Mark Evanier's Blog, page 156

Today's Video Link

And now…five minutes of people insulting Bob Hope!

Pasta à la Paul

Three weeks ago here, I posted a video all about the history of Chef Hector Boiardi, better known to you as Chef Boyardee. That's the man whose face adorns many a can of what technically qualifies as Italian Food. In the video, a food chef/historian tried to re-create Mr. Boiardi's original recipe for spaghetti and meat sauce — and we're talking here about the recipe that made him famous as a restaurateur, not the recipe that others devised for the canned goods now bearing his likeness.

That video inspired my longtime friend Paul Dini to whip up a batch of Boiardi Meat Sauce. Most of you know Paul as a fine writer of cartoons, comic books and TV shows but he's also a pretty great cook. Someone oughta put his face on cans of Beefaroni.

Actual photo of my dinner last night.

As you may know, I'm recovering from a broken ankle. I've been having friends drop by for lunch and/or dinner…and tonight, Paul came by with dry spaghetti, butter, cheese and his version of that sauce. He took over my kitchen and proceeded to whip up a big pot of really terrific spaghetti which we devoured while talking about cartoons and comics and mutual acquaintances.

I generally do not let friends cook for me. My numerous food allergies and my narrow palette have led to some unpleasant experiences when someone whose feelings I cared about prepared something for me and I just plain couldn't eat it. But Paul is so good, I may try to sabotage his career. I'd like him to give up writing and open a restaurant, preferably down the street from me. Does that make me a bad person?

ASK me: Creator Credits in Animation

Robert Forman wrote to ask…

I looked up a few of my favorite TV shows from childhood in Wikipedia and noticed creator credit given to William Hanna and Joe Barbera. I guess I doubt that they came up with all of those characters. The Wikipedia entry for Quick Draw McGraw indicates Michael Maltese wrote all of the shows, and I'll guess he was the person responsible for the characters in that show. Is there a different standard for credits in animated shows?

Yes…and the different standard is often No Standard. There have been some cartoon shows in the last decade or two that were created under a Writers Guild contract and the creator credit on those (and writer credits) flow from the contract and the rules it lays down. But a lot of cartoon shows in recent years weren't done under that contract and not all that long ago, none were. So we were in that jungle where you could create a cartoon show and the guy who ran the studio could put on a "Created by…" credit for himself or his grandson or his Lhasa Apso.

Now — and from here on, we're in the land of Grand Generalizations — animation is more likely to lead to team creation work with writers and artists sitting around a conference table and tossing out ideas and maybe sketching. It might be hard to nail down the point in the process where a given character was officially "created." Bugs Bunny went through a couple of cartoons with changes to his voice, attitude and looks before he solidified more or less into the Bugs we know today. There are even disputes as to which cartoon exactly was the first Bugs Bunny cartoon.

That kind of "gang" creation has been the rationale for the claim that a given cartoon series was the creation of the team, not one or two individuals; ergo, crediting (for example) Hanna and Barbera as creators of everything their studio did for a period. I don't think that was usually fair, I think a lot of cartoons were the creations of one person or one team and I think almost all live-action films or shows have one or two creators.

But anyway: The answer to your question, Robert, is that Quick Draw McGraw is said to have been created by Hanna and Barbera because they owned the studio then.

Today's Video Link

You know what this world needs? It needs a production of My Fair Lady performed entirely by children…

Emmy News

As People magazine and other "news" sources will tell you…

Dick Van Dyke has made history with his 2024 Daytime Emmy Award nomination! On Friday, April 19, the 98-year-old actor became the oldest person to earn a Daytime Emmy nomination with his nod for guest performer in a daytime drama series after starring as Timothy Robicheaux on Days of Our Lives.

This is true and congrats to Dick. But what none of those sources seem to be telling you is who Dick would be beating out for the honor of being the oldest person to win a Daytime Emmy…

On Sunday evening, June 17 of 2012, I had the honor of escorting June Foray to the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony at the Bonaventure Hotel. That's me with the messy hair standing next to her, making sure she didn't fall off a rickety box they'd placed behind the podium so the audience could see her as she became (I believe) the oldest recipient of a Daytime Emmy as of this moment. She was 94 years, 8 months and 30 days old that day. A year later, she also received an honorary Emmy so if you count that, she was 95.

Dick and June are two of the nicest, most talented people it has ever been my good fortune to know…so I'm not sure who to root for. Dick has five prime time Emmys and a Tony Award so I think I'm going to hope he loses so June can retain her honor for a little while longer.

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad About the World

As longtime followers of this blog are sick of hearing, I love the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I usually refer to it as my "favorite" movie rather than the "best" movie ever made…and I pick that adjective because when you use the word "best," there's always some clown who wants to correct you as if you'd stupidly said that 2 + 2 equals 749 or that the Mona Lisa was painted by Desi Arnaz. Like it's an established fact that whatever he thinks is the best movie is The Best Movie — end of discussion, you chowderhead!

"Favorite" cuts down on that, at least a little…though a few years ago, I did have one guy stop me at a convention and try to convince me that my favorite movie was not my favorite movie; that my favorite movie was actually his favorite movie. In fact, it was probably your favorite movie too, even if you didn't see it.

All that is one of the reactions I get when I say Mad World is my favorite movie. Another is that every few months, I get a call or e-mail from someone who wants me to tell them how to go visit The Big "W" from that film. I got one this morning from someone who read this article that I posted here. That piece was written by my dear, no-longer-with-us friend Earl Kress, who did once make the sacred pilgrimage to visit the location.

I need to inform the gent who wrote this morning that, first of all, that article is about thirty years old. Secondly, I have never bothered making that trek because I've been informed — reliably, I think — that the current owners of the property do not indulge visitors the way the previous owners did. I have also been told that there is absolutely nothing left there that in any way matches up with what was there when the movie filmed in 1962. The last of the four palm trees that formed The Big "W" fell down or was cut down a long time ago.

There are locations that can be visited. Stick "it's a mad mad mad mad world filming locations" into any search engine and you'll find all you need. The most recognizable and easiest-to-get-to is probably the California Incline, which is a road/ramp in Santa Monica that leads down to the Pacific Coast Highway. The ramp itself was completely rebuilt a few years ago but the area there still has the feel of the same period and a couple of key scenes were shot there.

But there's no reason to visit The Big "W" today, starting with the fact that there is no Big "W" there. And the $350,000 payroll from the tuna factory was dug up a long time ago.

Today's Video Link

Okay, another post about Trump. I was going to try to back away from the topic here but I was struck by what George Conway had to say in this interview, especially in the latter portion where he explained why he, a longtime Conservative attorney and Republican operative, donated the maximum amount to Joe Biden's campaign…

The Story of Trina

Here's a good overview by Andrew Farago of the life, times and accomplishments of the wonderful Trina Robbins.

More About Mark's Bad Break #4

Let's see: It's been 93 days since I did an oopsie in the bathroom and busted my left ankle.  It's healed but I feel like I'm now recovering from the operation that put things back together.  I basically have a balance problem right now but a little less of one each day.  My physical therapist has been enormously helpful and I expect to be up and about in plenty of time for Comic-Con.*  That is said with an asterisk because there's always the chance that I'll do something stupid 'n' clumsy and break the other one.

All in all, it hasn't been as horrible as I would have thought if some fortune teller had told me how long I'd be hospitalized, confined to a rehab center and, since the end of February, largely confined to the second floor of my home.  This is not to suggest that even one minute of it has been fun.  I'm extremely satisfied with the medical care and grateful for all the friends who've helped, offered to help and/or come by to visit.  But I wouldn't describe any of it as "fun."

In other words: Don't try this at home, kids!

Today's Video Link

Today's Video Link is a flashback to another time in another place…a time when you couldn't have a discussion longer than ten minutes without venturing into the question of "Did O.J. do it?" I spent much too much of my life following the case, reading books and articles about it and talking about it with friends. I'm not sure I can explain why we did this, especially given the fact that I — and everyone I knew — decided that yes, he did it. I remember "Hitler left fewer clues" as an oft-repeated comment.

There were other things to discuss about the case besides Simpson's obvious culpability: Did he act alone? Did the Los Angeles Police "enhance" the evidence against a guilty man? What did it all mean, racial-wise? How could the defense get away with doing so-and-so? But really, it was an enormous waste of time…which is not to say I'm not making the same waste with current trials. I wish I had more perspective on my own interest in it all.

With Simpson's death, there may be a new opportunity for the family of Ron Goldman to finally get some serious payments on the money Simpson owed them after the civil trial found him liable. That's what Devin "Legal Eagle" Stone discusses in the latter part of this video. The first part is refreshing our memories of the whole case…or informing anyone too young to have followed it at the time. You may be able to skip ahead if you don't need the refresher…