Friday, July 31, 2015

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper

I am your reality check!
-"Rowdy" Roddy Piper

Roderick "Roddy" George Toombs 
April 17, 1954 – July 30, 2015 
Better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, film actor, and podcast host. In professional wrestling, he was best known for his work with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Although he was Canadian, due to his Scottish heritage he was billed as coming from Glasgow in Scotland and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He earned the nickname "Rowdy" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage, spontaneity and quick wit. Despite being a crowd favorite for his rock star-like persona, he often played a villain. Aside from his ring name, he was also known by the nickname "Hot Rod".
Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and named No. 1 of the Top 50 villains in wrestling history by the WWE.

Piper died of cardiac arrest in his sleep in his home in Hollywood, California. He was discovered dead in his home on July 31, 2015. 

They Live (1988)

I hope there is Bubble Gum in Heaven.
Good Night Mr. Piper

Stay Tuned



Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd in The "Hunting Trilogy"


Here is another "Mental Sorbet" little spark of madness that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths. 

Rabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes (reissued as a Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodie) cartoon starring Bugs BunnyDaffy Duck andElmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, the short is notable for being the first film in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!. It is also the first film to feature a feud between Bugs and Daffy. Produced by Edward Selzer for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters on May 19, 1951 by Warner Bros. Pictures and is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films. It is also the first film to star bothBugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
The film marks a significant change in Daffy's personality, away from the goofy "screwball" and toward the "foil" for Bugs' jokes.


Rabbit Seasoning is a 1952 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunting trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese. (The only major difference in format between Rabbit Fire and Rabbit Seasoning is that the former takes place during the spring, while the latter takes place in autumn. The third cartoon, Duck! Rabbit, Duck!, takes place in the winter.) Produced by Edward Selzer forWarner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters on September 20, 1952 by Warner Bros. Pictures and is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films. In Jerry Beck's 1994 book The 50 Greatest CartoonsRabbit Seasoningis listed at number thirty.

Duck! Rabbit, Duck! is a 1953 Merrie Melodies comedy cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs BunnyDaffy Duckand Elmer Fudd. It is the sequel to Rabbit Seasoning, and the third (along with Rabbit Fire) and final entry in Jones' "huntingtrilogy" (the only major difference in format between this film and the others is that it takes place during the middle of winter). Produced by Eddie Selzer for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters in 1953 by Warner Bros. Picturesand is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films. This is the only film in the trilogy where Bugs does not crossdress.


Happy Birthday Bugs

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Remembering Theodore Bikel: Next on TVC

We’ll replay our conversation with actor Theodore Bikel on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing July 29-Aug. 3 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 7/29
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 8/2
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

KHDN AM-1230
Billings, MT
part of GLN Radio Network
Friday 7/31
3pm ET, Noon PT
Saturday 8/1
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Monday 8/2
3pm ET, Noon PT

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 7/31
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
Use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
or hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 8/1
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 8/2
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

KSCO-AM 1080
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY-AM 1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 8/2
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM

Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 8/2
9pm PT
Monday 8/3
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 8/3
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
Ann Arbor, MI
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com

We will dedicate the second hour of this week’s program to Theodore Bikel, the Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actor, singer, songwriter, poet and recording artist and stage actor who passed away last week at the age of 91. Many of you know Theo from his appearances in such films and television series as The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Columbo, All in the Family, The Defiant Ones, The African Queen, and The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming. But he also created the role of Captain von Trapp in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, plus he played Tevye on Fiddler on the Roof more than 2,100 times on Broadway and elsewhere.
We had the opportunity to talk to Theo on two occasions last year, including once in which we discussed the release of Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholem Aleichem, a documentary that combines Theo’s own storytelling with a broader exploration of Sholem Aleichem, a pioneer of modern Jewish literature whose stories about Teyve the Dairyman provided the basis for Fiddler on the Roof. The collective works of Aleichem played an integral part in Theo’s life, while Theo himself described the documentary as his legacy. We’ll replay both of our conversations with Theodore Bikel in our second hour.

Also this week: A new DVD report and an expanded edition of This Week in TV History.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Fri and Mon 3pm ET, Noon PT and Sat 6pm ET, 3pm PT on GLN Radio Network
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

Monday, July 27, 2015

This Week in Television History: July 2015 PART IV

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:


As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
July 27, 1940
Bugs Bunny first appears on the silver screen in A Wild Hare
The wisecracking rabbit had evolved through several earlier short films. As in many future installments of Bugs Bunny cartoons, A Wild Hare featured Bugs as the would-be dinner for frustrated hunter Elmer Fudd.
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character, created by the staff of Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by the "Man of a Thousand Voices," Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. during the golden age of American animation. His popularity during this era led to his becoming an American cultural icon, as well as a corporatemascot of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray hare or rabbit who is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality, a pronounced New York accent, his portrayal as a trickster, and his catch phrase "Eh... What's up, doc?", usually said while chewing a carrot. Though the Warner Bros. animation studio first began experimenting with a rabbit character during the late 1930s, the definitive character of Bugs Bunny is widely considered to have made his debut in director Tex Avery's Oscar-nominated filmA Wild Hare (1940).
Since his debut, Bugs has appeared in various short films, feature films, compilations, TV series, music records, comic books, video games, award shows, amusement park rides and commercials. He has also appeared in more films than any other cartoon character,[4] is the ninth most-portrayed film personality in the world, and has his own star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.

July 28, 2000
Kathie Lee Gifford made her final appearance as co-host of the ABC talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee



To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

 



 

Stay Tuned



Tony Figueroa