RIP Robert Duvall

 Robert Duvall has passed away at age 95.

What a legendary actor. Time for the rundown. "The Godfather", "Apocalypse Now," "M*A*S*H", "The Conversation", "Network", "Tender Mercies", "The Natural", "Lonesome Dove", "Falling Down", "Sling Blade", "The Apostle", "Crazy Heart".

A few performance people not be aware of or may have forgotten: he was in an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Twilight Zone". He was also in Lucas' "THX 1138." He did a movie co-starring Bill Murray called "Get Low" - it's fine, it flew under the radar, but the movie doesn't live up to the cast.

And that's the thing, even in bad movies, Duvall was always good. I believe it was Roger Ebert who said that you could never catch Duvall "acting" - he always fully inhabited the character.

I would like to state my favorite performance of his but I would need to re-visit "Lonesome Dove" and "Tender Mercies" to really decide. It's been a long while. "Lonesome Dove" is Duvall's own favorite, by the way. For me, let's say, for any movie buffs reading this, my favorite performance of his is officially "The Apostle" but if we're all friends here and are able to open up without fear of mockery, my favorite may be "Days of Thunder." Sorry, he's just so good in it. A performance of his that astonishes me is "Sling Blade" - but I'm loathe to pick a "crazy" role as my favorite, it's also pretty brief.

Duvall on Westerns: "The Western is our genre in the United States of America. The English have Shakespeare, the French have Molière, the Russians have Chekhov, but we have the Western."

Norm Macdonald considered Duvall to be the greatest actor of all-time and got to interview him once. Here's that interview.

Transformers: The Movie - The Apology Tour

 

Hasbro is apologizing for traumatizing you when you were a child by killing off Optimus Prime in "Transformers: The Movie."

The natural consequence of this is that they'll be re-releasing it to theaters this May for its 40th anniversary.

I was a huge Transformers fan and was at the exact age to get hit by it as a phenomenon. I remember exactly where I was when I first saw the scene where Optimus dies. I have to say, of all the things that traumatized my childhood, this wasn't one of them. I can't explain why, and it did hit me, it just didn't hit me hard.

The Super Bowl Honeymoon

 

The continuing tradition of doing decidedly non-Super-Bowl things instead of watching the Super Bowl... the historical exception being that I'd watch if the Eagles were playing but even that is inconsistent. For my own records, here's the run-down of the previous 30 years...

Pre-2011 - Puppy Bowl I, Muppet Treasure Island, Follow That Bird.

2011 - Bob Ross Marathon

2012 - Family Ties Marathon

2013 - Steel Magnolias

2014 - The Bridges of Madison County

2015 - Various, Poetry

2016 - Best of the Worst, Da BullS

2017 - Cooking, Super Mario Bros. Super Show

2018 - Super Bowl

2019 - I don't know, did I forget?

2020 - How Green Was My Valley?

2021 - Facts of Life Marathon

2022 - Jem Marathon and Film

2023 - Super Bowl (boooo!)

2024 -  Little House on the Prairie Marathon

2025 -  Super Bowl

And I'll repeat, of course, that this recurring tradition jumped the shark in 2021.

So this year, no real idea came to me. No gimmick, no hook, no high concept. Then this week I went a little crazy with work and when the weekend came, I didn't feel like doing anything.

It occurred to me that not watching The Super Bowl gave me a great opportunity to go grocery shopping during the game and have the store to myself. There were still some people around, and I don't usually shop on a Sunday night, but it was basically successful. A "pro tip" if any of you are in the same situation.

Another thing that occurred to me: with today's high being about 18 degrees Fahrenheit, it was a good day to make a fire, which I did.

And now for the main thing...

Some time back, I heard Jean Shepherd recounting a Honeymooners episode and opining that the show was much more sophisticated than it gets credit for - and a show worth remembering. As far as I can tell, the plot he describes was made up by him, for what purpose I don't know, but there's no time for that mystery now. That story, plus the fact that I never saw much of "The Honeymooners," plus the fact that it only lasted one season and "only" had 39 episodes planted the seed that I might, someday, watch the full series.

So tonight's experiment was watching "The Honeymooners." Only 3 episodes, by the way. Here is where I might usually go through the episodes in depth but I don't think I can do it justice. Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton are one of the great duos in comedy history, of course. And at the same time, Ralph Kramden and Alice Kramden are also one of the great duos in comedy history. It's a classic early American sitcom. For a long time I thought it was the earliest sitcom still rerun on TV but here's the trivia on that: "I Love Lucy" premiered in 1951 and "The Honeymooners" didn't go on the air until 1955. It was the cheaper sets and the rougher video quality that fooled me into thinking it must be much older.

A few interesting pieces of trivia from imdb:

• Two episodes were filmed per week instead of the usual one per week for weekly shows.
• Gleason, a veteran live performer, chose to deliberately stage the show as a play using a live audience, something that was still a very new concept in television in 1955. As such, Gleason eschewed rehearsals as he wanted the performances to capture the feel of a live show, even though all episodes were taped and aired later. Due to under-rehearsing, almost all episodes contain a mixture of dropped lines, missed entrances, actors correcting or covering for another's lines, and moments of general confusion. Gleason did not re-shoot or try to conceal these flaws as he wanted the audience to feel like they were watching a live broadcast.
• The show was shot "as live" (filmed before an audience, edited, and shown later). If you ever notice Jackie Gleason patting himself on the stomach, it was a sign that he had forgotten his line.
• CBS and Buick, the show's sponsor, wanted a second season. Jackie Gleason refused because he felt that the quality of the scripts wouldn't sustain it for another season.

The bit about eschewing rehearsals is incredible. The scenes are looonnnnggg and filled with tons of dialogue. How they remembered it all and performed first-time, is beyond my understanding. And then two episodes per week?! What? Amazing.

Having watched the first three episodes, I plan to keep watching. In addition to being a timeless classic, the show has a certain nostalgic feel that defies explanation. I never lived in the time of the show and I didn't grow up watching the show on reruns but somehow it feels cozy and comfortable, like it's from my past, somehow. And no, I'm not making allusion here to "The Flintstones."

Another Mitch Hedberg Letterman Set

Another random Mitch Hedberg stand-up appearance on the Late Show.

I assume, eventually, all of these will be released, which is nice, but I wish they said how many their were total and said what number each one is. Just a small thought.

Rifftrax/MST3K Returns Again... Again

 It got weird.

So, let's start with the background.

A long time ago the original creator of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" bought back the rights and launched a kickstarter to produce a new season (11). That kickstarter was successful, set a record for Kickstarter and led to more Kickstarters for Seasons 12, 13 and 14.

A Kickstarter was created for Season 15 and reaction was lackluster - it failed to reach its goal and the series was once again on hiatus. Recently, it was revealed that Joel Hodgson sold the rights to the show to Radial Entertainment.

Now, the new owners have apparently struck a deal with Rifftrax to bring back a version of the show with the classic cast - Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Mary Joe Pehl - and that is a Kickstarter.

My initial reaction: I'm tired, boss.

We're funding all new sets, props, writing, actors... we already funded all new sets, props, writing, actors. We funded sets, props, writing, actors several times. Where did all the money go to? Can anything be reused?

Well, I have no insight into the behind-the-scenes but it's possible that something is being reused.  While past Kickstarters brought in millions of dollars, this one has a goal of only $20,000 and it has already far exceeded that goal. Kudos to the fans who are not as fatigued as I. Eh, I might back it too.

And I'm excited to see the shows, although it's only 4 episodes. Should be fun.

Late Night 1st Anniversary Show

 

Dave celebrates 1 year on the air in Late Night. This is the full episode.

Original airdate 2/4/83.

Time Lapse Video of Growing Plants

The video title "I Filmed Plants for 12 Years" drew me in and turned out to be a bit misleading, in my opinion. I was hoping to see the "Boyhood" of plant videos.

Nevertheless, the video is beautiful, hypnotic and very much worth watching.

Making a 90s Cable Simulator

Just recently I discovered a new site that simulates 90s television. Now, completely unrelated, someone sent me this video where a guy creates a 90s cable television simulator, complete with an actual cable box. It's quite involved.

Growing up, I didn't have cable so I have no nostalgia for the cable box and only some nostalgia for the channels. MTV is a big one, Nickelodeon obviously and then Comedy Central later in the decade.

Scorch Update - Weird News

Scorch is still on Youtube and Weird News is back! 

Your Scorch update for January 2026.

Popcorn in Bed - City Slickers

 

Similar to "Twins," another wide-release, crowd-pleasing, mainstream movie that we don't get anymore, it seems.

A little depressing that the Billy Crystal character has a mid-life crisis when he's younger than I am. Of course he also thinks his life sucks when he has a steady job, a wife and kids. Best not think about it too much.

Why Are You Laughing? - Karl Pilkington

Worlds collide as the history-of-comedy podcast "Why Are You Laughing?" examines the career of Karl Pilkington.

This is one where I can say "I lived it." I was listening to the XFM broadcasts basically on a loop from around 2003 to around 2013. I was there when they reunited for the BBC, did the podcast, made the HBO show, and so on. I mention this by way of reminiscing, rather than some form of bragging. I recommended Ricky, Steve and Karl to so many people and only one person really got it. But that was a big hit.

There's a project underway that's unearthing "new" XFM material and remastering the archives. I've lost track of it though. For whatever reason, the clip I shared of the new material has been deleted. But if you're looking to track down that project, you can start here.

I Love the 90s

 The website:

https://www.ilovethe90s.app/

Is in Beta. It's meant to simulate watching television in the 1990s using Youtube as its database. Check it out, if that's you're thing.

It's similar to http://www.my80stv.com/ and http://www.my90stv.com/ which appear to be offline or permanently shut down.

Popcorn in Bed - Twins

Another delightful look back at an 80's classic.

Cassie's final thoughts in this reaction include the sentiment that "They don't make movies like this anymore." That got me thinking... I think I agree. Yes, that's become a trope but I believe it to be true. But, for the life of me, I can't figure out why. It's not Shakespeare, it's not the smartest or most elaborate movie of all-time, it's just a simple, fun, buddy comedy. In fact, I don't know if I'd even call this a "smart" comedy - this is a not-stupid, charming, general-audience pleasing light comedy. That's the bar we seemingly aren't able to reach.

Am I blinded by nostalgia? Was there a fundamental change of culture? Have studios decided they're not profitable? (And even if the latter is so, a movie of this type could easily be done independently.)

This is the movie equivalent of the secret formula of Coca-Cola. I intuit that it should be reproducible yet no one is reproducing it.

And one more mystery while we're here...

The movie makes it clear that the engine/suitcase is worth $5 million. The movie makes it abundantly, perfectly clear that the engine/suitcase is worth $5 million. And then at the end, Devito says that by turning it into the authorities, they got a $50,000 reward when they could have had $4 million. 

I've wondered about this for decades. Is that an obvious mistake or are they implying that Vincent is still dishonest, and muddling the happy ending?

Re-Creating the Coca-Cola Recipe

Remember a while back when Glen and Friends Cooking tried re-creating the recipe for KFC? Another project he tackled, and ultimately didn't succeed with, was re-creating the recipe for Coke.

Now a chemist from the internet claims to have cracked it, more or less.

The Coca-Cola recipe being secret has always been a fascination to me. I imagine a hundred large trucks pulling up to the Coke factory, loaded with cinnamon extract (for instance) every single day and it's all a big mystery what the recipe is. This video doesn't really get into that aspect but it at least clears up the other thing I was wondering - why not just analyze it chemically. Pretty interesting.

As with the KFC recipe, I'm disappointed that it's not doable at home (or at least, it would take a lot of money).

[I just realized my illustration above is not my own, it's basically in the "Flaming Homer" episode of "The Simpsons." The point stands though]

Lemon and Paeroa (L&P)

It may be the most expensive soda I've ever bought.

L&P is a lemon-flavored soda from New Zealand. The name, Lemon and Paeroa, comes from the fact that it is lemon flavored and was first created in Paeroa, New Zealand.

Even though it's now owned by Coca-Cola, it is not easily obtained. Or, it is, but it's going to cost you the shipping expense of traveling from New Zealand. I did some shopping and some deep thinking and basically figured the cheapest I could get it was to buy a single can for $3 plus $31 shipping. So one can of soda for $34.

How is it? Well, from the branding I had it in my head that it was something like ice tea. Nothing of the sort. It tastes like lemons (as has been said) but I have something more accurate than that. I can tell you, it tastes like the candy Lemonheads. This is Lemonheads in soda form. And I like Lemonheads so I enjoyed it.

RiffTrax - Moose Baby

RiffTrax has made "Moose Baby" free on their Youtube channel. "Moose Baby" looms large in RiffTrax lore - I forget why - because it's arguably the most dull or the most pointless maybe. All I remember is it gets mentioned a lot.

For what it's worth, I don't get the hype other than it's a great title. I'm still more of a "Setting Up a Room" guy.

One Armed Drummer Plays Tom Sawyer

Like the drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm.

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

Blind Mike - Breaking Down a Bryan Callen Interview

Bryan Callen wants to be known as something of an intellectual and gives an interview where he espouses the benefits of reading books. Blind Mike watches the interview and mocks him.

Polyphonic - When Artists Don't Write Their Own Songs

 

An artist that performs songs written by others is just as talented as an artist that writes their own songs.

This is an impossible argument. It is an argument that I would never agree to. There is no way that Beyonce is on the same artistic level as Billy Joel.

And yet, Polyphonic probably makes as good an argument in the affirmative as anyone can make. It's  actually impressive... and certainly worth considering.

Conan's 2 Worst Interviews

I saw the title of this video and tried to think what I thought Conan's worst interviews were. I came up empty. When interviews went bad, Conan was always good at pointing it out and making comedy out of it.  And so when the bad interviews were the best interviews, coming up with the worst ones becomes an odd, mind-bending exercise.

With that in mind, I think this guy has done a good job of identifying the worst, and so I thought this was worth sharing.

And don't be put off by the fact that it starts with Jennifer Garner. Fortunately, the video is better than that nonsense. Fake conflict to promote a movie (or whatever it was), in my opinion.