General Critic » Media

What happened here?

Geoff — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:15:37 +0000

Play along with Ernie and Bert.

Let the games begin (or, in this case, end)

Geoff — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:10:59 +0000

The gang at golden-road.net is abuzz about the retirement of not one, but two pricing games.

Joker, I can understand. I always hated it — it seems counterintuitive that you’re trying to DISCARD a certain card. It’s also pretty similar to Shell Game and Bonus Game, but with an ugly set.

Poker Game, I don’t have strong opinions about, since it was played fairly infrequently. The consensus, which may be wrong, is that it was killed by being limited to inexpensive prizes. What’s significant is that it’s the oldest game to ever be retired — it was introduced in 1975.

The last of the last

Geoff — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:16:51 +0000

39 years and roughly one thousand cartoons after “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub”, Warner Bros. Cartoons came to an end with an unfortunately titled short named “Injun Trouble.” Last fall I posted a link to this cartoon, with Matthew Hunter’s commentary.

For obvious reasons, it’s generally been kept off television, and is hard to find. But it was included in 1972’s syndicated “The Merrie Melodies Show.” And that series is now airing on Teletoon Retro. Incredibly, the episode in question aired this week. I marvel at this network’s ability to come up with rare stuff like this, and to air it in pretty much its original form.

Saturday Morning memories

Geoff — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:09:12 +0000

Random title cards from the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS.

Why?

Geoff — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:09:40 +0000

Michael Douglas now voices the intro to NBC Nightly News. (See it here… scroll down to the Nightly News podcast.)

Now, Michael Douglas is a fine actor. But he is not a better announcer than the best announcers in the business. This is a typical devaulation of the talents of an entire craft. It’s the same bs they often pull on the awards shows.

Memories…

Geoff — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:29:29 +0000

This guy has posted to Youtube some great old Canadian TV commercials from the 1970s. Some of these are among my earliest memories of TV watching. Everything from beer…

to insurance (and a jingle that’s vivid in my mind)…

and of course, the Colonel!

Do they have that bear over there too?

Geoff — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 04:36:28 +0000

Old A&W ad from Japan (anyone else find it odd the mugs have the logo embedded in a map of the United States?)

Oh me, oh my

Geoff — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 03:16:12 +0000

“Tales of the Wizard of Oz” was an early TV foray by Rankin-Bass, the creative team behind all those Christmas specials. Using Canadian voice actors as usual, this show went a step further and did the animation at Canada’s Crawley Films.

The show is badly animated, but the writing and acting are sharp. Because of its CanCon status, the series ran for years and years on Canadian local stations, often at 7 a.m. Here’s an episode (I love the quirky closing theme, by the way.)

Temporarily back from my usual jet-setting lifestyle

Geoff — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 06:45:23 +0000

Mort Crim in Philadelphia, before he becomes a news icon in Detroit, gets even with sportscaster Big Al in this legendary clip.

Inspirational

Geoff — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 01:10:46 +0000

Awakened from my metaphorical slumber… (oh yeah, the running thing? Don’t ask) Here’s Mark McEwen’s emotional return to the CBS Early Show after a massive stroke nearly killed him.