Tag: television

Z is for Zorro

My recollection of the series is a bit sketchy, but that theme was seared into my brain.

 

Zorro, which means, “the fox”, is a character, created nearly a century ago by writer Johnston McCulley, who “fought injustice in Spanish California’s Pueblo de Los Angeles.” There have been several iterations of the character, in literature, in film, and on television, as you can read here.

From Wikipedia: “Zorro…is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega…a nobleman and master…The character has undergone changes through the years, but the typical image of him is a dashing black-clad masked outlaw who defends the people of the land against tyrannical officials and other villains. Not only is he much too cunning and foxlike for the bumbling authorities to catch, but he delights in publicly humiliating those same foes.”

It occurred to me that Zorro was a progenitor of those millionaire playboy fop/dark costumed avengers, complete with a secret cave, and a trustworthy butler.

As far as I can recall, though, the only iteration that I’ve actually seen is the TV version from the 1950s, and perhaps the comic book tie-ins from Dell/Gold Key. And I probably wasn’t watching it in its original broadcast, but rather one of those endless Disney reruns.

There is a great website about the 1957-1959 version of Zorro, maintained by Bill Cotter, author of The Wonderful World of Disney Television.

I’m most fascinated by the star of that series, Guy Williams. I was familiar with him best as the father/commander John Robinson on the 1965-1968 TV show, Lost in Space. Like many actors in that era, especially those with particularly “ethnic” names, he changed his to something more Anglo. He was born Armand Joseph Catalano in 1924.

“To play Zorro…, the chosen actor would have to be handsome and have some experience with fencing. Walt Disney himself interviewed Guy Williams, telling him (comically) to start growing a mustache ‘neither very long or thick’ (i.e. somewhat like Disney’s own mustache). The exclusive contract paid Williams the then very high wage of $2,500 per week, as he had demanded.” To prepare, Williams took both fencing and guitar lessons… “The [hit] show spanned 78 episodes over two seasons (1957–1959) and two movies edited from TV episodes – The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro the Avenger (1959) – with its theme-song (composed by Norman Foster and George Bruns) reaching #17 of the Hit Parade, performed by The Mellomen.

My recollection of the series is a bit sketchy, but that theme was seared into my brain.

ABC Wednesday – Round 9

Commercially repulsive QUESTION

I loathed these commercials so much that I have, years later, never purchased a package of Wisk.

I’ve refused to buy a number of products over the years for various reasons: political/economic boycotts for iceberg lettuce, orange juice, and the like.

But there have also been commercials out there that have just offended my sensibilities.

One was for a drink mix from Pillsbury called Funny Face, targeted to compete with Kool-Aid. Not only did the character on this particular envelope look like a caricature, if memory serves, he also sounded like one. It’s no surprise that the product was replaced by a more generic Choo Choo Cherry a couple years later.

But no long-running commercial bugged me more than those for Wisk laundry detergent and its irritating “Ring Around the Collar”. Often featuring a woman looking frustrated and shamed when her husband, a friend, or even a total stranger noticed that the husband’s shirt collar was less than pristine. Here are some examples here and here, plus you can find plenty more on the Internet; this later ad was less bad, but by then it was too late. I loathed these commercials so much that I have, years later, never purchased a package of Wisk.

(Company policies generally can cut both ways. On one hand, a potential boycott against Butterball turkeys, because they are halal, might make me MORE likely to buy them. On the other, Butterball being sued by EEOC for harassment and the firing of an HIV+ employee, not so much.

What commercials, or company policies, backfired with you, making you LESS likely to purchase the product?

S is for Sesame Street

Do I watch Sesame Street on TV? Not really. But I DO watch the videos.

Back in the early 1970s, I used to watch Sesame Street. I don’t think I really have to explain Sesame Street, do I? It’s this kids’ show that started in 1969, broadcast on public television in the United States, ostensibly to educate children, with the extensive use of puppets, or, specifically, Muppet characters designed by the late Jim Henson. The program has spread to a couple of dozens of countries, in a number of languages.

The “trouble” was that I didn’t have any children to give me cover; I just liked watching it, even though I was in my early twenties. I wished that there was a show so cool when I was growing up. and I liked the songs, such as Rubber Duckie, and, naturally, Bein’ Green. I even own the 10th-anniversary album from 1979, though I had pretty much stopped watching by then.

Skip ahead a few decades, and I have a child of my own. Over the years, the show has tackled issues such as language differences, disabilities, hunger, and, notably bullying. Do I watch Sesame Street on TV? Not really. But I DO watch the videos.
Sesame Street has always been cool, offering famous grown-ups the chance to participate. The video by Feist may be the one that reminded me that Sesame Street was still doing the celebrity thing.

Here are some videos I’ve watched recently, now that the site is no longer being hacked.

Issues
Change the World, featuring the same Muppet who loves her hair
Hunger

Celebrity
Adrian Grenier: Season
Jon Stewart: Practice
Liev Schrieber and Naomi Watts: exchange things
Mark Ruffalo: Empathy
Michelle Monaghan: Fascinating
Mila Kunis: Include
Neil Patrick Harris: Curly
Seth Rogen: Embarrassed
Terrence Howard: Incognito

Parody
30 Rocks
G – a parody of Glee
(And a parody OF Sesame Street: Occupy Sesame Street Gets Violent

Music
Monster Went and Ate My Red 2 with Elvis Costello, which makes more sense if you’ve heard his original. I love this.
Arrested Development: Pride
B.B. King: The Letter B
The banned Katy Perry video – too risque for some
Jaquandor also put together some singing videos

BTW, there’s a new movie documentary featuring the puppeteer of Elmo, Kevin Clash.

There are a couple of videos that made me more than a little sad:
The late Chris Reeve to the library
Goodbye, Mr Hooper. When actor Will Lee died back in 1983, so did his character. Watch especially starting at the 7-minute mark.


ABC Wednesday – Round 9

Andy Rooney

Rooney has made a number of unfounded comments about government and politics that made me grimace.

There was a time when I used to actually enjoy Andy Rooney, the long-time 60 Minutes commentator who retired in October 2011, and died less than a month later. It was even before I knew who he was. I remember watching a series of CBS News specials called ‘Of Black America’, back in the days when network television would/could broadcast such things, and as it turns out, Rooney wrote two of them. He also penned ‘Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed’, which won him his first Emmy.

Then he did a bunch of quirky shows in the 1970s and early 1980s, such as ‘Andy Rooney Takes Off’, ‘Mr. Rooney Goes to Work’, ‘Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner’, and the Peabody Award-winning ‘Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington’, which Mark Evanier linked to.

When he got his regular gig on 60 Minutes in 1978, he was seldom profound but often entertaining enough. But even then, he played the part of the crotchety old man. I always remember this segment, pre-Thriller, of who was famous. Paul McCartney was famous; Michael Jackson was not, even though he had led the Jackson 5ive and had a hit album in Off the Wall. He never, in my recollection, gave contemporary music any credence.

Still, his observation about fame has stuck with me. Who IS famous, these days? Media being as diffused as it is, a Real Housewife of Schenectady might be well known in certain circles but totally invisible by lots of others.

His schtick and delivery became so well known that he was often parodied. And lots of quotes were attributed to him, not all of them accurately. He DID say, The French have not earned their right to oppose President Bush’s plans to attack Iraq. What was often left out is the next line: “On the other hand, I have,” referring to his service as a war correspondent during WWII. And he DID suggest that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson were “wackos.”

However, he did NOT start a commentary with I like big cars, big boats, big motorcycles, big houses, and big campfires. Nor did he write an essay ‘In Praise of Older Women’ or advocate in favor of prayer or give tips to get rid of telemarketers or the ramblings cited here or here.

In the last decade, Rooney has made a number of unfounded comments about government and politics that made me grimace. A person who read as many newspapers as he purported to peruse would have known some of the things he proudly announced he didn’t know. I kvetched about him in this blogpost here over an ill-informed observation about the Census.

Still, he always was proud of growing up in Albany, and he summered in the county, in Rensselaerville, and I liked that. I’d hoped that he would have had a chance to enjoy his retirement. But, true to his seeming contrarian nature, he didn’t have that chance.
***
My old buddy Steve Webb writes about Andy Rooney, Howard Hunt, Bob Dylan, and Steve Ditko, among others.

M is for Martha

Mary sat and listened to Jesus as he talked, but Martha objected to the fact that she was left with all the work.

 

I always liked the name Martha. Partly, it’s because my first girlfriend was named Martha. I used to serenade her with the song Martha My Dear by the Beatles [LISTEN], from the white album. It was only later I discovered that Martha was Paul McCartney’s English sheepdog.

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (pictured), of course, was the first First Lady of the United States, though she wasn’t so dubbed at the time. Martha is one of those classic girls’ names that, while extremely popular in the US in the 1880s (#14 in 1882), never lost at least a core of support; it didn’t leave the top 100 until 1966 and was still at #709 in 2010.

I’ve heard the slightly derisive term “being a Martha.” This referred to Luke 10:38-42 when Martha of Bethany and her sister Mary “offered hospitality to their friend Jesus…Mary sat and listened to him as he talked, but Martha objected to the fact that she was left with all the work. Jesus told Martha not to worry about small things, but to concentrate on what was important.” This proved to be a key concept in Christian hospitality; don’t NOT invite someone over, just because your home is not immaculate.

My daughter is fond of a PBS TV program called Martha Speaks, which “is an animated children’s television sitcom based on the 1992 children’s book of the same name by Susan Meddaugh about a talking dog named Martha…who is owned by ten-year-old Helen… When Helen feeds Martha some alphabet soup, the soup travels to her brain instead of her stomach, resulting in her ability to speak. The show focuses on synonyms and vocabulary, with each episode featuring an underlying theme illustrated with keywords.” LISTEN to the opening title theme song, which features these lyrics: “Martha Speaks and speaks and speaks and speaks and…Communicates, enumerates, elucidates, exaggerates, indicates, and explicates, bloviates, and overstates and (pant, pant, pant) hyperventilates!” And here is a video guide to the episodes.


ABC Wednesday – Round 9

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial