Now as I was young and fuzzy, mired in what we were assured was a university education, just beginning to pull my head out of my… Okay, look – no need for vulgarity here. Let’s leave it at this: I was pulling my head from the sand and becoming aware of kinds of culture other than what I was being fed to us by radio and movies (that Bob Hope! What a stitch!) and that alien entity in the living room we called “the teevee” or “the television” or simply “the set.”
(No need for further elaboration: we had only two sets, the one in the living room and the one Mom kept tucked away somewhere and that we saw only on the most festive of occasions, such as Christmas and the like, Oh, and full disclosure; I’m not sure we ever really had a holiday meal on the family set.
(No need for further elaboration: we had only two sets, the one in the living room and the one Mom kept tucked away somewhere and that we saw only on the most festive of occasions, such as Christmas and the like, Oh, and full disclosure; I’m not sure we ever really had a holiday meal on the family set.
- 5/11/2017
- by Dennis O'Neil
- Comicmix.com
In The Lucas Brothers’ first Netflix special, On Drugs, Keith and Kenny Lucas riff on life, career decisions, police etiquette, weed, twin anomalies, and even professional wrestling. Like other famous comedic fraternal icons like the Marx Brothers and the Smothers Brothers, these guys are light on their feet — you don’t see the comedy hammer coming. Their act is a clever wending of intellect and unusual observations which is served up in a laconic set far less frenetic than anything Groucho and Chico ever dished. These guys are a quiet riot, a nerd-storm of classic WWE appreciation who interestingly also collect vintage...read more...
- 4/18/2017
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
For nostalgic excitement there's no better '60s pop compendium than this! An impossibly eclectic mix of talent at the Santa Monica Civic, in a brilliantly produced live show recorded in the wonder of Electronovision! The lineup is incredible: The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Lesley Gore on the same stage? The T.A.M.I. Show; The Big T.N.T. Show Blu-ray Shout Select (Shout! Factory) 1964 / B&W / 1:66 & 1:85 widescreen / 112 + 93 min. / Electronovision / Collector's Edition / Street Date December 2, 2016 / 29.98 Starring T.A.M.I.: The Beach Boys, The Barbarians, Chuck Berry, The Blossoms, James Brown and The Flames, Marvin Gaye, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Jan & Dean, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes, The Rolling Stones Toni Basil, Glen Campbell, Teri Garr, Jack Nitzsche, Leon Russell, Phil Spector, David Winters. T.N.T. David McCallum, Ray Charles, Petula Clark, Bo Diddley, Joan Baez, Phil Spector, The Ronettes,...
- 11/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The renowned publicist who represented the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg, has died of pancreatic cancer surrounded by family at his Studio City home. He was 90.
Weissman was born in Brooklyn in 1925 and after a stint as a Navy radio operator during World War II he embarked on a publicity career that spanned nearly seven decades.
He began as a publicity executive with the ABC and CBS television networks where he worked with Sinatra, Garland, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Dick Van Dyke and the Smothers Brothers, among others.
In 1966 he moved to Universal Pictures where he spent 10 years as chief of the motion picture publicity department and oversaw the campaign for Spielberg’s Jaws.
In 1981, after stints at Lorimar Productions – now part of Warner Bros Television – and Columbia Pictures, overseeing marketing on Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weissman formed his own marketing and PR company.
He became...
Weissman was born in Brooklyn in 1925 and after a stint as a Navy radio operator during World War II he embarked on a publicity career that spanned nearly seven decades.
He began as a publicity executive with the ABC and CBS television networks where he worked with Sinatra, Garland, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Dick Van Dyke and the Smothers Brothers, among others.
In 1966 he moved to Universal Pictures where he spent 10 years as chief of the motion picture publicity department and oversaw the campaign for Spielberg’s Jaws.
In 1981, after stints at Lorimar Productions – now part of Warner Bros Television – and Columbia Pictures, overseeing marketing on Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weissman formed his own marketing and PR company.
He became...
- 12/28/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The renowned publicist who represented the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg, has died of pancreatic cancer surrounded by family at his Studio City home. He was 90.
Weissman was born in Brooklyn in 1925 and after a stint as a Navy radio operator during World War II he embarked on a publicity career that spanned nearly seven decades.
He began as a publicity executive with the ABC and CBS television networks where he worked with Sinatra, Garland, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Dick Van Dyke and the Smothers Brothers, among others.
In 1966 he moved to Universal Pictures where he spent 10 years as chief of the motion picture publicity department and oversaw the campaign for Spielberg’s Jaws.
In 1981, after stints at Lorimar Productions – now part of Warner Bros Television – and Columbia Pictures, overseeing marketing on Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weissman formed his own marketing and PR company.
He became...
Weissman was born in Brooklyn in 1925 and after a stint as a Navy radio operator during World War II he embarked on a publicity career that spanned nearly seven decades.
He began as a publicity executive with the ABC and CBS television networks where he worked with Sinatra, Garland, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Dick Van Dyke and the Smothers Brothers, among others.
In 1966 he moved to Universal Pictures where he spent 10 years as chief of the motion picture publicity department and oversaw the campaign for Spielberg’s Jaws.
In 1981, after stints at Lorimar Productions – now part of Warner Bros Television – and Columbia Pictures, overseeing marketing on Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weissman formed his own marketing and PR company.
He became...
- 12/28/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
When Neil Patrick Harris returns to TV next week, he won't be cracking jokes in another sitcom. Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris (debuting on September 15th on NBC) marks the return — overdue or not — of the variety show, that long-dormant format in which kooky skits, musical guests, and frenzied production numbers are jammed into an hour of family-friendly entertainment. "When you think of the variety shows we all grew upon — Sonny and Cher and Donny and Marie — those [programs] all said, 'Sit on the couch, be entertained with a little song,...
- 9/10/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Maybe Bill Cosby can tell a lesbian when he sees one after all. “At Seventeen” singer Janis Ian has waded into the sexual-assault scandal surrounding Cosby, saying that Cosby tried to have her banned from television because he thought she was a lesbian. In a lengthy Facebook post sparked by a New York magazine story featuring 35 Cosby accusers, Ian offered a story this week claiming that Cosby attempted to interfere with her career when she was 16 and appearing on the Smothers Brothers’ show to sing her song “Society’s Child.” Also Read: Bill Cosby's Gaydar Is Way Off, Accuser's Court Filing.
- 7/29/2015
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
In response to New York's interview with 35 women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault, folk singer Janis Ian has come forward with her own story of poor treatment at Cosby's hands. "I have a personal stake" in the story, Ian revealed on her Facebook page. "No, I was not sexually bothered by Bill Cosby. We met because he was curious about me." At the time Ian was 16 years old, promoting her controversial interracial love song "Society's Child." On the eve of her first TV performance on The Smothers Brothers Show, she fell asleep in her female chaperone's lap, a fact that Cosby apparently noticed. "A while later," Ian writes, "my manager called me into her office. 'What happened at the Smothers Brothers show?!' I had no idea what she was talking about, and said so. 'Well, no one else on TV is willing to have you on. Not...
- 7/29/2015
- by Nate Jones
- Vulture
It's strange to think that Steve Martin started out his career at Disneyland. He worked there for eight years, he revealed during his AFI Life Achievement Award show video interview, doing magic tricks, and then moved on to do more magic and banjo playing as well as theater skits at Knott's Berry Farm before writing stints at the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and multiple appearances on the Johnny Carson Show and Saturday Night Live. The ceremony, held earlier this month, airs Saturday, June 13 at 10pm on TBS. "Steve was the first rock star comedian," stated his frequent Oscar co-presenter Tina Fey (see more of her remarks below), reminding us that he initially took a pay cut, back in 1978, to leave his status at the top of the Billboard arena chart. He was selling out huge stadiums, and Martin admitted that every time he did Saturday Night Live (from King Tut...
- 6/12/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
A review of the final "Mad Men" season premiere coming up just as soon as I try your veal... "That's not a coincidence! It's a sign!" -Ken "Of what?" -Don "The life not lived." -Ken A handsome man in a grey suit once asked, "But what is happiness? It's a moment before you need more happiness." And at a moment in time when that man and many of the people he worked with seem to have acquired a boatload of professional happiness — or, at least, money — a ghost danced in front of him and sang about how the best things in life are free. And as "Mad Men" returns from its last hiatus, having carried its characters out of the 1960s altogether, "Severance" is a reminder of how elusive happiness is for everyone, and how the life not lived seems at once far more appealing and impossible to actually explore.
- 4/6/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Bob Dylan is a legendary singer-songwriter and folk/rock icon. But his easily parodied voice doesn't exactly scream "lullaby crooning." Jimmy Fallon and Ethan Hawke proved that fact during Tuesday's Tonight Show, performing a handful of classic children's songs in Dylan's signature Sixties style.
"We both have young kids," Fallon says to open the clip. "They're great, so much fun. But, you know, bedtime can be pretty tough." Hawke suggests an alternative – singing the songs as Dylan – and he cites "scientific research" to prove the method works.
"We're like the Smothers Brothers,...
"We both have young kids," Fallon says to open the clip. "They're great, so much fun. But, you know, bedtime can be pretty tough." Hawke suggests an alternative – singing the songs as Dylan – and he cites "scientific research" to prove the method works.
"We're like the Smothers Brothers,...
- 4/1/2015
- Rollingstone.com
[As you probably already know, starting on Thursday, August 21, Fxx is running the Every Simpsons Ever Marathon, running through all 552 episodes of "The Simpsons," plus "The Simpsons Movie." To aid in your viewing process, Team HitFix is selecting our favorite episodes from each day, plus an episode or two that you can skip and use as a bathroom or nap break.] Day 10 of Fxx's Every Simpsons Ever Marathon takes us from "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpsons Mind" (mid-Season 19) through "Stealing First Base" (mid-Season 21). It's a reasonably good day, both because it starts with a near-classic, but also because mid-morning will see the show transition into HD, which will finally end those conversations about Fxx's cropping decisions and whether they've hindered the comedy thus far. The shift to HD didn't reinvigorate "The Simpsons" back to its Season 4-ish peak, but it absolutely gave new juice to the storytelling, inspiring the show to take more visual risks -- the couch gags have never been better -- and to add more aesthetic depth. "The Simpsons" always had moments of beautiful animation, but they were usually wedged amidst plainer stuff. Since the HD transition, "The Simpsons" has been a consistently good-looking show. If you're like a lot of the HitFix staff, you may have already stopped watching by this point,...
- 8/30/2014
- by Daniel Fienberg, Alan Sepinwall and Katie Hasty
- Hitfix
"As a comedian, I have no range whatsoever," admits David Steinberg during an exclusive Gold Derby webchat. "I am amazed that I've had a career because I can't do anything. I don't sing. I don't dance. I don't do impressions." -Break- Steinberg just finished his third season as host of Showtime's "Inside Comedy." On this lively talker, he discusses comedy and careers with veteran comics and current stars. His guests included Alan Arkin, Jimmy Fallon, Jonah Hill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Key and Peele, Dick Van Dyke, and Fred Willard. Subscribe to Gold Derby's YouTube Channel His accomplished 45-year career has included a controversial stint with the Smothers Brothers, many stand-up appearances, and ranking as one of Johnny Carson's favorite comedians on "The Tonight Show" (guesting over 130 times, second only to Bob Hope). Regarding the recent late night turnover and Fa...
- 5/13/2014
- Gold Derby
Why do all of the top comedians past and present want to talk with David Steinberg? That's one topic we'll cover when the actor, comedian, director, writer, and host of Showtime's "Inside Comedy" joins us for a live chat this Monday, May 12, at 11:00 a.m. Pt/ 2:00 p.m. Et on Gold Derby's home page. -Break- Just during this past third season alone, Steinberg has discussed comedy with Alan Arkin, Jimmy Fallon, Jonah Hill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Key and Peele, Dick Van Dyke and Fred Willard. Subscribe to Gold Derby's YouTube Channel His accomplished 45-year career has included a controversial stint with the Smothers Brothers, many stand-up appearances, and as one of Johnny Carson's favorite comedians on "The Tonight Show." Steinberg has directed dozens of television shows including "Designing Women," "The Golden Girls," "Mad About You," and "Newhart," e...
- 5/11/2014
- Gold Derby
Pete Seeger died Monday evening. He was 94 years old.
You can read about his life here in the newspaper of record. A simple Google search will get you a bunch more versions, but these are the facts.
And the facts are so incredibly inadequate at this point.
The first time I saw Pete Seeger perform was on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. I’d heard him sing on the radio occasionally but had never seen him, nor did I think about it a lot. I was 14, so please cut me some slack. As a big fan of the Smothers Brothers I found out bit about him before the show aired, including the fact that the reason I had never seen him was that he had been blacklisted for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. You can see his performance here. Rather than grovel his way back into the public’s perception,...
You can read about his life here in the newspaper of record. A simple Google search will get you a bunch more versions, but these are the facts.
And the facts are so incredibly inadequate at this point.
The first time I saw Pete Seeger perform was on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. I’d heard him sing on the radio occasionally but had never seen him, nor did I think about it a lot. I was 14, so please cut me some slack. As a big fan of the Smothers Brothers I found out bit about him before the show aired, including the fact that the reason I had never seen him was that he had been blacklisted for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. You can see his performance here. Rather than grovel his way back into the public’s perception,...
- 1/31/2014
- by Martha Thomases
- Comicmix.com
Remember the day before your school's Christmas vacation, when you and the other kids were so wild with excitement that you couldn’t even stay in your seats, so your teacher just passed out candy canes and put on a video and got the hell out of the way? I'm pretty sure that was exactly how it felt in Studio 8H last night, as Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake delivered a near-perfect Christmas episode to an ecstatic crowd. These guys were the ideal choice to finish out the year: They...
- 12/22/2013
- Rollingstone.com
Things usually wind down as we get towards the end of the year, but this is not necessarily true for most freelancers, and this year it is certainly not true for me. However, I am not complaining in the least.
Last Friday I found myself scarfing down absolutely fantastic barbecue at a place in Corunna, Michigan. If you don’t know where that is, well, it’s just southeast of Owosso. My lust for great Que is perhaps legendary, but to actually get me to Corunna took some additional bait: I met up with my old and dear friend and ComicMix comrade John Ostrander.
Not wanting to destroy our mood, we didn’t talk about the Cubs’ prospects for the new season. We did open with our other usual talking points: politics, weird Chicago history, comics industry gossip, and comics industry fact that we could never utter in public. Then we got down to work.
Last Friday I found myself scarfing down absolutely fantastic barbecue at a place in Corunna, Michigan. If you don’t know where that is, well, it’s just southeast of Owosso. My lust for great Que is perhaps legendary, but to actually get me to Corunna took some additional bait: I met up with my old and dear friend and ComicMix comrade John Ostrander.
Not wanting to destroy our mood, we didn’t talk about the Cubs’ prospects for the new season. We did open with our other usual talking points: politics, weird Chicago history, comics industry gossip, and comics industry fact that we could never utter in public. Then we got down to work.
- 12/18/2013
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
With her floppy hat and flapping gums, Jackie "Moms" Mabley is mostly remembered these days for her outrageous appearances on late-'60s and '70s-era variety and talk shows, as mainstream as Ed Sullivan and as of-the-moment as the Smothers Brothers, performing racy and politically barbed stand-up routines whose sting was couched in a dirty-old-lady's guise.
Among those influenced by Mabley was Whoopi Goldberg, who performed an homage to the comedian early in her own career. In the HBO documentary Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley (Monday, 9/8c), the View personality directs and participates in this tribute to the pioneering comic's life and legacy, with TV clips and audio excerpts (enhanced with crude animation) from her many comedy albums, which hold up surprisingly well.
Read More >...
Among those influenced by Mabley was Whoopi Goldberg, who performed an homage to the comedian early in her own career. In the HBO documentary Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley (Monday, 9/8c), the View personality directs and participates in this tribute to the pioneering comic's life and legacy, with TV clips and audio excerpts (enhanced with crude animation) from her many comedy albums, which hold up surprisingly well.
Read More >...
- 11/18/2013
- by Matt Roush
- TVGuide - Breaking News
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