Summer TV: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Summer TV is well underway, with just a few series left to roll out their new seasons. It's time to weigh in on what's working and what's tanking for me.

THE GOOD:

--Breaking Bad: OK, it doesn't officially start until this Sunday (July 17th) but the anticipation is almost making me high. This show is so good, it would be nearly impossible for them to screw it up at this point. Furthermore, it is most likely the last season, so I can imagine the producers will want to go out with a bang. It's a Southwest existential morality tale on AMC. I will be there with bells on.

--Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations: Premiered this past Monday at 9pm on the Travel Channel, this is my favorite food/adventure/travel show in the whole world. Anthony Bourdain is perfect. He's handsome...he's funny...he's adventurous. I think he makes it cool to be American these days (God knows we could use it). At the very least, he makes it extra cool to be a traveling New York Foodie. This week's new season opened with a trip to Cuba. Light on politics, heavy on baseball and black beans. Mmmmm, the tastiest treat on TV.

--Louie on fX: Season two kicked off a couple of weeks ago (Thursdays at 10:30pm). I am so very happy to say that it still enthralls. Brilliant, uncomfortable, tragic, beautiful and sometimes (because yeah, technically it is a comedy) balls to the wall funny. There is absolutely nobody like Louie ck on television. Nobody. I have to hand it to Fox for not meddling with this gem so far. Maybe they forgot it was on. It is mesmerizing. Last week's pregnant sister episode gave a whole new spin on the good Samaritan neighbor theme. This show is my obsession.

Rescue Me: Rescue Me returns tonight (July 13th) on fX at 10pm. This is the last season for Denis Leary's firehouse opus and it is timed perfectly to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9-11. I want to see how he resolves his ghosts and demons and I think Leary's Tommy Gavin character is always interesting and funny, although incredibly messed up. I have never doubted the sincerity of Rescue Me and have great faith that they will do something profound before the FDNY crew is closed down forever.

THE BAD:

--True Blood: Everybody knows how much I love HBO, but this series has seriously gone bonkers. Someday I will write of Alan Ball's Six Feet Under saga about the L.A. Fisher family and how it was the greatest television show in the history of the universe. But he's gone crazy with True Blood and I'm about to abandon ship. I don't care about the over the top sex or violence or the fact that in the season premier they used a fake boulder and sand desert background set that looked like it was straight out a 1960's episode of Star Trek. What I care about it that I'm bored. Bored to death with Sookie and Tara and Bill and Eric. Well maybe not so much with Eric. Don't want to see Jason raped by a pack of trailer trash zombies. I like Marnie the witch's dead parrot...I hate Marnie the witch. You know how every year you have to sort out the Christmas lights that have mysteriously mated like a pile of snakes in the garage? That's what this feels like. The story line is a hot tangled mess.

--Falling Skies: I had high hopes for this TNT series. Sci Fi, original, Steven Spielberg, lavish production, cool scary aliens taking over (we'll call them Skitters). I've watched the first couple of episodes and I don't think I'll be coming back. It's just not compelling. We never get to see the aliens, so the threat seems very remote. And the survivors in this post apocalyptic world are way...way too clean. Why would they all be so fashion model clean? Even the kids look like they've been air brushed! I don't know why but it really bothers me. I can't go on a day long road trip without looking like a refugee, and these people have been without electricity, washing machines and running water for quite some time. They should at least be a little smudged. Note to Falling Skies producers...watch the movie Road Warrior. You can make your end of the world characters stylish AND dirty! And show a few aliens eating little kids with their tentacles or something!

THE UGLY

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry has a long conversation with a 13 year old girl scout about her first period and tampons. Really? What planet is this creepy scene even remotely funny on? Anyway, I only like Jeff Garlin and Susie. If someone wants to make a clip show of them, I'll still watch. Otherwise...buh bye Larry!

Here's a little taste of Breaking Bad. Oh my, can't wait for Sunday!

Another TV Comedy Maestro Passes -- Farewell to Sherwood Schwartz

First Sam Denoff passes away, and now another man who definitely had his finger right on the perfect pulse point for pop culture immortality.  Writer, producer and comedy veteran Sherwood Schwartz passed away yesterday at the age of 94, and like Denoff, it's impossible to consider classic TV comedy without giving a huge nod to his output and influence.  It was a simpler time for television comedy, to be sure -- no scathing social commentary, no references to scandalous body parts -- but the competition was tough. In a landscape where Lucy still reigned, you really had to be funny, and skilled, and maybe just a little lucky to make audiences laugh and keep coming back for more.  Sherwood Schwartz was all that.

After a college career studing biology -- smart guy, too! -- Schwartz joined his brother (never underestimate familial connections in Hollywood) who was a writer for Bob Hope.  Both Schwartz boys were soon on Hope's regular writing staff, and later Sherwood wrote for other shows, then transitioned over to the TV side of things to write for popular series like I Married Joan and The Red Skelton Show.  Fortune smiled on him when his concept for a desert island sitcom called Gilligan's Island sold to CBS, leading to a three year network success -- 1964 - 1967 -- and decades of syndication reruns which show no signs of abating.  (Sorry for not being able to put the actual opening credits here -- none on YouTube are embeddable.)

If Sherwood had done nothing more than strand Gilligan and the Skipper on that island, it probably would have been enough, but Schwartz' comic mind never stopped.  In 1966 he created the short-lived but peppy astronauts-meet-cavemen sitcom It's About Time, with its peppy theme song that has lingered in fan memory longer than the series itself.  Sherwood wrote the theme songs to all his big hit series; they're all charming and unforgettable, so chalk up another talent for him.



In 1969 Sherwood Schwartz again hit the motherlode -- he created the blended family sitcom The Brady Bunch, leading to five years of hilarious childhood angst and giving babyboomers of a certain age a universal touchstone.  (I was too old for TBB, never watched it -- except when Davy Jones did a guest gig -- but I get its appeal!).  If Aaron Spelling supplied the "jiggle" for a generation, Sherwood Schwartz gave us the "giggle".  With his gentle humor, appealing casts and an appreciation for slapstick that has kept his most popular series on top, Schwartz didn't aim too high but neither did he stoop low.  Middle America loved him, and he earned it.



Creating two of the biggest success in sitcom history didn't mean Sherwood Schwartz took his shingle in; he continued to create series -- Dusty's Trail, Harper Valley PTA -- and remain vitally connected with Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch as they found pop culture immortality.  Gilligan had two TV movies in the 1980s; the Brady family, especially, spawned lots of spin-off series (including variety shows) and of course his characters made it to the big screen twice during the 1990s as nostalgia for the series hit an all-time high.

Making millions of TV viewers happy for decades defines a life well-lived; Sherwood Schwartz had that life.  In a wonderful gesture he also wrote a final letter that he asked be published in The Hollywood Reporter after his death.  It's completely charming and shows what a nice guy he was.  You can read it here.  You might also enjoy watching his multi-part interview at the Archive of American Television.

The Flaming Nose joins Schwartz' family, friends and fans in remembering and honoring this wonderful icon on classic TV.

Rob Grill of The Grass Roots - Rest in Peace

I grew up in a home surrounded by music. My mom loved the big bands and standards, but most notably, she loved Frank Sinatra. My dad loved Eddy Arnold, Patti Page and Connie Francis; and my older siblings loved the Four Seasons and the Beatles. My deep rooted passion for music goes way back to my childhood.

I have a good memory. I'm one of those trivia kooks who can tell you when a song came out, what label it was on and who sang lead. There were 45s and 33 1/3 records laying around the house and at any given point you could hear Glenn Miller, the Rolling Stones or Marty Robbins. My childhood friend, Kathy and I would often walk six blocks south and 2 1/2 blocks east to the local Ben Franklin to purchase records. One of my first 45 purchases was a single by the Grass Roots. Today, you wouldn't dream of letting two little kids walk a mile away from their home to do anything, let alone buy records, but those were different times. We practically knew someone on every block we walked thru to get there and when we got there it was like a variety of gift boxes to open.

When I mention the Grass Roots to anyone under a certain age most members of the under the certain age demo have absolutely no idea who I am talking about. I usually look at them with near pity in my eyes thinking you have no idea what happy sounds like. Their music may not have had complex chord progressions, but all these years later whenever I hear one of their songs - I feel good. I still love Cat Stevens, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin and of course, the Beatles, but none of them actually make me bounce around and sing along with a loud joy-filled singing in the shower mood.

All these years later - their music still works. It is pop music at its finest. They would go on to have fifteen top 30 hits for Dunhill Records and ABC Records (yes, that ABC - at one point ABC owned a record company). They sold over 20 million records between 1966 and 1973. Their healthy output included such classics as "Midnight Confessions," "Wait a Million Years," "Temptation Eyes," "Sooner or Later," "Heaven Knows," "Come on and Say It," "Two Divided by Love" and their last big charting song, "Glory Bound." "Glory Bound" has this raucous finale with Rob Grill's voice going into the aching category that few could reach. They still hold the record as the act with the longest running non-stop presence on the Billboard charts. They had a song in the top 100 for some 307 weeks straight. No act has ever accomplished that feat.

I loved Rob Grill. He was the voice of The Grass Roots and this kid loved that voice and that face. Over the course of my career in the entertainment industry I've had the privilege (although, sometimes not such a privilege) to meet lots of famous people. Unfortunately, I never met Rob Grill. 

The Grass Roots were on television a lot during their heyday. They appeared on "The Tonight Show," "The Today Show" and "Good Morning America." I vaguely remember their appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (even though I'm probably confusing a viewing in its original format with a clip pulled from the web). They appeared on "American Bandstand" a record setting 16 times. I must admit I don't remember seeing them all 16 times, but knowing how I rarely missed Dick Clark's show I probably saw them at least a few of those times. One of my first two albums in LP form would be their Greatest Hits collection. Somewhere there is even a photo of me holding it up proudly. 

Yesterday morning at 11:00am Rob Grill died in a Florida hospital. I heard the news for the first time late last night. The local news radio station did a nice tribute to him in their top of the hour network news break . He died in the arms of his wife, Nancy listening to "Let's Live for Today." I'm near to crying as I write this post.

Rob Grill (who had several hip replacement surgeries) took a horrible fall a few weeks back and that led to a massive stroke. He had his first stroke three years ago and he learned to walk with a cane. He pretty much couldn't sing like Rob Grill anymore, but he still could play that bass guitar, but the recent stroke ended up putting a hold on that bass playing.

My life has changed a great deal in the last couple of years. My wonderful career in television was literally given up and walked away from when my dad passed away after struggling with Alzheimer's disease for many years. I decided to move home to be with my now aging mom. I haven't regretted the decision once. Life is indeed brief and fragile.

When I was a young girl I could have asked "Where Were You When I Needed You" and now all these years later I could say that the voice of Rob Grill is still here and still giving me great moments of smiling happiness. I don't think I could clean my house without him. I don't fear death due to my deep faith and I hope my dear Rob Grill didn't fear it either. Mr. Grill, you brought me great musical comfort as a child, as a teen-angst ridden high-schooler and I carried you through college, grad school and every move to new jobs in new cities. When I want to get moving, I pull you up on my whatever music device/app is of the moment. I yell out every lyric to every song and it brings back my own glory days of youth. Rob, may you rest in peace and may you be glory bound.

COPRYIGHT THE FLAMING NOSE

Forget the "Singles," This is an ALBUM!

"American Idol" season 7 winner David Cook is back with a standout sophomore album.

In this age of singles, singles, singles, and the ability on itunes to download tracks a la carte, David Cook has given music lovers a reason to go for the whole enchilada. Cook hesitates to call This Loud Morning a “concept album” because he wants listeners to interpret its theme and songs their own way; but the theme is so strong, and the flow so carefully layed out, it really is best to listen to the album in order - start to finish - in one sitting. This is the closest I’ve seen anything come to a classic 70s/80s-style concept album in two decades. Don’t let that scare you. No single track relies on another for a great listening experience. Play any one of them and you’ll have a winner for 3 to 4 minutes in your head. It’s just that played in order, as a whole, the experience is enahanced 10-fold. The musical connection between first track Circadian with last (non-bonus) track Rapid Eye Movement is a stroke of genius. They are bookends that tie the whole album together. It truly is like falling asleep and into a melodious and intense dream… before you go under for that deep sleep.

Lyrically, This Loud Morning shows great progression on the part of Cook. Musically, it further establishes his style and voice, but it is far superior to anything he has created in the past. Producer Matt Serletic (Ryan Star, Matchbox 20) took these great songs and worked magic on them. The instrumentation and arrangements are brilliant, but best of all, Serletic did what he’s known for: he let the singer’s voice remain front and center. With Cook’s last album, my only (minor) complaint was that too many of the tracks had a wall of sound that didn’t let his amazing voice shine through. This time, David’s voice is the star, and the instrumentation and effects are superb supporting players.

Standout tracks for me are Circadian; Right Here, With You; Take Me As I am; Paper Heart; Goodbye to the Girl; Rapid Eye Movement and bonus track Let Me Fall For You. I’m just waiting for NBC to use “We Believe” for the Olympics (the way they’ve used Cook’s “Heroes” on NBC Sports for the last two seasons).

If you order through Cook's online store at his website, you can get a fanpack that includes the deluxe 14 track edition of the album, a t-shirt, a poster, and an acoustic EP called "This Quiet Night." It contains five tracks (The Last Goodbye, Right Here With You, Take Me As I Am, Goodbye To the Girl and Paper Heart), recorded unplugged by David and his band with just piano, acoustic guitars and soft drums. It's a gem.If you just want the music, I highly recommend the deluxe version which includes the two killer bonus tracks and a "making of the album" DVD (it's included on iTunes as a video download).

If I had to rate This Loud Morning, I would give it ★★★★★ out of ★★★★★

Here is the lead single from the album, "The Last Goodbye"

http://www.davidcookofficial.com

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http://twitter.com/thedavidcook

R.I.P. Sam Denoff, TV Comedy Writer Extraordinaire

Those of us who spent our childhood glued to our TV sets -- in other words, all of us here -- were saddened to hear of the death of veteran comedy writer Sam Denoff on July 8th. Especially close to my heart for his contributions to The Dick Van Dyke Show and for his co-creation of Marlo Thomas' That Girl, Mr. Denoff most often paired up with fellow writer Bill Persky to create some of the cleverest and most intelligent humor on TV at the time.  He won two Emmy Awards for his work on TDVDS, and was nominated for two others, and no doubt deserved a lot more than that. 

Sam Denoff was incredibly prolific.  In addition to aforementioned series, Mr. Denoff also wrote many individual episodes of various sitcoms, contributed to many variety specials -- Bill Cosby, Dick Van Dyke, Goldie Hawn -- plus he co-created Good Morning World, the short-lived but super-hip 1967 series about two disc jockeys starring Joby Baker and Ronnie Schell, and later helped produce the hilarious It's Garry Shandling's Show and consulted on Bonnie Hunt's Life with Bonnie.  He also taught comedy writing at the University level and was a dedicated supporter of the Television Academy Foundations's Archive of American Television, where you can watch an extensive nine-part interview with him, conducted in 2000.

You may not know that he also wrote the lyrics to the That Girl theme, featured in at least one version of the opening credits throughout the run of the program.  Here's an early title sequence, and then one with Mr. Denoff's charming lyrics!





Here's the opening credit sequence to Good Morning World --



Sam Denoff and his contributions to classic TV will live on as audiences continue to appreciate well-crafted comedy writing. 


Where to Watch:  Episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show are available on Hulu, there is some That Girl on YouTube and the seasons are available on DVD.

Surely you've seen this...

It was shown on David Letterman, and he couldn't stop laughing about it. And for good reason. It's the single funniest thing I've ever seen on the web. They guy who made it has done a lot of funny cat videos as well. But this is the most hilarious thing ever. It makes me laugh riotously every time I see it. Seriously, it makes me cry with total joy. That dog's "voice" just slays me, and his reactions to the man's cocky voice--with those ears and those lower teeth--are supremely hysterical. I think I could watch this over and over, forever. It's that good.

NOSE-talgia: The Lost ANDY GRIFFITH episode

Frank Nelson is the best actor ever

What other actor has made such hay out of one word?


From THE JACK BENNY SHOW


Another JACK BENNY SHOW appearance....


More JACK BENNY...

He appeared on SANFORD AND SON numerous times, and was referred to on THE FLINTSTONES often, too. But he most recently appeared on THE SIMPSONS.





His name is Frank Nelson, and he's the greatest actor of all time.

"Louie" -- Exceeding Expections on the FX Network

We called Louis C.K. a genius in our last post reminding you of his series' second season, and after watching last night's episode "Pregnant" we reaffirm our assessment.  Louie is a series utterly without peer -- no, actually, I would put the most profoundly affecting episodes of Ricky Gervais' series The Office (the original British version) and Extras in the same league, and a few other things.  Louie makes other half-hour comedy series, even the less-traditional ones from HBO (Hung, Entourage) or Showtime (Nurse Jackie, The Big C), seem like they're missing something.  They are -- they're missing Louis C.K., whose skill, openness, truth, and guilelessness as a performer takes his work in Louie to a level that's simply astounding.

It's hard to imagine anyone -- except Gervais, who happens to be a friend of LCK, no surprise there -- able to take the exquisite pain of being a human being and turn it into an entertainment that manages to be simultaneously -- or in sequence sometimes -- hilarious, shocking and brutal, unblinkingly honest, and tremendously affecting.  Watching last night's episode of Louie pushes you through a journey that will genuinely bring tears to your eyes -- and not in some bullshit way -- as well as offering up scatalogical glee, comedic zingers, and some of the best acting that you're going to see, anywhere.  From his scenes doing stand-up, then to the great kitchen action as LCK handily and fascinatingly prepares a fabulous-looking dinner for his two young daughters (the youngest of whom delivered an earlier stark assessment of their family life to him), and on to those with Rusty Schwimmer playing his very pregnant sister, to the genuinely tense medical emergency moments where he meets his neighbors, and beyond -- last night's episode was incredible.  No other word for it. 

There's nothing like Louie.  It's the most astounding half-hour comedy out there, but we really need to invent another term for this hybrid program type.  It's even beyond the brilliant ensemble work of a show like Nurse Jackie, which is hardly ordinary yet actually pales in comparison with Louis C.K.'s vision in Louie.  This series is testament to LCK's brilliance as a writer and as a performer, along with his undeniable skills as director and editor, two more positions he fills on Louie.  Like Gervais, he's got a perfect ear for life's absurdities as well as its sublime satisfactions, including last night's ruminations on family, friendship, and the need for connections. 

Not for everybody, not even close -- don't watch if you don't like profanity perfectly delivered -- but truly unforgettable.  How can something this good be on television?  Kudos to FX for getting behind this wonderful series and for helping bring Louie into the world.  And the most profound thanks and gratitude to Louis C.K. for going that extra step where few performers ever dare tread, primarily because most others wouldn't know what to say once they were truly out there.  Louis C.K. does.  He knows exactly what to say, and you'll be missing so much if you don't watch and listen.

Visit FX's terrific Louie site (with lots of interesting extras) for more info and the schedule, though I can only find airtimes on Thursday nights, starting at 10:30p with several encores later.

"Louie" Season 2 Begins Tonight on FX!

You know we love him here -- the amazing Louis C.K. -- and we also love that the second season of his hilariously morose, absurd, moving and superb half-hour series Louie starts tonight at 10:30pm on FX Network.  Like a lot of LCK's comedy, Louie is strange and complex, with an off-center sensibility that is utterly winning and completely mesmerizing. 

We highly recommend that you tune into this very unique half hour of TV.  We can't completely guarantee that you'll like it, of course -- sense of humor is such a personal value that maybe Louis C.K. won't tickle your particular funnybone -- but we do assure you that you will be seeing a genius in action.

Visit the official Louie website for more information!

Game of Thrones: Season Finale Went up in Flames!

The magnificent Game of Thrones has ended its first season, after 10 one hour episodes that passed at the speed of light. Not since The Sopranos and Six Feet Under left HBO forever have I felt such a gaping void. At least those two series were well established when they started to kill off major characters (Chris-toe-fuh anybody...my beloved Nate Fisher on 6 Feet?). Not so with the riveting, nail biting, insomnia inducing Game of Thrones. They wiped out the level headed (and now be-headed) leader Ned Stark as well as the hunky Khal Drogo, leader of the horse tribe. The latter met his untimely end at the hand of his lovely "Moon and Stars" mate, Daenerys (above) who merci-killed him with a pillow after he became a brain dead Zombie from the evil ministrations of a tribal witch. The smirking wicked witch got her comeuppance (yay) in the last five minutes of the last night's program...tied to the Khal's blazing funeral pyre just before Daenery's walked herself into the flames. I thought that was the end of our fair haired Khallisa, I really did. Although I quite expected the Dragon Eggs to hatch, I never dreamed that the Dragon Queen would rise Phoenix-like from the ashes. And with three of the cutest CGI baby dragons perched all over her naked, soot stained body. I defy any series on television to have a more astonishing ending. A billion times better than the cop-out on AMC's The Killing. I faithfully watched every episode of that rain-drenched, dreary, depressing crime show only to find out that they weren't going to solve the crime until NEXT season. Not cute. And it really pissed off a lot of folks online, I saw some scorching comments about it on Entertainment Weekly.com.

And now, because I'm already feeling sad Game of Thrones withdrawal symptoms and will probably need some sort of support group to make it a whole year until Season Two...I shall list my top five favorite characters. This is not an easy compilation. There are dozens of great characters in this series.

Tyrion Lannister: He's handsome, he's witty, he's quite the ladies man. Nobody cares that he's a dwarf except for his mean old Dad, and even the Lannister patriarch admitted in last night's episode that Tyrion is one smart cookie. He's been appointed the "Hand" of Kings Landing, and he doesn't look too thrilled with the news. It will probably involve reduced wine consumption. I sense an Emmy nomination for Peter Dinklage with this role!

Arya Stark: From the very first episode, Arya was established as one of the bravest warriors. She won't back down, she'll take no prisoners, and she's all of 11 years old and probably 70 pounds soaking wet. She has already killed one fat bratty pervert and she almost killed another in the season finale. When last seen, Arya was headed "north" disguised as a boy, after witnessing her beloved father's brutal demise.

Jon Snow: He's got a chip on his shoulder because he's a "bastard" and doesn't share the Stark family name. Darkly handsome in a sullen sort of way, he seems like the kind of loyal chap who you'd always want on your side in any big brawl. Frankly, if he teamed with his young half-sister Arya, they'd be a formidable force. But he's stuck defending the "wall", in a perpetual frozen purgatory. I think they need cable television at the "wall", man that's a boring job.

Daenerys and her Dragons: She can eat a raw horse heart without throwing up. She is a natural born leader. She looks like a Christmas Tree angel, but does not tremble before the fiercest enemy. And of course now she is a mom to triplet Dragon babies. Please, please let her get to ride them when they grow bigger!

Jaime Lannister: Yeah, he's a bad guy. He's bad to the bone, no doubt about it. But he's not nearly as evil as his sister-wife (not in the Mormon Way) Cersei and he's Mother Theresa compared to his pointy headed psychopath son Joffrey. How long before Sansa Stark takes an ice pick to her creepy betrothed? I'm sorry that I'm fascinated by Jaime. He looks like a young Denis Leary, especially before he gets his face bashed in by a brick wielding Lady Stark. Why on earth wouldn't she send his head home on a pike? Guess we'll have to wait until next season to find out. I think Bran Stark didn't die so that we don't have to completely hate Jaime. There may be redemption in store for this Lannister.

Things to do while waiting a whole year for the next season:

• Read the Song of Fire and Ice books on which GOT was based (George R.R. Martin)



• Watch all the repeats over and over on HBO On Demand



• Build a baby dragon sculpture out of Play-doh on the kitchen table



• See if there are any Game of Thrones discussion groups to join in Silicon Valley so I can hang with those folks who are equally bereft now that it's over. Puh-leez, with all the nerds in this area, there must be a meet up group, or possibly even a theme restaurant by now.
  

Any other Game of Thrones Mega-Fans out there, please let me know. We have to support each other...the long winter is coming!

Happy Birthday, Lisa Mateas!

In case you do not know her name, it's Lisa Mateas.

She's one of the progenitors of THE FLAMING NOSE, but she is SO SO much more than that. I won't go on and on about her achievements. This would embarrass her. Still, I will say she's been a champion of TV for a long time. She's been in there, punching for fandom and for pure love of television so much that, if I told you all how much she's done, you'd be sending her copious e-mails in complete thanks. This is easy to say, but, believe me, you would be sending those e-mails (the Babylon 5 people alone would be turning out full force)!

I met Lisa in 1994, when I was applying for the job of Programming Coordinator at Turner Network Television, where she was the network's longtime Vice-President (and, thus, a progenitor of both Turner Network Television and Turner Classic Movies). I showed up on time, and I got the job, and I knew it immediately because both she and her cohort, Phil Oppenheim, acted like they had just won the lottery after they had met me. How many people can say THAT about people they've interviewed with? To work with Lisa and Phil was like working for the Wright Brothers: they knew it all, and I never questioned it. The astronomical plus was that these two were vastly funnier and more joyous that the Wright Brothers probably ever were. They were, for me, the king bosses of all time. If you can imagine your managers spending time blackening in the shiny white teeth belonging to celebrities on the covers on TV Guide while STILL remaining the smartest people in the building, then you'll know what I mean. Can't imagine it? No? Thank you. It was a one-of-a-kind job.

I was, I thought, strictly a movie guy when I met Lisa. But she saw something else in me. And she made me realize that TV was just as close to my soul as the movies were. It took me a while to understand this, but it happened. Now, I get the difference, and the nuances, that separate the mediums. And I have to say: after meeting Lisa (and Phil), my love of TV and movies are running neck-and-neck. In fact, I don't think one can exist without the other.

My tribute to Lisa was going to be, originally, a series of posts on Facebook. But I thought that was much more ephemeral than I could stand.

Lisa and I are still kindred spirits; we played VIDEO GAMES together, for God's sake. Even though we now live far apart, I will always carry her with me in my heart. And, clearly, this is the case with her, too; she is still always keeping up with my doings on FILMICABILITY, and constantly comments--in complete, loving, and authentic allegiance--on my articles. She has said, and I believe, that she is my #1 fan. And so, as HER #1 fan, I offer a single article in tribute to her wisdom and magnificence.

Even so, I respect her privacy. But I still feel I have to say how much I love her. And so I'll do it through television--her FIRST and TRUEST love. I think she'll groove on this.

So now I offer, for my dearest friend, a tribute through television. The following top ten clips--even though we may not have talked about them ALL straightforwardly--are still each sublime TV moments that will make me, forever, undoubtedly recall Lisa Mateas, and all the great times, and all the great loves, we've shared together. Happy birthday, Lisa! You make every world shine!

(The Andy Griffith Show; "Mr. McBeeVee" Season 3, episode 1, part 3; written by Harvey Bullock, directed by Bob Sweeney; this scene requires Opie's father, Andy, to believe in something that was unbelievable. Lisa and I still share a love of this series; I may be speaking out of turn for her, but I think that we agree this series, and perhaps this very series of scenes, are amongst TV's sweetest moments in time. Lisa is all about sweetness but, as you will later see, darkness plays a role as well).

(The insanely amazing opening credits to The Wild Wild West, with Richard Markowicz's unforgettable theme, and those beautiful animations; TNT played The Wild Wild West daily up until the late 1990s; Lisa named one of her cat Artemus!).

(The opening credits to the greatest one-season TV show of all time: Freaks and Geeks, created by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow; I think that if Lisa had had the power at the time, Freaks and Geeks would have gone on to a second season, and beyond; and we were THIS close...).

(From The Twilight Zone: "To Serve Man." Season 3, episode 14. Written by Damon Knight and directed by John Braham).

(From The Outer Limits: "The Zanti Misfits." Season 1, episode 14. Written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Leonard Horn).

(I Love Lucy, "Job Switching," season 2, episode 1, written by Bob Carroll Jr., Madelyn Pugh and Jess Oppenheimer; directed by William Asher; Lucy is the avatar for this very site, which should tell you something).

(Leave It To Beaver, "Beaver Gets Spelled," season 1, episode 1, part 3; written by Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly; directed by Norman Tokar; I never knew how smart the Beaver was until I met Lisa).

(Joe Flaherty as Count Floyd, tubthumbing for "The Bloodsucking Monkeys of West Miffland, PA," from 1980 on Second City Television; Lisa and I both share a massive crush on Mr. Flaherty, who I think we agree is a genius).

She's a hilarious, wonderful lady. Lisa Mateas is my hero. How I adore her so! And she is the one and only person I know who is totally, completely, all about love. And here's a bonus clip, too!

(Joe Bob Briggs singing the Monstervision song, 1997; they'd be no Joe Bob hosting Monstervision without Lisa!)

The Sky is Falling: Coming Soon to TNT

It has never been a secret that Flaming Nose founders Jane and Lisa are quite partial to the Sci-Fi genre. So it would be extremely out of character for us to neglect a few mentions for (Falling Skies on TNT) making its debut about a week from now.

I've seen an extended promo for Falling Skies On Demand, so I've had enough of a taste to make a few comments.

The premise is as well worn as an old VHS cassette tape of the original 1953 War of the Worlds. Aliens have landed on earth, and they are not friendly. They've pretty much blown every major city to smithereens, and sent a pulse that has destroyed all electronic communications. Inevitably they are going to get hungry and guess who's gonna be on the menu? Just once I wish somebody would make an alien that wants to eat NY pizza or Sprinkles cupcakes.

Nevertheless, there is nothing more exciting than aliens coming to visit, although I must say I prefer the versions that like us (ET, Close Encounters, Avatar when we are not killing their trees of life) to the ones that want to have us for dinner. These aliens look like big spiders, which is both derivative and icky. They've been given a clever nickname (Skitters) by the surviving earthlings. Steven Spielberg is the Executive Producer, and although he has weirdly not had much success on the small screen his name brings cache to any effort and you can triple that when the story is a sci-fi adventure.

The bad news? Other than Noah Wyle, who plays the resistance militia leader Tom Mason, the cast is not familiar. If they were at least interesting (like Sawyer or Hurley or John on LOST) that wouldn't be a problem. But from what I've seen so far, Falling Skies suffers from forgettable attractive cookie cutter TV cast syndrome. They all look like hot models from an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. Apparently the Skitters already ate all the fat and ugly people. It's so tiresome when everybody in a post apocalyptic world looks like they just fell off the cat walk. For contrast, I offer up the cast from Super 8, which I just had the pleasure of viewing yesterday. J.J. Abram's science fiction love poem to Steven Spielberg (who also executive produced) features kids who look and act exceptionally real. You can practically smell their sneakers, and that makes it all the more poignant when they are in peril.

Bland cast aside, I'll still be there with bells on for the first few episodes of Falling Skies. I'm drawn to sci-fi like a moth to flame, and until I know otherwise, I'll hope that this is a summer series that will grow stronger as the days get hotter.

History Channel's Civil War Week Begins with "Gettysburg"

Starting tomorrow (May 30th--Memorial Day) and continuing all week, the History Channel will be commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with related programming. The first special (Gettysburg) promises to be a "don't-miss-it" event. Airing at 9pm eastern on History, this two hour special will depict the battle of Gettysburg like it has never been seen before, utilizing the gut wrenching visuals of CGI.

I must admit that I am not a Civil War fanatic, although I certainly understand how it can be a magnificent and horrifying backdrop for many cinema masterpieces from old (Gone with the Wind) to new (Glory). What really caught my attention when I first saw the promos for this event was that it was executive produced by British film directors extraordinaire Ridley and Tony Scott. Ridley is best known for two of the best sci-fi movies ever made (Bladerunner and Alien) while his younger brother Tony is the action film auteur, with Top Gun, The Crimson Tide and Unstoppable in his repertoire. The Scott endorsement sealed the deal for me...my DVR is already set to record "Gettysburg" tomorrow. Take a look at the promo below to see if you'll be there too. That haunting music in the background (by the way) is a cover of the old Kate Bush song, "Running up that Hill".

Too Big to Fail on HBO

Did your 401K dry up and blow away sometime after 2008? Is your house in foreclosure? Have you recently been down-sized by a large corporation? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you might want to give "Too Big To Fail" on HBO a wide berth. Or, you can take a few swigs of Pepto Bismol, put a clothes pin over your nose, and follow me. "Too Big" is based on the best selling book by Andrew Ross Sorkin and it tells the tale of the big banks and financial institutions that were behind the U.S. financial melt down in 2008.

I'm not going to attempt to re-cap the plot here. It's not an easy story to tell. For one thing, it's pretty difficult to make a gaggle of millionaire middle aged white dudes (mostly bald) who do nothing but sigh and stare at spread sheets in a dark conference room seem compelling. But HBO has a knack for bringing sizzle to made-for-television movies about big bad business decisions. They did it with TV talk shows in The Late Shift and with the machinations of tech giants Apple and Microsoft in Pirates of Silicon Valley. They manage to do it here too, although it's quite humorless and doesn't have a happy ending. If you like revenge and comeuppance, this one's not for you. Nobody ever gets punished for tanking the U.S. economy, and sadly it's doubtful that anyone ever will.

Hunt for "Too Big to Fail" On Demand, if you did not catch the premier on HBO this past week. It has a stellar cast including William Hurt, Ed Asner, Paul Giamatti, Topher Grace, Matt Modine, Tony Shalhoub, James Woods and Cynthia Nixon as the token corporate PR girl. Watching this movie is not a walk in the park, but do it anyway. It's like taking your vitamins, you'll be stronger afterward if you do.

Happy 100th Birthday, Vincent Price!

I'm currently composing a longer tribute to Vincent Price, one of my most treasured actors, on filmicability. I'm choosing to focus in on my favorite Vincent Price film performance, in 1973's Theater of Blood. However, in doing my research, I've been reminded of Price's warm, clever, and intelligent personality, often on display in guest shots on a variety of TV productions. So I thought I'd do a shorter twin tribute to the Price centennial by highlighting some of these appearances here on the Flaming Nose.

When I think of Vincent Price's TV appearances, one thing comes to mind: his tremendous sense of fun in spoofing his own fame as a horror movie icon. In many of his guest shots on narrative shows like The Brady Bunch, F Troop, and Love American Style, he traded upon this, but also showed he could play comedy just as well as the established pros. For instance, he has a memorable run-in with Lucille Ball on a 1970 episode of Here's Lucy, where Ball's Lucy Carter is visiting Price to have an art piece appraised, but is instead mistaken by Price as an actress auditioning for a role in a new horror film. Good stuff here!



But in earlier TV appearances, he was known less as a horror personality and more as a erudite character actor famed for largely villainous roles. In a 1953 appearance on The Jack Benny Program, he shares the screen with the master of the slow burn and also with the lovely Irene Dunne. Benny and Price find themselves as acting rivals for the lead in a production with Miss Dunne, and their interplay is extraordinarily hilarious (every time Benny stares into the camera, I can't help but lose it):



There were a lot of dramatic roles for Price on TV as well, on shows as varied as Lights Out, Climax!, Playhouse 90, Daniel Boone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Have Gun Will Travel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It's particularly fun to see him as a typically evil Russian THRUSH agent in an episode of The Man From UNCLE, called "The Fox and Hounds Affair." Here, Price shares the small screen with another crowning character actor, Leo G. Carroll, who played UNCLE's wisened head officer:



And, though I find the show irritating, it would just simply be wrong to ignore Vincent's bald-pated appearance as the villainous Egghead in the 1960's smash hit show Batman. If I were going to watch an episode of this show again, it'd probably one of Price's episodes, even IF the egg-related puns get eggs-cruciating.



Even games shows and variety shows were far from off-limits for Price. For instance, you can see Price's wit and facility with both music and languages here on his 1956 appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line?



As a stunt to promote his then current 1972 film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (still one of his greatest performances, if you ask me), Price made an unlikely appearance on The Dating Game. It's bizarre, having Price act as proxy to the dating girl in questioning her three prospects. It's clear that none of the guys are equal to Vincent's inestimable sophistication, but he takes it all in stride and barrels through like the pro he was. Dare I say that the girl would have been better off going out to dinner with Vincent himself?



In 1973, Price was invited to fete his friend Bette Davis on an "Celebrity Roast"episode of The Dean Martin Comedy Hour. Here, again, we get to enjoy Vincent's charm as he plays slightly (and appropriately) blue. You don't get to hear Price use the word "knockers" very often!



A totally charming clip here, from Price's 1976 appearance on The Muppet Show. The only thing that can rival my love for Vincent Price is my love for Jim Henson, particularly in the guise of Kermit the Frog. To have these two stars sharing the stage is pure joy to me, especially in the hilarious final moment here!



Vincent even did many smart commercials, for products as widely varied as Milton-Bradley games, Tilex, Time-Life Books, and Century 21! Here's an excellent 1985 spot for Polaroid VHS tapes:



Here's another 80s spot, this one more lovingly low-rent, for Easter Seals:



And, finally, another for Sun Country Wine Coolers. This one's REALLY unusual!



In 1984, Vincent acted as host to PBS' anthology show Mystery! Here, the actor gets to expound on one of his favorite subjects--the Victorian era--in introducing the first episode of Grenada TV's Sherlock Holmes series. I have to wonder how much Price contributed to the writing of this intro, as he was certainly an expert on the subject matter and could have easily penned the piece. It seems to have been written in his unmistakable voice:



The interesting thing about Price is that, though he was most famous as a horror movie icon, it was always clear that he was so much more than just this. For instance, his art history expertise was unsurpassed. He had an extensive personal collection of works with which he often toured, and was an outspoken advocate of Native-American art in particular. Even though this rare 1962 instructional film wasn't shot for television (it's basically an industrial film used to educate art auctioneers on the value of their pieces, made by Sears and Roebuck), I think it's a fascinating peer into this very personal, revealing side of Vincent Price. The man knows so much; he never ceases to astound me.



Even more revealing is his 1982 interview on British TV with Terry Wogan. Here the actor's charm and smarts are again center stage, and we get to hear more about his love of art, his puzzlement over the American and British ways of life, and a wonderful story about his playing pranks on unsuspecting fans (something that I understand was, for him, a favorite by-product of being famous). By the way: isn't it interesting that Price and Christopher Lee share the same birth date?



I think my very favorite Vincent Price TV moment, though, is his appearance on an obscure 1952 show called What in the World? In this game show/educational show mash-up, a crew of art experts get together and are presented with a series of unfamiliar art objects. Their task is to determine the age and the origin of these ancient pieces. Produced for WCAU-TV (the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia), the fourth episode of this rather strange but delightful series has Vincent on as a very knowledgeable expert, and his accuracy is quite impressive. This is a real interesting bit of TV history here--an artifact in its own right:



Well, I guess that about does it for my TV-based tribute! All that's left to say, once again, is Happy 100th, Vincent! Wish you were here!

Save "America's Most Wanted" on Fox!

This is one bandwagon we're happy to jump on.  It was revealed this week that Fox will be effectively cancelling its long-running Saturday night series America's Most Wanted as of September, in favor of various show repeats and eventually four two-hour AMW specials over the 2011-2012 TV season.  The news of what is essentially the cancellation of the show has disappointed and outraged loyal viewers and motivated Florida resident Jim Sitton to start a campaign to keep the show alive.  Sitton has a personal reason for being an advocate of the show:  the killer of his six-year old daughter was caught with the help of AMW.  You can read all about Sitton's story in this story from The Palm Beach Post, here.

I'm sure many of us remember the traumatic story behind the creation of America's Most Wanted -- the horrendous murder of host John Walsh's little boy Adam in Florida almost thirty years ago.  Bringing criminals to justice has been Walsh's mission since that time, and he's worked tirelessly with government and law enforcement officials to keep victim rights at the forefront, especially through the America's Most Wanted series.  AMW has enlisted the help of viewers in tracking down the unfortunately endless supply of dangerous criminals and murderers since first going on the air in 1988, and with much success.

Fox is citing "cost of production" as the reason for cancellation, but we all know that budgets and production values can be adjusted, and that ratings have been more than acceptable for the show.  Even though The Flaming Nose realizes that TV is after all just a business, there are more than enough business reasons to keep this popular and important show on the air, and other even more important reasons to keep it going.  America's Most Wanted is the right thing to do, and if a huge media corporation like Fox can't find the coin to keep this one going, then Fox doesn't deserve your eyeballs.  I am also sure that many of the audience for Fox News probably also watches America's Most Wanted, and if you're one of them, get involved and leverage your loyalty to Fox to advocate for AMW. 

The success of Fox's other popular and incredibly lucrative franchises -- American Idol, anyone? -- make it possible for the network to carry America's Most Wanted.  It's an important TV show, and you can't say that about basically anything else out there.  Like it or not, accept it or not, Fox signed on for the long term when it started America's Most Wanted.  This is about more than ratings or the bottom line -- both of which are just doing fine over at Fox.  Keeping America's Most Wanted alive takes what amounts to chump change for Fox. 

We recommend that you get involved in the campaign to keep AMW on the air as a regularly scheduled series.  Jim Sitton has created a Facebook page here -- Save AMW! (America's Most Wanted) -- and you can go there to find addresses and links to online petitions and other suggestions to help in this quest.  There's another Facebook group here -- Save "America's Most Wanted" -- and you should join them both and encourage your friends to join, too. 

We'll keep you informed on any developments in this situation.  Check back here for updates, and please visit the embedded links in this post for more information.

Friday the 13th Real Life Fright Tonight: Heads-Up for the Creepy "The Pig Farm" on ID Investigation Discovery Channel

If your heart flutters at names like John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy, you'll want to get a gander at Investigation Discovery Channel's new documentary The Pig Farm premiering tonight at 9pm.  It's the story of Canadian -- Vancouver, to be exact -- serial killer Robert Pickton, a rural pig farmer who managed to combine lady-killing -- he's credited with at least 20 murders -- with hog-raising.  He's a first class freak, and lest you think our normally sane and sweet neighbors to the North never turn wacko, this will clear that up!