I remember watching the Addams Family as a kid but found myself preferring the Munsters. I never thought about why I found the creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky Addamses less appealing but I think it boiled down to context. The Munsters main characters were caricatured versions of familiar monsters – frankenstein, his bride and dracula – where the Addamses were just oddball originals.
The latest string of DirecTV spots featuring Rob Lowe tap into some scary side effects of an actor who just has cable. Lowe’s personification of each of these characters would not be complete without costume and makeup. For this reason I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some ‘Less Attractive’, ‘Super Creepy’ or ‘Painfully Awkward’ Rob Lowes out and about this Halloween.
Believe it or not, Hanna-Barbera did an anti-drug PSA in the 1970s. The overall vibe was very groovy and ‘Scooby-Doo-like’ – right down to the trumpeted outro. No trademarked characters were used in the piece, but the intent was to warn their primary audience about the dangers of drug use. Imagine how powerful a Scooby-Doo PSA for childhood obesity would be if it actually featured Shaggy and Scooby.
I wonder if Boris Karloff was miffed when The Munsters debuted way back in 1964. Fred Gywnne’s characterization of the lovable and playful nitwit Herman Munster pretty much made a punchline out of the macabre image of Frankenstein’s monster that was a standard in horror for some 30 years. Thank goodness Karloff never lived to see Franken-Berry.
I can make my way around a computer keyboard pretty well but I’ve never claimed to be competent when it comes to today’s television remotes. My wife and kids are infinitely better boob tube navigators than I, so they have little patience for my feeble efforts to turn the channel or, Heaven forbid, record or watch a program using DVR. Believe it or not I even manage to screw things up when I turn off the TV. Apparently you need to ensure that you choose ‘SYSTEM ON/OFF’ over ‘CABLE ON/OFF’ or you’ll have new issues the next time you sit down to watch. Yep, I’m pretty sure even your grandpa could thumb me under the coffee table with his remote mastery.
When flipping through the channels the other day, I caught some heated ‘discussion’ between Debra and Ray Barone. For nine seasons Everybody Loves Raymond commanded our love and adoration with it’s comical take on the neuroses that can be the American marriage and family. One of my all time favorite episodes is “The Can Opener”. I know that many a ‘discussion’ has been known to start over simple misunderstandings between my wife and I, but to see it acted out the way Romano and Heaton did was genius. I don’t know what Ray Romano has been up to recently (maybe having coffee with Jerry Seinfeld) but he certainly deserves to toast his success. I think Everybody Loves Raymond‘s widespread syndication guarantees that this sitcom is another American classic.
Cera was the young actor who hit it big as Jason Bateman’s cousin-loving son, George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development. Since that time he’s been cast in a number of comedic roles that continue to typecast him as the young, hapless man-boy. All I can think about is how challenging his future will be because of these roles. Will he ever be the male lead in a big budget actioner? A romantic drama? A smart psycho-thriller? It will be interesting to see how he reinvents himself. Every flick I’ve seen him star in he’s basically the same character. Only time will tell if he has the acting chops. Even DeNiro was able to charm audiences with his comic talent in Meet the Parents and made it believable.
It’s the annual football match-up for all the marbles – the National Football League’s NFC-AFC Championship Game; the Super Bowl. Part of the excitement behind this event is the marketing and advertising surrounding it. Many years the commercials are the MVPs, but what always intrigued me was the Super Bowl logo design. Every year a custom-designed logo is created for the event – usually incorporating elements that relate to the locale of the game. Not anymore. Beginning next year the logo will be standardized. The focus of the logo will be the infamous Lombardi Trophy with the locale’s stadium as the background. Beneath the logo will be the words ‘Super Bowl’ and the roman numerals counting off the contests. I’m not sure why the NFL decided to water down their main event in this way, but without the individual expression of the event it’s no longer as ‘super’ as it used to be.
I realize that this formula has been around for a while but in my opinion it’s getting downright ridiculous. The latest Hollywood 80s love-fest is with TV actioner The A-Team. Don’t get me wrong. I was among the millions that tuned in to watch The A-Team as a kid, but the campy special-op Vietnam vets that MacGyvered their way out of peril each week with Reagan-era machine-gun-toting inaccuracy was a genre that shouldn’t be messed with (I still marvel at the way the ultra-violence was made palatable for prime time by making sure any vehicle that rolled forty times featured a shot of the passengers crawling out uninjured. And don’t even get me started with all the lead flying and no one getting killed; even my Dad snickered at the shoddy marksmanship of the “A” Team.)
No one doubts that this series had a profound impact on 80s culture (Mr. T was not only a household name but camouflage and muscle shirts became a fashion staple) but it’s as if Hollywood is harvesting the low-hanging fruit. They’ve discovered a bank roll with Gen X man-boys the world over. My guess is it won’t be long before Magnum PI starring Robert Downey Jr. in a ‘stache gets the silver screen send-up. They’ll probably even cast Selleck himself to make a cameo as a villain or something.
After the weather forecasts of last week, I fully expected to be buried in feet of snow today (I guess it could still blow in). They say weather is one of the most difficult things to predict accurately beyond a couple days so you have to give the weatherman some leeway when it comes to the seven-day forecast. It’s funny how much guff they get from us for “lying” about the weather. We should all be thankful for the times they forecast gloom and doom when actually we have a half decent day.