Search This Blog

Friday, August 03, 2012

ALF!


Okay, so yesterday’s blog entry was a bit serious in nature, and it was probably one of the few instances in which I will bring up a political themed issue in this blog.

Today, we’re going to bring back the fun by talking about one of my favourite television shows growing up!

Have you ever had the instance in which there was a television show that you made sure you watched every single episode of, only to find that the show has not aged well? 

Recently, a particular cable channel began re-airing the show and at first I was absolutely thrilled to death.  From the ages of five until nine, I made sure that the television dial was firmly on NBC Monday nights.  I had to watch my show, and nothing...not even the promise of a big bowl of chocolate ice cream with Hershey’s brand chocolate sauce...would tear me away.

A funny thing happened though.  When I re-watched the show that I once loved, I found that it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered it.  In fact, it was downright painful to watch in certain scenes.  It was quite disappointing, because at one point, I really loved it.

But, I suppose people’s tastes do change over the years.  It had been twenty years since I had last seen an episode. 

At any rate, I did enjoy the program at one time (one might say obsessed), so I feel compelled to discuss it in the blog.


We’re going to take a look back at the television show, “ALF”.


ALF ran on NBC from September 22, 1986 until March 24, 1990, and I believe that I watched every single episode of the series.  In fact, when it came to the television show ALF, I...


...played with the ALF stuffed animal, which eventually became one of 1986’s most requested toys along with Teddy Ruxpin and Jem dolls.


...watched the cartoon series “Alf Tales” which was loosely based on the television series.

...owned an ALF backpack in the second grade.


...owned at least two ALF picture books, and one of those books that included a cassette tape featuring an ALF story.

...read the comic book series that lasted for a spell in the 1980s, and collected the ALF baseball bouilliabaseball cards.



(Yes, there actually was a comic book...here’s proof above.)


Anyway, ALF was created by American puppeteer Paul Fusco (b. 1953) in late 1984.  The puppet was inspired by an alien puppet that Fusco used to scare his family and friends. He had dreamed of creating a television program that was based on the character, and he came up with the idea with partners Tom Patchett and Bernie Brillstein.  They pitched “ALF” to Brandon Tartikoff (who served as president of NBC from 1981-1991), who immediately green-lighted the sitcom, and the rest is history.


The show ran for 102 episodes, and in addition to Fusco, the rest of the cast included Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), and Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner).

The main plot of the series was ALF trying to adjust to life on Earth the best way he knows how.  Originally from the planet of Melmac, ALF (born Gordon Shumway) was forced to flee after a nuclear war causes Melmac to be completely destroyed.  His spaceship ends up crashing right through the roof of the Tanner household, and the Tanner family reluctantly take ALF into their home.

TRIVIA:  Willie ends up giving ALF the name “ALF”, an acronym for “Alien Life Form”.

ALF gets along with Lynn and Brian very well, and even Kate seems to show a soft spot for the fuzzy alien every now and again.  ALF’s relationship with Willie is probably the one that had the most conflict, but also provided the most humour for the viewers at home.

Behind the scenes though, the mood of the set was a different story.  Many accounts state that the set was a tension-filled area where everyone walked on eggshells just to get through the days of filming.  Anne Schedeen described the show as being extremely slow and tedious, stating that it took almost twenty-five hours to film one 30-minute episode of the show.  Part of that was due to the technical aspects of the show.  The set was built on a raised platform with trapdoors built into the floor to accommodate the team of puppeteers that were needed to control ALF.  Although Fusco was the main puppeteer of ALF, it took a team of three people to control ALF while the show taped.  As a result, there were often a lot of retakes and bloopers, which caused the production time to expand.

Many of the actors also grew tired of the show as it went on.  Max Wright grew to despise the fact that he was playing second fiddle to a puppet that received all the good lines, while Andrea Elson stated that everyone would have lost it had the show been renewed for a fifth season. 

So, needless to say, the soundstage of ALF wasn’t exactly known as the happiest soundstage on Earth.

But despite the fact that he may have disliked working on the show, Max Wright also concedes that he was at least happy to be a part of something that made so many other people happy.  And I’ll readily admit that when I was in second grade, ALF was at its most popular, and everyone in my class loved the show.

Besides, the show had some rather interesting, memorable episodes that aired in its four years on NBC.  Some of them were wonderful, some of them were bizarre, and at least one of them ranks up there in what I consider to be one of the worst finales for a television show ever.

So, allow me to share my list of my most memorable ALF episodes.


Episode #6 – “For Your Eyes Only” – November 3, 1986

In this episode, ALF ends up scoring his first date with a human woman named Jody.  You might think that this would be a huge problem for ALF, being that he is a space alien and all...but it worked out to his advantage, as Jody happens to also be blind.  With assistance from Lynn, ALF makes his date with Jody.  It appears to start off as a disaster, but eventually ALF and Jody become very good friends, and Jody ends up being one of the few people who actually form a friendship with ALF outside of the Tanner family, and Jake Ochmonek, so it was really cool to see.



Episode #7 – “Help Me, Rhonda” – November 10, 1986

This is an episode that not only sets the stage for the television cartoon “ALF Tales”, but it also lets us learn more about ALF’s past life on Melmac.  In this episode, we find out that ALF’s girlfriend, Rhonda, also survived the destruction of Melmac, and the Tanner family try to help ALF get back in touch with them.  I also loved this episode because it was a great display of transition.  In this case, ALF said goodbye to his past, and hello to his present, and in some sense, it offered ALF some much needed closure.


Episode #29 – “Take A Look At Me Now” – October 5, 1987

One of the many obstacles that ALF has to face is avoiding being seen by people who may not have his best interests at heart.  And certainly the loud-mouthed Ochmoneks fit the description.  When Raquel Ochmonek has a sighting of ALF, and actually tries to tell people about it, nobody believes her, and she sinks into depression.  Things come to a head at a talk show appearance where she is humiliated...until a certain hairy member of the Tanner family makes a surprise call to the studios...


Episodes #56 and #57 – “Tonight, Tonight” – October 24, 1988

Back in the 1980s, Johnny Carson hosted “The Tonight Show”.  In 1988, ALF took over hosting duties, where he didn’t exactly do as...flawless of a job as Carson.


Episode #87 – “Live and Let Die” – November 13, 1989

On Melmac, cats are considered to be gourmet cuisine, which meant bad news for the Tanner family cat, “Lucky”, who always ran away in fear whenever ALF came around.  But when “Lucky” ends up crossing the rainbow bridge to the other side, what realization does ALF come up with?  He couldn’t have loved Lucky as more than just a snack option...could he?


Episode #102 – “Consider Me Gone” – March 24, 1990

I HATED this episode.  I really did!  It wasn’t because of the fact that it was the last episode, but because it was a HORRIBLE last episode.  It wasn’t even supposed to be a final episode because it had a “To Be Continued...” after it.  Basically, ALF heard from his friends Skippy and Rhonda that a new settlement was going to be built known as New Melmac, and invited ALF to live with them.  ALF has a tearful goodbye with the Tanner family, but before he can leave Earth, he is kidnapped by the Alien Task Force.  The cliffhanger went unresolved for SIX YEARS, and when it was finally resolved with the 1996 TV movie, “Project: ALF”, there was no Tanner family whatsoever!  I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth with the finale, and I thought it deserved better.

Maybe that’s why I don’t have as much love for “ALF” as I did back when it was popular.  Bad memories.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Chick-fil-Yay or Chick-fil-Nay?


THURSDAY CONFESSION #31: This blog entry is one that I ended up re-writing seven times because I wanted to try and keep an open mind and look at both sides before forming an opinion in hopes of not offending too many people.

Of course, one thing that I have learned in thirty-one years of living is that no matter how careful one is, there are always going to be some people who turn against you simply because they disagree with something you say. And today's blog post might end up doing just that. But, I'm prepared for it.



By now, I'm sure most of you have heard of a little American fast food chain known as “Chick-fil-A”. For those of you who haven't heard of the restaurant, it's a fast food outlet that makes chicken sandwiches, chicken wraps, and everything else to do with chickens.

(Well, okay, I don't believe their desserts contain chicken...at least, I HOPE not.)

Anyway, Chick-fil-A has been at the center of a political firestorm in the United States over the past couple of months, and it seems that by looking on social media sites and on various online news publications, everybody seems to have an opinion on Chick-fil-A. And, well, I figured that I would join the opinion bandwagon as well.

Before I do that, I have an admission that I would like to make. I have never eaten at a Chick-fil-A restaurant myself. The reason being that Chick-fil-A (at least to my knowledge) has never opened up a franchise in Canada. In fact, Chick-fil-A locations seem to be few and far between in the Northern part of the United States...which I suppose makes sense, since the first restaurant opened up in Georgia in 1967. So, I'm going into this blog entry without having any knowledge of the food quality...which is fine, because anyone who has kept up with the controversy knows that it has nothing to do with the chicken or the cows that ask people to “Eat Mor Chiken”.

Instead, it has to do with this man below.



Dan T. Cathy is the current president of the family-owned business Chick-fil-A (his father S. Truett Cathy founded the company), and over the last couple of months has been under scrutiny for comments that he made during the summer of 2012.

On June 16, 2012, Cathy appeared on “The Ken Coleman Show”, where he made the following statement: “I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage'. I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is all about”.

Needless to say, these sorts of remarks didn't sit too well with a lot of people, especially to the sector of the population who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.

Then on July 2, the “Chick” really hit the fan.

On the same day that the LGBT group “Equality Matters” published a list of anti-gay organizations that Chick-fil-A donated millions of dollars to, Cathy's interview with “Biblical Recorder” was published, in which he was questioned about the opposition against Chick-fil-A's support of the “traditional family”. His response? “Guilty as charged”.

He continued on to say this: “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We want to do everything we can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that. We intend to stay the course. We know that it may not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

And, therein lies the firestorm.



To those people who live near a Chick-fil-A, or have eaten at a Chick-fil-A, the company's religious views are no surprise. The founder of the company was raised Southern Baptist, and has implemented many of his belief systems into how each of the 1,600+ restaurants in the chain are run, which includes a 6-day operation schedule (all Chick-fil-A locations are closed on Sundays).

But, clearly not everyone agrees with the stance that Chick-fil-A has taken on this matter. Again, it boils down to Cathy's beliefs on marriage. He clearly believes that the only family that matters is the traditional family that is outlined in the Bible...that marriage should only be between one man and one woman. And, well, he certainly is entitled to his beliefs, just as I am entitled to state that I DO NOT share them. I'll explain more about that statement towards the end of my blog for today.

At any rate, Chick-fil-A has been all over the news the last couple of months, and not all of the publicity has been good for the company. Thousands of people took to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to express their opinions about the controversy. And everyone knows that when you have two groups of people voicing two different opinions about a controversial subject as Chick-fil-A and its belief system, the feathers are bound to fly.

I even remember scrolling down my news feed on Facebook and actually seeing full-blown arguments complete with insults, F-bombs, and just nasty, uncouth behaviour on a couple of people's personal walls between friends of theirs, and I just shook my head in disbelief.

Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinions about the chain's stance (believe me, I have mine), but at the same time, I don't think that those opinions should allow us to treat other people with disrespect and vitriol because they happen to share a different view as someone else. It was really disturbing to see.

In the political and entertainment world, there has certainly been a lot of opinions about the stance that Chick-fil-A has on the subject of marriage, and some of them have not been well-received.



For instance, just days after Dan Cathy's interview was released, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco announced that they did not want to see Chick-fil-A restaurants open up in their cities, which some criticized. Some said that it violated the First Amendment, while others believed that the mayors of said cities had no right to deny a chain the right to open up a business in their community because they disagreed with the company's beliefs. I'm admittedly torn on this issue, because both sides make compelling arguments. On one hand, you can say that the mayors of the cities (much like Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy) are standing up for their own beliefs as well as defending the citizens who are a part of the LGBT community...but on the other hand, I don't know that blocking a business from opening up on the basis of their belief system is a good thing, particularly with the economy is the way it is.  Of course, it's up to the citizens of these cities to make their minds up as to whether or not to eat there should one open up.

But, what happens when people go too far with their words?




The above is a tweet that was uttered by Roseanne Barr. Unedited in all its “glory”. I get that a lot of people are up in arms over the Chick-fil-A scandal, and that there is a lot of people speaking out about it, but wishing cancer on people who do eat at Chick-fil-A is perhaps one of the most disgusting things that I can think of wishing upon anyone. To Roseanne's credit, she somewhat apologized, stating that she shouldn't have used the word “deserved”...but the damage had already been done by then. Much like Chick-fil-A's stance caused outrage in millions of people, Roseanne's counterattack caused outrage in millions more, and just served to divide opinion even further. It ended up causing more harm than good because in this situation, two wrongs do not make a right.

And, I think that's the lesson that all parties can take from the whole Chick-fil-A scandal. Two wrongs don't make a right.



This leads to my own opinion about this scandal. I don't particularly agree with the stance that Dan Cathy, and Chick-fil-A have on gay marriage. As far as I'm concerned, if two people love each other and they just happen to be the same sex, I think they should have the right to enter into a marriage if that is what they both want. The fact that Chick-fil-A feels differently is disappointing, considering that other businesses such as JCPenney, Archie Comics, and Oreo cookies have welcomed people of all backgrounds, statuses, and sexual orientation to enjoy their products without prejudice. But I don't hate Chick-fil-A, or wish their customers cancer, or anything like that. Things like that don't help. They just make the problem worse. 


Granted, I likely won't be eating at a Chick-fil-A any time soon.  I'll readily admit that I don't agree with the opinions of Mr. Cathy, but it's also because of the fact that there aren't any locations in this area. In all honesty though, I don't care for fast food chicken sandwiches, whether they be from Chick-fil-A, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or McDonald's. I've always preferred pizza anyway.

But at the same time, I don't think that I have the right to tell other people not to eat at Chick-fil-A just because I don't agree with their policies. I'd like to think that most of us are capable of making up our own minds as to which businesses to support and which ones not to. If people want to go to Chick-fil-A because they like the food, they have the choice to do so. Similarly, if people choose not to support Chick-fil-A because of their beliefs and actions, that is their choice as well.  

However, to close this argument off, I do have a few questions for Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A. I realize that the odds of him seeing this blog are slim to nil, but I'll just put it out there anyway, realizing that my own stance will be in full view for all to see.

Question #1: There are a few states that have legalized gay marriage. Among them are Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. Looking at the Chick-fil-A map of locations, five of the seven have at least one Chick-fil-A restaurant there. With this knowledge, I ask the question. If you had a person applying for a job there who happened to be married to someone of the same sex, would you give them the job?



Question #2: Was the safety recall on the Muppet toys that were offered with children's meals at Chick-fil-A merely coincidental as spokespeople for the company had said, or was there more to it than that? 


Question #3:  Do you really believe that it is a wise business decision to single out an entire demographic of people who could be paying customers to prove a point?  Is this really any different than the segregation of people based on their skin colour six decades ago?


I'm not trying to start something here.  My questions to the company have been worded as politely as possible.  I'm just interested in what these answers might be, is all.  

I suppose that's all I have to say on the issue. Now I open up the floor to you. What are your opinions on the matter?  Are you Chick-fil-yay, or Chick-fil-nay?  I welcome all points of view here...but just be warned...I don't tolerate fighting and I don't tolerate people making derogatory comments towards other people. So, please play nice. That's all I ask.






Because when it all comes down to it, are you going to let a bunch of illiterate cow spokesanimals turn you into the biggest jerk possible?  Ask yourself that question before you comment...and this message is directed at both "yay" and "nay" camps, I should add.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Ah, Fudge! Tales of a First-Class Children's Author


Do you want to know what one of my favourite memories of school was?

I know, I know, some of you are probably crying foul over the fact that I would even mention school a month before it starts back up again for another year.  But, just hear me out here.


When I was a little boy, I used to really enjoy it when the teacher would call us over to the designated “story time circle” (usually it was a carpeted corner of the classroom) and read us a section of a children’s novel.  From first grade to fourth grade, usually just before the afternoon recess began, our teacher would call all of us down to the story time circle, grab whatever book that he or she happened to be reading at the time, and picked up where we left off. 

Depending on how interesting the story was, some of us kids would be absolutely hooked on the book, and actually cried out in horror when the teacher announced that she was finished reading today’s chapter.  We wanted the book to go on.  We would have been happy just listening to the teacher read us the entire book all day long!

Let’s put it this way.  If shows like “The Young and the Restless” and “Days of our Lives” were the adult versions of story time circle, well, characters such as Jacob Two-Two and Winnie-the-Pooh were our versions of Victor Newman and Sami Brady.

(Not that Jacob Two-Two or Winnie-the-Pooh ever had illicit affairs or tried to kill anybody...that we know of, anyway.)


I guess the point that I’m trying to make is that story time circle was a fantastic part of growing up.  Teachers who took the time to open our eyes and ears to wonderful new worlds and who chose each book with care, hoping that the stories that they chose would keep us entertained and excited about reading.

(Or, at the very least, they held story time circle in the hopes of keeping a classroom of twenty-two students quiet.)

Mind you, some of the books that the teacher read were not exactly my kind of book.  When one of my classmates brought in a copy of one of those “Babysitters Club” books, it took everything in me to sit still through the reading.  The girls in my class loved it...the boys just wanted to play with the various toys in the room.  Heck, I imagine some of us boys would have rather studied the multiplication tables than sit through a reading of that book!

But there were other books that were so fascinating that you couldn’t bear to miss a day of school, because you’d be otherwise lost in the plot.  This happened to me one year in school when I was sick with the flu for an entire week.  I was there when the teacher read the first chapter, and became sick the following day.  By the time I was well enough to return to school, the teacher was already halfway through Chapter 7!  I was so upset!

Fortunately, the book my teacher was reading just happened to be available in our school library.  So the first chance I got, I immediately checked the book out.  To my surprise, I found that the book happened to have a sequel, which naturally I had to look for as well.  In fact, this particular series happened to spawn a total of three sequel books written between 1980 and 2002. 


The books were written by best-selling author Judy Blume.  At 74 years old, Blume has written 27 novels for children and young adults.  Her works have sold upwards of eighty million copies, and has been translated into 31 different languages.  Some of her books for teenagers have been widely regarded as “coming of age” stories, as those stories often tackled subjects that were long considered taboo.  In “Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret”, the story deals with the subject of menstruation.  “Iggie’s House” tackled the subject of racism.  And “Forever” dealt with the issue of teenage sex.  Despite the controversial subject matter, I can’t think of one person who didn’t benefit from reading those sorts of books.  I think for many, it helped them cope with these very real problems knowing that someone else was experiencing it too (albeit fictional).

But there were other books that Judy Blume wrote that didn’t have such a heavy subject matter.  The series of books that I wish to discuss in this blog entry are perfect examples of the light-hearted, witty humour that Blume was also known for.

Remember how I told you that I was upset that the stomach flu kept me away from school missing half of the book that my teacher was reading?  That book happened to be the first of the series known as the “Fudge” series.  It was “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”, originally written in 1972.


“Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” depicted the story of the Hatcher family, who lived in an apartment building right in the heart of New York City.  In the first book, the Hatcher family is a family of four.  Warren Hatcher works at an advertising agency, while Anne Hatcher stays at home raising their two sons, Peter and Farley Drexel.  But Farley Drexel hates being called by that name (with a name like Farley Drexel, who wouldn’t?).  As a result, he is called by his rather sweet nickname, “Fudge”.


But according to Peter, Fudge is anything BUT sweet.  As the story begins, we learn that the relationship between Peter and Fudge is somewhat strained.  Deep down inside, the Hatcher brothers love each other, and Fudge really does try to be a good brother to Peter.  Peter wants nothing to do with it.  He sees Fudge as being nothing but a nuisance, and believes that his parents let Fudge get away with the most obnoxious behaviour because he happens to be barely three years old. 

As the book continues, the reader discovers that Peter may have a point.  In the course of “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”, Fudge goes on a hunger strike, knocks out his two front teeth jumping off the monkey bars pretending to be a bird, refuses to open his mouth while visiting the orthodontist, throws mashed potatoes all over the walls of a restaurant, and draws all over a school project that Peter worked on with classmates Jimmy Fargo and Sheila Tubman.

Oh, and unfortunately, at least one turtle was harmed in the making of this story.  That’s all that I’ll say about that tale.


Eight years later, a sequel was written.  1980’s “Superfudge” continued on from where “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” left off.  Set two years after the first book, Peter is eleven, Fudge is four, and Anne is pregnant with child number three.  At first, Peter is upset at the news, and he decides that he wants to run away from home, believing that the new baby would be just like Fudge.  His mother convinces Peter to stick it out believing that once the baby is born he’ll change his mind.  Soon enough, Peter does just that when Tamara Roxanne Hatcher is born.  Of course, she ends up being nicknamed “Tootsie”, which sparks the humourous observation by Peter that maybe his parents really wanted a candy store.  The family also relocates to Princeton, New Jersey for a year, which just adds to the frustration that Peter is feeling.

Of course, Fudge is just as mischievous in “Superfudge” as he was in the first book.  He ends up having some good moments, such as getting a pet myna bird named “Uncle Feather” and meeting his favourite children’s author.  But there’s also moments in which Fudge does some rather childish things.  He once called a teacher “Rat-Face” when she refused to call him “Fudge” (though in Fudge’s defense, I had a teacher like Mrs. Hildebrandt who I wanted to call “Rat-Face” myself!).  He also poured ice water down Peter’s back when he was on a date, and he even took off from home on his bike when Peter told him that he couldn’t come with him on a picnic!

In the end of that book though, Peter came to the conclusion that no matter where he lived in the world, he could find a way to make it work.  And, I think that in the year that he spent in Princeton, he began to understand things better, and he even started to get along better with Fudge as a result.


There were two more Fudge books that were released since “Superfudge”.  “Fudge-A-Mania” was released in 1990, and the plot of that novel depicted the adventures that the Hatcher family had while vacationing in Maine.  Peter has to deal with the fact that he has to spend the whole summer with his arch-rival Sheila Tubman, while Fudge makes a new friend named Mitzi.  And in “Double Fudge”, which was released in 2002, the Hatcher family travels to Washington D.C. and meet up with some extended family that also happen to have a child also named Farley Drexel Hatcher!


For the record, I’ve read Fudge-A-Mania, but not Double Fudge.

I think my favourite books in the Judy Blume “Fudge” series were the first two though.  They were the ones that were out when I was growing up and I read and re-read them.  I think I read Superfudge so much that the cover actually fell off of it!  But that was the brilliance of Judy Blume’s work.  She wrote stories that were so entertaining and true to life that she made you want to read them!  She wrote a story so good that I would have gladly come to class with flu germs to hear my teacher read the story...even though I would have sickened half my class in the process. 

I mean, if the books could inspire a 1995 television series that aired on Saturdays, then it had to be good, right? 


TRIVIA:  In the “Fudge” television series, the role of Anne Hatcher was played by Eve Plumb, who you may know better as Jan Brady from The Brady Bunch!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

July 31, 1931


Welcome to the final day of July 2012!

Seven months of 2012 gone already! I can't believe this year is going by so fast! Before you know it, we'll be opening up Christmas presents.

(Well, provided that the world doesn't end that is. Which it won't. Mark my words.)

So, because it's Tuesday, we're going to take a look at some of the happenings all around the world for July 31st.

I think that we'll start off our look back on July 31 by talking about the famous people who happen to have a birthday today. Blowing out the candles on their cakes today are Don Murray, Geoffrey Lewis, Susan Flannery, Lobo, Geraldine Chapman, Gary Lewis, Lane Davies, Barry Van Dyke, Chris Ahrens, Alan Autry, Derek Smith, Michael Biehn, Dirk Blocker, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Wally Kurth, Stanley Jordan, Wesley Snipes, Jim Corr (The Corrs), J.K. Rowling, Dean Cain, Mark Cuban, Ben Chaplin, Amanda Stepto, Gabe Kapler, Mike Lincoln, Ruben Patterson, Will Champion (Coldplay), Nick Sorenson, J.J. Furmaniak, B.J. Novak, Eric Lively, and Rico Rodriguez II.

Now let's take a look at some of the events that took place on this day in history. On the 31st of July, the following happened...

781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji

1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII

1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain after the Alhambra Decree takes effect

1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the third explorer to discover the island nation of Trinidad

1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England

1715 – Spanish treasure fleet of ten ships departs Havana, Cuba for Spain, only to have nine of them sink due to a Florida storm, treasure is salvaged from wrecks centuries later

1790 – The first American patent is granted to Samuel Hopkins, who invented a new potash process

1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city

1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistace at Bucharest

1930 – The radio mystery program, “The Shadow” airs for the first time

1938 – Archaeologists discover gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis

1940 – A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading in the opposite direction, 43 are pronounced dead

1941 – Adolf Hitler gives instructions to Nazi official Hermann Goring to come up with a plan devised as a “desired final solution of the Jewish question”.

1945 – Pierre Laval, former leader of Vichy, France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria

1948 – New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is officially dedicated

1954 – The first ascent of K2 occurs, led by Ardito Desio

1964 – Ranger 7 sends back first close-up photographs of the moon, with a resolution over 1,000 times clearer than anything seen from earth-bound telescopes

1972 – The British Army re-takes urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland, leading to several car bombs detonating in the area, killing nine.

1987 – A class F4 tornado strikes down in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27, and causing $330 million in damage

1992 - On a day in which two deadly air crashes take place in China and Nepal, the country of Georgia joins the United Nations

2007 – Operation Banner in Northern Ireland comes to an end

That's quite a lot of history for July 31st. Some of it was wonderful, some of it was tragic, and in reference to 1941, some of it was scary.

So, what date will we spotlight this week?



Well, we're going back 81 years in time to July 31, 1931.

Eighty-one years ago, in New York City, there was a lot of buzz surrounding a brand new form of media. Prior to 1931, many people got their news and entertainment through newspapers and the radio.



July 31, 1931 marked the first day of operation for the station W2XAB using a new mechanical television system that people tested, and almost perfected by the late 1920s. The first broadcast of the station featured then New York City mayor Jimmy Walker, singer Kate Smith, and composer George Gershwin.

Unbeknownst to everybody at the time, this particular station was a pioneer in the world of television. W2XAB became the very first television station to broadcast a 7-day a week broadcasting schedule, airing programming 28 hours per week. Back in those days, this was a lot, especially considering that it would be another two decades before households would end up having television sets in their homes.

The station also made history a year and a half after the station's debut on November 8, 1932 when it became the station to broadcast the first television coverage of a presidential election.

But just when things were going great, W2XAB ended up hitting a snag during the winter of 1933. In February of that year, the station was forced off the air due to the fact that monochrome television transmission standards were in flux, and the decision was then made to change the mode of operation from mechanical to electronic.

It would be another seven years before W2XAB returned, on September 3, 1940. That date was also a historic one, as the station aired its first colour broadcast in the United States.



A few months later, on June 24, 1941, a little less than ten years since the station first went to air, W2XAB received a commercial construction permit and program authorization as WCBW. A week later, on July 1, WCBW went on the air at 2:30pm. It began airing one hour after rival WNBT began airing, making WCBW the second authorized fully commercial television station in the United States. WCBW's first broadcast happened to be the first local news broadcast ever aired on an American commercial station. Initially, the program schedules jumped all over the place the first few months of operation...it wouldn't be until late October that regular daily operations would begin. The initial assigned frequency of the station was 60-66 MHz, taking position on the Channel 2 dial. After the Second World War ended in 1945, the FCC re-allocated television and FM bands, and WCBW moved to a new frequency beginning in 1946.

By the end of 1946, the station changed its name once again after the FCC began allowing television stations that were owned by radio stations in the same city to use the same call letters as the radio station with the suffix-TV.



Beginning on November 1, 1946, the station became known as WCBS-TV.

Yes, that's correct. On July 31, 1931, the flagship CBS television station first went on the air. How's that for an interesting piece of trivia?

Over the 81-year history of the television station, WCBS-TV had had many historical firsts. It was the first television station to broadcast the first baseball game on colour television between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves (Boston beat Brooklyn 8-1). It was one of the final stations to end analog transmissions in 2009. 



And during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC, WCBS was one of only two New York based television stations to stay on the air (the other one was VH1). Although its main transmitter had been located in the North Tower of the World Trade Center since 1975 (which also served as the location of almost all New York City television stations at that time), it also had a back-up transmitter at the Empire State Building, which kept the station on the air. Ironically enough, the back-up transmitter was used once before in February 1993, when a bomb detonated at the World Trade Center.

The television station also boasted a huge list of celebrities that had some affiliation with WCBS-TV over the years. Among some of the most notable alumni of WCBS are; Julie Chen, Diane Dimond, Ira Joe Fisher, Leeza Gibbons, Frank Gifford, Jim Jensen, Lynda Lopez (Jennifer Lopez's sister), Bill O'Reilly, Dave Price, John Roberts, Joel Siegel, John Stossel, John Tesh, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Meredith Vieira, Bree Walker, Robb Weller, and Brian Williams.



Of course, the station hasn't been without its share of controversy. In 1994, anchor Jim Jensen found himself demoted to hosting a morning public-affairs show that aired on Sundays only. At that time, Jensen was the longest serving anchor in New York City, and his treatment was highly criticized by New Yorkers.



Another controversy also surrounded Jensen after his co-anchor Bree Walker revealed on air that she had a condition known as ectrodactyly (which causes the fingers and toes to fuse together), and shortly after her report, Jensen actually asked her if she believed that her parents would have aborted her if they knew she would be born that way. The question shocked Walker, and although she maintained her composure, she quit the station not too long after that. And there was also the “1996 massacre”, which saw seven key people fired from WCBS-TV in October 1996 with no advance warning whatsoever. It was seen as a move to shake up the news operation in order to boost ratings, but the seven people who were let go (John Johnson, Michele Marsh, Tony Guida, Reggie Harris, Magee Hickey, Roseanne Colletti, and Bernie Smilovitz) must have been shocked, and likely a little angry over the situation. I know I would be if I were them.

However, despite this controversy, the television station still continues strong. And to think that it all began eighty-one years ago, on July 31, 1931.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Dick Tracy


I'm sure that many of you know this about me by now, but I am what you could call a non-traditional comic book geek.

What I mean by non-traditional is that I tend to like comics that other people may dismiss as being fluff. I get a bit of grief from a few of my friends over my obsessive love for all things Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica, but I make no apologies for my love of the Riverdale Crew.

I also make no apologies for reading Casper The Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, Simpsons Comics, Super Mario Comics, or ALF Comics.

(And, yes, there actually was a comic book based on the 1980s television sitcom, ALF.)

That's not to say that I absolutely hate more traditional comic books such as Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Silver Surfer, Captain America, or any other comic that features a superhero of some sort. I admire the fact that those characters have managed to have a following for eight decades or more. But, when it comes to reading comic books, I'd just rather stick to my Archies.

Besides, I may be in the rare minority here, but I actually enjoy superhero comic books more when they are adapted onto the big screen. I enjoy a lot of the movies that are based on superhero comic books. I enjoyed 1989's “Batman”, as well as many of the sequels that followed it (well, with the exception of the lame Batman & Robin movie...George Clooney may be a fantastic actor, but in my opinion, I didn't think he fit the Batman role). The late Christopher Reeve was brilliant as Superman. And, Andrew Garfield has certainly been making a name for himself recently by being the latest actor to don the red and blue tights to become Spider-Man.

Today's blog entry is all about a feature film starring a comic strip character. It was one of 1990's top summer blockbusters, despite the fact that reviews for the movie were mixed. The film managed to make over $160 million in theatres, and ended up winning three Academy Awards, which included Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Original Song.

The song that won the “Best Original Song” award for this film was the Stephen Sondheim composition “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)”. It was sang by Madonna, and was placed on her 1990 album, “I'm Breathless”, which also included this number one smash by the singer.



ARTIST: Madonna
SONG: Vogue
ALBUM: I'm Breathless
DATE RELEASED: March 20, 1990
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 2 weeks



Now, here's a little bit of trivia for you all. Although “Vogue” was clearly the biggest hit from “I'm Breathless”, the song itself never appeared within this film (It was actually recorded in December 1989 and was originally a B-side for Madonna's single “Keep It Together”). And, while we're on the subject of “I'm Breathless”, although it could technically be called a Madonna album, it doubled as the one of the official soundtrack albums of the film that we're going to discuss in this blog today (the name of the album stemming from the character Madonna portrayed in the film).



That film, of course, is the 1990 film “Dick Tracy”, which starred Warren Beatty, Madonna, Charlie Korsmo, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, William Forsythe, Mandy Patinkin, Dick Van Dyke, and Paul Sorvino, amongst others. With that much star power, it's easy to see why people flocked to see it.

As I mentioned before, Dick Tracy originated as a comic strip. On October 4, 1931, the comic strip made its debut in the Detroit Mirror. The character was a private detective who always wore a bright yellow trenchcoat and hat.



Dick Tracy was created by Chester Gould (1900-1985), at a time in which violence was a common sight in 1930s era Chicago. To Gould's credit, he managed to keep up with the latest innovations involving crime fighting techniques, because he wanted to make the comic strip appear as realistic as he possibly could make it...at least in the earliest days of the comic.



The comic strip occasionally hosted “whodunnit” plotlines, but for the most part, the strips usually involved Dick Tracy chasing a perpetrator through the city streets. In between the criminal's desperation to escape and Tracy's unrelenting persistence in catching the bad guys, mysteries would be solved, and cases would be closed.

Perhaps some of the most interesting aspects of the Dick Tracy serial included the villains that popped up to wreak havoc. The villains were purposely drawn to appear warped and deformed to contrast with Dick Tracy's view of the world through black and white coloured glasses. Some of these villains included Alphonse “Big Boy” Caprice, Mumbles, Flattop, 88 Keys, Numbers, Lips Manlis, Spuds Spaldoni, Pruneface, and Influence.

As it so happens, these villians all appeared in the movie adaptation of 1990, and judging by how these actors appeared on screen, it's easy to see how the movie won the “Best Makeup” Academy Award. Just take a look at Flattop (Forsythe), Pruneface (R.G. Armstrong), and Lips Manlis (Sorvino) below.



TRIVIA: In the 1945 adaptation for Dick Tracy, Mike Mazurki played the role of Dick Tracy villain “Splitface”. He makes a cameo appearance in the 1990 film.



I should also mention that the 1990 version of “Dick Tracy” wouldn't have been made possible without Warren Beatty. Not only did he play the iconic role, but he also served as producer and director! How's that for a man of many talents?

As it so happened, Beatty had wanted to do a feature film adaptation of “Dick Tracy” since 1975! Back then, the film rights were held by Michael Laughlin, who gave them up to Tribune Media Services after an unsuccessful attempt to pitch a film idea involving Dick Tracy to Hollywood. The rights to Dick Tracy were then purchased by Floyd Mutrux and Art Linson in 1977, and three years later, United Artists became interested in developing the film.

But in the ten years between then and when the film's June 15, 1990 release date, a lot of things happened that delayed the project. Chester Gould initially wanted financial and artistic control, killing the initial deal that United Artists had made, but his death in 1985 meant that the film rights were once again up for grabs. The film went through a couple of directors, including John Landis (who left the project) and Richard Benjamin before Beatty assumed the role. Warren Beatty wasn't the only one considered for the role of Dick Tracy. Other actors who could have played the title role included Clint Eastwood, Tom Selleck, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, and Mel Gibson. As well, the production was shifted to several studios, including Paramount and Walt Disney.

Disney eventually greenlighted the Dick Tracy movie in 1988 with the condition that the film's budget wouldn't exceed $25 million. Well...with the money spent by Disney to promote the film, the production costs ended up being four times that amount! Thankfully, the film showed a profit!

As far as the plot of the movie goes, there's really not a whole lot to say about it. It starts off in the streets of Chicago where a street kid (Korsmo) is the unfortunate witness of a mob massacre at a rigged card game, and runs away to avoid being harmed himself. He literally runs into Dick Tracy (who catches him partaking in some petty crimes), and introduces himself as 'The Kid'. With the help of Tracy's girlfriend, Tess Truehart (Glenne Headly), Tracy adopts 'The Kid'.

At the same time, Big Boy (Pacino), the mobster behind the massacre at the beginning of the film, claims his next victim. After Lips Manlis signs over the deed to his club, “Club Ritz” to Big Boy, Big Boy not only dispatches him, but steals his girlfriend away, sultry club singer Breathless Mahoney (Madonna). One thing that one should know about Big Boy is that he has been at the center of some rather serious crimes, including vandalism, robbery, and murder. But for whatever reason, he always seems to escape incarceration, as there has never been any witnesses to testify against him.

As a result, Dick Tracy has made it his mission to find Big Boy, and put him on ice for good. But as one will see as they watch the film, the road to justice will not be an easy one. With Dick Tracy resorting to interrogating criminals in order to pin something on Big Boy, you know that it will never end well. Sure enough, Dick Tracy ends up in one dangerous situation after another! It's a good thing that he and “The Kid” ended up getting along so well.



Then there's the mysterious Breathless Mahoney, who immediately takes a shining to our yellow cloaked detective. Despite the fact that Tracy and Trueheart are an item, this doesn't stop Breathless from staking her claim. Of course, Dick Tracy only sees Breathless as a potential witness in his quest to get rid of Big Boy, but when things get complicated, who ends up getting hurt?

And who, or what, is the mysterious figure known as “The Blank”?

I guarantee you that if you watch this film, all the answers will be revealed.

And that's about all that I have to say about the film “Dick Tracy”. But one final note. At the time of the film's casting process, Madonna and Warren Beatty were in a very public romantic relationship. Now, to Madonna's credit, when she got the part of Breathless Mahoney, she insisted on working for scale, as she didn't want to make it seem as though she got the part because of her romance with Beatty.

But knowing that Warren Beatty and Madonna were involved romantically while Dick Tracy was being filmed, it certainly makes the song “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” seem much more...poignant.