8iGvzmOoh3Y Dick Martin passed away today. Martin was a stand-up comedian and television director, but he’s best known as half of the hosting duo of Rowan and Martin, hosts of the incredible, unforgettable Laugh-In. Laugh-In changed comedy and television, and introduced to us many marvels, from the ineffable Tiny Tim to the delightfully goofy Goldie …
Tag Archives: television
Master storytelling
301W4GhCi0Q It’s Indy 4 Weekend. Whether or not you’re planning to check out the latest installment in the adventures of Indiana Jones, you might be interested to see a bit of suspense its director created early in his career: 1971’s The Duel. In this low-budget, made-for-TV movie, which Steven Spielberg made when he was 23 …
Nonrequired reading for your weekend
A biting and entertaining column this week from Heather Havrilesky: “Hope Takes a Holiday!” in Salon. Barbara Walters and Michael Crighton are the main targets, but Katherine Harris gets a bit of a sideswipe too. Well worth a read.
No, we’re not gonna do that
LFE2CCfAP1o I don’t watch Charlie Rose, but I have absorbed my share of Beckett (and a few other people’s shares as well, thanks to Beckettfest at PICT). This video cracks me up.
Don’t think
lYmxN8U9sTc It has been a long day for me. Actually, it has been a long week. It has been a long month already, even — I said as much on May 1, and just over a week later I feel the heavy truth of it. And there are still three weeks to go. Not that …
I always end up biting
K2xMGI-QpZw You know the classic Tootsie-Pop commercial (“A-one, a-two-hoo!, a-three, CRUNCH”). I learned today that this is known as the “Mr. Owl” version, and it’s the short version of a 60-second commercial. The video above is the full commercial. Some notes: That little boy looked all over the forest for someone to answer his question. …
“Won’t You Wear a Sweater?” Day
YouTube – Mister Rogers: "Won’t You Wear a Sweater?" Day Thursday, March 20 will be "Won’t You Wear a Sweater?" Day. In honor of what would have been Mister Rogers’ 80th birthday on March 20, Mr. McFeely — aka David Newell, the public relations director for Family Communications, Inc. (the nonprofit company founded in 1971 …
Understanding e-commerce
K5jKBwkXr44 I fear British television will always be more interesting than American television. Consider, for example, the above clip from QI (Quite Interesting). Can our Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader even hope to compare? I think not.
I got chills; they’re multiplying
Jedi, originally uploaded by PhillipWest. Monday night I started to feel a little ill: chills, tiredness, headache. Tuesday I was focused on making it to and through meetings and a presentation at Refresh Pittsburgh, all of which were quite engaging and interesting. But by Tuesday evening I could tell that all was not well — …
The barman sketch
s_yXtaICt3Y I’ve been a longtime fan of Hugh Laurie. He’s such a wonderfully charming fool in Jeeves and Wooster, and he’s brilliantly nasty in House. This weekend I’ve been watching episodes of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, a sketch comedy show he and Stephen Fry did on the BBC in the late 1980s and …