Category: TV

Paul Conrad on PBS

andertoons7 Comments

Home PicI set the DVR for this immediately:

“Paul Conrad: Drawing Fire,” airing on PBS’ “Independent Lens” series (check local listings for time) shows the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner with his combative liberal spirit intact.

Here’s a little more:

The film captures Conrad’s outrage at what he regards as the trespasses of the powerful and the sheer delight he takes in skewering them.

His career began when political cartooning flourished in newspapers. Now only about 3 percent of daily papers have cartoonists on staff, according to an expert quoted in the documentary from Barbara Multer-Wellin and Jeffrey Abelson.

The shrinking number dismays Conrad. And he’s no fan of those who have abandoned the traditional single-panel cartoon for a comic-strip approach.

“It’s dialogue, long conversations, from one panel to another. Some have a political point but when you get finished reading them you knew that in the beginning. So what am I doing reading ’em?” he said.

I can’t wait! Go set your DVRs now!

Link…

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The Duck Factory

andertoons4 Comments

Loyal reader and commenter, Fontessa, and I were discussing the lack of a hunky cartoonist archetype on TV. (See comments on this post.)

She was kind enough to remind me of a few cartoonist characters from boob tube history, although I wouldn’t call any of them hunky. (OK, maybe Ted Knight.)

But here’s one I bet most of you don’t recall:

Logo

Anyone remember who played the main character, cartoonist Skip Tarkenton?

Jim Carrey.

OK, he’s not exactly hunky either, but I’d say his career has turned out OK.

I actually remember watching this when I was growing up. It ran on NBC in 1984 for 13 episodes.

If memory serves, one character was a hooker. During the show I remember asking my Mom what a hooker was. I think that was pretty much the end of “The Duck Factory” for me. (Can someone verify the hooker character? Or do I have more to discuss with my therapist?)

Anyway, for the curious, here’s TV.com’s info, IMDB’s page, and, in the interest of completeness, the theme song.

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Redone To Death

andertoons3 Comments

Mark Heath has been kind enough to pick up the Trek effects slack while Mike Lynch is enjoying some well earned unplugged time, and blogged today about this announcement from Paramount:

The original 1960s Star Trek series will receive a high-tech makeover and return to broadcast syndication for the first time in 16 years, with digitally remastered episodes, Paramount announced. In honor of the show’s 40th anniversary, CBS Domestic Television is releasing all 79 episodes with new special effects and music on 200 stations, beginning Sept. 16. The first batch of episodes will be chosen from a list of fan favorites.

The original special effects will be replaced with computer-generated images, including the exterior of the Starship Enterprise, based on the exact measurements of the original model, now resting in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The main title sequence will also be redone with new effects and a new digital stereo soundtrack re-recorded by an orchestra and a female singer. William Shatner’s classic original recording of the 38-word “Space, the final frontier …” monologue has been remastered and continues to open each episode.

All of the space scenes, alien landscapes and ships—including the Romulan Bird of Prey and Klingon Battle Cruisers—will be updated as well. The remastered episodes have been converted from the original film into a high-definition format, which gives viewers a clearer, crisper, more vibrant picture, even when viewed in standard definition.

I know a lot of folks, including certain cartooning comrades, are excited about this update, but I’m less enthralled with the idea. Honestly, people, can’t we leave anything alone anymore?!

I was watching the classic Daffy Duck cartoon, “Duck Amuck,” with my three-year-old this afternoon, and I noticed this:

Duck Amuck



Do you see it? Look closer. (Hint – look at the guitar)

GASP! This “guitar” only has three strings! AND, it has FOUR pegs!

Let’s fix it! Everyone know the correct six strings would be way funnier. Hey, while we’re at it, how about replacing all the backgrounds with photo-realisitc landscapes! Ooh! And let’s get rid of all of the original animation and give all the WB cartoons the ol’ Pixar treatment!

“No!” you shout?

I agree, and I feel exactly the same way about the original Star Trek shows.

Were it up to me, I’d leave the old Trek as-is. (OK, maybe some cleanup to keep the picture bright and sharp, but that’s it.)

It’s kind neat to see the experimental updating of the effects, but it doesn’t make me love the show any more or less. To be honest, the whole thing smacks of a Lucasian way to squeeze more cash out of the fans through occasional repackaging.

Count me out…

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Cartoons Go Cold Turkey

andertoons1 Comment

GroupTurner Broadcasting is going back into its Hanna-Barbera holdings and systematically editing certain references to smoking.

The review was triggered by a complaint to British media regulator Ofcom by one viewer who took offence to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel, part of Turner Broadcasting which itself belongs to Time Warner Inc.

One viewer?! Yeesh!

In order to avoid entanglements with an as of yet unnamed English professor, Warner Brothers is also reported to be considering changing Bugs Bunny’s trademark slang from “What’s up, Doc?” to the more correct “Hello.”

Link…

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