comics: I'm gonna buy this comic of the upcoming Machete! movie.

Dennis Hopper Merges with The Infinite

On my way home the other day I was listening to a story about how a modern art museum in LA was retrofitting itself under new leadership, and that their first new exhibit would be the work of Dennis Hopper. Actor, director, writer and visual artist.

And then I saw this afternoon that Hopper had passed.

My first memory of Hopper is from seeing "Hoosiers", the Gene Hackman Indiana high school basketball flick. But I also very much recall that during the post-Platoon surge of Vietnam movies, The Admiral decided we should really see "Apocalypse Now".

Apparently I'd seen him previously in "My Science Project", a movie now forgotten and collecting dust or in landfills on VHS. I'd also see him circa 1989 when I rented "River's Edge". But, of course, Hopper was just sort of omnipresent, and you didn't know when he'd pop up, from "Rebel Without A Cause" as a rental, to "Space Truckers" when you were watching TV on a Saturday morning. "Cool Hand Luke", of course.

Of course I watched "Easy Rider", too.

Anyway, I was shocked to see that Hopper had passed. 74 seems young these days. 202 acting credits on IMDB seems almost impossible.

Vaya con dios, sir.

Little Orphan Annie: Canceled!

Our heroes

Man, this is absolutely no good.

If you're looking for an indication of the sorts of things we're losing to a mix of the demise of print, changing cultural practices and what happens when you continue creating new and shinier franchises... The Chicago Tribune syndicate is canceling the 85-year-running strip "Little Orphan Annie".

Read here.

Since learning about Tintin while in middle school, I always sort of felt that Annie was America's Tintin. A globetrotting adventurer, getting into all sorts of scrapes that were a bit out of a kid's depth, and often had quite a grand scale to the adventure.


Annie enjoys the holidays

Unlike Europe, America doesn't do quite as much to pass down characters from one generation to another, and certainly hasn't embraced comics as a medium in the same way. Of course, Tintin lived in graphic novels, while Little Orphan Annie existed in newspaper strips and collections of that strip.

However, most Americans now associate Annie with spunky Aileen Quinn and Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks (yes, war profiteer as hero). The movie is a bit of an American kid's classic, and was based upon a long-running stage play that has since become a staple of school and community theaters around the world. (As a kid, Sarah Jessica Parker played Annie in the Broadway version). I've seen the movie, likely, a dozen times since the theatrical release.

The strip always retained its tone of adventure, and its classic, post-Barney Google/ built in the 20's-look, compete with Annie's pupil-less eyes. At least the last time I saw the strip presented as new episodes in the paper, which was back in high school.


I think Sandy got into the catnip

Mostly, I'm sad to see a cultural touchstone closing up shop. Annie is a character that has been a common point of reference for Americans for 85 years. It's not a total surprise that 10 years past the 20th Century, we're beginning to say good-bye to the last party guests.


one of the first Annie strips

For the next fifty or so years, there will be those who grew up with Annie, and work to maintain memory of the characters, but at some point, Little Orphan Annie will be a museum piece that some grad student will puzzle over as they work on their dissertation on secret decoder rings and what "Drink Your Ovaltine" really means.


Your faithful blogger wows the crowd at Common Interest Karaoke with "Tomorrow" from the stage show "Annie". No, seriously. That is exactly what is going on in this picture.

As long as there are kids who want to believe adventure is around any corner, and that partnering with your dog, and guys named "Punjab" and "The Asp" is a good idea (and that a billionaire will decide you're keen and take you around the world), I think there's a place for Annie and her soulless, white eyes.