Johnny Whitaker

Here's an oddball clip - Johnny Whitaker (TV's Jody from Family Affair) singing and dancing on some kind of '70s children's special.

When this aired (1973?), Johnny was experiencing a bit of a career resurgence (Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and Mystery in Dracula's Castle were required kid-viewing on TV, and he played the title role in Tom Sawyer - a theatrical film co-starring a pre-fame Jodie Foster). Despite this, he was very near the end of his Hollywood shelf-life, and was completely off the radar by 1975.

In today's clip, Johnny sings and dances badly - then closes with perhaps the worst joke ever told in public (the audience reacts accordingly).

Patty Duke - I'm Henry the VIII, I Am

About a week ago, I hypothesized that Patty Duke might be dancing to the song "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am" during the opening credits of her '60s TV sitcom.

Perhaps I was subconsciously remembering the episode where Patty Duke (masquerading as the Identical Cousin) actually sings the song - way off key, I might add.

Her backing band here - The Shindogs - were also the "house band" of Shindig, a dance/music show also on ABC at the time.

Hulu Desktop

Perhaps you've heard of Hulu - the web site that let's you watch studio cast-offs like Nanny and the Professor from the low-tech inconvenience of you're own laptop.

Now there is a thing called Hulu Desktop which adds a completely unnecessary application layer to the mix. I'm not sure what the benefit of running Hulu as a program instead of a web page gives me, but it supports Mac - hence the recommendation.

(Actually, Hulu has a lot of great shows like 24, Arrested Development, and a few other complete series I wasted perfectly good money collecting on DVD.)

It occurs to me that if Nanny and the Professor were on today, it would probably be called Tranny and the Professor - and be cancelled after two weeks on FOX.

Mike Strug

I've only just received news that Mike Strug is retiring from WCAU after a 43-year run as a reporter in Philadelphia.

Believe it or not, there's a Mike Strug YouTube - and it really demonstrates the great man's professionalism. Watch in awe as the lad himself doesn't miss a beat when confronted with a dangerous lunatic on live television.

Johnny Carson

Speaking of great Tonight Show hosts, here's the greatest - Johnny Carson.

Carson's nightly monologues were a big part of America's television viewing habits for thirty years, and were dependably hilarious. But when he bombed, nobody "bombed" better than Carson.

Here he is telling a joke that gets no reaction from the studio audience. Watch how quickly he recovers, and turns it into an even bigger laugh.

Just a side note: When I attended a Letterman taping in November, the audience was more or less threatened by the Late Show staff that if we didn't deliver huge laughs, Dave just might hold back his "A" material. This, of course, is total bullshit - but it may explain why every joke on Dave's show usually KILLS. Not sure what's going on over at Jimmy Fallon's show where every joke is received with stony silence. It might have something to do with the fact that he sucks, but I digress...

While we're burning through the Carson clips, here's a rare video from the 1965(!) New Year's Eve Tonight Show featuring the "amazing" Criswell. Listen to the huge laugh Carson gets after Criswell's opening statement.

Steve Allen

In honor of the new Tonight Show host making his debut tonight, here's original Tonight host Steve Allen laughing uncontrollably during a sketch.

The part that gets me every time with this clip is when Steve attempts to stop laughing by putting on the "serious" hat.

LeVar Burton Fan Page

Here is a great LeVar Burton fan page I discovered on Digg.com.

I think you'll agree it pretty much sums up the great man's career.