LikeTelevision™ Blog

Happy Birthday Jane Fonda

December 21st - Happy Birthday Jane Fonda, born December 21, 1937 in New York, N.Y. Wow, hard to believe, Jane Fonda is 69 going on 70. Yes - Jane Fonda's controversial, but she was always a consumate actress, beautiful, enchanting, smart and funny. So Happy Birthday Jane, have many more. Here's a short list of Jane Fonda related videos - the best I think is the Carson segment. If you want more - here's a longer list.

Some Cash for Christmas?

Here's something we all could use right now - a little Cash for Christmas. And so - bring it on. Here he is - the man in black, Johnny Cash starring in The Pride of Jesse Hallam. Also features Brenda Vaccaro and Eli Wallach in major supporting roles. A terrific story - about an illiterate Kentucky coal minor who moves to Ohio so his daughter can get the proper medical care for her scoliosis. Check it out - it's a pretty good movie, especially if you are a fan of Johnny Cash. Count us in.

Woody's born, Rosa Parks is off to jail

December 1st, we honor Rosa Parks and Woody Allen. Dec 1, 1935 - Woody Allen is born in Brooklyn, NY... in case you didn't know he was a New Yorker - HA. Two decades pass... and on his 20th birthday, Dec 1, 1955 - the news of Rosa Parks getting arrested fills the airwaves. Her offense? Mrs. Parks refused to take a back seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus when asked to relocate for a white passenger, named Michael Richards, aka Cosmo Kramer. (sorry, cheap joke). Here's a color enhanced photo of her arrest and finger printing. All this happened when I was a kid, so when we discussed it at school, it was recent history. Times have changed a lot - trust me, though we are often reminded we still have a long way to go. Check out this cool newsreel clip, made in the early nineties - with Edwin Newman narrating.



And our staff pick for Woody Allen - check out:



The interview with Billy Graham on The Woody Allen Comedy special is killer funny, or better still, and if time allows - watch the entire show. It co-stars a young twenty year old named Candice Bergen, best known for her role as Murphy Brown. I had forgotten how attractive she was as a young lady.

Bout with a Trout

In case you missed it, we included a cool new feature to the LikeTelevision™ library of media, a BLOG IT link on each page with media links. And so, for no good reason, I was curious to see how easily i could drop some Blog It code, into this blog and create a player. A Bout with a Trout, starring Little Lulu will do nicely.



Elasped time was about 2 minutes, but I am old. EZ to beat that if you are nimble. Just click the huge play button to watch it. Now go Swing on a Star with Little Lulu.

Happy Thanksgiving Videos

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, members and guests. We hope everyone enjoys a delightful holiday and finds time to remember everything one is thankful for.

Here's some Thanksgiving Day video giblets. Granny vs. Elly Mae vs. Turkey. A classic episode, Turkey Day from The Beverly Hillbillies. Or how about some thanksgiving day video postcards. Got those too. Also check out Tex Avery's Jerky Turkey. Need more - check some chicken pie with Lenny Federal - Live at LikeTelevision - in 2000. Have a great holiday!

Media & Politics - Frank Capra Style

So, you think media bias and political games started in recent history. Well think again. In 1941, Frank Capra directed a media and political classic called Meet John Doe, starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck (the matriarch in Big Valley), Billy Curtis, and Walter Brennan of The Real McCoys. It's a terrific story - how some poor Joe (John Doe) is used by the media and a big political machine to further their own ends. Meanwhile, the poor John Doe gets chewed up and spat out when he speaks his own mind, instead of the words they tell him to say. Meet John Doe is an excellent choice for a movie the eve of an election.

Another movie with a political twist worth considering - is Angel on My Shoulder starring Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, and Claude Rains. Paul Muni plays a hardened criminal (a killer gangster type) - who is enlisted by the devil (played by Claude Rains, who is an excellent Satan i might add) to turn some political wheels for the purpose of evil. It is an old school movie - where the bad guy does the right thing when he needs to. Lots of fun too.

Another interesting search is Politic. This will return videos about politics and also - politically incorrect videos. An interesting list of videos to say the least. Now - go out there and vote. Remember how Olive cast the deciding vote in Popeye For President, you never know - it could be you this time.

Mobile Media MPEG-4, 3GP and Doc Fu too

Got more Fu for the weekend, Dr. Fu Manchu that is. In this episode, Fu Manchu gives Hitler a new face by forcing a kidnapped plastic surgeon to operate on Adolf's mug. Need more - well how about an atom bomb plot to bring about global chaos? You'll find that too - in the Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu.

Also new - we added a bunch of MPEG-4 files for iPods and also a bunch of 3GP files for mobile users. Now available in the download section - mpeg-4 and 3GP files for these Andy Griffith episodes - Barney's First Car, High Noon in Mayberry, Dogs, Dogs, Dogs, Mountain Wedding and Aunt Bee's Medicine Man. Have fun downloading this weekend.

Harry Houdini dies 10/31/1926

Eighty years ago today, on Halloween in 1926, Harry Houdini died in Detroit, Michigan due to abdominal complications from getting sucker punched in the gut by a burly college student. One of Harry's acts included allowing someone in the audience to punch him in the gut. Of course, he prepared for the blow during his stage act by working to make his abdominal muscles like a cast iron stove door. The punch that led to his death was delivered without Houdini having a clue it was coming.

Before Houdini died, he promised his wife he would try to communicate with her from the dead. He had a special message for her, that only she knew. For many years after his death, she went to mediums, psychics, and others in the spiritual industry of fakes - but none delivered the message she was hoping for. The message that Harry hoped to send her from the other side.

Houdini real name was Eric Weiss. He was born in Budapest, Hungary - the son of a rabbi. As a kid, he moved to Appleton, Wisconsin where he dreamed of being a great magician and escape artist. His hero was the great Robert Houdin - and Eric Weiss used the Houdini stage name to honor the legend in magic as a skill. Houdin used to be able to throw a card into any seat in the theater where he performed. Practicing hours every day - his skill at tossing cards was beyond what seemed humanly possible.

Check out some newsreel clips of the great Harry Houdini - who dies 80 years ago today, on Halloween 1926.

The Copper with Wally Cox and Ernest Borgnine

Jump back in time to October 1951 and a TV series called Goodyear Television Playhouse. Back in the day, companies would often sponsor entire shows. Some even included some serious product placement, like Carnation and The Burns & Allen Show. This episode of Goodyear Television Playhouse is called The Copper starring Wally Cox, Ernest Borgnine, David White and Pat Carroll. A crazy story about an accident prone police cadet who finds himself on the way to a date with Old Sparky at the pen. For more details - check out the addition - The Copper to the Classic TV library at LikeTelevision™. If you enjoy police stories told with a touch of comedy and corny jokes, you will love it. Quite entertaining.

Jean Renoir & Michel Simon

In 1932, Jean Renoir, acclaimed French Film Director, and son a master of the Impressionist genius, Auguste Renoir caused quite a stir with his new film, Boudu Sauve Des Eaux. The English title is Boudu saved from Drowning. The hero was a homeless man, with poor manners and bad taste in hair styles - who was also charming and endearing and flawed. Michel Simon, the French king of slapstick comedy, stars as Boudu. He gives an amazing performance, as intense as the previous Jean Renoir Michel Simon collaboration from 1931, The Chienne, roughly translated, The Bitch. In French, Chien means dog, if you want a speak of a female dog, it is La Chienne. If you want an Andalusian Dog, or Un Chien Angalou (1929), you can watch that. A Boy and His Dog (preview), or Boy Meets Dog. And there's more - a pack of dogs! Oh... for the love of Dogs, Dogs, Dogs.

Would you like to watch your MPEG-1 downloads on your TV? on your new High Definition TV? Well, you can and it's easy to do. LikeTelevision, on your television. Learn more.

Remembering Hal Smith

Yes - you might recognize Hal Smith as the actor who played Otis Campbell, the town drunk in Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show - but if you think about it for just a minute, you will remember Hal Smith for what he is really known for. Got it? Yep - His VOICE! Hal Smith was one of the most familiar cartoon voices in the history of animation, right up there with another great, Mel Blanc. Hal worked for many years as the "go to" voice for countless Hanna Barbara cartoons. Did you know Hal was also the voice of Goofy for many years, the dorky dog from Walt Disney? He was the voice of Owl in Winnie The Pooh, the voice of Santa in Casper's First Christmas and also on the Flintstones as Santa. For Warner Brothers, he sometimes was the voice of Elmer Fudd. He was Peter Potamus and Yapee. Did you know he was also the voice of Mr. Magoo after Jim Backus. Speaking of Jim Backus, who played Judge Stevens, the guy who was married to Joan on I married Joan... Hal Smith was on that show too, as Charlie. We could go on and on... Hal Smith was a legend. But here's a clip from LikeTelevision's video vault you might have missed - Hal Smith on a very bizarre 1960s game called Tight Squeeze. Really folks - this is MUST SEE LikeTelevision, you are not going to believe this game ever existed. We are certain it caused at least a few dozen marital spats with good folks who used to be good neighbors. hahhaha... watch the clip and you will understand. Who the heck thought up this game? You can also check out Hal Smith as Otis Campbell in one of the best Andy Griffith episodes ever made - Loaded Goat.

Today - we remember Hal Smith because it is his birthday. He was born August 24, 1916 in Petosky, Michigan. He died of a heart attack on January 28, 1994 in Woodland Hills, California.

Scary Stuff - Flying Axes and Joe Friday

Sorry for the slow blog posting - we've been busting out little data bits off. Here's a quick list of some of the titles we've added over the last week. Dragnet - The Big Seventeen, starrng Jack Webb as Joe Friday. In this episode, Joe is working Juve - that's Police talk for Juvenile Division, not to be confused with Vice or Bunko - can you tell I don't know bunko about Cop speak? Anyway - some high school kids are causing a lot of trouble in town, because they are all hopped up on assorted drugs. Someone has been supplying drugs for free, hoping to hook up with some new customers and build a repeat business in pharmaceuticals. Of course - this business endeavor is not to be confused with large global drug companies that offer doctors incentives to prescribe the higher margins products they carry. hmmmm. Anyway - the latest problem is that one of the young teens has killed his supplier and then ripped off a large cache of heroin. Not just any heroin, this is super pure, high grade heroin. Normally - the stuff the kids were getting was a weak grade, and if the boy starts selling this stuff, Joe rightfully fears that some kids are going to get killed. While not as classic as the "Blue Boy" episode (you know, the one where the kid paints his face blue and goes to a garden party with a hand grenade) this one is a classic. Check it out - The Big Seventeen. Want more Dragnet - got it. Or maybe a few classic police shows - got a ton of that too.

Do you need another funky scary movie? Well we got one... and we had to search way down under for this one, which was produced in Australia. The movie has been called The Forgotten, and also Don't Look in the Basement. It seems the rural Stephens Sanitarium is not a gentle pastoral place for crazy people anymore, now that Dr. Stephens has gone off for deep end. This one has a ton of blood, but I wouldn't really call it scary or anything. Many times - it is kinda funny. But my sense of humor is a wee bit twisted at times. Wanna sneak preview, check out the new Frank Random preview for Don't Look in the Basement.

Got a bunch more to add to this list - but I have to scoot off to a production meeting.

Here's a Great Movie - watch it!

Kansas City Confidential gives you an awesome story - filled with so many delightful twists and turns. It is the story of the perfect crime, or so it was supposed to be. It didn't turn out that way - and the real story is even crazier than what the cops think. Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand and Jack Elam are the thugs for hire, but Mr. Big controls the shots. I bet you love Kansas City Confidential as much as we did.

Dick Cheney Whittington's Cat Video

We started getting a few stray visitors via search engines - for Dick Whittington's Cat... and it took a few seconds to realize what was going on... (Dick Whittington video was the most common... (yes, we know the unfortunate hunter with the birdshot wound is named Harry Whittington). In any event - the story of Dick Whittington's Cat is a classic urban legend, and why not pass it on. LikeTelevision offers a classic cartoon loosely based on the myth... but the real myth is fascinating.

A selection from 1606 play gives you background -Dick Whittington was a poor boy from Gloucestershire who walked to London to seek his fortune. He found work in the house of a rich merchant Fitzwarren, and fell in love with Fitzwarren's daughter, Alice. Dick had a cat to keep down the mice in the attic where he slept. Fitzwarren invited his servants to put money into a sailing voyage. Dick had no money, but gave his cat to the captain to sell.

Dick decided there was no future for him in London, and left to go home to Gloucestershire. He stopped on top of Highgate Hill on the way out of London. There he heard the bells of London ringing - they seemed to say: ‘Turn again, Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London'.

Dick thought this was a good omen and returned to Fitzwarren's house. He learnt that the ship had returned with great news. The sailing party arrived in a foreign land where the king's court was overrun by rats. Dick's cat killed or drove out all the rats. In thanks the king paid a huge sum of gold to buy the cat. Dick was now a very wealthy man. He married Alice Fitzwarren, and eventually became Lord Mayor of London.

The actual history of Dick Whittington is much less compelling... but truth isn't always stranger than fiction.

In any event - if you are hunting for some content, (using the rifle approach as opposed to the shotgun approach) - now seems like a good time to catch this classic cartoon - Dick Whittington's Cat. Finally - in case you missed this - check it out. This entry from last year (Feb 16, 2005) - about Jimmy Carter getting a nuclear submarine named after him is also worth a second look.

Jack Frost - cool winter cartoon

Thinking about all the snow that hit New England this weekend reminded us of this classic cartoon, Jack Frost. Some of the scariest, bitter cold animation - in living color.

Or try this - search for snow, blizzard or snow storm. Rest assured, spring will be here soon.

Old School Patriot Act

Watch Judge Jay's 1958 rendering of Justice. Swift and sure - WHAM! & you're off to the loony bin. (Watch video) I still haven't figured out which is funnier - Joseph Cracker - or Judge Jay's reactions and comments. This Frank Random short is somehow timely in light of all the recent news about the scope of the Patriot Act. Doesn't matter which side of the political coin you fall on - this video is funny and it gives you chills at the same time. Go to the web page with the preview and more commentary or watch the whole episode as it originally aired. Here's a free video link.

Hot Rod Girl

From 1956 - check out this muscle car classic - Hot Rod Girl, starring Chuck Connors, Lori Nelson, and Frank Gorsham. Lori Nelson is of course, the Hot Rod Girl - if she looks familiar, you probably remember her in Revenge of the Creature, the sequel to Monster from The Black Laggon. Check out her 1955 convertible Ford T-Bird - sweet! Chuck Connors plays Police Detective Ben Merrill, the good cop who is trying to keep the kids from drag racing in the streets. And Frank Gorsham plays Flat Top, one of the juvenile delinquents who gets goaded into a deadly game of chicken. A pretty decent movie - and terrific if you like the old school rides.

Louis Nye - R.I.P.

Louis Nye, one of the all-time legends of comedy died on Sunday October 9, 2005 after a long battle with cancer. He is probably best known for his work on the Steve Allen Show (Hi Ho Steverino!) but he also started as The Great Wambini in the Inspector Gadget series, he was a regular on Curb Your Enthusiam, he played Fireman Torch in this skit from Sid Caesar's Show(free) and, and who could forget - Sonny Drysdale, the effeminate Ivy League rich brat who thought Elly Mae was a tasty morsel... which of course... led to the classic episode - The Great Feud, where the Clampetts are out to restore Elly Mae's honor after she was dissed by Sonny. Check out some of these classic shows or here's a nice tribute - and an obituary can be found here.

Carole Lombard - Profane Angel

Happy Birthday Jane Alice Peters, better known as Carole Lombard - born October 6, 1908 in Fort Wayne, Indiana USA. She was a huge star and a fascinating character. She was very friendly to all.. and liked by all in addition to being a talented actress. But she was also known for her foul, foul mouth - which could spew a rapid fire string of expletive deleted phrases... that were so bawdy it could make a sailor blush. The story is she learned this little trick from her brothers, to provide her with a defense against aggressive boys. She'd let them have a verbal assault... and they would back off. Anyway... this is how she earned her nickname - The Profane Angel.

Carole Lombard made a lot of great movies including Nothing Sacred, Made for Each Other, co-starring Jimmy Stewart - and my personal favorite is My Man Godfrey (watch free preview). which also stars William Powell, who happened to be Lombard's ex-husband. When they were married - the couple was dubbed Fire and Ice. William Powell, known for his calm and suave demeanor was of course, Ice. At the peak of her career, she married Clark Gable in a massive story... like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt... but back in the day.

During World War II - she was very active selling War Bonds, and in fact volunteered her husband, Clark Gable for the job as head of Hollywood's effort to push the bonds. Clark wasn't pleased... so Carole ended up taking the Press Agent in Clark's place to go sell bonds... At the last minute, Lombard changed her mind and skipped the train ride for a TWA DC-3 plane.... that crashed in the side of a mountain. After a huge and futile search (a la JFK jr. crash... a big media event), Carole Lombard died in the crash along with her mother who came along for the tour. Also of note... the plane crashed about a month after Pearl Harbor (on January 16, 1942) - so the nation was already in a state of shock.

Anyway.... check out some movies, news clips and more on Carole Lombard. Another related tidbit of information - Clark Gable was also involved in another scandal - during a movie, he had an affair with Loretta Young, which produced a "secret" love child. All this was confirmed many years later after Gable died, but during his life, it remained pretty much a secret - though it was whispered about, it never had the media scrutiny (or insanity) we have to deal with today.

Buster Keaton Bday Bash

On October 4, 1895 - Buster Keaton was born in Kansas. He was known as The Great Stone Face - and the Buster nickname was attributed to Harry Houdini, though it is probably just legend. Wanna see a terrific caricature of Buster Keaton? Check this. He's the guy with the tan hat and droopy eyes. The clip is from a classic cartoon called Hollywood Steps Out. Tex Avery does a caricature on virtually every film star of the day.

Back to Buster Keaton - in honor of the great Buster - we will be offering a new download - Balloonatic. We also added a few new images - 1 (100k), 2 (800k). Better still - watch the Buster Keaton videos

Wild 1920s Stop Motion

In case you missed the recent library addition, Fernand Leger's Ballet Mecanique.

More info from last month's blog.

Little Audrey, Mother Goose, and Cakeland

From the animation gurus at Famous Studios - check out a dazzling pair of classic Little Audrey Cartoons! First up, Goofy Goofy Gander starring Mother Goose and a couple of gangsters. Better still - Flowers and Tarts, one of the Audrey's best efforts - watch her bake a gingerbread man who comes alive. He hops out of the oven and runs off to Cakeland to meet his bride to be, Miss Angel Cake. It looks like it will be a terrific wedding - till Devil Food Cake decides to crash the party and run off with the bride. Great stuff! - Need more Little Audrey, check out Seapreme Court, complete with the electric eel electric chair. More? Try Land of Lost Jewels.

Brock Peters Dies - 08/23/2005

Acclaimed actor, Brock Peters dies Tuesday, August 23, 2005 in his home (pancreatic cancer). Best known for his role in To Kill a Mockingbird as Tom Robinson (video), the innocent man accused of rape. He would be defended by Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck who won an Oscar for Best Leading Man for his role as the sympathetic attorney (free preview). A few years ago - on June 16, 2003 - it was Brock Peters who read the eulogy for Gregory Peck at his funeral. Learn more about Brock Peters (here and here too).

This morning I made a few new pictures for the image library in honor of Brock Peters (brock1 brock2) - and loaded them in the To Kill A Mockingbird folder. Photoshop PSD files and jpegs. We will miss him - he was a great actor and a great man too.

Coming Soon - Sept 2005

Here's the highlights of what is coming to LikeTelevision in September 2005. First up - a classic Marlene Dietrich film called Blue Angel, actually it is called Der Blaue Engel, since it is a German film. Yes... subtitles, not dubbed. Marlene Dietrich as cabaret singer Lola Lola is in top form, and just 29 years old. Directed by the great Josef von Sternberg, Blue Angel is a powerful story of a prudish school teacher who becomes caught in a web of sexual desire for Lola. Another great film for your viewing pleasure.

We will also be adding a few more classic films - Carnival of Souls, which is really bizarre, dark and strangely fascinating. Check out the original trailer for a free preview.

We received a lot of positive feedback regarding the Ingmar Bergman film Brink of Life which premiered on the web last month - so we decided to add another gem from the Swedish master director, The Magician. Illusion takes on Reality and gets all twisted like a Krispy Kreme cruller. HA!

Finally - some laughs from the great Woody Allen. We will be premiering a rare 1969 TV special starring Woody, Candice Bergen, Reverend Billy Graham, and more. Woody interviews Dr. Graham and asks... Whats your favorite commandment? HAHAHAHA Lots of fun. Or as the Four Seasons might say... See you in September!

Klansman - O.J. Simpson, A Bronco, & more

Terence Young's The Klansman - a 1974 film about racial tensions, civil rights, and the KKK in a small town in backwoods Alabama. Starring Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, O.J. Simpson, Lola Falana, and Linda Evans. Major star power grapples with disturbing subject matter from a Hollywood perspective. Check it out.

A-Bomb's 60th Birthday!

On July 16th, 2005 - the atomic bomb celebrates its 60th Birthday - and you're invited! Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame will be bringing the yellow cake uranium, and Frank Random is providing entertainment with a wild re-mix of Duck and Cover. Bert the turtle gets all twisted up in a brutal edit of 1960s era civil defense films - and the end result is a montage of mushroom cloud misty eyed melodrama. Check out the vintage clips and see where WMDs got their start.

On a happier note - July 15 marks the birthday of Rembrandt Van Rijn. Please allow me to recycle a blog entry from last year - and by all means, don't miss the Dutchmaster's cigars and Saskia on the toilet. All kidding aside - Rembrandt was the best, True High Art - not to be confused with this or Watch this.

Hitchcock and Bus Bombings

One of Sir Alfred Hitchcock's best early movies was Sabotage. Made in 1936, it tells the story of political intrigue and the use of terror to try to change the course of global events. The film is based on a story by Joseph Conrad called the Secret Agent, which is also the title of another 1936 Hitchcock movie starring John Gielgud. (you can watch that movie at LikeTelevision too - good stuff).

When I first saw Hitchcock's Sabotage I thought it was a great movie. As time went on, and I watched it again - the film just got better. Knowing that it was made several years before the onset of WWII - it was right on the money regarding what was happening, and the looming disaster coming to not only England, but also the entire World. When I heard the news of the terrorist bombing of a double decker bus on July 7, 2005 - I remembered this tragic scene from Sabotage. Carl Verloc (played by Oskar Homolka) gets a young boy known as Little Stevie (played by Desmond Tester) to carry several reels of film across London. We are told - The Bird will sing at 1:45 PM, meaning that is when the bomb is set to go off. Check out this scene from the 1936 film, Sabotage and you will see why it popped in my head when I heard the news. But you really need to watch the movie to get the full effect of Hitchcock's mastery of building suspense. It is an amazing film - Verloc is such a pig, his poor wife and of course little Stevie are very endearing characters, which of course makes Verloc's sinister ways even more bloody nasty. Hitchcock afficiandos will also note the similarity with the climatic scene in The Man Who Knew Too Much, when Peter Lorre hears the shot and says, "Looks like everything went off all right". Check out that movie and also this terrific free preview made by LikeTelevision's resident genius, Frank Random.

London - then and now

This morning we learned of a coordinated series of bomb attacks in London - on the subway and on a double decker bus. Terrorists are losers. I remembered some words from Winston Churchill that seemed appropriate. They were spoken during World War II when London was getting bombed on nightly raids. The words - we shall never surrender and the this is our finest hour. And checked out the Battle of Britain.

Behind the Scenes, Press, The Feed(s)

Lots to report... first, as we alluded to earlier, The Phantom of the Opera is ready to stream and download. The original from 1925 has a lot to offer and if worth the view, even though it can seem excruciating slow by today's film standards. Ahhh, but there is no super super super slow motion shots of people getting blown up or punched. And Lon Chaney is terrific. (no relation to Dick Cheney). Check out this funky Frank Random Trailer for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which like Phantom, stars Lon Chaney and Norman Kerry. I also found this page of action figures to be worth the wasted time.

Yep... i learn something every day... in this case, about a power broker at NBC named Dave Tebit, who is sitting next to Sid Caesar in This is Your Life Spoof. You can watch that segement here - and like me, learn a lot about Dave Tebit, who eventually ended up with Johnny Carson's production company. Dave Tebit died on Tuesday at age 91. Read more here.

One more note - LikeTelevision was mentioned in a press release - titled, AOL adds partners for video search engine. You can learn more if you like.

More cool stuff on the way - have a great weekend.

John Wayne, Peggy Lee & Tonto

May 26th is quite the busy day for birthdays. Marion Michael Morrison, better known as John Wayne was born on May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. He becomes one of Hollywood's biggest legends, best known for his tough guy roles especially in war movies and westerns. Hey - he was sooooo big, he was also known just by his nickname - The Duke. Search for John Wayne and watch a terrific movie called McLintock with Maureen O'Hara, Jerry Van Dyke, Stephanie Powers, Yvonne DeCarlo, Patrick Wayne (his son), Edgar Buchanan, and Chill Wills. Here's a cool free preview - made by LikeTelevision's own Frank Random shortly after September 11, 2001. John Wayne stars as George W. - George W. McLintock that is.

Also born today is singing sensation - Peggy Lee (Norma Delores Egstrom, aka Peggy Lee - 05/26/1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota). For over 3 decades, from the early 1940s through the mid 1970s - Peggy Lee was a major force on the music scene. She was nominated for 12 grammys and had so many songs on the charts it was crazy. Her best known songs include Fever, The Way You Look Tonight, Why Don’t You Do Right?, Big Spender, Bali Ha’i, and Mañana - to name but a few. Check out this command performance of Why Don’t You Do Right? with Benny Goodman, singing for the G.I.s in World War II. Learn more at her official site, peggylee.com

Hang on - we got more. Happy Birthday to Jay Silverheels, best known as Tonto on The Lone Ranger - born today in 1912. Mr. Silverheels' birth name is Harry J. Smith and he was born in Ontario, Canada. His father George Alexander Smith
was a Mohawk Chief. Check out Jay Silverheels in his most memorable role as Tonto in a classic Lone Ranger episode - Legion of Old Timers, which features a young DeForest Kelley (best known as Dr McCoy, Bones on Star Trek).

Finally - LikeTelevision honors Robert Morley, born May 26, 1908 in Semley, Wiltshire, England, UK. One of the greatest and most loved character actors of all-time, Robert Morley's list of credits is nearly endless. Here's a few of our favorite performances - 1) As the effeminate, poodle loving theater critic in Theater of Blood - Morley's performance is just about perfect and so over the top. It is also a terrific film - you can watch Morley's facial expressions as Vincent Price serves him his beloved poodles cooked in a caserole. Check out this free preview. You can also watch another terrific performance by Robert Morley in John Huston's Beat the Devil starring Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lolabrigida, Peter Lorre and Jennifer Jones. Truman Capote also worked on the screenplay for this movie. (here's a prehistoric promo with Lord Higgins and Roger Moss).

Andy, Barney & Aunt Bee DVD

Another download library rotation to report. Just in, a star packed 3 episode DVD from The Andy Griffith Show. The Big House, where Barney is in charge of Mayberry's jail and he runs a real tight ship. Guest stars George Kennedy. Aunt Bee's Medicine Man, with guest John Dehner. The classic episode where Aunt Bee and her church group get a little drunk, or tiddly as they say in Mayberry. The third episode, A Wife For Andy stars Aneta Corsaut as Helen Crump, Opie's school teacher.

These three episodes are packed into a single file, a DVD iso file. Just open your dvd-r burner and create a disc from an image file. Choose the image file - which is the iso file you downloaded. and burn it, (record).

Also new, A Star is Born, Chaplin's classic The Kid with Jackie Coogan, and The Scarlet Pimpernel with Merle Oberon. Titles that are rotated out of circulation this month - How Awful About Alan, and Raman Polanski's Knife in the Water.

A Star is Born - Original!

Another new classic movie - the 1937 original A Star is Born, written and directed by William Wellman. This David O. Selnick production is slick, and the writers that contributed was good as gold. Robert Carson, Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner, Budd Schulberg and William Wellman.

Worth the view - the original A Star is Born.

The Tax Man's Video Vault

Ding Ding Ding... April 15th.... taxes are due, or maybe your like Granny who would say...."Jed let me get my gun, it's the revenue man!" LikeTelevision has a bunch of fun content related to our favorite folks - tax men. Yes... even back in ancient times, people always loved the tax collectors. Why one of them even went on to become saint and write a Gospel (St. Matthew)... so let's cut the IRS some slack... while you're cutting them a check.

Anyway, we dug deep into our video vault to find some terrific entertainment related to the Tax Man. First on the list has got to be - Jed pays His Taxes starring Irene Ryan as Granny and Buddy Ebsen as Jed in a Hillbilly comedy classic. And speaking of comedy - by all means check out 2 killer episodes of the Burns and Allen Show - The Tax Man and Property Tax Assessor. And lest we forget - sometimes its the Treasury Department who acts as the toughest cop - remember, it was the Tax Man who ultimately took down notorious gangster Al Capone, a.k.a. Scarface - on October 19, 1931. All right, if you're like me... you like to grumble when you pay your taxes - so make sure you check out this FREE PREVIEW from My Man Godfrey, where Eugene Pallette, of the the greatest grumblers of all time - tells his family that they are spending 50% of his money while the revenue department is taking out just 60% of his income. Yes... it is hard to believe - but indeed that was the tax hit many years ago... in fact it was even much higher at its peak, especially when you added federal, local and property taxes to the pie. I guess that makes me feel a little bit better. Time to sign off... singing one of my my favorite Beatles tunes by the late great George Harrison - Tax Man.

Pope John Paul Vatican's Live video Feed

Even someone who is an athesist (someone who denies the existence of god) or agnostic (people who believe we cannot know whether or not a God exists) has got to be impressed that a man can draw over 4 million to his funeral. While doing some reseach - i found the American Atheists are tad upset by all the buzz (Atheists: No Public Money For Bush Papal Funeral Junket - April 5, 2005 News Release) - while the Agnostics just don't know what to think - hahaha. The passing of Pope John Paul II was expected - he has been ill for some time now - yet the outpouring of emotion and the massive pilgrimage to honor the man has been nothing short of amazing. The world has changed so much during his lifetime - he entered the priesthood at a time when about 1/3 of the priests in Poland had been killed just for being priests. And he lived to see the tyranny of the Nazi and the Communist Governments fold in his native Poland during his lifetime. The more I learn about the man - the more i have come to honor and respect him. I just found a media link at the Vatican's site to watch the current events - LIVE. Check it out.

WATCH the events LIVE from The Vatican

(REAL: hi - med - low or Windows Media: hi - med - low).

Check out the official site of the Vatican for more information about the man and learn more about how they will select the next pope.

Iwo Jima -February 23, 1945

We thought folks might be interested in learning a little bit about Iwo Jima - a small island about 750 miles south of Tokyo, since today is the anniversary of the victorious assault on Mount Suribachi. I suspect most everyone has seen the photograph, taken by a fellow named Joe Rosenthal, but do you know a thing about what actually transpired on Iwo Jima? Well ... good, you're honest. Here's a very short newsreel you can watch for free. Just kick back and learn something. If you want to see the page for This Day in History - click here.

LikeTelevision has a nifty calendar where you can watch some video clips related to each and every day of the year. Check it out and see what, if anything happened on your birthday - other than you being born. (no - i doubt we have footage of your birth, as your mom was modest. :~)

Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer & Joanna Pacula

All Right - as promised, Escape from Sobibor is ready to view. Check out this powerful movie and watch it online - or you can download the MPG files and make your own DVD (for personal use only, see terms and conditions for details). There's also a ton of terrific color stills in the image library. I really enjoyed this movie - and we are considering getting more movies directed by Jack Gold.

Ready to go - check it out, Escape From Sobibor, starring Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer, and Joanna Pacula.

Escape From Sobibor

Sobibor was a Nazi death camp in Poland during World War II. Built around March 1942 - the Sobibor camp was created to kill Jews Most were of Polish decent, though some were from the Soviet Union and others were from Western Europe. The film is not just a story of horror and evil darkness. Why? Because on October 14, 1943 - there was the largest escape in the history of the concentration camps. Over 300 condemned men, women and children escaped on that glorious day. Escape from Sobibor tells this story of tragedy and triumph - and the unbeleiveable power of the spirit that refuses to give into despair and holds onto hope in the darkest of circumstances. Here's Frank Random's trailer - may God have mercy on those fools choose to follow the evil tyranny that this film conveys. And may all good and loving people be blessed with the hope that carries one through such darkness.

Escape from Sobibor is a very special film. It is rare when a movie can leave you weeping at one moment, and later, hoping with all your might - that the characters in the movie will make it out of their hellish nightmare. Honestly - i could not help weeping when I watched this. Not just crying - but full blown sobbing. It hurts to view it and to immerse yourself in this heinous reality, even just vicariously watching it as a film. No - there are no gratuitous and shocking photos of ematiated men, women and children. The film hits you in the heart - because you get to know the people and you like the people. You admire their courage and respect their strength in a place that is filled with total despair.

We will have this film ready to view in few more days - till then, read a bit more about the story and the people. Just google Sobibor.

Television is Born - John Baird

January 27 marks a major milestone is the history of television. On January 27, 1926 - a Scottish inventor named John Baird demonstates a new invention that is able to transmit pictures - and guess what, the machine is called TELEVISION. Sadly - today, virtually no one even knows his name or that he was the guy who helped make the concept of transmitting images real. (the principles behind this had been around since 1875... but they remained mostly ethereal principles). Oh yeah... Al Gore wasn't born yet... so he was in no position to take credit for it, like the he internet.

Baird used a series of rapidly rotating discs with holes in them to create a series of horizontal lines. Later.... a fellow named Philo Farnsworth would come up with a better idea as he watched his dad plow the fields in the farm - in a single line, back and forth, making a new row at each turn. This idea was the birth of scan lines, which looks like a series of horizontal lines... but is actually a continuous line.

And the story about Philo Farnsworth and RCA's David Sarnoff is really interesting too... but we'll save that for another day.... because today - January 27 - LikeTelevision proudly commemorates Scotsman John Logie Baird, and the birth of television.

And today is also marks the birthday of Sabu (01/27/1924), also known as the elephant boy - and India's first star of the silver screen., He starred as Mowgli in Hollywood's original screen adaptation of Kipling's Jungle Book. His full name was Sabu Dastagir - I tried to do a google image search for Sabu... and darn it... there was virtually nothing of interest. I did learn however that there's a pro wrestler named Sabu.

And - yes... one of favorites - the elegant Donna Reed - best known for her role as Mary Hatch in It's a Wonderful Life was born on January 27, 1921. LikeTelevision offers a few movies starring Donna Reed - Picture of Dorian Gray (with Angela Lansbury) - free preview - and Last Time I Saw Paris - starring Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Eva Gabor, Roger Moore - yep... a very Bond... James Bond.

Stalin Infamy -12/28/1934

Seventy years ago today - on December 28, 1934 - Stalin begins his purges. Exploiting the assassination of Sergei Kirov, Stalin goes on a killing spree - leaving most of the old Bolsheviks dead. For more background - search for czar, Potemkin, Russian Revolution or Soviet, or Stalin.

Also added a very cool free preview of Throne of Blood - Akira Kurosawa's epic Samurai movie based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The film is remarkable - great story, beautiful cinematography, and very well acted and executed. The special FX are so ahead of their time, especially the arrow scene - where strings were used to guide arrows to their designated targets.

Typhoon & the Tommy Gun

Over the Christmas weekend, a Tsunami slams into Sri Lanka - killing over 22,000 people. A sad and terrible tragedy. Typhoons are brutal. Remember Nov. 13, 1970?

For the menu page, Superman, Billion Dollar Limited was added with a link to a terrific sample of the animation quality. Watch Lois Lane pack heat as she squeezes the trigger on her Thompson sub machine gun, a.k.a tommy gun. And who could forget, Billy Mumy (Will Robinson from Lost in Space) hawking a snub nosed 38 and a Tommy Burst, which of course was a machine gun.

Yojimbo - Kusosawa's Classic

Yojimbo - one of Kurosawa' best films - just got a major data upgrade. For the past few weeks we've been working on Yojimbo - cleaning up the subtitle text, major audio improvements, and so sweet, 450kps streaming media files of the movie, plus new mpeg 1 files are ready in the download library. (~1.8 GIG). Check out this sample - free preview or this 6 sec promo, or how about this..

Dick Van Dyke Show Birthdays

On December 13, 1925 - Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri. For those youngsters who only know him as Dr. Mark Sloan from Diagnosis Murder, he has enjoyed one of the most fruitful careers in Hollywood history. He got his start as a host on a cartoon show in 1956... and struggled for a few years before breaking out in the 1960 musical Bye-Bye Birdie (and won the Tony Award for his performance). In 1961 - he began a successful run of the Dick Van Dyke Show - one of the greatest sitcoms in TV history, as Rob Petrie a writer for the Alan Brady Show and faithful husband of Laura Petrie played by Mary Tyler Moore. His career includes remarkable roles in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cold Turkey, Fitzwilly and of course Mary Poppins - which was created 40 years ago in 1964.

As many of you know - he's Jerry Van Dyke's brother who played Luther the spaced out assistant on Coach. You can check out Jerry Van Dyke with John Wayne and Stephanie Powers in McLintock (watch this free preview). Also of interest - in the 1970s he seperated from his wife of 10 years and got mixed up with Michelle Triola Marvin. Who is Michelle Triola Marvin you ask - why she is an important figure in California legal circles - she's the woman who files the first Palimony case in 1979. (watch the news clip from the hollywood archive). Small world huh?

And tomorrow is Morey Amsterdam's birthday - who was born on Dec. 14, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for his role as Buddy Sorrell from the Dick Van Dyke show - the brutal thorn in Mel Cooley's bald head. Check out this classic free video of Morey in action. (and search for Richard Deacon who played Mel).

Walken & Cox, Military Mind Melt

Coming soon - The Mind Snatchers starring Christopher Walken (his 2nd movie) and Ronnie Cox, who makes his film debut. Imagine a movie that grabs from Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, throw in a dash of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and add one part Crazy Doctor, with two parts evil military experiments.... and you'll have a good idea of what this movie is about. Check the latest Frank Random preview - who threw in a pinch of Frank Zappa's Brain Police just to spice up the mix. This movie should be ready to rhumba sometime early next week... this trailer is offered to tease you and get your brain washed. Go on... Push That Button!

Also - we did a bit of tweaking behind the scenes and added some holiday related shorts that are randomly inserted into the Watch It play lists. Wanna see a few? ok... here's one, and here's another. Or how about Jed in some Capri pants... so ahead of his time, what fashion sense. Got to get back to work - we should have the four long form Chrysler commercials for The Forward Look ready for the weekend.

One final note of irony - December 2 - marks the anniversary of the first nuclear reaction - and also the release of Frances, starring Jessica Lange....so December 2 is the kind of day that marks science goes haywire and wacky doctors... Perhaps a good time to revisit the Frank Random re-mix of Duck and Cover. Now that's insane!

Yassar - He's Dead

After much confusion earlier this week.... with news reports like, Arafat is still clinging to life, the funeral's on Friday... it looks like Yasser Arafat is going to make his own funeral. But what happens next? And how will the political fight for his seat of power (and money perhaps)... play out. My guess is we will see the struggle go on for... oh... maybe a generation or two. While it is tempting, i will do my best to not speak ill of the dead, after all - Arafat did win the Nobel Peace Prize, which alerted even the casual observer to question what the heck the Nobel Peace Prize means anymore, and a reminder that the peace prize was set up by the guy who invented dynamite.

For those who might be young in years and short on history - you might try a search for terrorist - and see how long this battle has been going on. As far as i can tell... the struggle has been going on my whole lifetime (and I am an old man, my Budweiser born on date - 1959). Also odd, in that it is ironic - that this transpires on Veteran's Day - the day Americans honor the men who served in the military and helped secure the freedom we enjoy today. It is fascinating to watch the old WWII documentaries - and compare the tone (honor and reverence)... to what we get today. Yes... it was not always accurate - but i think we were a lot wiser to understand that the people who fought on our behalf had mothers, sisters, brothers sons and daughters - and that maybe, it was wise to show some respect. With that in mind - I hope Mr. Arafat is shown mercy, and that he finds himself in a beautiful place - where there's no need to blow up innocent people to make one's point.

And for those who love irony - check out this 15 year old news clip, This Day in History (Feb 4)... the day Arafat founded the P.L.O. The clip ends by calling Yasser - a survivor. web page -Watch Video. Clearly - a lot has changed since the video clip was created. And though i disagree with Arafat's methods (an understatement... vehemently disagree, ok).... i do hope that he rests in peace. Which reminds me of a great quote from Golda Meir (who like me, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin).... "We will not have peace as long as they hate us more than they love their children". The converse is also true.

Download Rotations - MPEG City

Lots of new download rotations to report - recently added to the download library - White Zombie, Knife in the Water, The Outlaw, The Terror and Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage. White Zombie features Bela Lugosi as the head zombie in the original 1931 classic. Roman Polanski's debute film Knife in the water features some semi psycho folks enjoying a tormented sail on a private yacht. Loads of tension on the little sailboat - as a thirty something couple in the midst of falling apart - bring a young hitchhiker along for a sailing trip, who has eyes for the girl.

Moving right along - The Terror stars Boris Karloff and a Jack Nicholson as a young soldier... a Yute as My cousin Vinny used to say. The film also stars Jonathan Haze, who played Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. And yes - that's Dick Miller from a Bucket of Blood.

And there's more too - Howard Hughes mega dollar saga of Billy the Kidd, The Outlaw starring Jane Russell is ready for your downloading pleasure. Features a very young Jane Russell (discovered in this film no less)... and a special bra made by Hughes Aircraft engineers, that used cantilevered structures to enhance... lift and separate... as only the aircraft industry might be expected to fully understand the nuisance of the bernouilli applied lift. OK - perhaps i am embellishing a wee bit....

More on the way.... oh yeah... don't forget - we also added one of Hitchcock's finest films - Sabotage, which offers Sir Alfred tension and some old school terrorists. next up - a classic French Gangsta film from back in the day.

Cool Jodie Foster Movie

Ready for the weekend - another new movie to download - plus a ton of cool images in the library to boot. Mesmerized (Color, 1986) is based on a true story (or so they say... you'll have to ask John Newland from One Step Beyond for further clarity.) Jodie Foster plays Vicotoria - the girl raised as an orphan - till one day - a wealthy guy named Oliver Thompson (John Lithgow) shows up - and asks her to marry him. At the time the girl is maybe 17 or 18 - perhaps even younger.

And you guessed it - Oliver turns out to be a real brute - like this image of Lithgow as a peeping tom. Better still - check out the full description of Mesmerized or download mpegs of the movie and burn a DVD for your personal use. Pretty cool movie - kinda strange.

November 4, 1979 -US Held Hostage

Twenty-five years ago today - on November 4, 1979 sixty-six Americans began a hostage ordeal that lasted 444 days. Today's clip in history offers some chilling newsreel footage from the era long ago - 25 years ago, and as such provides some perspective of where we've been and where we are going as we seek to end all acts of terrorism.

Off to finish up the Jodie Foster movie with John Lithgow. Worst case - it will be up by tomorrow.

10/08/1967 - Che Guevera is dead

On Oct. 8, 1967 - it was reported that Che Guevara had been fatally wounded in battle, fighting with peasant revolutionaries trying to take control of Bolivia. Shortly thereafter... it was reported he was executed by U.S. trained Bolivian soldiers in a one-room schoolhouse near Vallegrande, Bolivia on Oct. 9, 1967. Rumors swirled and the body was never delivered.... though they did supposedly cut off Che's hands... to get a bona fide fingerprint ID.

Many years later in July 1997, Che Guevara's body was found in in a mass grave near Vallegrande and reburied in Santa Clara, Cuba. In an odd twist of fate.... Vallegrande has become a leading merchant of Che Guevara posters, t-shirts, etc. etc.... so it looks like the capitalists had more staying power than the communists. When I was in college, my roommate had a poster of Che that graced our walls. As I got older, and learned more about the Castro regime in Cuba that brutally oppressed the good people - Che became less of a hero... and started to look more like a terrorist. To this day, Che Guevara remains a hero to many on the "left" side of politics. I think they should talk to some folks who lived in Cuba at the time... as they will hear a different story. Che Guevara is still a hero to some folks but his legend as a glamourous revolutionary has faded with time. As is often the case, the guy who claims he wants to be protect the people is often the guy who realy wants to weild power over the people and force his beliefs on them. If given the choice - I think I would prefer McDonald's french fries and an ice cold coke over communist tyranny. Che's life reminds me of John Steinbeck's line - The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry. And in case you didn't know - Steinbeck got this line from a Robert Burns poem - To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough - which contained the phrase - The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. Another line comes to mind that sums up Che Guevara's legacy -"One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter." Make sure you check out news clip for October 8th - This Day in History, which features an item on Che's death. Ironies abound with today's political tensions (see Che address the United Nations - HA!). - or as Mark Twain used to say - History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

Brigitte Bardot Turns 70!

Happy Birthday Brigitte Bardot, who was born September 28, 1934 in Paris, France. Before Marilyn Monroe and Kim Novak - Bardot was Hollywood's first ooh la la sweetie pie. LikeTelevision offers 2 of Bardot's best films - first, her debut at age 22 in Mademoiselle Striptease, where she is forced to join an amateur striptease contest because she sold a very expensive novel by Balzac by accident... long before the day of Beanie Babies and E-Bay - HA! The film was made in 1957 - and while the title sounds naughty, there's no nudity at all, in fact it quite a charming film. By today's standards - maybe PG. Long ago - it was enough to imply sensual beauty, and to be honest, most folks learn this as they grow older. A fun movie - in French with English subtitles, check it out.

The second film at LikeTelevision starring Brigitte Bardot, is titled And God Created Woman - which is dubbed in English is a bit more steamy and features Bardot as a poor girl who is attracted to a good man she loves (one brother), a suave man she is physically attracted to (the other brother), and a rich old man (who she feels nothing for - she just likes his money). The movie is disturbing in many ways - as it examines the many facets of women and what they are attracted to. By disturbing i mean that there is tension between a man and a woman, clearly we are different creatures and these differences serve up fears and concerns that are indeed disturbing. Will love win in the end? Sorry - you'll have to watch the movie. But if you want a sample - check out the free preview from Frank Random. Oooh La La!

Also - check out the history clip about the Cannes Film Festival - which offers a shot of Bardot, who was discovered at the festival.

Hegira - Sept. 24, 622

September 24 marks the day that Mohammed returns and commenced Hegira, which means the immigration. For many, this marks the day that the religion was founded. You can watch a brief news clip made in the early 1990s, featuring Edwin Newman, who i think worked for CBS as the narrator. It might also be of interest to learn more via a google search for Hegira or Hejira as it is often spelled in English. And by all means, pass on happy wishes to a friend or neighbor who is a follower. Take a deep breath and remember - most people who practice this faith are peaceful brothers and sisters. Wish them well. It is the small gestures of peace that bring us together. (you might wish to read Mother Teresa's comments on religion which seem relevent as well).

"There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic." - Mother Teresa

On the lighter side - this Sunday marks the 65th birthday of Donna Douglas, best known as Elly Mae Clampett from the Beverly Hillbilies. (shown here taking a bath by the cement pond, circa 1960s). LikeTelevision offers several dozen episodes of this terrific show - so if you start watching right now, you might finish all of them by Monday morning. Have a great weekend - if you feel compelled to learn more about the history of hurrican tracking - then check out this show, Man Behind the Badge - which tells the story of Grady Morton - who is a NOAA hall of famer, and is seen as the father of hurricane tracking. Not your cup of tea? - well then go watch Jeanne in a movie after she left her days in the little genie bottle. (FREE PREVIEW - another laughfest from Frank Random.)

Happy Birthday Kemosabe

Today is Clayton Moore's birthday - best known for his role as The Lone Ranger, though he also was terrific as a villian in Radar Men From the Moon and a bunch of Film Noire classics. He was born in Chicago, Illinois - as Jack Moore and spent much of his youth as an aerialist in the circus. In 1938 he moved to Hollywood hoping to be a star only to find small roles as a bit player or a stuntman. His first break came when he won the part of Zorro in 1949. When the Lone Ranger moved from radio to the new medium called television, Clayton Moore won the part for the masked man that nobody knew. His faithful companion Tonto, played by Jay Silverheels always called him Kemosabe... which most folks thought was an Indian phrase. The evidence for Kemosabe being an Indian word is spotty - Apache and Navajo have words that sound kinda like Kemosabe - but they translate as White Shirt in Apache and Soggy Shrub in Navajo. Others suggest the word might be derived from Ojibwe word "giimoozaabi" which roughly translates as Scout. (in the show - they said it meant Faithful Scout). But another theory explains that the word is rooted in the Spanish phrase - "Quien Sabe", which means - Who Knows? ... as in nobody knew who this guy was. But hey... Quien Sabe.... who knows for sure.

Clayton Moore is the only actor who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with his name and his characters name (it reads, Clayton Moore The Lone Ranger).

In the real world - Clayton Moore was very active in working for the common good - and made countless appearances as the Lone Ranger to kids around the country promoting the Lone Ranger's code of moral conduct.

On Dec 28, 1999 - just a few short days before the next millennium... Clayton Moore died of a heart attack. We will remember him fondly - he seemed like a terrific man and like most kids of my era, he was a hero for me growing up.

LikeTelevision Updates

All yesterday was spent working behind the scenes to build out the random channel suggestions on the Classic Television Channel display. Basicially - every time you go to the movie page or the classic tv page - a random selection of suggestions appear. Try it out - just click the Classic TV page, and refresh or click it again. new entires appear for the 5 suggested titles. I added over 100 differect suggestions for this feature - and i am still way behind. Sorry - use the drop down or better still, read the blog to keep posted on new additions to the library.

Also made a few changes in the commentary for the movie - The Harrad Experiment starring Tippi Hedren, Don Johnson and James Whitmore. One of our users from Washington DC named Mike pointed out that Don Johnson had a torrid relationship with Melanie Griffith some years back, and that Melanie was Tippi Hedren's daughter. What makes this weird or noteable - is that in the film, Johnson tries to seduce Tippi Hedren (the mother of a gal Don went out with in the real world). Anyway... it is worth noting - and creepy.

gotta scoot - some terrific weird and funky commercials coming next... see the blog for details.

2 New Funky Shorts

Yee Haw - a new pair of funky shorts - just what the doctor ordered. First up - a terrific singing commercial with some Ajax Cleanser elves who scrub away in the bathroom while belting out a very cool doo wap kinda jingle. Love those lens flares on the shiny fixtures. Next up - a vintage brewski ad from Carling Black Label. This one also features cartoon characters - a husband and wife team - where the wife does all the chores around the home while her husband relaxes in a hammock and requests a beer from his hard working wife. Great stuff... totally politically incorrect by today's standards - you'll love it.

Honoring Elmer Bernstein

Yesterday, August 19, 2004 - the world lost one of the greatest names in music, that i regret - not many people even know his name. Elmer Bernstein (no relation to Leonard Bernstein) was one the greatest film composers in Hollywood's history. With about 200 films to his credit - he was not only a great composer, but obviously prolific as well. Perhaps his best known work is the incredible jazz score for Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, and Darren McGavin, about a heroin junkie (Frank Sinatra as Frankie Machine) trying to go straight by being a drummer. If you've never seen the film - by all means check it out. Or if time is short, check out Frank Random's terrific FREE preview that will give you a taste of Bernstein's genius.

Bernstein's gifts also took center stage on another classic film - To Kill A Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck and based on Harper Lee's novel. Bernstein was challenged by the film and finally decided to come up with a brilliant score that was based on a very simple musical line, often played by a single note on the piano. His style here was meant to reflect upon the beauty and innocence of a child - and how a child might perceive the hatred of racial prejudice. In a totally different style - another work of musical genius. Watch the movie - or check out another great FREE Preview by LikeTelevision's resident genius, Frank Random.

And Bernstein did it again - with the rousing upbeat Western score for the Magnificent Seven (the Marlboro Man theme back when cigarette makers advertised on tele