For this post, I take you back to Star Trek. There's one thing that has always bugged me about "The Corbomite Maneuver," an episode from the first season. Watch this clip.
Kirk, McCoy and Bailey meet Balok on his ship. After brief introductions, Balok offers a drink of tranya -- "I hope you relish it as much as I." Kirk and his crew eye the drink suspiciously, hesitating to drink. Finally Balok drinks, thereby assuring his guests that the drink isn't poison. Once he does that, they partake as well.
But there's something that has always bothered me about this.
When the tranya appears on a tray, there are three cups and a punch bowl, all full of the drink. Balok gives the three full cups to Kirk and his men. He then ladles tranya from the punch bowl into his own cup (presumably he'd been imbibing before this meeting). So Kirk and the guys never actually see the liquid they're getting mixed with what Balok is drinking. Kirk has no way to be sure that the cups weren't poisoned.
He should have taken Balok's drink. But then, I guess, he'd get cooties.
Session: Giant Monster Month, week 3 Movie: The War of the Gargantuas (1966) Directed by Ishiro Honda As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL Plot: Two gargantuas -- one good and one bad -- battle over Japan. Hilarity ensues. Reaction:
After three weeks of 1950's era science fiction -- films that, for me, epitomized good 1950's sci-fi -- this movie seemed a bit out of place. As a classic Japanese monster movie, it seems like a different genre. Of course, it did fit the theme for the session -- giant monster movies.
Going in, I wasn't really sure what a "gargantua" actually is. I am still unclear. In the context of this movie, it could mean any giant monster, or it could specifically mean a sasquatch-like giant. The definition in dictionary.com doesn't seem to fit. By the way, true story: When I was a kid there was a family named Gargiullo who lived down the block from me. For some reason I had trouble with their name and kept calling them the Gargantuas. Mrs. Gargiullo thought it was the funniest thing.
Actually, there's a lot to like in this movie. The opening scene, on the ocean with the giant octopus was really a great way to open the film. One of the best opening scenes I can recall. I also enjoyed the way the bad gargantua would eat people whole, and then daintily spit out their clothes. And the scenes of the military shooting the bad gargantua with lasers were particularly well done.
Perhaps the best part of the movie is something I wouldn't have caught if Keith hadn't explained it to us. The war between the good gargantua and the bad is an allegory for Japanese society and its changing relationship with the modern world. The bad gargantua represents World War II (and before)-era Japan, while the good one represents post-war Japan. This was clearly played out in what happened to be one of my favorite scenes.
The bad gargantua is lazing in a dale in the forest, having eaten a bunch of people. He looks kind of like a middle-aged suburbanite in a food coma on Thanksgiving. The good gargantua happens by, and notices him. Then, noticing the clothes of the now-eaten people, gets a horrified look on his face, and starts swatting at the bad gargantua with a tree. "We don;t do that anymore," he seems to be saying.
But despite all the good things in this film, I just couldn't get past Russ Tamblyn's comatose performance, From the first time he's onscreen, he's just not into it. Over and over again, there are scenes that call for real feeling, and he's like Barbara Bain in Space 1999. That really killed it for me.
The ratings:
Joe: 9.5
Dave9
Sean 4 (on a scale of 1 - 4)
Scott: 9.5
Ethan: 8
Me: 6.5
This was the rare occasion when my giving a film a low rating earned me a rebuke from Keith. Usually, when I rate something low, he'll nod and think and say "that's fair" or somesuch. This time he felt I was unfair to the film. Oh well.
The War of the Gargantuas fails the Bechdel Test. Extras: This class was hosted by Keith's friend, film historian Joe Cascio. Cascio specializes in Japanese monster films, and has reviewed a number of them for DVD Drive in. In introducing this film, he gave a lot of tidbits about the personalities involved, and some of the interpersonal relationships. For example, everyone was shocked by the performance of Kipp Hamilton, who played the lounge singer. Why, we all wondered, did they get such an atrociously awful singer for this movie? Afterwards he explained that -- according to rumor -- Hamilton may not have been a good singer, but she did get the part by using her throat in another way. Cascio also warned us of the sedated performance of star Russ Tamblyn. Years later, Tamblyn was at a rerelease party and acknowledged that he had phoned in his performance. Apparently, his performance also made it hard for his costar, Kumi Mizuno, who had little to play off of.
This fall is the fortieth anniversary of Billy Joel's album, The Stranger. It was this album that brought Joel into my consciousness, because I remember the TV ads, and some classmates at YCQ were talking a lot about it.
So, thirty years later, am I the only one who wonders what ever became of Brenda and Eddie?
Ethan, Blair and I were on a public access TV show -- "Open" on BronxNet. We were talking about Stack-Up, how it was founded, and our role in it. I'd love to say that this appearance was the culmination of lots of hard work. But the truth is, it kind of fell in our lap. We had signed up to help with a service event run by The Mission Continues -- another military-related charity. The Mission Continues works with veterans to find ways that they can continue serving their communities after their service in the armed forces is over.
Anyway, the event was a Bronx River and Park cleanup. "Open" is kind of a public interest talk show, spotlighting events and organizations in the Bronx, so they had some interest in this service event. They had originally asked about having us on before the cleanup, I guess so we could talk it up. But due to some miscommunication, we ended up being scheduled for the Monday after the event. But the event was postponed due to rain anyway, so it was just as well.
Of course, the upshot is that we never talked about the service event. We just talked about Stack-Up, Which was fine by me. Of course, since this is a Bronx-based show, and none of this really related to the Bronx, our segment seemed a little out of place. I had to wonder if the host, interviewing us, was wondering WTF we were doing on his show.
It was fun in a nerve-wracking way. I am, after all, the kind of guy who craves a spotlight. But I also get nervous when that spotlight is arriving. I remember from my acting days. I loved being onstage. But backstage, waiting for my cue, I was always a nervous wreck. I'd stand there, cursing at myself for getting involved in the show, and swearing never to do it again. Then I'd hear my cue, shove my face in a cream pie* and go out onstage to have fun.
It's hard for me to judge how well things went. Watching the video, I can see how I could have done better -- both in manner of speech and posture. I also realize how we could have answered things differently. When the host asked about our next event, that could have been a perfect time to plug the Bronx River cleanup. But for some reason none of us thought of it. Maybe with experience we'll get better at that kind of thing. But a few of the other guests on the show came up to us afterwards and asked for a business card, saying that it sounds like Stack-Up is doing really good work. I hope they weren't just being nice.
Oh, but that sunburned face. Maybe I shouldn't have spent Saturday at the beach.
*OK, the cream pie part only happened in "The Age of Pi," which was the last show I was in before Blair and I got married.
Session: Giant Monster Month, week 3 Movie: The Giant Behemoth (1959) Directed by Eugene Laurie As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL Plot: A giant behemoth (clever title -- get it?) that can shoot radioactivity rampages through London. Hilarity ensues. Reaction:
I'm having a bear of a time figuring out whether I like Giant Behemoth better than 20 Million Miles to Earth, or vice versa. Maybe I shouldn't try to hard. Either I'll figure it out, or I won't.
GiBe has a lot of buildup. There's a lot of talk and a lot of strategizing before you actually see the monster. And even more before you get a good view it. But once the action really gets going and the carnage starts, it's full of action and excitement in a way that 20MMtE never was. The effects -- mostly stop-motion animation -- are often cheesy, but it's really fun to watch.
ON the downside, I actually found the ending to be kind of anticlamactic. I'm not entirely sure why; the story wrapped up. But it just seemed...I don't know...unsatisfying.
One interesting thing about this movie is that a lot of the conventions of movie storytelling were thrown out the window. I'm not sure if I'd have consciously noticed that if Joe hadn't pointed it out. Early on we meet this attractive young couple who get embroiled in the situation. In most movies their chracters would have stayed central to the plot, even after the monster has moved on from their fishing village to London. It wouldn't make sense, but it would have happened in most movies. Here, the action moved on to London and the various military, scientific and civil personnel. In some ways, that was good. The extra realism is nice to have. But there really wasn't much in the way of a personal story to follow. I think the movie would have benefited from one. The ratings:
In the time since that post I have made very little progress. One challenge has been that I'm not sure if I'm writing the story or the dialogue. In a sense I've been trying to do both at the same time, and confusing myself with it.
Finally, last week I made a little progress. I added some dialogue, and sections in the draft screenplay where I describe (in red, which I'm using to draw my attention to places that need work) a scene or a series of scenes or just a vague idea of what I need to have happen. In a couple of places I simply have the words "STUFF HAPPENS HERE."
But last night I made real progress. I had printed out a copy of what I had, and gave it to Joe (from film class) to read. I am hoping to get him involved in the project when it's further along. He is good with dialogue and I hope he can help me with mine. I'm finding it easier to write the story -- this happens, then that happens, then the other thing happens -- than actual dialogue. Maybe seeing what I have will whet his appetite. Don't tell him that that's my plot. Joe, if you're reading this, just remember that you didn't read it.
Anyway, printing it out must have primed the pump or something. In class, I gave him the printout. And then all sorts of ideas came to me.
This can happen. And it can explain this action. But then do this. Then that. Yeah! that'll help explain this!
When I got home from the film class, I started typing an email to Keith. I wanted to run these ideas by him. And, as I typed, more ideas came to me. So much more of this film makes sense to me. The ideas are starting to gain coherence, and the plot is becoming more complex. One of my concerns had been that the premise was too thin. And now it's becoming more robust.
Today my chapter of Toastmasters held its annual election. Someone had nominated me for Treasurer. Nominations were made a few weeks ago, so it's not like it was a surprise today. But, as a candidate, I had to make a short speech in honor of my candidacy. Damn, who knew that I'd have to give speeches in Toastmasters?
Anyway, I was kind of ambivalent about the nomination. Willing to serve if elected, but not really eager. I'd be more interested in doing that kind of thing with LIDS. But, whatever...
The text of my speech was as follows:
I am honored to have been nominated, and -- if elected -- will serve to the best of my abilities. However in this age of rancorous politics it is important to remember that my opponents are not my enemies. I am sure that either of them would serve ably and well if elected. So vote for whichever candidate you feel is the best. I will humbly accept the decision of the club.
Over a year ago, I posted this item about a conversation I overheard. In a nutshell, someone was having trouble with the idea that rational numbers are countable. His problems boiled down to the fact that he didn;t understand the precise definition of "countable." The rational numbers don't meet his intuitive definition.
I was thinking of another example where words have specific meanings, and people get confused because they aren;t quite aware of it. That example is halakhah -- Jewish law. People know that, observant Jews cannot perform work on the Sabbath. But it can seem confusing. You can't carry a housekey with you when you go for a walk (unless you stay inside an enclosure -- the definition of which is more complicated than I will go into here). I've known people to have housekeys made into pins or tie-bars so they can take them with them by wearing them. Meanwhile, though carrying a key is "work" and against the rules, you can carry a 50-pound sack of concrete back and forth in your living room. For hours. No problem.
How is carrying the concrete in your living room not "work"?
The answer is that the prohibition isn;t against "work" (whether that be as defined by physics or colloquial usage). The prohibition is against a class of activities, the Hebrew word for which is "melakhah." I won't attempt to give a definition of melakhah or list the activities in the class. "Melakhah" is often translated as "work" because that's proved useful as a shorthand. But the key is to remember that it's just shorthand, and sometimes it's wrong.
This time I turn my attention to the misused phrase, "the exception that proves the rule."
The phrase is often used to mean "the exception to the rule." Consider the hypothetical conversation:
"Of course colas have caffeine. But root beers don't."
"Well, Barq's root beer has caffeine."
"Yeah, well, that's the exception that proves the rule."
It kind of goes along with the (incorrect) idea that every rule has to have an exception. Of course, the logic doesn't hold. Finding an exception to a rule doesn't prove that the rule is a rule. If anything, it weakens it.
Unless...
Suppose there's no rule explicitly stated, but an exception is explicitly stated. The statement of the exception implies the existence of the rule. Because, if there were no rule, there would be no need to state the exception. And that's what "the exception that proves the rule" is all about.
Suppose, for example, there's a sign along the curb: "No parking Wednesdays 9 AM - 10 AM." Because there's a sign specifying a limited time when parking is not allowed, one can reasonably infer that parking is allowed at other time. The exception, the stated fact that you can't park during that one hour every week, proves the rule, that you can park there other times.
It took some time, but I finally put up the labels I ordered for my daylilies. Well, I put up 54 of them. There are two more that I have to put up when I have more stakes. Which I'll be able to buy next Saturday at the LIDS meeting.
I have plenty of unlabeled daylilies; I've been buying and planting them for a few years, without labeling or keeping track of what I have. My attitude has been that they're pretty flowers and that's all that matters. I'm still not sure what switch flipped in me this year to make me want to label things, but I've gone about labeling new additions to my garden (as well as the few plants I've already had that -- for one reason or another -- I can identify). Maybe it's the OCD side of my nature kicking in.
And, speaking of the OCD side of my nature, I have this handy-dandy list of the plants I have. The information is taken from the AHS online database. All except for Bedhead, which is a 2017 introduction that's not in the AHS database yet. For that, I took information from Rich Howard's website. Unfortunately, the AHS database is incomplete. C'est la vie.
I really miss the Ypsilanti Press. Ypsilanti, Michigan, is a small city sitting between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The Press was a crappy little newspaper, overshadowed by the Detroit papers -- the Free Press and the Daily News. And it was even overshadowed by The Ann Arbor News. And, if I am not mistaken, it stopped publishing more than 20 years ago.
But I loved it because it seemed that they would print any stupid letter I sent them.
And, remembering one of those stupid letters, I say I hope you've spent today as it was intended -- appreciating me.
Session: Giant Monster Month, week 2 Movie: 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) Directed by Nathan Juran As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL Plot: A mysterious animal, brought back from venus and accidentally let loose, is growing at an alarming rate and rampaging through Italy. Hilarity ensues. Reaction:
There are some ways that this movie is extraordinary. The alien's movement (and some other things) was achieved through stop-motion animation. Given the movie's vintage, and what was generally being done when it was made, this was done remarkably well. There is a little bit of jerkiness to the monster's movement, but not a whole lot. On the other hand, I found a lot of the blue screen effects to be jarring. In the film's defense, Dave pointed out that that's a result of the extra clarity renderred on the DVD. When it was shown in theatres (and, later, on TV) it would have looked less conspicuous.
Putting aside the technical marvels, this was a decent narrative. In some ways, it was an update of King Kong (Joe correctly pointed that out). And like that earlier movie, this one makes you sympathize with the monster. He was kidnapped on his won planet and brought to earth. Once here, he still seems to want to get along. But the damn humans just won't leave him alone. The humans really are the monsters here. In some ways it reminded me of that episode of Twilight Zone with Agnes Moorehead. Where she, silently and alone, tries to fend off invading space aliens.
But, while it was a good story, I didn't find it to be as compelling as The Monster Who Challenged the World.
I couldn't help marveling at how much the creature reminded me of the Gorn. Though he was much better done. But, in a subsequent email, Sean noted that it looked like several different monsters from different movies. I guess he was just...monstrous.
One thing that struck a chord was the long climactic battle at the Coliseum. I have often thought about the struggles and issues of fighting a war among historically significant ruins. The walls around the old city of Jerusalem are pockmarked by bullet holes from the many wars fought there.
Finally, one thing that bothered me -- in a minor way -- was the fact that they inserted exposition to explain why the monster was growing so fast. It was some gobbledygook about the earth's atmosphere. Seems to me they should have left that out. Until that point, I was just assuming it was growing fast because that's what members of its species do. That seemed more believable to me than the explanation that was given. I pointed that out in our after-discussion. Keith called me out, claiming that, if they hadn't given that explanation, I would be complaining -- "how the hell was he growing that fast." And the rest of the class agreed with him. The bastards.
Well, they're all wrong. I was happy assuming that the monster's species simply grows fast. I found their explanation distracting and annoying. So fuck everyone else in the class.
I have voted in every Presidential election since I became eligible to vote. But there is no one whom I have voted for for President more than once.
I had a favorite teacher in junior high school -- what they now call middle school. Looking back, I don't think he was a good teacher.
I have had season tickets for the following professional sports franchises:
New York Yankees (Saturdays only)
New York Mets (Saturdays only)
New York Saints
New York Dragons
New York CityHawks
New Jersey Red Dogs
The first song I ever wrote was titled "Fiddler Off the Roof." It sucked.
When I had a driver's license from Michigan, my picture on it showed me with a beard on one side of my face and clean shaven on the other.
In high school, my favorite band was Ducks Deluxe. I wore a denim jacket with a large duck painted on the back.
My grandfather's cousin was married to the man who invented the video game, Pong.
Four governors proclaimed holidays in honor of my having driven in their states. Three of those proclamations are framed in my office over my desk.
When I was in elementary school I had a copy of Dr. Seuss' My Book About Me. I had to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up. I put down "an office worker." I have since realized that childhood dream.
I remember sitting at the dinner table as a child and arguing with my father about whether the rational numbers are countable.
Another "for the hell of it" post. Here are some songs about the movie industry. I am purposely not including songs that were written for a movie, and I am :
1) B Movies (The Fabulous Poodles)
2) Marie Provost (Nick Lowe)
3) Saturday Night at the Movies (The Drifters)
4) The Saga Begins (Weird Al Yankovic)
5) Celluloid Heroes (The Kinks)
6) Act Naturally (Buck Owens)
7) Let's Go to the Pictures (Wreckless Eric)
8) (I Wanne Be) Your Steve McQueen (Eytan Mirsky)
9) Movie Magg (Carl Perkins)
10) My Baby's The Star of A Drivers Ed Movie (Blotto)
Barely a week after Memorial Day, we mark the 73rd anniversary of D-Day.
I can't adequately comprehend what our young soldiers were thinking and feeling as they approached the beach, ready or readying to battle the Nazis for a foothold. And I won't try. If you want, or need an account of the horror, read S.L.A. Marshall's account from the November, 1960, issue of The Atlantic.
Nevertheless, in an era when it is easy to take what we have for granted, it is important to remember the sacrifices se you men made so that it could be so.
We spent yesterday in Oyster Bay, celebrating "Bay Day" with the Waterfront Center. Not as attendees, but as vendors. We were there, in spot number 13, representing Stack-Up. I don't quite know how the opportunity came about. I assume it has to do with the fact that we participate in the Center's horseshoe crab census. Somehow Cameron (the guy running the census) hooked us up.
Blair and Ethan handled our table while I watched Asher. The highlight for me was our tour of the bay in a restored 19th-century sailboat. He also spent a lot of time at the touch tank with the crabs, sea cucumbers and other sea beasties.
Back at the table, BVlair and Ethan were handing out Stack-Up materials and getting strangers to do pushups. Anyone who could do 30 pushups in a minute was entered in a raffle to win video game codes. We also made some more contacts.
Music was provided by a Long Island band, Roy Wilson & the Buzzards. They're primarily a rockabilly band, though I noticed they play a lot faster than most traditional rockabilly bands. Not quite psychobilly, but fast. Their sets were a mix of covers and originals. I think my favorite number of theirs was the Moon Mullican classic "Seven Nights to Rock." Admittedly, I know of that song because of Nick Lowe's version.
Other vendors included the National Park Service and the Long Island Whaling Museum.
Unfortunately, attendance was low because of the weather. It was threatening to rain all day. That is, all day until it started to actually rain at around 1:00. Personally, I didn't mind the rain, but it did depress turnout. Hopefully next year's event will be sunnier.
By way of background, I should note that, while I have decided to start labeling my daylilies this year, I have many clumps that I plated in years past that will remain unidentified simply because I wasn't labeling them.
I was weeding part of the garden yesterday, and noticed plastic stakes at the bases of a couple clumps. These are the stakes that were in the pots these plants came in when I got them. Wiping off the dirt, I could barely make out the names: "Mynelle's Starfish" and "Happy Returns."
Since I had recently placed an order for several labels, I emailed the man who makes the labels to see if I could add these two to the existing order. It's cheaper to do that than create a new order for two labels.
Anyway, I heard back from the man who makes the labels. "Mynelle's Starfish was named after Mynelle Hayward. When he (the label-manufacturer) was a kid, he was Ms. Hayward's paperboy. Small world.
Two of the women I work with have devoted one wall of the cubicle they share to pet pictures. I believe this started with pictures of their dogs. Then other people gave them pet pictures. I have never seen the display myself, since they work in Charlotte and I'm in New York. But the
display includes several of our cats and former cats: Red, Cream, 18, Spiderman and Morgan. Apparently this includes brief biographical information; when I emailed pictures of the cats, I included some information about each cat, and the colleagues dutifully printed out the information and put it up with the pictures.
Yesterday I came across a picture of Speck and Bungee, the cats I had when I met Blair. After some IM back and forth, I sent a scan of the picture along with a brief bio. Apparently the biographical tidbits actually get people to stop and read.
Anyway, here is the picture and what I wrote about the cats.
I got Speck and Bungee from a shelter in 1995 after a broken engagement. Yes, they were rebound cats. I gave Speck his name because of the black speck on his otherwise-pink nose. Bungee got his name because she looked like she was bungee jumping when she chased a little toy that I got for them.
Bungee was very affectionate, always wanting to be on my lap. Actually, it was quite annoying; I’d push her off and she’d jump back on. Over and over and over. Speck wasn’t quite so demonstrative, but did have a habit of headbutting me in the morning when he thought it was time to get up. One morning when I tried to ignore him, he gave me a bloody nose with that head of his. Speck was (to date) the only cat I ever had who needed a therapist. The therapist prescribed an antidepressant, but that didn’t work out particularly well. The drug only came in pill form, and I had to mash it up and mix it with their food. As an aside, that meant giving them canned cat food. Yuck. Anyway, Speck could smell the drug in the food, and didn’t want it. So I’d give the cats their food with the medicine mixed in. Bungee ate it without concern (the therapist said it was OK if she ate it, even if she didn’t need the drug). Speck would sit by the bowl and stare at it. Then he’d glare at me. He’d get a bit on his paw and sniff it, then fling it across the room. He repeated that several times, covering the cream-colored walls in a mix of catfood and antidepressant. Eventually, he’d give up and eat a bit. I hated cleaning the walls afterwards.
So we went on like that. When I started seeing Blair, she went out of her way to get the cats to like her. That meant (among other things) feeding them. Speck got used to her easily. Bungee became intensely jealous. After Blair had moved in, Bungee would thank her for her food with an angry hiss.
When we moved into a house, Speck had trouble adapting, and kept getting out. One time, in 2002, he escaped and never came back. We had Bungee for another three years, until she suffered a stroke and had to be put down. We buried her in the backyard.
Session: Giant Monster Month, week 1 Movie: The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) Directed by Arnold Laven As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL Plot: An earthquake under the Salton Sea has release prehistoric giant mollusks whose hunger is a threat to all in the area. Maybe even the world. Hilarity ensues. Teeing Up: Keith noted that, for giant monster month, he decided to show us four monster movies that have four different types of monsters. This week we were in for the giant bug. Reaction:
I'm no expert on 1950's science fiction. I've seen a few of the iconic films, and some others. But I have a concept in mind when I think of it. And this movie was exactly what I have in mind. Given that, and the fact that I was going to use that point to start off my comments, I was glad to hear Joe start his comments by saying that this was the perfect 1960's scifi film.
The monster was actually Actually really scary (at least when we saw it underwater -- out of water, it sometimes looked a bit ridiculous). But there was only one jump scare. THat works for me. One of the things I don;t like about a lot of new horror movies is that they rely on multiple jump scares. I just don;t like being startled that way. But once in the course of a movie is OK.
As an aside, I will note that the movie raised a philosophical question. Suppose someone offers to sell you a pen for a dollar. But after you pay him, he runs off without giving you the pen. WHat has he stolen from you? The dollar or the pen?
One thing I liked about this is the pseudo-scientific explanation for what is going on. A movie like this really needs to have exposition to explain "scientific" basis for what's happening. In some, the explanation is completely absurd, but in this it actually seems plausible.
The one flaw with this film (and it's not really with the film, but with the stuff around it) is that the title and the trailer represent a bit of false advertising. The title implies a bigger threat to the world, and the trailer even shows a shot of the monster threatening Los Angeles. In reality, all that's directly threatened is a rural area in the California Desert. Also, the trailer says that the monster is "reptilian," but according to the movie it was a mollusk. Of course, it looked like an larval insect. Whatever.
The ratings:
Joe: 9.6 to 9.7
Dave: 9.2 to 9.3
Sean 2 (on a scale of 1 - 4)
Scott: 6 to 7
Ethan: 8
Me: 9.2
Christina: 8
The Monster That Challenged the World passes the Bechdel Test. Barely. Extras: Keith gave us a used VCR. He had it and doesn't want it anymore, but doesn;t like to throw things in the garbage. He gave it to us to give away on Freecycle. I think we'll keep it instead. Don't tell him. Oh, and Keith, if you're reading this, please stop before the beginning of this paragraph.
For the hell of it, here are some of my favorite appearances by TV sitcom characters on game shows. If you have favorites that I didn;t include, please comment to let me know:
1) Cliff Claven on Jeopardy
This is one of the best. I occasionally hear oblique references to this. People will say something along the lines of "Those are three people who have never been in my kitchen." Maybe I just hang with a dorky crowd. One question: In the audience, in front of Norm and Woody, is that Mark Margolis (who is best known for playing Uncle Ring-a-Ding in Better Call Saul)?
2) Ralph Kramden on The $99,000 Answer
My father loved The Honeymooners, and imparted that to me. This was one of my favorite episodes. I will sometimes say "I Brive a Dus."
3) The Griffin Family on Family Feud
Kids today may not recognize this incarnation of FF, but it's what I grew up with
4) Eunice Higgins on The Gong Show
This is kind of a rule-bender, since Eunice was really not a sitcom character. She was a character (played by Carol Burnett) in a recurring sketch on Burnett's eponymous variety show. But I'm willing to include it because I thought it was hilarious, and I'm using the loophole that the recurring sketch was eventually adapted for a sitcom, Mama's Family. Now, Eunice wasn't actually a regular on the series, but...whatever. Also, I acknowledge that this is a poor quality video. But it's the best I could do.
5) Felix Unger and Oscar Madison on Password
The writers at The Odd Couple worked Felix and Oscar into a number of shows, including Password and Let's Make a Deal, as well as several talk shows and a football broadcast. It was generally premised on the fact that Oscar was a semi-celebrity, and he brought Felix along for the ride. This was my favorite of those segments.
As a note, I wanted to include a segment from Happy Days. In one episode, Richie Cunningham appears on the game show, Big Money. Because of his all-American good looks, the producers give him the answers. This was a direct commentary on the game show scandal of the 1950s. I'm not including a clip here because I couldn't find it on Youtube.
