tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post1153018706690470328..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: How to drive your actors completely insaneBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9293064886892380422009-12-30T21:35:26.720-08:002009-12-30T21:35:26.720-08:00Friday Question: I recently caught 'The Appare...Friday Question: I recently caught 'The Apparent Trap', an episode of Frasier that incorporated a follow-up to 'Room Service', but was not written by you. What's the etiquette of such things in the writers' room/production office? Since the new episode played explicitly off material from yours, did you get a piece of the new episode's monetary action, or did you just have to sign off on the reference?<br /><br />CAPTCHA word: "ingallit" - slang term for a series of historical children's novels about little houses, prairies, long winters, and Native persecution.Jayne L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-70679289803098300982009-12-23T20:57:35.704-08:002009-12-23T20:57:35.704-08:00Hi Ken, I noticed that when Cheers reruns come on,...Hi Ken, I noticed that when Cheers reruns come on, they don't play the whole theme song. It starts at "..where everybody knows your name." Is this the cable network trying to squeeze in another 30 seconds of advertising? Also, and I believe I asked this before - why do some DVD's not have the original song?Brian Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30607474152670906492009-12-21T02:39:58.936-08:002009-12-21T02:39:58.936-08:00Thank you for the answers :) "A Christmas Sto...Thank you for the answers :) "A Christmas Story" is not a film I was aware of, being Australian.Danisidhehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915731593019284376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2445309153989084032009-12-18T17:15:37.865-08:002009-12-18T17:15:37.865-08:00ACS is one of favorite MOVIES of all time, not jus...ACS is one of favorite MOVIES of all time, not just Christmas..becasue:<br /><br />1. When I was 7 years old, I looked EXACTLY like Ralphie - too bad I didn't grow up to look like Billingsly does now...<br /><br />2. When TNT (NOT TBS) shows the marathon (which I call, "24 hours of Ralphie"), you just about know when to turn it on to see certain bits.<br /><br />3. As fifty million people have said, it is just so darn REAL - it maybe was the first movie to openly acknowledge that kids of the 40's swore just as much as contemporary kids.<br /><br />4. The alternate audio track with Billingsly and the late (sigh)Bob Clark is perfect - since Billingsly grew up to be in the business, he knows exactly what to bring up with Clark, so it becomes both informative AND entertaining. <br /><br />5. "Ohhhhhhhh Fuuuuuuuuuuuddddggggge" <i>Only I didn't say fudge</i>LouOCNYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16151395857835632917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21310198689419791502009-12-18T16:12:12.852-08:002009-12-18T16:12:12.852-08:00even better: twin trophy wiveseven better: twin trophy wivesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17682515599431984572009-12-18T14:12:45.987-08:002009-12-18T14:12:45.987-08:00Stan J, most of Christmas Story is in the collecti...Stan J, most of Christmas Story is in the collection titled "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash."Refnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13729837371753470042009-12-18T13:48:36.886-08:002009-12-18T13:48:36.886-08:00I remember AfterMash running for two seasons. I th...I remember AfterMash running for two seasons. I thought the second season was better, as the show seemed to focus on Klinger's inability to adjust to civilian life. A somewhat ironic shift given how often he tried to get out of the army on the original MASH. I remember Captain Flagg appearing on an episode and complaining that Joe McCarthy had stealed his thunder.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55539422464787401622009-12-18T13:18:53.543-08:002009-12-18T13:18:53.543-08:00I recently watched AfterMASH and thought it was pr...I recently watched AfterMASH and thought it was pretty good. It was probably made a little too soon after MASH had ended to make any impact, had it been left a few years it would have been a much bigger event.Mike Plantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31653085448838575092009-12-18T10:26:56.529-08:002009-12-18T10:26:56.529-08:00Ed,
Later this month Dan O'Shannon who co-wro...Ed,<br /><br />Later this month Dan O'Shannon who co-wrote the Jeopardy episode has agreed to guest blog and answer your question. Stay tuned.By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-12026106482308364622009-12-18T10:26:23.627-08:002009-12-18T10:26:23.627-08:00Although its been said, many times, many ways... F...Although its been said, many times, many ways... FAH WAH WAH WAH WAH, WAH WAH WAH WAH.BrianKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71545161780830772482009-12-18T10:20:25.726-08:002009-12-18T10:20:25.726-08:00Ed D., you'll be glad to hear the American Cin...Ed D., you'll be glad to hear the American Cinematheque here in L.A. last night ran "We're No Angels" as part of its series Films with Holiday Spirit & Big Screen Family Classics.<br /><br />A_Homer I think pegged it--the promos are as much about making the affiliates happy as actually being useful. Heck the original Capt. Marvel (aka Shazam!) in the 40s did a series of stories where the good Captain traveled to cities across the U.S. and somehow always met the President of the company that distributed his comics in that city (I'm sure w/photo reference arranged so the artist got the likeness right). Getting brownie points with someone that your liveleyhood is tied to is a smart businenss move.Dana gabbardhttp://socata.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54778433784142028192009-12-18T09:35:32.559-08:002009-12-18T09:35:32.559-08:00AfterMASH's rep is hurt by the fact that virtu...AfterMASH's rep is hurt by the fact that virtually no one's seen it since its initial run...I definitely thought it was more entertaining than the last four years of MASH...Bob Gasselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04748728107349857332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69218968048044795462009-12-18T08:47:31.075-08:002009-12-18T08:47:31.075-08:00Speaking of promos, one of the funniest things I&#...Speaking of promos, one of the funniest things I've ever seen is a blooper of Jane Leeves trying to get through reading local Frasier promos. It was on the blooper special years back.Alysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-28386405279268016372009-12-18T07:47:29.817-08:002009-12-18T07:47:29.817-08:00Disney's been airing Full Court Miracle annual...Disney's been airing Full Court Miracle annually but I've not seen The Hebrew Hammer on in a few years.Danielle Solzmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10273354313459326114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-11485459498577513312009-12-18T06:54:46.475-08:002009-12-18T06:54:46.475-08:00Bad Santa is my absolute favorite Christmas movie,...Bad Santa is my absolute favorite Christmas movie, followed by A Christmas Story.rmsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67157484355115115812009-12-18T06:47:17.342-08:002009-12-18T06:47:17.342-08:00Ken, curious what you think of Modern Family--and ...Ken, curious what you think of Modern Family--and the device of staged interviews with the characters to offer back story to plot lines. Happy Holidays!Jack Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13593863611930561323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69308588387510607312009-12-18T06:44:06.212-08:002009-12-18T06:44:06.212-08:00I think there's a Murphy Brown episode featuri...I think there's a Murphy Brown episode featuring the death march of the million local promos.DonBoynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24627612597856290482009-12-18T06:19:53.883-08:002009-12-18T06:19:53.883-08:00I would give "Mahalo" the response it de...I would give "Mahalo" the response it deserves when said to someone back in the lower 48 in December, wearing 11 layers of clothing, but there may be impressionable children reading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44943212627927647882009-12-18T06:07:38.437-08:002009-12-18T06:07:38.437-08:00Let's not forget that Christmas Story is from ...Let's not forget that Christmas Story is from the fertile mind of Jean Shepherd, whose stories were based on his childhood in Hammond, Indiana. Shep also has a radio connection to Levine, since most of the Christmas Story and his other tales were originally delivered as part of his overnight radio show on WOR in New York. If you are looking for Christmas Story in Shepherd's writings, you should know that it is a composite of a number of them.Stan Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20937568327348533752009-12-18T05:43:06.547-08:002009-12-18T05:43:06.547-08:0024 hours of Christmas Story on TBS has to be bette...24 hours of Christmas Story on TBS has to be better than 18 hours of Bad Santa on Spike. Yes, they're doing that this year.<br /><br />Truthfully, though, I think it'd be super clever of a network to wait until 2/2 to do a marathon of Groundhog Day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19278461617756752642009-12-18T05:41:34.760-08:002009-12-18T05:41:34.760-08:00The fact that these promos had to be done back whe...The fact that these promos had to be done back when there were fewer stations and cable choices is one thing, where it seems these actors were part of one big affiliate family and so on. But nowadays, does that still make any sense? I get the feeling local affiliates still want all kinds of star-perks (just judging by how much Jay Leno had to personally cater to them to help his show launch) but having stars do the local promo callouts, well it seems about as relevant to the audience as the station-owner's vanity-license plates. Or am I missing something.A_Homernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23729039609829993752009-12-18T05:40:27.068-08:002009-12-18T05:40:27.068-08:00When I lived in Philadelphia, I recall seeing a &q...When I lived in Philadelphia, I recall seeing a "Married...With Children" promo when the series first moved into syndication. It was on the same station that telecast Phillies games (and had just obtained the rights), so the promo featured Ed O'Neill (speaking at himself, not as Al Bundy), sitting on the show's famed sofa, wearing a Phillies jacket and reminding us to watch on "TV 17...home of the Phillies.". Wonder if O'Neill (a former star linebacker at Youngstown State, BTW) had to wear any other MLB jackets for those markets' promos.<br /><br />wv: "heryina" -- The "laughing" animal that escaped from the zoo and somehow wound up in the Greenpoint (or is that <i>Greenpernt</i>?) neighborhood of Brooklyn.<br /><br />wv2: "lapogo" -- the "AfterMASH" of comic strips, which ended tragically when the title character was run over on the Harbor Freeway. What was Walt Kelly thinking when he created that spinoff?VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75411421095486418312009-12-18T05:32:51.240-08:002009-12-18T05:32:51.240-08:00@Dani, Danisidhe: It's a reference to "A ...@Dani, Danisidhe: It's a reference to "A Christmas Story". After the neighbor's dogs eat the family's Christmas turkey they have to go out to eat. The only place open is a Chinese restaurant, and the family are the only customers there (since everybody else is presumably at home having their holiday meals). So going out for Chinese food (presumably duck, as in the movie) has become something that some fans do, especially those without large families to eat with. Or maybe with large families that they want to avoid.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06369499553943555291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91974392920733170102009-12-18T04:36:28.828-08:002009-12-18T04:36:28.828-08:00Just wanted to add that as good as "The Chris...Just wanted to add that as good as "The Christmas Story" is, I like "We're No Angels" quite a bit. Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov as three escaped convicts on Devil's Island who fix up the situation for Leo G. Carrol against his nemisis, Basil Rathbone... with a pretty girl thrown in. And don't forget the snake.Ed D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18301627751770405422009-12-18T04:08:47.936-08:002009-12-18T04:08:47.936-08:00I heard (from an older Jewish friend, no less) tha...I heard (from an older Jewish friend, no less) that the open availability of Chinese restaurants on Christmas when they first blossomed on the scene in the '30s was the genesis of that tradition.Refnoreply@blogger.com