ONE CITY, ONE GOAL - SUDDEN DEATH = STANLEY CUP

One City, One Goal - Sudden Death = Stanley Cup

Wednesday, June 9, 2010, will live long in the hearts and minds of Chicagoans for it was one of those "Thrill of Victory" moments that you experience (well, as a fan) very rarely in life. The 1985 Chicago Bears team brought the city a long awaited Super Bowl victory, the Chicago Bulls won a series of NBA Final championships in the 1990's; and my beloved Chicago White Sox took the World Series in 2005. Now this. The Stanley Cup comes back to Chicago.



I grew up watching ABC's Wide World of Sports and still vividly recall their open. The open featured ski jumper, Vinko Bogataj taking a death defying fall that inspired the line "the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat." They'd play that 1970 ski jump over and over and over again. Poor guy. By the way, he survived that fall. The front end of the quote was what many Chicago Blackhawk fans are feeling today. Sports is a feeling. We have the simple joy of knowing that our team won. Willy Wonka's one nasty moment (although, it was all an act) came when he said, "you get nothing, you lose" and for a brief period of time you are thinking that's going to be the fate of our team and then the positive and optimistic fan wakes up and says, "Hawks win, Hawks win!"

Last night's victory in the city of brotherly love (too bad it didn't happen on home ice, but you just want them to win, so you get over home ice in one one-hundredth of a second) was glorious. The Blackhawks did excruciating things to win Lord Stanley's Cup, but even after securing scars that will never completely heal, teeth that will never come back and damage that they will only encounter in some of their later years the Hawks played superbly, but so did the Philadelphia Flyers. I respect this sport. The players have to go backwards, forwards, sideways at 30 miles per hour. The puck is flying at 150 miles per hour. The players crash up against glass, fall on hard ice, have ice shot up to their faces, sticks are breaking their noses. They carry heavy loads of uniform and equipment. It's a physical game and they have to manage perfect hand/eye coordination while watching for everyone else's hand/eye coordination. It's a legitimate team sport.

It took two generations to get the Cup back to Chicago. (a generation is technically 25 years). Even though the Blackhawks are one of the original six NHL teams they had not managed a Stanley Cup Final victory since 1961. That's 49 years ago. John F. Kennedy was President and still alive. U. S. Troops had yet to take off for the jungles of Vietnam. The Beatles were still playing dumps in Hamburg. No one in the Western World knew what a jihad was. Ronald Reagan was still an actor. Not a soul had a PC or Mac. There were no iPods, iPads or cell phones. Oil spills didn't cause world ending style ecological breakdowns. ..., but the iconic Bobby Hull was the "golden jet" of the then winning Blackhawks!

Literally just a few years ago there were on average some 9,000 fans watching the Hawks in their stadium. They almost didn't have a television contract. They came close to not having a radio contract. How do you get fans to watch your sport if you can't see or hear them? You don't. Bring in a genius front office that knows how to pick players and then bring in a downright brilliant Marketing team (rarely use the word brilliant, but it applies here) and you can have a victory that is monumental.

I grew up in a family that loved sports, particularly loved the Bears, the Blackhawks and mostly the White Sox. When you have a dad who loves the games and then you have brothers that almost one-up the dad in their love for the games you kind of go along for the ride. "Here Come The Hawks" was written back in 1968 and I still love it. I've downloaded it and of course, it still sounds great even though it is basically a Lawrence Welk construct of a song. Dick Marx (the Richard Marx's father) arranged, produced and conducted that piece of music and it is more than nostalgia. The Blackhawks are mighty!



Theologically, I know this holds no merit, but there is a part of me that would like to think that my dad and my eldest brother know what happened last night and maybe they are breaking some bread with some one-time literal Blackhawks! My dad loved Native American culture (he could pretty much name any tribe and all of their chiefs), so the odds are if this were a scriptural reality of heaven he'd be looking to celebrate with some real Blackhawks! I digress.

Jonathan Toews (the youngest captain in the NHL) is an admirable 22 year old. His emotional maturity through this season has been mind-boggling. If you want the average 22 year old you won't find him playing in the NHL (well, maybe Patrick Kane). These guys don't just play. They sacrifice. Literally sacrifice - teeth, skin and a stress-free life.

3:55am on Thursday, June 10, the Chicago Blackhawks landed at O'Hare International Airport. The Chicago Fire Department met them with a salute that featured an archway of water. Thank God, it's lovely out or they would have had to skate off of the plane (water turning to ice). Of course, these guys would have done it. They're like mountain men and some of them looked like mountain men throughout the playoffs (don't shave as a mantra - you have to love this sport).

Duncan Keith lost his teeth, but this year he gained a Gold Medal (playing for Canada) and a Stanley Cup victory. I understand he is also gaining a wife in a few months. I love this guy, in spite of the fact that I'm old enough to be his mother!

Tomorrow morning there will be the celebratory and obligatory ticker tape parade throughout the streets of the beautiful city of Chicago! Mayor Daley will be there enjoying the victory lap with our new heroes.

I must admit, my emotional ties to the Chicago White Sox World Series victory (in 2005) is still the single most fantastic moment (outside of all personal experiences) in life, but this Stanley cup win is pretty darn cool!

At least for a brief period of time it is one city, one goal. It was all about that one goal. A goal that no one really saw except Kane and the Christian Bale look-a-like, Patrick Sharp. Didn't matter, Kane took a shot and got that one game winning goal. Last night he pointed out that "this is something I dreamed of as a little boy - to have the winning goal in a Stanley Cup Final." Good for him. Good for us.

Sudden death (who knew sudden death would be so fabulous) does indeed equal victory. In this case, sudden death equals the Stanley Cup. Once the parade ends we will get back to doing other things, but for a few days we will all fall under the spell of the thrill of victory. It's a victory that Vinko Bogataj didn't know back on a snowy day in 1970. Oh, and that happened some nine years after the last Stanley Cup win! Go Hawks, the mighty Blackhawks!

A Lotta Love for Betty White

After losing Rue McClanahan last week, The Flaming Nose firmly believes the continued vibrant presence of her The Golden Girls co-star Betty White is a gift that we should savor to its fullest extent.

The 88-year-old Betty is on a roll these days. In a great recent interview from Advertising Age, she tells how her Super Bowl spot kicked her career back into high gear, culminating in her recent ratings-grabbing and completely hilarious hosting of Saturday Night Live. Read the article here.

You might also like to check out this gallery of Betty White photos from NY Daily News.com; it's very entertaining and you'll be reminded what a glorious show biz trooper she is!

Here's a preview for her Super Bowl ad, but the best quality version of the commercial itself is on the Snickers site here.




And here's one of her great skits from SNL -- "CSI: Sarasota" (where I now live!).




(And may I ask why NBC claims to put "full shows" of SNL online, but they only run about 46:00 and leave out musical numbers and even more heinously many of the skits? That's ridiculous!).

All Hail Betty White!

Nosetalgia Says Goodbye to Art Linkletter and Gary Coleman

Within a matter of days, two classic television stars have passed. One at the venerable age of 97 (Reality TV pioneer Art Linkletter) and the other at a relatively young 42 (former child actor Gary Coleman). At first glance it would appear that these two actors had very little in common. Mr. Linkletter was a TV star from the 50's and 60's. His gentle comedy programs (House Party and Kids say the Darndest Things) were pioneer efforts to show how entertaining regular people (but especially children) could be when they talk about their lives.

Gary Coleman is most associated with the TV sitcom Diff'rent Folks, which ran for 6 seasons in the 70's. He played one of two African American kids adopted by a rich white guy (I guess that was a pioneer effort too...hello Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock). His spunky demeanor and comic timing turned him into a huge star, and he spawned the catch phrase "Whatchu talkin' about Willis?"

Both of these celebrities provided TV audiences with countless laughs, and both had experienced personal moments of extraordinary sorrow. Art Linkletter lost a daughter to suicide in 1969. She jumped from a 6 story window in Hollywood, most likely under the influence of LSD. Gary Coleman suffered from severe kidney disease for most of his life (it contributed to his stunted growth...even as an adult he was only 4'8"). He also suffered from depression and like most of the child stars from Diff'rent Strokes, had a difficult time navigating through life after the series ended. I remember seeing Mr. Coleman with his mom at a supermarket in Hollywood, during the height of the series. He seemed to have a very contentious relationship with his parents, even then.

One very long life and one short. Both both were giants in their time and contributed greatly to the vast archives of TV comedy. This clip of Art Linkletter with kids will still make you laugh, even 50 years after it first aired.

Oceanic Air Flight 815, You're Cleared to Land

I'm not really qualified to do a post for the final episode of one of the most examined TV programs of all time. There are people who have made a career out of figuring it out. There are Lost geeks, Lost maniacs and mathematicians who use it to write formulas. There are clubs, groups, and 3,892,302 fans on Facebook. Here I sit at 8:23pm Pacific watching "Lost" on Demand because I was too exhausted from worrying about a very sick pet to stay up for the live event on ABC last night. I'm not ashamed of that, but I do feel really, really bad that I've been AWOL from watching the series entirely for the past two seasons because I was so busy and had a new job and....ah heck there's no excuse, I just didn't see it. And now that I'm watching the miraculous series finale, I know I'm going to have a great summer catching up with all the episodes I missed.

It makes no sense for me to do an actual recap, since I'm going to get it all wrong anyway. Basically there are a bunch of people who crash land on a mysterious island that looks a lot like Hawaii. They've been there about 6 years. Some of them get married, some of them have kids. There's a yellow dog and a Volkswagen bus. There's a button that has to be pressed or the world will blow up, and a monster made out of smoke. A mysterious hatch, mind control and and the Dharma initiative are all very important. Don't blink about halfway through the second season. Sawyer looks awesome in a torn wet t-shirt. When the music plays you want to cry; doesn't matter if it's the first season or the grand finale. Everybody who you thought was dead isn't dead. But everybody dies. All characters are both on and off the island at the same time. Some are good, some are evil. The good forgive the bad. The island was a way station, a post crash purgatory.... I figured as much when I saw the beautiful interfaith stained glass window in the chapel right before the end.

For an incredibly complex series, Lost's final episode framed the most basic truth of human experience. Love one another. Help one another. We're on this flight together until it ends. A lofty message for any television show, but one that Lost pulled off with unprecedented originality. It will be missed.

Beautiful Shelter Dog Spot from Pedigree

This is something we all need to see.



If it doesn't load for you, visit here to watch it.

Avatar: I Think I "See" You Now That You're on The Small Screen

When is a blockbuster movie better on TV than in the theater? AVATAR confession time: I rented it on PPV yesterday as soon as it was available, even after all my boring and bitter complaints over how it didn't deserve the deluge of Academy Award nominations. Now I have to change my tune a bit, having watched it at home on HDTV. Somehow, away from the jostling crowds, the teenage hoards and the dense oily fumes of movie popcorn...it was actually enjoyable. Also, I think I might not be physiologically capable of "getting" the movie theater 3-D experience. The bulky glasses and fuzzy visuals give me a headache. I could care less about monsters bursting through the screen, give me crisp and crystal clear any day of the week.

Watching Avatar at home with a pause button also helped me focus more on some witty lines that I missed at the Santa Clara AMC mega-complex. Like Sigourney Weaver's scientist character (Grace) warning hero Jake not to play with the swirling tentacles on his new N'avi body or he'll "go blind". Later we learn that these Pandorean extension cords have some sort of sexual function. Funny.

The best part of Avatar for me, no matter what screen size is delivering it, has always been the total immersion into a dreamy alien world. Yeah it's a mishmash of a plot (Dances with Wolves meets Fern Gully) packed with wretched stereotypes (vile racist military and money obsessed Americans...oops, I mean Earthlings). But the visuals are absolutely stunning, and they pass by at breathtaking speed. Watching the parade on TV gives one a chance to pause, rewind, and watch that thundering herd of four eyed hammer-head rhinos again. Or the florescent helicopter lizards! Or the fabulous red leather pterodactyl horse! The alien flowers and animals are utterly captivating and anyone who doesn't lose themselves in this magic world of floating mountains and blue skinned cat people probably doesn't like Science Fiction much at all. Or, has a major problem with the writing. In which case I suggest that you still watch it, just turn the sound down.

Now that the hysteria over the billion dollar global box office return has subsided, it might be time to take a second look. Or first for the 12 people who have not ever seen it. And anyway, Cameron's ex (Katheryn Bigelow) won Best Director and Picture for The Hurt Locker at the Oscars (hooray!), so relax and enjoy the ride. At home. On TV. And make your own popcorn, there's a recession going on!

136th Annual Kentucky Derby

Ragin' Cajun Calvin Borel made history at Churchill Downs in Kentucky today. He won his third Kentucky Derby in the past 4 years, the first jockey to achieve such an amazing feat. On a soggy track with mud flying everywhere, he rode beautiful black Super Saver to victory. I was rooting for the filly Devil May Care, but she was challenged by the messy track. All the horses were covered in mud by the end. Thankfully there were no injuries for equines or humans this year.

As always, it was a delight to watch the pre-show on NBC, with plenty of shots of the big hats, the mint juleps and back stories for all the horses and their owners. It's a good thing the lead up to the race is fun and interesting, because the event itself is over in 2 minutes. The rain didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits as the crowd stood and sang Steven Foster's "Old Kentucky Home". As if on cue, the sun came out and the horses marched to the gate.

Hooray for the Run for the Roses. Laissez les bon temps roulez M. Borel. Well run!

Churchill and Daleks and Who, Oh My!

Hope you've been loving -- as we have -- Matt Smith's wonderful performance as the latest incarnation of Doctor Who, as seen on BBC America, et al. He's doing a tremendous job in keeping the excitement level high, the humor crisp and contemporary, and the sense of intelligence palpable, bristling and inspirational. There simply is no other show that so well combines good old fashioned Saturday afternoon serial-esque thrills and chills, out-of-this-world science fiction wonders, a crazy, unique and often hilarious P.O.V., and yet manages to always leave this viewer, at least, with a feeling that the world is an all right place, indeed. Not many things can give you that, I'll wager. Fun and philosophy, imagine that...

Tonight in "Victory of the Daleks" the Doctor and his spunky companion Amy Pond find themselves in WW II-era Britain, complete with Winston Churchill and the return of one of the best DW villains ever. I can't say enough good things about the Doctor, and if you haven't checked it him yet, I urge you to wait no longer.

Doctor Who airs tonight on BBC America at 8pm, with several encores. Don't miss it!

Signs of Life in Jurassic Park

If you hear some noise coming from Jurassic Park (Broadcast Television) these days, the sound is probably raucous laughter. We are living in a wonderful modern age of comedy and Modern Family on ABC (Wednesday nights at 9pm) is the latest example of excellence. It must be added to the pantheon of great, smart, hilarious comedy that NBC has revived on Thursday nights with Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock.

I thought I'd be the last one on the planet to admit it, but lately comedy on Broadcast TV is every bit as good as what I've been touting on HBO. Better, actually, because right now there are no comedies playing on the "It's Not TV" network.

Modern Family is about the many colorful flavors American families come in, circa 2010. There is the traditional family: Dad is Phil, played by fetching Ty Burrell, Mom (Claire) played by Julie Bowen, is quite possibly the only genuinely funny pretty blond on TV. They have three kids that manage to do quirky without being annoying. There is also a lovely gay couple (Cameron) Eric Stonestreet and (Mitchel) Jesse Ferguson. They're raising an adopted baby girl. Finally there is the multi-ethnic, multi-generational family with Ed O'Neill as the middle aged Jay, who is married to hot stuff Charo-like Gloria (Sofia Vergara). Gloria's son, the chubby, adorable, genius kid (Manny) is wonderfully portrayed by Rico Rodriguez. He is the most appealing character on a show chock full of great characters and infused with some of the wittiest writing on television today. Visit the Modern Family website and click on "Bios" to get some of the best lines from recent episodes. Manny says things like, "Her name is Whitney. I met her in the online book club. We both like vampire fiction and the romance of eternal life."

This week's episode featured a guest appearance by the always funny Fred Willard, who played Phil's visiting Dad. Never in the history of TV, have a father and son duo looked and acted more as if they might actually be related to each other. The B-story had Cameron sitting in as the drummer for a teenage Emo band (funniest segments of the night for my money) and the C-story had my darling Manny scared to death by a slasher movie that the clueless Jay brought him to after a dental appointment.

I must give full credit to my sister Leslie for turning me on to this gem. Sometimes word of mouth advertising really is the most effective! Now listen to this blogger and go check out Modern Family. Here's a little taste in the video below.

Watch "America:The Story of Us" on History

Ten percent of us are unemployed and Wall St. still wants us to bend over and pretend to enjoy what they've done to us...the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue endlessly...left wing and right wing extremists fight like school yard bullies while the American people suffer. What the heck happened to this country? Europeans get a month of vacation every year, while we are all chained to our laptops 24-7 and will probably die at our desks since nobody can retire with 401K accounts shrunk to the size of postage stamps. Which we also can no longer afford, what are they like a dollar apiece now?

Almost 50 years ago JFK vowed to put an American on the moon, and his dream came true. Now hundreds of NASA workers face layoffs as the Shuttle program shuts down and the fate of the space program, my personal greatest source of American pride, seems murky. The land of the brave and home of the free will have to hitch a ride to the International Space Station with the Russians, we won't even have our own space ships anymore.

Into the midst of this national mid-life crises, comes "America: The Story of Us", premiering Sunday April 25th at 9pm on the History channel. It's a 12 part series covering the story of how America invented itself, and will offer a lovely break from the Sturm and Drang of the past few years. Sunday night's premier episode (The Rebels) may offer inspiration from America's revolutionary days, when the first Americans fought for their freedom under dire circumstances that would make us all look like a bunch of over grown crybabies today.

Check out the promo below, and you'll see something to look forward to. Even though we've hit hard times as a nation, we still have the best cable TV programming in the whole wide world. Thank you History Channel!

Starz Network's "Party Down" Back for Season Two Tonight!

The very amusing, amazingly dry, and frequently profane half-hour comedy Party Down returns for its Season 2 opening episode tonight at 10pm on Starz. If you haven't caught up with this one -- and that's certainly possible, I'm a relative latecomer to its delights, too -- you ought to give it a try. A cadre of talented performers really brings this one to life, so much so that some of the players are getting poached by other series, namely Jane Lynch, who's very much a part of the super-success of Glee these days and so isn't back with Party Down this time around. (Read this recent article from The Hollywood Reporter on the show's success for more info about this situation.)

Party Down's premise is simple -- it's all about the folks who work for a Hollywood-based catering service, and their dissatisfaction with their day jobs versus their dream gigs in the entertainment industry. You've got underemployed actors and frustrated writers with plenty of attitude, but you'll end up (mostly) sympathizing with them. Not that it's important that you do, but I'm not sure I want to watch a show with nothing but snarky assholes -- or maybe you're okay with that -- and a few positive vibes are not an unwelcome note in the show. I like that Adam Scott (the depressed sexually unresponsive architect from HBO's Tell Me You Love Me) and the wonderful Lizzy Caplan (above left, TrueBlood, Cloverfield) are sort of an item; they're cute and sexy together.



Not-so-successful talkshow host and Will & Grace veteran Megan Mullaly steps in to fill the departing Lynch's shoes as the one grown-up on the staff this time around, and she should be good. The rest of the excellent cast -- Ken Marino as Ron, the ex-manager who wants his old job back, Ryan Hansen as Kyle the handsome model/actor, and Martin Starr as Roman the scifi writer who's as bitter as they come -- is something to relish, and their chemistry together is what makes this show so appealing.

You might have to watch a few shows before you get caught by the charm of Party Down, and you can seek out episodes online or on the Starz website. A lot of people are saying that Party Down is the best comedy you're probably not watching, and it's true. It's not slick like Entourage with its ribald tales of Hollywood angst -- Party Down's posse is struggling and on the wannabe side of the street -- but they've got it all down where the laughs are concerned.

Visit the Starz Party Down website for more information and other goodies that will add to your appreciation of the show.

Cooking Up Something New with The Cooking Channel

I used to love The Food Network, way back when in the old days. Great hosts -- the smart and personable David Rosengarten with his Taste series, for instance -- and a sense of fun, particularly when they started running the original Iron Chef programs. Now, not so much. If you don't like Rachael Ray -- and I don't -- the whole network seems maybe a little too polished now. Meh. Plus I'm never actually sure anymore if I'm watching a food show on The Food Network, or Travel Channel, or somewhere else these days. Lots of mixed schedules these days, not that there's anything wrong with that...

Maybe even the TFN suits know it, because they're launching the new Cooking Channel at the end of May. Fashioned to be more low-key, more hip (god save us from hip, please!), Cooking Channel at least is doing something right -- bringing old episodes of Julia Child's The French Chef and the hilarious Graham "The Galloping Gourmet" Kerr onboard also. I realize us old geezer don't buy nearly enough of whatever their advertisers are trying to sell (or so they think), but so many of us got our first love of cooking from the previous generation of cooking shows and personalities. PBS was of course a great source of these, with Julia Child and so many others, and Graham Kerr was a wonder because he was on network daytime TV, five days a week. That's where I got hooked on him, and boy, cooking hasn't been the same since. I've always loved it, and I'm sure some of his antics showed the inherent fun of it to my young self.

Now, how about bringing back the delightful Justin Wilson (left) and his so-delicious-you-could-taste-them-through-your-TV Cajun recipes. (I can't remember the reason but I once spoke to him on the phone back when I worked at KTLA, and it was a thrill. He was wonderful! Go to the link to hear his welcome greeting and buy some products from his daughter's company). Or another favorite of mine, the crazy little show called Frying Pans West with historical chef Sam Arnold, then-proprietor of The Fort restaurant in Denver, Colorado, where he prepared pioneer and Native American-influenced dishes, along with dispensing lots of wonderful western lore. (The Fort is now run by Sam's daughter Holly -- Sam passed away in 2006 -- and you should go there to eat!).

I'm all for embracing the rich pageant of cooking show history on the new Cooking Channel. Why not even do what Game Show Network did, with their running of ancient What's My Line? shows in the wee hours of the morning. Having actual content on in the middle of the night is much better than defaulting to direct response infomercials which turn off potential audience members and deprive you of excellent promo opportunities. More real programming, less of the dreaded "Paid Programming" which turns up everywhere in our program guides these days. It's a disgrace, really.

Anyway, if you're into the whole notion of TV chefs, I recommend you pick up a copy of author Kathleen Collins' 2009 book Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows. I just read an online excerpt from her Graham Kerr section, and she gets him completely, linking his appeal and success to his "goofy and handsome" Dick Van Dyke/Gary Cooper quality. Spot on analysis, that! Kathleen has a fascinating book blog here and if you are into television and cooking, she should be your new BFF!

For further information, you might also like to read the NY Times article from earlier this week by Allen Salkin on the Cooking Channel announcement, and also this piece from Salon by Thomas Rogers, also about the new channel and what might be in store. Everybody is making much of the appearance of Canadian content on the new network, and that's nice. Some Canadian TV still retains a bit of unique Canuck charm, but the borderlines are fading fast, I think, though it's always a good thing to see something that at least sounds a bit different. What isn't different is the news that Mo Rocca will be hosting a series -- he's one of those professional funny hosts who turn up everywhere -- and that sounds like more of the same old. We'll see, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, start your ovens! The Cooking Channel is coming!

Getting Back in Touch with My Inner "Gleek"

"Glee" returned to Fox this past Tuesday and it is stronger than ever. Thanks to a perfect mix of humor, pathos, wonderful characters and top notch, exquisitely choreographed song and dance numbers, Glee is worthy of its very loyal following.

Most of my personal gleefulness is still driven by the amazing Jane Lynch, for her "take no prisoners" performance as Sue Sylvester, terrifying and tyrannical coach of the Cheerios cheer-leading club. Ms. Sylvester does not have a politically correct bone in her towering stork-like body. She is Machiavellian, she is Patton in a track suit. I have a Facebook friend who is a retired United States Marine corp Major, and Sue S. is one of his favorite TV characters.

Playing beautifully against character, this week's season opener of Glee featured Sue in an amazing satirical impression of Madonna's iconic "Vogue" video. It's a must see, and you can watch it on the Fox website or Hulu.

All the other wonderful "Glee" characters are back this season too, plus they have cut screen time way back on Glee club coach Will Schuester's off the charts annoying (and now mercifully ex) wife. Broadway star Lea Michele continues to shine as the ultra-driven Rachel. She's unlucky in love, but boy can she belt a song into the balcony.

Going to try to post some promo videos here to give a taste of the new season. We'll see if they last more than 15 minutes before Fox takes them down.

Matt Smith as Newest "Doctor Who" Coming Saturday to BBC America!

Even if you're not already a fan of the long-running and much loved British science fiction series Doctor Who, we highly recommend taking a look at the newest season, premiering tomorrow night on BBC America and on Space in Canada. In a nutshell, Doctor Who has been more-or-less on the air since 1963, with the neat plot twist of having a succession of different actors playing the title character, a galaxy-traversing Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey. Last year the very popular 10th Doctor, played magnificently by David Tennant, regenerated into the 11th Doctor, played by 26-year-old Matt Smith, the youngest actor to ever inhabit the role.



Expectations have been very high for the new Doctor, as well as there being some trepidation that anyone could successfully step into the sneakers of Tennant's stunning and moving Doctor. Since the new season started two weeks ago in Britain, I've been able to watch the first episode already, and am thrilled to report that all feedback is positive and the new Doctor Who is bloody brilliant! I can't think of another recent entertainment experience -- save the new Star Trek movie -- that contained so much concentrated excitement, heart and sense of wonder as this new Doctor Who incarnation.

(Though you don't really need an iota of previous knowledge to enjoy Doctor Who, it might be of interest to realize that the Doctor always picks up a companion from Earth to be his traveling buddy, and you'll love how Smith's Doctor Who finds his. Charming!)

One thing that's so terrific about Doctor Who is that it's always presented very strong, intelligent and vibrant female roles for a succession of actresses, and this newest Doctor Who is no exception. Even -- especially! -- the little girl who figures prominently in the early part of the episode is amazing, exquisitely played, and unlike anything you'll see on U.S. TV.



The Doctor Who craze in the U.S. really began several Doctors -- and decades -- ago with Tom Baker's delightful interpretation from 1974 - 1981, he of the long knitted scarf and slouch hat. (Younger folks might know him as the narrator on Little Britain.) For a quick look at all 11 Doctors over the years, take a look at the short video below. You'll see that the good Doctor has become generally younger as the years go by, and a good deal wackier than the first one out, as he reflects the different seasons of the production. What has never changed is the Doctor's intelligence, humanity, courage and willingness to help Earth out of a number of mindbending catastrophes.



Don't miss Matt Smith as the new Doctor Who! I can't think of anything that you won't enjoy, except if you happen to object to outrageous monsters, frightening, spectacular and potentially Earth-shattering plot predicaments, beautiful leggy girls in British Bobby costumes, clever dialogue, beautiful English settings, or the like.

The new season -- and face -- of Doctor Who debuts tomorrow night at 8pm on BBC America. We also highly recommend tuning in an hour before for Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide, which will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about DW. (The BBC America DW website is here, but you may also want to check out the official UK version of the Doctor Who site, which is located here.)

I think you're going to love him.

Why?

Because he's the Doctor.

"Star Trek Live" Coming to Kennedy Space Center This June!

This is a bit of news to warm the hearts of all NASA-loving, Trek-crazed fans out there -- and include us in! CBS Consumer Products (and doesn't it just kind of get you that with all the corporate machinations over the years, Star Trek is now under the thumb of a company that didn't even originally broadcast the show?) and Mad Science Productions have announced a live interactive show which will debut at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this June.

SciFi Wire has the complete press release here, so take a look. This is great news -- any Star Trek news is great news around here -- but especially so because it's connected with the real space program and NASA, and will take place at one of the most popular and most important tourist attractions in the nation, the Kennedy Space Center.

If you're interested in reading about the specifics of the presentation, read the Mad Science Productions description of the attraction here. They sound like a neat company, with plenty of experience putting on shows which combine excitement and a learning component. Star Trek Live! would seem to fit right in with their expertise.

There is nothing specific in the announcement, but we'll assume that this will be new movie Star Trek and not old-school Trek, but that's okay with us -- we love them both!

Congrats to NASA for reaching out into pop culture to excite visitors as they learn about the grand history behind space exploration, and then perhaps dare to dream into the future. Because without real-life scientists and astronauts, we're never going to be friends with the Vulcans, are we?

All About NOLA: "Treme" Premieres on HBO Tonight

HBO's elaborate New Orleans-set drama (with lots of music) Treme (pronounced tre-may, meaning the Congo Square area of NOLA where African music flourished long ago) premieres tonight at 10pm, so somehow juggle your viewing between it and Breaking Bad on AMC, for a double dose of riveting television.

Treme's recent publicity blast took a sad turn with the sudden death on March 30th of writer/creator David Mills, who collapsed while on location with the show in New Orleans. It was a sad loss for the entertainment industry as a whole, but particularly so for Treme, which was a pet project into which Mills had poured his heart and soul.

Spotlighting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina as it came up against the indomitable spirit of the citizens of New Orleans, Treme focuses on the vibrant New Orleans jazz music scene and its rebirth after the destruction. A great cast is on board -- John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Steve Zahn, Khandi Alexander, Rob Brown and so many more -- and we know we're going to get the characteristic first-class HBO excellence.

Do visit the HBO Treme website for more information, but I have to be honest and say that it's extremely difficult to navigate and I can't even find a decent link to put here for the scheduling of the series. (Maybe it's just me...). But at least I do know it all begins tonight, at 10pm. You can bet your beignet on that.

Oprah Sucking the Life out of "Life" on Discovery?

I love this column from The Hollywood Reporter, from James Hibberd's "The Live Feed", reporting on the lukewarm response to Oprah Winfrey's narrative duties on Discovery's recent BBC import mega-nature documentary series Life. I couldn't watch more than a couple of minutes...unbearable performance and why on Earth would I want to hear Oprah Winfrey on a nature documentary? Big disconnect there.

In Britain, David Attenborough. Here, Oprah Winfrey. This smells like a decision that came out of a Marketing Department -- superficial and wrong-headed, with no understanding of who would want to watch a show like that. You'd think that maybe the network might not want to totally patronize their intended viewers. Talk down to your audience much, Discovery?

I'm sure the numbers were acceptable -- haven't seen specifics -- but for goodness sakes, if you're going to buy the set, get the BBC version from Amazon; evidently the Discovery Channel store only sells the Oprah version.

Big thanks and congrats to Hibberd for writing about this!

DOC: The Documentary Channel Comes to DirecTV

I've been favorably impressed by DOC: The Documentary Channel, which recently secured a spot in DirecTV's channel line-up. Also available on DISH and a few other cable systems -- but by no means as widely distributed as it should be after four years in business -- the network seems to have a terrific supply of documentaries available to broadcast.

Check if your system has it, and if you haven't yet tuned in, give it a try. If your system hasn't picked it up yet, write a letter or make a phone call and ask for it. This is a must-have channel.

In their own words: "The Documentary Channel: A new digital cable channel dedicated to airing, exclusively, the works of the independent documentary filmmaker."

Some pretty important words there, starting with "independent". We need more of that.

Fess Parker Was a Man, Was Big Man

Television icons are a dying breed these days. Earlier this week Peter Graves left us, and now we hear of the death of Fess Parker, one of TV's most reliable heroes, an actor whose fame came from portraying some of America's brawniest historical characters with two-fisted aplomb.

Fess Parker started out in Hollywood at the beginning of the 1950s in an assortment of small roles in film and TV. Walt Disney, looking for a he-man to star as pioneer soldier and adventurer Davy Crockett in an upcoming project, spotted Parker in a small role in the giant ant movie Them! (1954), and signed him up. He starred in several incredibly popular segments of the Disneyland weekly series as Crockett in 1955 (with Buddy Ebsen as his sidekick), creating a craze for coonskin caps and making him the idol of youngsters all over the country, and beyond.

Disney compiled some of the episodes into theatrical releases, as seen here. (This one will possibly be a revelation of sort for visitors to Disneyland who always wondered what the heck the Mike Fink Keel Boats were all about!)



Parker also was an accomplished singer whose rendition of the Crockett theme song sold plenty of records in the series' heyday. In this amusing clip he sings "Old Betsy" with Ebsen on the Disneyland episode commemorating the opening of Disneyland.



Just as 1950s childhood idol George "Superman" Reeves found it hard to break away from his kiddie-fueled fame, so did Parker find it difficult to recreate his Crockett-mania in other roles after Disney stopped making the series. He kept busy with many roles in film and television, including a short-lived TV version of the James Stewart classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in the 1962 season, a really great casting fit that somehow didn't work well enough for a second season.

Finally in 1964 Fess Parker met up with another frontier character who was larger-than-life enough to fit Parker's qualifications. NBC's Daniel Boone ran for six successful seasons, and armed with a catchy theme song that most of us can still easily recall today, it captured the imagination of Americans and titillated their appreciation for history. The series co-starred the lovely Patricia Blair as Boone's wife Rebecca, young Darby Hinton as his son Israel, and of course singer Ed Ames as Boone's Native America friend Mingo (in the first four seasons), an unlikely and un-PC bit of casting that nevertheless was a key component in the show's early success.



Daniel Boone went off network in 1970, but of course was a staple in syndication for many years and gathered new fans everywhere it ran. (Check out this excellent Daniel Boone fansite for more info on the series.) Parker tried his hand at a sitcom in 1974, a kind of "My Three Daughters" idea, but it didn't take. Felicitously, Parker had a wonderful second career for the past couple of decades as a successful winemaker with his own Santa Ynez, California winery, a satisfying change of profession that made his transition away from Hollywood a graceful one.

Let's hope that Mr. Parker's passing brings his Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone television work back into the spotlight, where it belongs. (Not to sound like an old lady, but I can't help thinking that if a few more kids watched Boone and his family having their frontier adventures, maybe they wouldn't need to watch so much of that damned anime stuff. You know what...it's impossible not to sound like an old lady and make a statement like that, isn't it? Oh, well.)

Fess Parker was an important part of TV history, and The Flaming Nose salutes his contribution to the medium and offers our condolences to his family and friends. And to his fans, naturally... (We highly recommend the wonderful Fess Parker article on the always fascinating TV Party website.)

Here's another cute clip, from 1978, on a special honoring the 25th Anniversary of the Disney TV show, with Parker and Ebsen singing and dancing. Very sweet!)

Fess Parker, 1924 - 2010.

Still up? Then St. Patrick prescribes some Dave Allen fer ye

I had a fortuitous St. Patrick's Day, somehow. First, this morning, I unthinkingly put on a deep blue shirt and rushed out of the house, only later realizing that said blouse was given to me by two good Irish buddies, one of whom works at the Dublin Zoo and thusly delivered to me a cool-ass shirt from its gift shop. I thought, "Weird. Danny must have whispered to me from across the ocean to wear my only even vaguely piece of Irish clothing today." And now, a while ago, I found myself at home, gabbing with an old friend on Facebook, and the name of the great Irish comic Dave Allen snuck into the chat. Another intervention of fate. So I knew I had to get on the Nose and dig up some Dave Allen pieces. Given his name, Mr. Dennis Day was a perfect previous post for the lighted hours of St. Patrick's Day. But for the night owls who still might be up celebrating, or for those who might be nursing a blitzkrieged noggin come morning, no addendum or remedy is better than a few brash laughs.

On his 1971-79 show Dave Allen at Large, the man would always hold court from a high stool, a smoke always lit and withering away into the air, and a highball glass filled with a brown liquid that you were sure was scotch and water but which was actually ginger beer. Nattily dressed, Allen would be on stage energetically recounting the sort of sodden tales you might hear bandied in any number of Dublin bars. These would segue into skits that were great, but always you were waiting to see Allen on stage again. He was just that mesmerizing. I spent a few summers in the mid-1970s at my grandmother's house, and she and I would get together with my Uncle Jeff, and we'd howl for ninety minutes at Dave Allen at Large, then at You Bet Your Life, and finally at The New Soupy Sales Show. This was a trifecta that made me fall in l'amour fou with television. The night's fun would always begin with a cold opening, followed by Alan Hawkshaw's smashing theme song, "Blarney Stoned."

And then, more jokes hit, like this corker:

Allen (born O'Mohoney) was a staunch atheist, having had some trying experiences with the Catholic Church early in life. So he'd sock it to the clergy on a regular basis. This, of course, did not endear him to the Catholics, which might explain why the Brits readily embraced him.
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And finally, Allen had had an accident in his twenties that was often plainly visible. This is one of the many ways he explained it away.

The man had a TV career that spanned from the early 60s to the mid 80s, and he peacefully passed away to the spirit world in 2005. And with that, we at the Nose hope you had a happy St. Paddy's. And that Dave Allen found his place in the hereafter--if there IS a hereafter...

Irishman Mr. Dennis Day on St. Patrick's Day

Well, sure an' we'd be missing a parfect opportunity on this fine day to present that wonderful tenor Mr. Dennis Day in a lovely liting tune, titled "An Irishman Will Steal Your Heart Away". You remember the pleasing Mr. Day was appearing on The Jack Benny Show on radio at the time, doncha'?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Dennis Day....



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Milton Berle: By Himself

There's nothing timely about this, except to say that it was just posted on You Tube today. But I wanted to direct all Nosers to this very strange, beautiful, classic clip of good ol' Uncle Milty, from the long-gone Buick Berle Hour on NBC. You've never really seen the comic like this, all down-in-the-mouth 'n' sad 'cuz everyone else is having all the fun, and slinking backstage as he sings "I'm By Myself" over the soundtrack. It's an agile, noiry look behind the scenes, predating Saturday Night Live's reflexive jaunts into Lorne Michaels' office by 25 years. Plus, it takes a positively David-Lynch-by-way-of-Vincente-Minnelli turn at about the four minute mark that makes you wonder if, the next day, NBC execs were scratching their heads, wondering if Milton had gone around the bend from all that dress-wearin'. At any rate, this is total TV-centric fun, so I hadda post it here.

Remembering Peter Graves

The Flaming Nose is sad to hear of the death tonight of Peter Graves, one of the most iconic of television personalities. Those of us who thrilled to his adventures as Jim Phelps on Mission: Impossible will never forget his cool determination as he received his orders via dissolving reel-to-reel tape recordings each week. Graves became most famous and an outstanding pop culture god for his role as Phelps, but of course he had been a working actor since 1942, appearing in many motion pictures of all kinds, but eventually settling into a more successful career primarily in television.

Several series preceded his fame in Mission: Impossible, including the family horse drama Fury as the father to young Bobby Diamond, the Australian-set Western Whiplash, and the WW II military legal drama Court Martial, opposite Bradford Dillman. He was also a frequent guest star of nearly every popular series of the time before landing the role of Jim Phelps in the second season of M:I, replacing the departing team leader played by Steven Hill.

There was never a more smoothly-oiled machine than those early years with the Impossible Missions Force, when Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Greg Rollins and Peter Lupus merged into the coolest ensemble cast on television, thanks in part to Lalo Schifrin's theme, probably the best ever written for TV. Graves continued to work in features throughout the series' 1967 - 1973 run, but television was his forte, his likeable, low-key charm and grace best suited to the small screen, and he knew it.

In later years, Peter Graves' presence as host of the A&E Network series Biography pretty much created that network and propelled the program to such popularity that the series was spun off into an entire network of its own. (I'm not forgetting about Jack Perkins, who actually hosted more segments than Graves and is also responsible for Biography's great success.) We can't forget his hilarious big-screen turn as the airline captain in 1980's Airplane, a change-of-pace for him that gained him new fans and showed off his versatility and good humor about himself.

Graves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last October, and more importantly had continued working and had a reputation as one of Hollywood's good guys, a modest and a devoted family man. Peter Graves will live on as the dauntless leader of the Mission: Impossible force as long as people are watching television, which basically makes him immortal, doesn't it? I think he can handle that last mission, don't you?

We'll leave you with one version of the unforgettable Mission: Impossible opening credits, and then the trailer for one of my all-time favorite monster movies of the 1950s, the giant cicada SF thriller Beginning of the End from 1957. Snicker if you will -- though you shouldn't -- but this is a creepy insect invasion movie that certainly had a lasting and wonderful effect on me!

R.I.P. Peter Graves, 1926 - 2010.