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 […]
Category: television
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’ […]
Zoinks!
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 […]
Hermanstein
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.
Remotes
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 […]
Everybody Loved Raymond
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”. […]
Michael Cera
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 […]
Mediocre Merch
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 […]
Hollywood Retreads
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 […]
Forecasting
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 […]