via youtube.com
This song seems to bring out the best in people.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Potential Disney Heroines
As Sam Nielson alludes, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as written is not exactly fertile ground for growing Disney princesses (Esmeralda dies, Quasimodo kills Frollo, then starves to death at Esmeralda's graveside). (A strong second place for inappropriate cartoonification is Don Bluth's Anastasia.)
But if that worked... Perhaps the world is ready for Disney's Romeo and Juliet. Or Wuthering Heights. Or Frankenstein...
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Laugh track - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charley Douglass’s famous invention was properly tested in 1965 when producers were trying to launch Hogan's Heroes. CBS screened two versions of the same episode to measure audience reactions; one contained the laugh track, the other was silent. As Hogan's Heroes required cerebral viewing, the audience watching the silent version were left confused, and the episode failed miserably. The version with the canned laughter succeeded and CBS gave the show a green light. After this incident, no sitcom went on the air without a touch-up from Charley Douglass’s laff box.[2]
via en.wikipedia.org
Wait. "As Hogan's Heroes required cerebral viewing..."? Say what?
How remarkable that this incident should be the "proper test" that has cursed nearly every comedy since with a canned audience. I'll certainly accept that the premise of Hogan's Heroes was such that, without the laughter, the audience might not understand the show was intended as a light comedy, which knowledge would certainly affect the reception the show received. But it doesn't seem a fair test of the need for "laffs".
Douglass captured many of his recorded "laffs" from the live audience of the Red Skelton Show during Red's weekly pantomime skit. How odd that a feature called the "Silent Spot" should contribute to the lack of silence on television for the following forty-five (and counting) years.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
9th Annual No Pants Metro Ride in Washington
via upi.com
It was started by Improv Everywhere in New York, but this gala 9th pantsless year was celebrated (if that's the word) in 43 cities in 16 countries. Among those cities was Atlanta, although you wouldn't know it by the media's reaction. I'm guessing the folks who braved the weather on Sunday morning probably had the MARTA car to themselves.
I considered it, but allowed myself to be frightened off by the temperatures. Maybe next year.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Remote-Control Model USS Enterprise | Gadget Lab
via wired.com
It flies? Well, no. But what it does, it does quite gracefully.
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