George Lucas is an Academy Award-nominated American film producer, screenwriter, director and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the epic Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones.
Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
Posted in Because I Can, Gadgets, The Little Screen (Television)
On this day in 1965, The Sound of Music was released in the United States.
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The series premiered on September 17, 1972, and ended on February 28, 1983, with the finale becoming the most-watched television episode in U.S. television history at the time.
“Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” was the final episode of M*A*S*H. Special television sets were placed in PX parking lots, auditoriums, and dayrooms of the US Army in Korea so that military personnel could watch that episode; this in spite of 14 hours’ time zone difference with the east coast of the US. The episode aired on February 28, 1983, and was 2½ hours long.
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John Banner, born Johann Banner, was born on this date 112 years ago and died 49 years ago at the age of 63. He is best known for his role as Master Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan’s Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that the inmates of his stalag were planning mayhem, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, “I know nothing! I see nothing! I hear nothing!” (or, more commonly as the series went on, “I see nothing, nothing!”).
Thank you for years of entertainment!
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You remember it… go get all nostalgic and learn more at Wikipedia.
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Dear George:—
Remember no man is a failure who has friends.
Thanks for the wings!
Love
Clarence.
Posted in Because I Can, The Little Screen (Television)
Posted in Because I Can, Critters, Humor, The Little Screen (Television)
Rest in Peace French-born American actor Robert Clary (March 1, 1926 – November 16, 2022), well known for his roles as Corporal Louis LeBeau on Hogan’s Heroes (1965–1971), Robert LeClair on Days of Our Lives (1972–1987), Pierre Roulland on The Young and the Restless (1973–1974), and Pierre Jourdan on The Bold and the Beautiful (1990–1992).
Posted in Because I Can, News, The Little Screen (Television)
Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr., known mononymously as Gallagher, was an American comedian who became one of the most recognizable comedic performers of the 1980s for his prop and observational routine that included the signature act of smashing a watermelon on stage with a sledgehammer. For more than 30 years, he played between 100-200 shows a year, destroying tens of thousands of melons with the sledgehammer he called the “Sledge-O-Matic”. Gallagher’s 13 TV comedy specials is second most all-time, behind only George Carlin.
Sledge-O-Matic
Though it varied from performance to performance, Gallagher would usually end each of his shows with his signature “Sledge-O-Matic” routine.
It traditionally began with the following preamble:
“Ladies and gentlemen! I did not come here tonight just to make you laugh. I came here to sell you something and I want you to pay particular attention!
The amazing Master Tool Corporation, a subsidiary of Fly-By-Night Industries, has entrusted who? Me! To show you! The handiest and the dandiest kitchen tool you’ve ever seen. And don’t you wanna know how it works!?
Well, first you get out an ordinary apple. You place the apple between the patented pans. Then you reach for the tool that is not a slicer, is not a dicer, is not chopper in a hopper! What in the hell could it possibly be?! The Sledge-O-Matic!”
Gallagher would then produce a large, usually wooden, mallet, roughly the size of a sledgehammer, and smash it down onto the apples, hurling chunks of produce into the audience. People in the first several rows were usually prepared with tarps and raincoats, and many comedy clubs took great measures to cover up and protect their interiors with tarps and plastic sheeting.
Edit: I found my favorite one! With One and Two, and a “graphical” Bomb-Tomb-Comb..
Posted in Because I Can, Literary, News, The Little Screen (Television)
On November 10, 1969, “Sesame Street,” a pioneering TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and how to count, makes its broadcast debut. “Sesame Street,” with its memorable theme song (“Can you tell me how to get/How to get to Sesame Street”), went on to become the most widely viewed children’s program in the world. It has aired in more than 120 countries.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Little Screen (Television)
On Friday the 13th in February in 1987, the legendary Vincent Price showed up as a guest on the Late Show starring Joan Rivers. While on the show, Price performed his classic segment from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, The Little Screen (Television)
White Christmas is a 1954 movie starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that featured the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular White Christmas.
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Angela Lansbury was an Irish-British-American actress and singer who played various roles across film, stage, and television. Her career, one of the longest in the entertainment industry, spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States; her work also received much international attention. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema at the time of her death.
Many a night I sat and watched Murder, She Wrote, and many times I have enjoyed watching The King and I. Thank you very much for the memories.
Posted in Because I Can, Events, News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
On October 3, 1960, The Andy Griffith Show premiered. It ran until April 1, 1968.
Posted in Humor, On This Day, The Little Screen (Television)
The Flintstones was an animated American television sitcom that ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966 on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man’s life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS.
Critics and fans alike agree that the show was an animated imitation of The Honeymooners with rock puns thrown in. William Hanna admitted that “At that time “The Honeymooners” was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with “The Flintstones”… “The Honeymooners” was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept.” However Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that “I don’t remember mentioning “The Honeymooners” when I sold the show, but if people want to compare “The Flintstones” to “The Honeymooners,” then great. It’s a total compliment. “The Honeymooners” was one of the greatest shows ever written.” Its popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern-day concerns in the Stone Age setting.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Little Screen (Television)
