The spelling of the word "Monkees," as the name of a 1960s pop cultural sensation, the so-called "pre-fab four," contains a very clever bit of word play. So clever that sixty years later it comes to my mind for no good reason. Allow me to expound. For those who don't remember: the Monkees were a fictional band (which in time came to treat itself as a real-world band) created for a comedic television show on NBC in 1966. This was the peak of Beatlemania. Indeed, the Monkees' TV show first aired around the time the Beatles released REVOLVER. The Monkees were designed specifically to catch the Beatles vibe, more as a comedic tribute group than as a parody. The neat bit of word play? It involves the names of the two groups. The name "The Beatles" refers, of course, to an insect. It involves a deliberate misspelling of the first syllable of the name of that insect in order to incorporate a musical term, "beat". The name "The Monkees...
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I've finally been watching episodes of Schitt's Creek in recent days. This is amazing -- it's been a "thing" for six years, it includes two of my favorite comedians, but only now am I catching up with it. Well ... better late than never, and this gives me something for an election day post that has nothing to do with the election, which is a plus. The two great comedians at the heart of the show are: Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose, and Eugene Levy -- pictured here -- as her husband, Johnny Rose. They were both in the ensemble that put together SCTV in the old days, a sketch comedy show of utter brilliance. I remember especially O'Hara's Margaret Meehan, a quiz show contestant who would ALWAYS hit the buzzer before the question was complete, answering the fragment she had heard and losing the points to the embarrassment of her teammates. Eugene Levy was the game show contestant in that same bit, named "Alex Trebel." (Hmmm -- wonder if the ...
What are you in for? Manslaughter You should've used our friend, Mr. Apostrophe. He can turn manslaughter into "man's laughter." and they can't lock you up for that, can they? ---------------------- Did anyone ever do this joke prior to Mrs Falbo? It sounded like a "meta" joke, when she did it, but that sort of implies somebody had done it without the meta at some earlier time. Just curious. By the way, I of course realize that the Mrs Falbo character is not among those in the SCTV collage I've reproduced here. Still: the train of association runs on its neurological tracks....
I'm thinking of the TV show now, not the actual theory. One snippet of dialogue from an early episode sticks in my mind as a fine example of concise writing and character development. In the character's world, they are fans of a reality teevee show about aspiring supermodels, and the various beautiful young women aspiring to that status all live together, "Big Brother" style, in a house in southern California. One character, Howard, is determined that he will find the location of that house and visit the supermodels within the week. The dialogue (I'm working from memory) goes something like this: LEONARD: You'll never be able to get in there, Howard. HOWARD: That's what they said to Neil Armstrong about getting on the moon. SHELDON: No one said anything of the sort to Neil Armstrong. An entire nation spent a decade getting him there. HOWARD: [Affecting a Kennedy accent]: Well, my fellow Americans, before this week is out, we will put a...
This has been running through my head of late. One good way of dealing with that is to objectify it -- get it out here. So, the full lyrics to the theme song to the '60s television comedy F-Troop are as follows: The end of the Civil War was near When quite accidentally, A hero who sneezed abruptly seized Retreat and reversed it to victory. His medal of honor pleased and thrilled his proud little family group. While pinning it on some blood was spilled And so it was planned he'd command F Troop. Where Indian fights are colorful sights and nobody takes a lickin' Where pale face and redskin Both turn chicken. When killing and fighting get them down, They know their morale can't droop. As long as they all relax in town Before they resume with a bang and a boom F Troop. It is of course available in all its audio-visual glory at F-Troop.