The Return of the Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™!

Thanks to loyal member of the Thrilling Days of Yesteryear faithful Barry, who was gracious enough to alert me to DISH Network’s new Flex Channel package, Tee Cee Em has made a triumphant return to The House of Yesteryear.  There are not enough words to adequately express my joy at this turn of events.

The way the Flex package works, you start with a basic tier of fifty channels—one of which is my beloved Turner Classic Movies.  You can then add additional packages according to your whims…or the whims of your family, as the case may be.  (If it were solely my decision, I’d be Encore Channeling and Movie Plexing all up in this bitch.)  “This is the closest thing to à la carte so far,” Barry explained in a follow-up comment.  “I could cut my bill by more than half: just add the News Pack (FBN and Bloomberg for wife), Encore (westerns for me), and dump the locals (I have an antenna and Windows Media Center).  I only wish AMC were in an extra package so I could have the satisfaction of dumping them too!”  The way this deal worked out for Rancho Yesteryear almost makes me regret the terrible things I’ve said about DISH in the past.  (Almost, that is.)

I had to add the Locals package to ensure we’d still receive our local channel lineup (my father has somehow convinced himself that if he watches WSB-TV’s newscasts at noon, four, and six o’clock there will be a tremendous change in the content), and the News package (also for Dear Old Dad) because he needs the newsreaders at MSDNC—or to use the longer nomenclature, the Hillary Clinton Pantsuit Politburo—to continually convince him HRC is not a terrible candidate.  Finally, as a nod toward mi madre, I added the Regional Action Network package—which carries both the SEC and Fox Sports South channels—so that she never goes hungry again (as God as her witness) missing out on her beloved Braves, Hawks, and Georgia Bulldog games.  (When I presented this proposal to Mumsy, she picked up her cellphone and threw it at me—yelling “Call them!  Now!” A day after we initially whittled down the package, Mom had more regrets than a Brexit voter.)

The package isn’t perfect.  I’m still out GetTV, and I lost RT America, the channel that carries my favorite satirical political comedy show, Redacted Tonight.  (This last one is no biggie; I can watch the episodes online via YouTube.)  When I sat down in Count Comfy von Chair to explain the new setup to the Laird and Master, my Mom started waving me off like I was trying to steal home.  I waited until Father had to answer the call of nature, and then I asked her: “Why don’t you want me to tell him about this?”

“He’ll figure it out sooner or later,” she replied.  I then pointed out that he’ll certainly notice it when we get the cable-internet bill but she was way ahead of me: “He’s not going to see it,” she assured me as she tented her fingers while a white cat leapt into her lap.  Twisted and evil!

Will the return of TCM affect the new direction of the blog?  I’m determined that it will not.  Thanks again to Barry for having my back, and I hope all you cartooners have a wonderful weekend.

This one goes to eleven

As I mentioned Saturday—and in keeping with a couple of well-wishers (the amazing animation maven known as Brandie at True Classics and the equally sensational Fredric March devotee Jill from Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence—both of whom can also be spotted hangin’ ‘round at The Black Maria) who sent me felicitations via Twitter—today marks the eleventh anniversary of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear.  What a long, strange trip it’s been.

If you had remarked once I was into this blog for two or three years that I’d still be having fun with it in 2014 I might have been a bit skeptical.  I’m just as surprised as you (and maybe a little frightened) that it’s continued for as long as it has, due to my admittedly low threshold of boredom.  But I never seem to run out of things to write about (and even re-write about), which I can only take as a positive sign; I have seen many a fine blog abandoned and left to be taken over by squatters who use the digs for their own nefarious purposes…mostly involving a lunchmeat made popular in a Monty Python sketch.

I’ve told and retold the origins of TDOY so many times I’m starting to get e-mail from folks asking whether this is a blog or a Marvel comic book.  But I believe in giving generous credit where it is due—it was my friend Laura (a.k.a. “The Baby”) who first planted the seed in my feverish brain, and then itinerant farmers S.Z. and Scott C. at World-o-Crap (also going strong for about the same length of time) did the necessary landscaping.  But TDOY would be a hollow shell without the support of the blog faithful and friends I’ve made online all these years—I risk leaving anyone out if I start to list everybody, so you good people know who you are.

This year’s anniversary will be a fun one because the ‘rents and I will be tucking into some Chinese food this evening as we steel ourselves to watch the election returns.  We take the responsibility to vote very seriously here at Rancho Yesteryear; we went out first thing this morning and after breakfasting at The Cracker Barrel (at the risk of sounding like an ingrate—I’ve eaten better biscuits) we swung by our polling place and cast our ballots.  I held my nose and voted for Michelle Nunn even though she did not overwhelm me with her candidacy (something about being able to work across the aisle, holding hands and singing Kumbaya—while saying very little about what she supports) because David Perdue is essentially Mitt Romney with a Southern drawl.  I didn’t have as much trouble with voting for Jason Carter (though he, too, is problematic) because I think Nathan Deal is crookeder than a dump truck full of dissembled wire hangers.  Ditto Ken Dious (Jeebus protect me from these centrist, wishy-washy Democrats), who hasn’t a chance of winning against batshit crazy wingnut The Right Reverend Jody Hice.

So as we eat our egg rolls and beef ‘n broccoli and kung pao shrimp while watching MSNBC (all three of us are in agreement that Wolf Blitzer is the worst), I will try to forget that despite years of pissing and shitting on government in an effort to demonstrate it doesn’t work, the GOP will be rewarded by frustrated voters because their hapless counterparts are unable to articulate to Joe Red Clay why they are the better alternative.  Instead, I will toast eleven years of nostalgia blogging (I promise to make a little headway on getting the old Salon blog material up soon) and take comfort in the knowledge that my sponsor (heh) has picked up my option for another season.  (Actually, we had originally planned to have rib-eyes…but that was only if Mitch McConnell was going down to defeat, and that does not look likely.)  Tomorrow, a new edition of “On the Grapevine” and this Saturday, more Black Widow shenanigans on Serial Saturdays.

If you haven’t already done so…go out and vote, damn it.

Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion – Chapter 3: The Death Drop

Before “The Death Drop” became a popular attraction at Six Flags Over Georgia And Five Of Them Are Confederate, it was the title of the third chapter in our exciting new serial, Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion (1951), here on Serial Saturdays.  Last week, it looked as if Hal Duncan (Walter Reed)—Special Government Agent—was about to say “sayonara” as his car veered off the road and into a river that looked as if a nearby dam had burst.

What we did not see, however, is Hal’s spectacular leap from his automobile mere seconds before it plunged into the swollen torrents of the Lydecker River.

I love the look on Hal’s face when he gets to his feet.  (“Hannh?”)

The action—and I use that term loosely—then switches to yet another riveting meeting of the Interstate Truck Owners Association.  For those of you who have joined us in progress, one of these four men…

…Armstrong (Pierce Lyden), Crandall (Arthur Space), Thompson (Mauritz Hugo) and Willard (George Meeker)—is in actuality the mystery figure known as “The Voice,” who is working to undermine Hal and his gubmint bosses at every turn by hijacking “critical defense material supplies” because Communism.

HAL: So Regan wasn’t dead after all…the pill he took must have contained some powerful drug that left him in a state of suspended animation…

“Either that…or this serial put him to sleep.”

WILLARD: But how did the rest of the gang know where he was?

HAL: Well, I wish I could answer that question…of course, the authorities at Mercer knew all about him—but it’s hard to believe they’d have connection with the crooks…

ARMSTRONG: You didn’t give out the story to the press…?

HAL: No…I said nothing to anyone except in my report to you gentlemen here…

CRANDALL: You think there might have been a leak from this office?

HAL: There certainly is a leak somewhere…

“Speaking of which…let’s put this meeting on hold while I make a pit stop to the Little Trucker’s Room…”

ARMSTRONG: Why…it’s preposterous to suggest that anyone in this room is connected with the criminals…but…one of us might have talked to one…

CRANDALL: I suppose that’s possible…but…this is becoming a very serious situation…

HAL: Yes…it’s so serious that the government has decided to start shipping critical materials by train instead of truck…

“You see how just one bad apple ruins a good time for everyone else.”

WILLARD: Oh…so that’s why my shipment of electronic instruments was cancelled…

HAL: And I’m afraid you’ll lose more government business until we stop these hijackers…

“So suck on that, you bloated government tick…”

ARMSTRONG: Are you keeping up your road patrol and checkpoint system?

HAL (sighing): Yes…all we need is a little luck and we’ll catch them eventually…

How they plan to do this when the shipments are now being transported by train goes unexplained, of course…but pay no never mind—the meeting is adjourned.  The same bit of dialogue seems to be heard every time these minutes come to a close: “If you need any help, let us know.”  (“How about one of you coming clean about being ‘The Voice’?  It would save a few Saturdays in the bargain.”)

Speaking of His Voiceness, a change of scenery finds us in the Metz Building…where the shadowy figure issues instructions to his henchies, Regan (Dick Curtis) and Cady (Fred Coby).

VOICE: We have almost done our job too well…the government is starting to send some of its shipments by train instead of truck…

REGAN: Well…maybe we better lay off for a while…

VOICE: We can’t afford to…I need those electronic instruments to fill a very important order for my best foreign customer…

REGAN: Where can we get ‘em?

VOICE: At least a part of a shipment is ready in a warehouse here in town…

“The rest you should be able to pick up at the Radio Shack in the mall.”

REGAN: Well…any warehouse with that stuff in it is bound to be very well-guarded…

VOICE: It is…but we can take care of that, too…

“The master cable for the central burglar alarm system runs through an underground conduit on Third Street,” explains The Voice.  “Cutting that cable will start all the other alarms ringing, and every policeman in the district will…”  He trails off here, but I’m guessing the rest of the sentence would be “…be otherwise occupied at Ward’s Donuts.”  Honest to my grandma—the other day, I saw a news story on WSB-TV Action News about a guy who tried to hold up a donut shop.  (I think sending him to jail was a positive thing—he’s too stupid to survive on the streets.)

Anyway, The Voice trails off because there’s a dissolve to Regan and Cady opening a manhole cover, allowing Regan to access the “underground conduit” and clip the Master Cable…which he does with relative ease.  As The Voice predicted, all of the alarm systems go off at the same time, unnerving a harried security guard (Ralph Dunn) who identifies himself (he phones the cops from a police box) as McGee.  (“T’aint funny, McGee.”)  As Regan and Cady drive away undetected, a swarm (bevy?  pride?) of cops arrives on the scene and are so confused by the constant ringing of bells they start smacking into one another like something out of a Mack Sennett comedy.

Regan and Cady arrive at the warehouse, where they are welcomed by two of their henchmen brethren.  Regan tells them that “every cop in town is chasing burglar alarms.” Heh heh…stupid cops.  They are then told to “get to work,” and we dissolve and fade in to this familiar door…

…plus a screaming headline informing us of the tomfoolery that the four goons wreaked upon the warehouse.  Hal unloads on Kay Roberts (Mary Ellen Kay), gal Friday of the ITOA…who wishes she had taken the advice of her mother and married “that nice young man with good prospects in the insurance business.”

KAY: So the trucking companies aren’t the only ones being robbed?

HAL: No…but this time the crooks only did half the job…

Crooks be lazy.  Check out that picture on the wall between Hal and Kay—what the hell is that supposed to be, anyway?  I mean, yeah, I know it’s a truck…but why was it put up there?  (“Oh, Miss Roberts…on your lunch hour, I want you to get something to cover up that hole in the wall…something truck-related…”)

HAL: …the parts that were stolen were only half the ones needed to make the instruments…the rest of the parts are on their way here by train…so whoever plans to use them will have to have both consignments…

KAY: You don’t think they’d dare try to rob a train…?

HAL: Well, they might…this stuff is coming in on a passenger train…it’ll stop at Sanborn Junction at 2:40 this afternoon…I’m going out there and post guard on the express car for the trip across the mountains…I’ll call you later…

He’s just saying that, Kay…he never will.  The scene shift finds us at the aforementioned Sanford Junction, where Hal meets up with his enthusiastic but dim sidekick, Sam Bradley (John Packard).

SAM: Everything’s all set…

HAL: Call Kay and tell her the shipment’s in good order…and that a half-a-dozen guards are riding with it from here on…I’m going to stand by until the train pulls out…

SAM: Right!

Walking back around the building in search of a phone booth—no cell phones in those days!—Hal spots one…and also notices that’s occupied by one Skeevy J. Regan!  (Okay, I don’t really know if that’s Regan’s full name—I just thought it sounded cool.)

REGAN (on the phone): Duncan’s put half-a-dozen guards on the express cars…so we can’t go aboard the train to stop it…take some dynamite out to where the trucks are waiting and when the train comes through, blow up the tracks…that’ll work just as well…

Hal is polite enough to wait for Regan to finish his phone call…and then when the goon emerges from the booth he draws his pistola and tells him to grab some sky.  But Hal hasn’t noticed that Regan’s buddy Cady has been watching nearby, so…

…yes, it’s what Republic cornered the market on in motion pictures—a good ol’ fashioned donnybrook.  There are punches thrown for a few minutes, and as the train pulls out of Sanford Junction Cady delivers a roundhouse that sends an unconscious Hal off a loading dock and close to the tracks below.  Regan and Cady make like Casper and lam out in their sedan as a groggy Special Government Agent gets to his feet and rejoins Sam.

SAM: What happened?

HAL: Plenty…

I seem to recall a similar exchange of dialogue in Chapter 2.  Why doesn’t Hal just be honest with Sam?  (“I got my ass kicked, you dinkerplatz!”)

HAL: …the hijackers are gonna wreck that train and steal that shipment…we’ve gotta stop ‘em!

SAM: How?  There’s no other station between here and the mountains and we can’t catch a train with a car…

Speeding, Sam.  Look into it.

HAL: Well, there’s an airport on the edge of town…we’ll charter a plane and flag ‘em down!

“Besides…how else are we going to use stock footage from Chapter 8 of Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.—‘Train of Doom’?”  Our heroes are soon off to the airport and a dissolve finds the two of them at the controls of a private plane…

SAM: Got any idea where they figure to wreck it?

HAL: No…but it will probably be on this side of the mountains…they have to pick a spot where their trucks can get to it…

SAM: We haven’t got much time…

“Sam…be honest with me—don’t you think I look an awful lot like Ralph Byrd with this aviator-cap-and-goggles on?”  So as Hal and Sam are flying the friendly skies, we cut to another sinister sedan pulling up to a railroad crossing.  A thug named Turner (Edmond Cobb) exits the vehicle and tells his podnuh (William Thourlby) behind the wheel “Now take the car back out of sight…tell the trucks to wait where they are until they hear the crash.”  Oh, lordy…this does not look good.  The driver soon speeds off as Turner starts to work his deviltry on the tracks with a detonator and wire.

Back to the skies overlooking Central City.  Hal and Sam spot stock footage of a locomotive speeding along its way, blissfully unaware of the explodiating surprise Turner has in store for it.  Sam brings the plane down a bit so that Hal can signal the engineer…and this happens:

I laughed out loud at that.  “Hiya, Mr. Byrd!” the engineer appears to be waving.  So Hal orders Sam to take the plane up enough feet to allow him to “parachute down in front of him.”  Buh-what now?

As Turner completes the planting of the dynamite, Hal hits the old silk.

Sacajaweeeeeaaaaaa…Hal lands on the train tracks and becomes entangled in the parachute…as the train comes barreling down on him!

Dodged a bullet on that one!

While my sister and her family were visit-a-tating Rancho Yesteryear over the holidays, WSB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, started televising a “crawl” at the bottom of the screen warning Charter Cable subscribers that come January 1, 2014, they might not see WSB or digital subchannel Me-TV on their system…and they were nice enough to provide Charter’s toll-free number so that we could call them and let them know we’d like to keep WSB and Me-TV.

I’m not going to lie to you.  The very notion of losing one of the few stations I watch (that would be Me-TV) made me panicky at first…but instead of throwing a big stinky fit, I carefully reasoned that I have enough classic TV-on-DVD in the dusty Thrilling Days of Yesteryear archives to help me weather the ensuing storm.  So my Concern-o-Meter was registering low numbers…but what really brought on unbridled joy was the idea that my father would be forced to go through a bout of local news withdrawal.

Yes, I know you think I’m being a meanie.  Honestly, I’m not a cruel man…at least, I don’t think I am.  Being denied access to WSB would be tough love for Dad.  The man watches—by my calculations—an estimated three-and-a-half hours of WSB news on the weekdays.  He watches the noon telecast, then switches over to Channel 2 at 4 and watches more news for two hours until Mom calls him in for dinner.  He’ll bolt dinner in roughly the same amount of time it takes a pit crew to change a tire during a NASCAR race, and then get to the TV set to finish the news at 6:30…he’d watch until 7, but he likes to listen to Brian Williams’ nightly pronouncements at that time.  He’s not a casual news watcher—he’s a junkie with a serious habit.

I’ve talked about my Dad’s news obsession on the blog in the past…and in all honesty, it’s probably petty of me to endlessly mock the subject—but I’m powerless to resist.  Local news is the worst.  If they’re not clogging the airwaves with mindless stories of stabbings, shootings, car crashes, water main breaks or fires, they’re pandering to the lowest common denominator exploiting children who are missing or have life-threatening diseases.  (I have compassion for these kids, I really do—I just get nauseated at the freak show the local news people make of their day-to-day existence.)  It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just one hour out of the day…but when he’s finished watching at noon, he returns to it at four—and the news has not changed one iota.  “Dad,” says I, “the reason the stories repeat is because no one is supposed to sit down and watch three hours of this stuff—the actual tolerance level has been measured at twenty minutes, tops.”

When my father is not watching WSB…he’s watching MSNBC.  We can debate the merits or demerits of this cable talk fest at a later date (or if you’re in tune with any of my right-leaning friends on Facebook, the debate pretty much goes on all the time) but I’m positively flummoxed as to how someone can sit there hour after hour after hour listening to same tired political talking points being regurgitated constantly.  The script never changes—only the talking heads do.

So with the news that Charter pulled the plug on WSB last night at midnight—right in the middle of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, too, which I also found hilarious—I was actually anticipating the thrill of watching dear ol’ Dad go through severe withdrawal from not being able to watch Channel 2’s news.  I had Me-TV on in the back bedroom earlier today, and all that was on it was a ticker from Charter announcing how disgusted it was that WSB was demanding a higher fee to allow the system to continue to carry the station.  (Maybe I’m talking out of turn here…but if anyone should refrain from lecturing about charging higher fees, it’s Charter.)  Well, around 1:30pm Me-TV was restored to Charter’s graces (right in the middle of a Gunsmoke rerun I had already seen) and WSB came back shortly after, meaning sanity has now been restored to the House of Yesteryear.  (If I were a betting man, I’d gamble that today’s Capital One Bowl game—Wisconsin squaring off with the South Carolina Gamecocks—brought both parties to the negotiating table quicker than expected.)

Well. It was nice while it lasted.  Tonight, I will drift off into dreams of a local news-free household, and life will be good.

The passings parade

It has not been a particularly cheerful time these past couple of weeks for TV fans…because we’ve had to bid a fond farewell to many beloved faces that used to appear regularly on the old cathode ray tube.  Perhaps the most recognizable name to those people who aren’t as preoccupied with nostalgia as I am know who Andy Rooney was—the radio-television writer and 60 Minutes personality who used to close that program every week with the segment “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney.”  Rooney, who had announced on October 2 of this year that he would no longer appear regularly on the newsmagazine, experienced complications from surgery (undisclosed) and had to be hospitalized in late October.  He died on November 4 at the age of 92.

When my father watched 60 Minutes on a regular basis (I honestly couldn’t tell you when he stopped making it a habit; I’d probably moved out by then) he was a huge fan of Rooney’s; he even had several of Andy’s books on the shelves at home…and in some ways, reminds me of Rooney in that he’s always kvetching about something or another.  I can’t swear to it, but Dad probably signed off on the news magazine segments (and Rooney’s syndicated column) about the time Andy’s weekly ruminations started veering off in the direction of the controversial; in later years he managed to piss off gays, Native Americans, Latinos, religious groups and fans of Nirvana.  (To be honest, I sort of gave him a pass on that last one.)

While Rooney remains best known for his work on 60 Minutes he should also be saluted out for his contributions to other programs such as The Garry Moore Show, The Twentieth Century and The Great American Dream Machine; he also wrote for Arthur Godfrey’s radio and TV shows (Arthur Godfrey Time) and before his 60 Minutes stint did a series of humorous specials on CBS that included 1975’s Peabody Award-winning Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington and one of my personal favorites, Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner (in 1978).  If there is indeed a life out in the Great Beyond, Rooney is probably complaining about conditions in his typical curmudgeonly fashion.

Two of television’s character actor icons have also shuffled off this mortal coil—and as irony would have it, both on the same day.  Actor Leonard Stone was eulogized in numerous obituaries for his signature role as used car salesman Sam Beauregarde (father of ill-fated gum chewer Violet Beauregarde) in the 1971 feature film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory…but here at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, we remember Stone for the fact that he literally seemed to be in every episode of the 1967-70 revival of Dragnet (yes, I realize he only appeared in five installments—but I swear it seemed like more).  He also had recurring roles on such series as Camp Runamuck (as Doc Joslyn), General Hospital and L.A. Law; his film roles include The Mugger, The Big Mouth, The Shakiest Gun in the West, Angel in My Pocket, Soylent Green and Hardly Working.  Stone died one day before his 88th natal anniversary on November 2.

In the 1950s, legions of kidvid viewers knew character thesp Sid Melton as Ichabod “Ikky” Mudd (“Mudd with two d’s”) on Captain Midnight (aka Jet Jackson)…and those who could stay up later than that recognized Sid as Charley Halper, the nightclub owner that employed Danny Williams on The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy).  Melton’s character of Halper also appeared on the 1970-71 revival series Make Room for Granddaddy, and the actor also had recurring roles on such shows as It’s Always Jan, The Gale Storm Show (Oh Susanna!), Bachelor Father, Gomer Pyle, USMC and The Golden Girls (he played Salvadore Petrillo, the late husband of Estelle Getty’s Sophia Petrillo in flashbacks).

But at the risk of inviting the ire of known Green Acres despiser ClassicBecky—Melton’s best-known role here at TDOY remains Alf Monroe, one-half of the Monroe brothers (the other “brother” being Ralph, played by Mary Grace Canfield) contracting duo on the 1960s bucolic sitcom whose slow and steady attempts to renovate “the old Haney place” now owned by Oliver (Eddie Albert) and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) still makes me tee hee with unbridled glee to this day.  In fact, a commenter over at Kliph Nesteroff’s Classic Television Showbiz (where Mr. N did a nice photo tribute to Sid before most of the online obituaries came out) remarked, “Looks like the Douglasses will never get that renovation done on the Haney place now…”  It brought a tear to my eye, knowing that we lost a versatile and amazingly talented man at the age of 94 on November 2 (though the always reliable IMDb argues November 3).

Two gentlemen who started their show business careers during Radio’s Golden Age have also gone on to their greater rewards: radio and TV announcer George Ansbro, a man who holds the record as the longest-tenured employee of any network in broadcast history (58 years, 3 months and 12 days with ABC), passed on at the age of 96 on November 5.  He began his career in the ether as a boy soprano on Milton Cross’ Children’s Hour in 1928; three years later he was working for NBC as a page and he started announcing for General Sarnoff’s network three years after that.  He worked on soap operas, quiz shows and various other broadcasts but he’s best known as the man who informed Dr. I.Q. “I have a lady in the balcony, Doctor…” and announced the day-to-day trials and tribulations of Young Widder Brown.  Securing a job in television, he soon became a familiar voice on ABC during their daytime lineup doing voice-overs and bumpers (often heard during the sudser One Life to Live).

And one of my comedy heroes, Emmy Award-winning writer-director-producer and Savannah, GA native Hal Kanter, said goodbye at the age of 92 on November 6—I did a birthday shout-out to Mr. Kanter last December and mentioned that he wrote for such radio programs as Amos ‘n’ Andy, Beulah and Bing Crosby’s Philco Radio Time.  But he also got in on TV’s ground floor, starting out on Ed Wynn’s 1949 comedy-variety series and later creating The George Gobel Show, Valentine’s Day and the landmark sitcom Julia in addition to working on Chico and the Man and All in the Family.  In his later years, Kanter served as the co-writer of the annual Academy Awards ceremony telecast…though sadly, none of his directorial efforts like Loving You (with Elvis Presley) and Once Upon a Horse (with Rowan & Martin) carted off any Oscar gold (but it’s where he was awarded his Emmys).  It’s truly sad when the great “funny men” leave us…and he will be fondly remembered here at TDOY.

A special fare-thee-well goes out to cartoonist Bil Keane, creator of the panel comic strip The Family Circus, who has presumably gone to join that creepy dead grandfather that used to turn up in the strip every now and then.  I don’t mean to make light of his passing, but that comic was a little unsettling at times; this obituary (Keane passed away on November 8 at the age of 89) makes mention that Bil was a big fan of The Far Side and Zippy the Pinhead (Zippy even made an appearance one time in Circus) but the wackiest thing I ever saw in Circus was a Sunday panel where creepy dead Granddad was playing fetch in the Great Beyond with the recently expired dog from For Better or Worse.  (I swear I’m not making that up.  When I brought up the news of Keane’s passing to World O’Crap’s Scott C. he joked that Keane can now finally look for his missing “L.”).  Parents of young children who are concerned as to what they’ll stick on their refrigerators now that Keane is gone can rest assured—his son Jeff (the inspiration for “Jeffy”) will insure that the adventures of the family continue.

R.I.P. to all of these talented individuals…and we won’t forget the following as well:

Georgina Cookson (October 1, 81) – Stage, screen and television actress whose film credits include Your Past is Showing and Darling; also appeared in episodes of such TV series as Citizen James, The Prisoner, UFO and Steptoe and Son

Alan Fudge (October 10, 77) – Film and television character actor who scored regular gigs on such TV series as The Man from Atlantis, Eischied and 7th Heaven; his films include Bug, Capricorn One, Chapter Two, Brainstorm and The Natural

Wyatt Knight (October 25, 56) – Film and television actor best known for his appearances as “Tommy Turner” in the Porky’s trilogy; also had guest roles on such TV series as The Waltons, T.J. Hooker, Family Ties and Chicago Hope (the date of Knight’s death has also been reported as October 26 due to the actor’s committing suicide)

Tom Donovan (October 27, 89) – Television director-producer who oversaw many of TV’s live anthology productions during its golden age; also worked on many daytime dramas such as Another World, Love is a Many Splendored Thing and Ryan’s Hope (the link is to Stephen Bowie’s fine tribute at The Classic TV History Blog to Donovan as well as an equally eloquent nod to the passing of Robert Collins, a film and TV writer-director best known for creating Police Woman who passed away on October 21 at the age of 81)

Reese Palmer (October 27, 73) – R&B vocalist who was front man for the doo wop group The Marquees, who back up Chuck Berry on Back in the U.S.A. (along with Etta James)

David Wicks (October 27, 31) – Actor-stuntman who was killed during the filming of Expendables 2, proving once again that irony can be quite ironic sometimes

Beryl Davis (October 28, 87) – British vocalist who performed alongside the likes of Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman; later appeared in the quartet The Four Girls (with Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming and Savannah native Connie Haines)

Dave Donnelly (October 28, 69) – Rochester, NY-based country music musician

Dolores Duffy (October 29, age unspecified) – Film and television character actress recognizable in her role as Iris Puffybush on the sitcom Strangers with Candy

Phyllis Love (October 30, 85) – Stage, screen and television actress whose film credits include Friendly Persuasion and The Young Doctors; her TV work includes episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The F.B.I. and Bonanza

George Rountree (October 30, 61) – Longtime musical director for the Four Tops who also worked with such music legends as Gladys Knight and the Pips and the Temptations

Liz Anderson (October 31, 81) – Country music singer-songwriter who penned (My Friends are Gonna Be) Strangers and The Fugitive for Merle Haggard in addition to having solo hits like Mama Spank and The Game of Triangles (with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean); mother of Lynn Anderson—she wrote Lynn’s Top Ten hit If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)

Richard Gordon (November 1, 85) – British motion picture writer-producer whose specialty was horror and sci-fi B-films—among his credits are such classics as The Haunted Strangler, Fiend Without a Face, Corridors of Blood and Devil Doll

Lou Maletta (November 2, 74) – Broadcast executive who founded the Gay Cable Network, which established the groundwork for the 24-hour cable channel Logo

Cory Smoot (November 3, 34) – Guitarist for the costumed heavy metal band Gwar

Annabelle Lyon (November 4, 95) – American ballerina who danced with some of the most prestigious ballet companies of the era, including George Balanchine’s American Ballet

Cynthia Myers (November 4, 61) – Former Playboy Playmate and film actress whose best known role is that of “Casey Anderson” in the 1970 cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Theadora Van Runkle (November 4, 83) – Oscar-nominated costume designer whose credits include Bonnie and Clyde, Bullitt, The Reivers, The Godfather Part II, Nickelodeon and Peggy Sue Got Married

Gordon Beck (November 6, 75) – British jazz pianist and composer

Margaret (O’Mahoney) Field (November 6, 89) – B-picture actress who appeared in such films as The Man from Planet X, Captive City and Inside Detroit; also had long career doing guest roles on such shows as Lawman, The Untouchables and The Twilight Zone…but couldn’t land a gig on either Gidget or The Flying Nun, which starred her daughter Sally

Joe Frazier (November 7, 67) – “Smokin’” ex-heavyweight boxing champion best known for his three epic fights against Muhammad Ali, including the infamous “Thrilla in Manila”; also appeared in films (Rocky, Ghost Fever, Home of Angels) and TV (The Jeffersons, Movin’ On, Frank’s Place) as a result of his fame

Hal Bruno (November 8, 83) – Veteran ABC News journalist whose expertise was the field of political journalism

Heavy D (aka Dwight Myers) (November 8, 44) – Jamaican-born rap/hip-hop artist who also dabbled in acting, appearing in such films as Life and The Cider House Rules and regular roles on TV shows like Roc, Boston Public and The Tracy Morgan Show

Jimmy Norman (November 8, 74) – R&B/jazz musician and songwriter who co-wrote the extended lyrics to the Rolling Stones’ Time is On My Side and charted with tunes like I Don’t Love You No More (I Don’t Care About You)