hiway29

Orson Bean was a game show mainstay, anywhere, anytime. Speaking of game show mainstays-Nipsey Russell passed away yesterday. You couldn't begin any game show he was on until he recited one of his 'poems'.

I thought Manny being Manny was usually rerved for the games he sat out during pennant drives reserved I meant It's funny how the crap flies this time of year. One comment foments days of discussion, judgement, name calling, 'insights' from clueless local sportscasters fishing for any story or 'controversy' they can glom onto. Just play the damn games. Tho I couldn't let the Yankees AAA comment pass. Who sat that game out? Jeter had to leave in the 4th because of a nagging injury, otherwise it was Arod, Sheffield, Matsui, bernie, Tino, posada, cano-that's not AAA where I live.

Orson Bean was also the voice of Bibo Baggins in the animated Rankin-Bass version of the 'Hobbit'. He may have also voiced Frodo in 'the return of the King' follow up cartoon, but I won't swear to it. Orson on game shows is where I knew him also, especially 'To Tell the Truth'. He was commonly paneled with Peggy Cass, Kitty Carlisle, and Tom Poston (who I didn't care for as a kid, and have since come to regard as an underrated great comic actor). Oddly Lou Costello didn't want to make' A&C Meet Frankenstein', thinking the script weak. I can only scratch my head thinking of some of the turkeys he thought were better. As always, Bud kept his mouth shut and went along with whatever he was told to do.

Confusing A %C with Laurel and Hardy is beyond my comprehension. Unfortunately , I fear that the generations are letting it all slip away. A &C were talented burlesque comics, who did a good radio show, and even made a few good movies, among alot of clunkers. Laurel and Hardy -in my opinion- were special in ways that few comic teams ever were, tho I'll be the first to admit that some of their films reaked as well. The 2 teams could not have been more different. L &H's best work came in silent films and the first few years of sound, for the Hal Roach studios, which in it's prime was the best comedy studio ever. A &C rose to poularity as L&H passed their best years, and were what the country was looking for during WW11. I've been a member of the 'Sons of the desert' for several years. The 'Sons' is a group of L & H enthusiasts that was organized with Stan Laurel's help before he died in the early 60's . Dick Van Dyke, Chuck McCann, orson bean (WHO???) and others have been members. The purpose being to get together and watch L&H and other old comedies. In other words, it's easy to see where I stand as far as which team I prefer. Not that I haven't seen every A &C film a zillion times. For years, wpix tv in NY showed them at 11:30 Sunday mornings, and it was a ritual for me to watch them after church, while waiting for Sunday dinner. favorite A&C film- 'A&C meet Frankenstein' favorite L&H film-"Babes in Toyland' -sometimes called march of the Wooden Soldiers You're all going to be sorry you opened this can of worms for me !

No kidding. My first name is Andy, and there was always at least one jolly believer who would make a show of singing 'Andy walks with me...' during 'twig'. I always put on the big grin, yes, I get it, very clever.

The Angels always play the Yankees tough and could very well win the series. 'Home field advantage' is not really that big a factor though, as the number of transplanted yankee fans that show up to Angel games is staggering. It's the same when Boston comes to town. The only significant change was listening to the Angel announcers debating who they hated more now, the Yankees and their fans, or the Red Sox and their fans. By winning it all, the Sox are no longer the Cubs of the AL, and are no longer 'lovable'-not that it matters. The American League is infinately more interesting than the National these days-quite a turnaround from the 60's and 70's. If only the dh could be scrapped, which the layers union will never let happen. The dh was implented at a time when the AL frankly sucked, and needed a shot in the arm. If the Bosox make it to the series do they play Ortiz at first and pray nothing gets hit to him?

Going back to Bluzeman's post, the song he said everyone gets wrong is 'The Weight", ( not 'Take a load off, Fanny')

As usual, it seems that the Angels are not given due respect. It may be because they're too far west, lived in the Dodgers shadow for so long, or they can't settle on where they're from. Don't be surprised if they're there at the end. I'm conflicted as usual on who I'd like to see. It's genetic for me to root for the Yankees since I lived for them as a kid. Otherwise , I'd love to see the Chisox in the series, and I won't be disappointed if the Angels make it in. I'm even ok with the Bosox, except, it starting to look like the wild card team wins it all more often than not, and that kind of bothers me. In the National League I guess I like the Cards. The Braves are still a yawner, the Padres are in a division that shouldn't even qualify, and at this writing i dont know if Houston or Phillie gets the wild card.

I still don't quite understand the math, but if they tell me the Yankees won, who am I to argue. So, if the Sox lose, and the Indians win tomorrow, there's a play off on Monday. At least it's at Fenway-I can't remember when the Sox last played on the road. It still looks like the Yankees and Bosox are fated to meet yet again this year in the playoffs. Especially if the Yankees play the Chisox, and Boston plays the Angels first. If the Yankees face the Angels first, it could be over for them, and Chicago just may pesky themselves past Boston. That's my 2 cents anyway. Was happy to see Jeter get 200 hits again, putting him with Lou Gehrig on Yankee stats, which is pretty fast company. I can see mvp going either way as far as Ortiz and Rodriguez, and am not losing any sleep over it.

Maybe I was a bit harsh. But comparing Bat-Fink to Courageous cat is pretty accurate I think. That's not to say they're the WORST cartoons. I watched more Courageous Cat than I care to remember as a kid, largely because it was 'created' by Bob Kane, who 'created' Batman. Except Bob Kane wasn't really the creative force behind Batman, and quickly found a way take the credit for the work of others, but that's another story. For worst cartoon ever, I'd nominate Spunky and Tadpole off the top of my head. Aren't you all glad I'm back from vacation and rambling on about cartoons again?

Bat-Fink-how could I have forgotten Bat-Fink. One of the worst cartoons this side of Courageous Cat ever made.

I have-Reggie Jackson Ortiz is a wonder tho

Hey, I DON'T know who said that-I'll take an 'educated' guess and say Birdman. I dig your Alex Ross produced 'Green Lantern' avatar, George. DC comics, after a decade of insanity where they 'killed' off most of the characters that made them, found a way to bring ol' Hal Jordan back to life.

They did have kids in 'Get Smart', Sudo, twins if memory serves. I was thinking triplets, but I may be thinking of the triplets in 'My 3 Sons, that Robbie and Katie had ( to maintain the '3 sons', since Don grady appeared very little on the show by that time-which had already been on several years too long-but I digress). 'Get Smart' kinda 'jumped the shark' when Max and 99 got married. It almost became a domestic comedy. The show also switched networks, from NBC to CBS at that point. I saw Don Adams a few years ago at a 'nostalgia show', where 'has been' tv stars show up to sign pictures and stuff. He was looking poor at the time, with liver spots on his face and hands, but hey, it was still Don Adams. A fine, fine, comedian.

With the Angels in post season there will be renewed debate on just what to call them. The LA Angels of Anaheim will not flow on national tv. Personally I was fine with Anaheim Angels, yet I understand the move for marketing purposes. It is all about the money ultimately. If the Rams could be the LA Rams when they were in Anaheim, what's the difference. It became a huge thorn for the Dodgers tho. They still refer to them as Anaheim on their scoreboard, and their publicity campaign this year is 'THIS is LA baseball.' If it is, then they should be embarressed. The new Dodger czars dismantled a nice, up and coming team, and fielded a AAA team for most of the year. Yes they had injuries, every team has injuries. Anyway, the nail biting at Fenway wil start in 2 days. At this point I remind myself that it's only a game, the players are hired mercenaries, millions in China don't care, and the outcome really has no affect on my life at all, except that it makes me feel good if my team wins, and bad for a few minutes if they lose. Sometimes I think it's all about rubbing other people's noses in it. If your team wins , one can crow and laugh, as if THEY had anything to do about it . That's why I generally stay detached from team hoopla. Still, the 10 year old Yankee fan does rise to the surface, and I hope they win. I can't say I'm confidant tho.

It doesn't get any tighter than this does it. Both the Yanks and Sox have the ability to either shine or fall apart. The Sox have to be happy to playing out the season at home though. The problem with bestowing 'sainthood' on a player is that they usually have more games to play. Babe Ruth's last days as a player were a huge fall from 'godhood'. I doubt that Schilling is that near the end. I'm still amazed That the yankees are there. They were awful for much of the season, and are still quite capable of coughing up a game. The real disappointment is starting to look like the White Sox though. What is wrong with Chicago teams anyway? since noone else will say it here-Let's go Yankees !

I'll be gone the same days as you sudo, only I'm headed for New England. I'm sure the room can use a break from cartoons. Have a good trip.

well, i woulda listened to Kathy but I don't have the proper coordinates :(-->

I agree Bluzeman, 'The Stand" as a mini series was not the Stand as a book. They rarely are. I have huge issues with 'The Lord of the Rings" films, tho they do have merit. As far as the 'great white north' theme-I got it in 1 note-but I assumed everyone figured that :)--> I'm gonna give Kathy a listen now...

I remember being moved when the girl (Frannie?) played 'Don't Dream it's Over" by Crowded House in the second episode.

I took a drive down Wierwille road a couple of years ago while passing through. I slowed down to take a look at the fountain, and was immediately tailed by security, who bird dogged me until I was well on my way. I thought of pulling over and letting them question me, but I just didn't feel like dealing with it, and I was already weirded out from just going down that road. I'm still wondering why they let the old roa camping area get overgrown with weeds and bramble. Very un-way like, especially since the rest of the joint looked as obsessively groomed as ever.

Only a guess, but was it for 'The Stand'?

'Space Angel" also had the superimposed lips, tho 'Clutch Cargo' is the classic example. I used to watch Clutch every morning before school, and I have vivid memories of being creeped out, especially by the kid, Spinner. The lips were always so wet looking, with glimpses of tongue. The Marvel Super Heroes cartoons were done as cheap as is humanly possible, yet I have an affection for them. Forget animation, they were basically moving slide shows, but they shot the art right from the comic books,so alot of the great Jack Kirby, and Gene Colan art was unfiltered. It was shoddy tho, and a little off setting when they would take say, the Hulk's head out of context from another artist, and throw it in, mish mashing art styles, and anything actually animated was ridiculous. They did fill in alot of blanks for Marvel's world for me though. I also dug the theme songs. Oddly, they didn't feature Marvel's 2 biggest properties, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four, but we did get Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Sub-Mariner.

As far as Warner Bros vs Jay Ward cartoons-Keep in mind that the great Warner cartoons were made for the movie theater, at a much higher budget, and with full animation. Rocky and Bullwinkle was made for television, with limited budgets and animation, and really should not be compared as far as animation quality. Bullwinkle, ( as well as other early tv cartoons , Yogi Bear for example)were extremely successful solutions to the limitations set before them. They weren't trying to out Bugs Bugs Bynny-they were just trying to be funny. And, as is often the case, many of the artists , writers, and actors, spent time at several studios, and learned to work within the boundaries given them-and it has not changed to this day.

Thanks, George !