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"Daniel Frank is a very funny guy with a funny weblog." --- Mark Evanier.

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Monday, December 25, 2006

Posted by Daniel Frank at 3:25 PM

My X-Mas Mitzvah: In some discussion or other, a friend wondered why The Odd Couple TV show was not yet out on DVD. Remembering that I read something about the show on tvshowsondvd.com, I did a little research and found that it was an exclusive on the Time-Life site. I told my friend and he bought a copy for his wife who is a fan of the show.

UPDATE: My friend's wife sold her DVD player so she could afford his present. Oh, the bittersweet irony.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 3:21 PM

I Did Not Know That Dept.: The lyrics to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" include two stanzas involving figgy pudding: One requesting it ("Oh, bring us a figgy pudding") and one demanding it ("We won't go until we get some"). So basically the song is a "trick or treat/bring us something good to eat" type melody.

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Sunday, December 24, 2006

Posted by Daniel Frank at 5:00 PM

To you and yours, a Happy Life Day from me, Chewbacca, Mrs. Chewbacca, Itchy and Lumpy.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 10:03 AM

The Genius of Alan Sherman: Why are parodies of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" generally not funny? Because, by the nature of the song, you end up repeating the jokes and most jokes can't withstand the seemingly endless repititions. Alan Sherman was smart enough to, after day four, just do variations on "and the rest of that stuff: and avoid that problem.

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Saturday, December 02, 2006

Posted by Daniel Frank at 11:42 PM

When I first moved to LA in '98, there was much grumbling amongst comics that their jokes were in a joke-book compilation "by" Judy Brown (neither "Downtown" nor "Homecoming Queen Has a Gun" but a third one). One common complaint was that the jokes were obtained in her capacity as comedy critic in the LA Weekly: If you wanted your show to get a "Critic's Pick" you had to provide jokes for her to quote in the "Critic's Pick" blurb and many of those jokes ended up in the book.

Jay Leno, who has the money and the best claim of damages, is suing her. Article here. I'm amused that the UPI headline explicitly calls her a joke thief without scare-quotes.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 11:08 PM

Conversation at a British-style pub:

SOMEONE ELSE (ordering): I'll have the Welsh rarebit.
ME: Careful, you're going to have nightmares.

No one at the table got the reference. Damn people and their unfamiliarity with early twentieth century comics strips!

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 11:04 PM

Normally with Seinfeld DVD sets, I wait a few months for them to go on sale for cheap. But Jesse Jackson's call for a boycott tempts me to buy it now. And, judging from sales America agrees with me.

A few things regarding this New York Times article:

Maybe after Rev. Jackson gets people to stop using the n-word, he can work on getting people to stop using the h-word.
Dick Gregory maintains his Lenny Bruce-esque view on the matter (and gets a plug for his 1969 autobiography in finer stores now).
Jason Stuart was quoted in the article. Jealous?
Knowing what the Laugh Factory pays, if they're going to fine comics for the use of the n-word, many comedians will owe the club money.
Oddly, the article quotes Sarah Silverman without mentioning her racial epithet headache.

Of course, in Silverman's case, the slur was used in anti-racist context and she was being used by an advocacy groups that was trying to get racial slurs against the Chinese promoted to the same level of offense as those against African Americans. However, I remember arguing, at the time, that while I disagreed with the position, that if the exact same joke had been told using the n-word, it would have the same point but it a) would not have been allowed on NBC and b) would not have gotten laughs. Someone overhearing me informed me that when Silverman was developing the joke, she had initially used the n-word and it didn't get laughs.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 11:01 PM

So I was reading the latest Peanuts collection from 1961-62 and a strip I've read a dozen times had an element explained to me. In it, Linus's mother packed him pancakes for lunch and syrup is dripping from the bag. The weird part is the odd hats Linus and Charlie Brown were wearing. These hats were explained in a strip of a few months earlier: It was the Centennial of the Civil War and they were Union hats like all the kids were (presumably) wearing.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 10:57 PM

Cool Link Department: In celebration of Fantagraphics reprinting of the comic strip of animation legend Gene Deitch, Deitch finds an unreleased Golden Record of said strip starring Art Carney and the Mitch Miller orchestra. Read more and download here.

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Posted by Daniel Frank at 10:54 PM

A few months ago, I learned that Archie of Archie Comics doesn't drive his jalopy anymore. Now I learn that he drives a Mustang (scroll down)?!?!?

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