tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post6083699788631442240..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Friday QuestionsBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26792874884423023802018-06-17T21:09:22.437-07:002018-06-17T21:09:22.437-07:00In season 1 of MASH, there was one episode that us...In season 1 of MASH, there was one episode that used a jazz version of “suicide is painless”. Any reasons why a show might do this?<br />#Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09801987656853611963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6293976631747327712018-06-17T20:24:54.937-07:002018-06-17T20:24:54.937-07:00Hi Ken,
In the Cheers episode, Tortelli Tort, Car...Hi Ken, <br />In the Cheers episode, Tortelli Tort, Carla mentions that she grew up in Federal Hill. It turns out that Federal Hill is a neighborhood in Providence, RI where over one in four children are exposed to unsafe levels of lead. Do you know if it's part of Carla's back story canon that she suffered from lead poisoning as a child, which could partly explain her violent tendencies? If so, bravo, Cheers.Miss Pattyhttp://www.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24176257976133193872018-06-14T12:48:47.200-07:002018-06-14T12:48:47.200-07:00Hi Ken,
Curious about something. You were in radi...Hi Ken,<br /><br />Curious about something. You were in radio at the same time you were writing for TV. I am really surprised, given your abilities to create comedy, that you were not asked to participate in the morning shows of your stations. Now the whole morning zoo format perhaps was a little after your time, but look how Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla got started. Launched from a morning show. And I think they contributed as writers on the show they were on. Could that have been an avenue for you to get into other writing assignments?Michael Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06961720152552357795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-28101104114511871552018-06-14T10:55:38.342-07:002018-06-14T10:55:38.342-07:00Just listened to your Podcast about failures. My q...Just listened to your Podcast about failures. My question is, how different would your career have been if AFTERMASH would have been a colossal hit on the level of MASH rather than a failure? What would you have missed out on writing in the 1980s if you were doing AFTERMASH instead? <br /><br />-- BertBert Ehrmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08168571689695358472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71425604057013374942018-06-14T00:20:46.112-07:002018-06-14T00:20:46.112-07:00Joseph Scarbrough: "As far as colorizing goes...Joseph Scarbrough: "As far as colorizing goes, it bugs me on in the I LOVE LUCY Christmas special, they color the Christmas lights when they're off, but after they're plugged in and come on, they just left them colorless. What sense does that make?"<br /><br />There's actually a technical reason behind that. When the lights were off, they photographed grey in black and white. When they were on, they photographed white. There has to be an existing color value there in order for any overlaid color to be visible. Adding color over white has no effect, and I know that the I Love Lucy team was not allowed to alter any element of the picture (hue, saturation, contrast, etc.) in order to potentially improve the colorization.<br /><br />Genenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-92012103888038720222018-06-13T11:26:49.292-07:002018-06-13T11:26:49.292-07:00Dan
The silent bits were at the end of Frasier, no...Dan<br />The silent bits were at the end of Frasier, not Cheers, and they really are great. You can see Frasier on Netflix. Diane D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2307538558440588652018-06-11T13:12:54.510-07:002018-06-11T13:12:54.510-07:00I haven't seen a Cheers episode in a while, so...I haven't seen a Cheers episode in a while, so I don't remember the silent bits at the end. Is there something on You Tube that can jog my memory?Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01297711649331756246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5318060830780338162018-06-09T18:15:31.161-07:002018-06-09T18:15:31.161-07:00Shooting accurately in B&W is not merely a mat...Shooting accurately in B&W is not merely a matter of lighting. It also involves set design and costumes. Everything has to be checked for how it will look in monochrome (gray scales are your friend). For example, my costume designer would photograph potential costumes in B&W and then send them to me for approval. Many of the compliments I treasure most on "Biffle & Shooster" are from people who love how authentic it looks. (And a couple have been shocked when they began watching the outtakes and realized they had indeed been shot in color.)mike schlesingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15824197221204862706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78422690131771882692018-06-09T16:28:47.934-07:002018-06-09T16:28:47.934-07:00When I was a kid, I thought color film had either ...When I was a kid, I thought color film had either been invented or perfected at the time the film's color scenes began. VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13686368094154984762018-06-09T11:29:55.451-07:002018-06-09T11:29:55.451-07:00Ted Turner gets a bad rep -- he did far more for c...Ted Turner gets a bad rep -- he did far more for classic movies than colorize them (a practice actually initiated by Hal Roach for his "Topper" in 1985). Here's proof:<br /><br />https://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/438472.htmlVP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6904781561427681512018-06-09T11:25:18.274-07:002018-06-09T11:25:18.274-07:00Looking forward to that. I am a fan of her work, i...Looking forward to that. I am a fan of her work, in particular the splendid first season of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45050849684758789942018-06-09T11:02:16.119-07:002018-06-09T11:02:16.119-07:00Outside of the usual aesthetic reasons, my problem...Outside of the usual aesthetic reasons, my problem with colorization is that it confuses people as to what they're watching. I don't just mean that a person might believe a colorized film was originally filmed in color, but sometimes even the opposite. I known a few people who insist to me that The Wizard of Oz must be colorized because some of it is in black-and-white!Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74473000439791749182018-06-09T10:28:27.583-07:002018-06-09T10:28:27.583-07:00@Andy Rose I blame part of it on consumer retail f...@Andy Rose I blame part of it on consumer retail for painting this misconception that something is in a widescreen format automatically magically makes it "HD." Not so. You can have something in 16:9 and it's not HD; likewise, you can have something 4:3 in HD as long as the height of the aspect ratio is 720p or 1080p or higher - I know, because even though I have a camera that films in full 1920x1080 HD in 16:9, I frame for and edit in 1440x1080 4:3 - it's still HD, just a different aspect ratio. Never been a fan of 16:9.Joseph Scarbroughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02572781083272335747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62120377769363098552018-06-09T06:49:12.813-07:002018-06-09T06:49:12.813-07:00FQ: Watching M*A*S*H 2-parter where the front encr...FQ: Watching M*A*S*H 2-parter where the front encroached upon the 4077 and everyone moved, except for Radar, Hawkeye and Margaret. "Produced by" listed 3 names. Were there 3 Line Producers or - in the evolution of credits - did that credit mean something else at the time? Wallynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67903203244771378822018-06-09T06:22:39.320-07:002018-06-09T06:22:39.320-07:00I’m a little late to the party but two comments on...I’m a little late to the party but two comments on colorization - one of the taking the surprisingly pro side. <br />First, I’m surprised that no one is commenting on how all the colorizationists (colorist did not seem right) are usually just guessing. They don’t know what color a dress or divan was. And they are not art directors so they are not serving at the directors vision. And more importantly these films were not just lt for b&w, they were fully envisioned for it- two shades that would clash in color would be put next to each other because they would produce evocative shades of grey in context. So I’m supposed to believe so trainspotter fifty to a hundred years later to tell me what colors it should be when I probably wouldn’t trust them to pick me out a necktie. <br />However, on the pro side, many lucious black and white prints of movies that were decaying were struck only so they could be colorized. A nice side effect is that we now how those nice work printsUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12231342974898784863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1473016898854299932018-06-08T22:42:11.279-07:002018-06-08T22:42:11.279-07:00The best colorization that I've seen came from...The best colorization that I've seen came from Sony home video when they took sixteen Three Stooges shorts and added color. They really took the time to get it right and it shows. My wife is not a Stooges fan but when I got those DVDs about 15 years ago I had her watch two shorts and she started laughing. I asked her why when she didn't find the Stooges funny and she said that the color made them look more modern. So not all colorization is bad.DwWashburnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03057278992504418291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78195138082069727802018-06-08T22:21:51.555-07:002018-06-08T22:21:51.555-07:00I like colorization in most, not all cases, and sa...I like colorization in most, not all cases, and said so when that was a topic a few months ago. I do watch some, but not that many, B/W shows like Twilight Zone but the vast majority of shows would be improved by modern colorization. TV shows that were B/W for a season or two then switched to color seems to get a pass as there is no argument regarding the intent of the producers. For TV it was economics that kept many shows in the dark ages of B/W.<br /><br />B/W works where the viewer can focus on the story such as a drama. Musicals, Westerns, and comedies would be improved. Not so sure that Horror/Sci-Fi would, but it's a case-by-case judgment.<br /><br />Edwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03428768957017762182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53452680464062037782018-06-08T21:57:43.476-07:002018-06-08T21:57:43.476-07:00It's entirely possible to produce colorized ma...It's entirely possible to produce colorized material that's almost indistinguishable from material actually filmed in color. Colorization to that degree of detail and accuracy is prohibitively expensive, though, so what we get on those colorized LUCY and DICK VAN DYKE episodes is a compromise. Done well enough to pass for color, but too flat, unsubtle and cartoonish-looking to pass as <i>real</i> color. A show or movie actually filmed in color has countless gradations in each color seen in each shot. These colorized shows and movies don't have that. They utilize broad expanses of color, lacking any gradation, and depend on the shadings and shadows on the underlying black and white image to provide the missing subtle detail. That doesn't really work that well, though. The result is that Crayola-like look that colorized movies and TV shows always seem to have.Stephannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37083641853647558152018-06-08T21:53:08.693-07:002018-06-08T21:53:08.693-07:00Blame living oxymoron, Ted Turner for mainstreamin...Blame living oxymoron, Ted Turner for mainstreaming colorized movies. He was of the opinion that no one wanted to watch B&W movies any more. Or at least his target audience didn't. If worse comes to worse you can always reduce the color to zero on most T.V.'s including HD's. <br />M.B.Mike Bloodworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755626259169126800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-12904601630226918632018-06-08T21:27:55.383-07:002018-06-08T21:27:55.383-07:00@Robby: No, the I LOVE LUCY Christmas show was fil...@Robby: No, the I LOVE LUCY Christmas show was filmed in black-and-white, like the rest of the series. It's been colorized twice, though. Originally in 1990 and again in 2013. Both colorized versions left the "flashback" scenes from the pregnancy episodes in black-and-white. CBS aired I LOVE LUCY on its daytime schedule for years after the series ended, but chose to keep the Christmas episode out of that rotation. By the time the series finally went into syndication in 1967, the Christmas show had been forgotten. That's why it was never included in the syndication package. <br /><br />This pertains to nothing in today's post or in the comments, but today (June 8th) marks the seventieth anniversary of Milton Berle's television debut in THE TEXACO STAR THEATER. I never liked Milton Berle and never found him funny, and those old TEXACO kinescopes are pretty tough to make it through. The man did as much as anyone in those early days to sell a hell of a lot of television sets, though, and even if he didn't stay at the top very long, he was the medium's first major star. For that reason, I think the anniversary deserves to be acknowledged.Garrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72826891344135063282018-06-08T20:28:09.398-07:002018-06-08T20:28:09.398-07:00Mork,
I will be there next Saturday night.
And...Mork,<br /><br />I will be there next Saturday night. <br /><br />And about Nell Scovell -- I love Nell and will soon have her guest on my podcast. Stay tuned.By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67191428611664410872018-06-08T19:19:42.578-07:002018-06-08T19:19:42.578-07:00Yep. Al Lewis moved on to "The Munsters,"...Yep. Al Lewis moved on to "The Munsters," a passable sitcom at best, but it was "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" compared to the abomination that is "It's About Time," the next destination for Joe E. Ross.VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34067852210991226062018-06-08T18:05:03.597-07:002018-06-08T18:05:03.597-07:00I suspect that is much like the debate over whethe...I suspect that is much like the debate over whether vinyl is preferable to CDs or celluloid to digital cinema. Most people who argue about this could not pass a Pepsi Challenge over whether a color movie they're not familiar with was originally filmed in color or colorized later. (Especially for films made on lousy stock or 2-strip Technicolor.)<br /><br />@Joseph Scarbrough: Most people, unfortunately, don't understand aspect ratios. My dad bought a 16:9 set before he had HDTV cable. The TV was set to stretch the SD video to the edges of the screen, making everyone look like they weighed 400 pounds. I reset it properly one day when I was visiting, and Dad was furious that I wasn't letting him see shows "in HD." I tried to explain to him that stretching a 4:3 picture to 16:9 doesn't make it high definition. He finally said, "I paid for that whole screen, and I expect there to be a whole picture on it." At which point I realized I wasn't going to win the argument.Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71882818544462725542018-06-08T17:54:25.609-07:002018-06-08T17:54:25.609-07:00I've got a baseball-adjacent question for you,...I've got a baseball-adjacent question for you, Ken--what are your thoughts (if any) on baseball cards? Did you ever collect them, either as a kid or adult? Do you think they're good for the game, bad for the game, just plain dumb? (For all I know, there's an entire chapter about this in "The Me Generation", now available on Kindle, but it's been too long since I read it...)<br /><br />BTW, I grew up just down the road from Lowell, where "Our Time" is playing next weekend; I'm hoping you'll still be in town for Saturday night's show so I can say 'Hi'!Ben Scrippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13629025600375451260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8192743538622209252018-06-08T17:32:22.231-07:002018-06-08T17:32:22.231-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662492661526148348noreply@blogger.com