Rocky and Bullwinkle Clips

In memory of Paul Frees, voice of Boris Badenov and many others, born this day in 1920.

The Mad Men Finale

Sonia Soraya of Salon has a good take.

There’s a part of me that hopes that Don was able to find some kind of self-acceptance and closure through his meditation and chanting and therapy—to take his adventure entirely at face-value, and see his adventure in Big Sur as Don learning that settling for being merely himself is not that bad. There’s also a part of me that doesn’t believe it could be that simple—surely “Mad Men” is not so naïve as to be wholly credulous of the hippie, New-Age spin on Eastern philosophy, even if Don Draper might be? And there’s a part of me that gets that one of the takeaways of the finale is showrunner Matthew Weiner reminding us that Don Draper isn’t real, but this era was (and in some ways, still is) very real.

Fractured Fairy Tales - Son of Rumplestiltskin

It's Jay Ward's birthday.

The Last Unicorn - Opening

Arthur Rankin of Rankin-Bass productions has died at eighty-nine. They produced many of the best-known animated TV shows and holiday specials of the sixties and seventies. Here's the beginning of one of their lesser-known efforts, an adaptation of Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn.

Breaking Bad - Alternate Series Ending

It's admittedly a takeoff on the Newhart series ending, but it's well-done. H/t HuffPo.

RIP James Gandolfini

Like everyone, I was shocked by the news of James Gandolfini's sudden death. There'll be a lot of Sopranos clips posted in tribute, and rightfully so, but Gandolfini was good in a lot of things, such as the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There. Here he has a scene with Billy Bob Thornton.

The Late Night Battles, Then and Now

Dick Cavett spent many years working in late night TV, first as a writer and then as a host, and as such is well-placed to offer an opinion on its workings.

I’ve been asked for comments by various columnists and publications these days, what with the T. Show back in the news with the Leno-Fallon-Kimmel eruption. NBC must have a bushel-size bottle of Bayer product in their infirmary labeled “Recurrent ‘Tonight Show’ Headaches.” There’s probably enough material for a series in the various “Tonight” traumas over the years, with episodes titled, “Jack Walks”; “Jack Returns”; “Johnny Arrives”; “Johnny Struggles, Then Triumphs”; “Jay Soars”; “Jay Demoted”; “Conan at Bat”; “Bye-Bye, Conan”; “Jay Redux”; “Kimmel Threatens”; “Fallon on the Rise”; “Jay Re-Threatened” and so on, into the late night.

Octavian in the Senate

Two thousand and fifty-four years ago today, Octavian Caesar essentially forced the Roman senate to elect him consul. This was one of the most significant turning points in the Roman Republic's becoming the Roman Empire. Here's a scene from the HBO series Rome of the young Octavian, already a powerful military figure, making his first appearance in the senate.

The Corner (Excerpt)

David Mills, television writer, died unexpectedly a year ago last Wednesday. I knew him a little from his online presence, and had exchanged e-mail and online comments with him. His knowledge, intelligence, and undemonstrative but very real kindness, made him something special.

Here's a few minutes from the TV show for which he shared two Emmies with his friend and colleague David Simon, The Corner. As you can see, it shared a number of elements with the later, better-known The Wire.

Opener to "Route 66" US TV series, 1960--64

What Don Draper's young colleagues watched every week. Draper's adventure fantasy was his own life.

Goodnight Mrs. Calabash - The Jimmy Durante Show 1959

Really, it's just the way he walks through the spotlights. Even as a kid, I knew in some weird way it represented coming to terms with death, which is a hell of a way to end a musical variety TV show every week. But it worked.

RIP Art Clokey

The creator of Gumby, Pokey, et al., as well as Davey and Goliath, has died at eighty-eight.

Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa

H/t BarbinMD @ DailyKos.

Goodbye Hank Hill

King of the Hill Shuts Down

Many years ago a man who grew up in London told me that most Americans didn't really get Andy Capp, because they didn't know anything about Cockneys. At the time Andy Capp was funny (like I said, this was years ago) but a little impenetrable. Pigeons? Dog racing? Living on the dole and sleeping on the couch all day? What was all that about? This man said he'd known a lot of people whose lives were like Andy Capp's, so he knew the character was not really exaggerated.

Which brings me to Hank Hill. When King of the Hill first came on the air I was living far from my homeland, and couldn't watch the show because it made me so homesick. It's so well done in general that it probably wasn't necessary for viewers around the globe to know how accurate its evocation of ordinary Texans was, but for those of us who knew, it mattered that this collection of lovable dimwits was drawn with such precision and detail. Goodbye Hank, and thank you Mike Judge.

Quote of the Day

We take our heroes where we can find them. My hero today is Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm, who has written, directed, and stars in a new movie, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. In promoting the film he spoke to the Associated Press, which quoted him as saying:

"It's like an Albert Brooks or Woody Allen movie, only not as good and I star in it."

My kind of guy. Admittedly, the quote makes the most sense if you can remember when Albert Brooks and Woody Allen were making the funniest American movies being released. That was when--how shall I put it?--today's average pro athlete was not yet a gleam in his or her parents' eyes.

As Larry David's manager on Curb, Garlin always hits the perfect relaxed note of enthusiasm for Larry's ideas, an enthusiasm which from his character may be either perfectly genuine (that's a great idea and I support you!) or utterly fake (my money comes from you and I'll support anything you say!)--you can't tell which. It's a nice take on the kind of personality that I assume Garlin has encountered many times in his business, and all the more effective for being so low-key.