Year In Review: The Most Popular Posts

What a strange, wonderful trip it has been.

I started this site as a way to organize my "Hey, look at this!" e-mails into one convenient location. (Hence the label "Hey Look"... get it?). Most of the site consists simply of links to other people's hard work and efforts (God Bless YouTube), but I try to throw my two cents in to keep things entertaining.

I will continue the site at least until May 26, 2009 - at which time I can at least say I did something consistently for one year.

Here are the Top 20 Most Popular posts on this site from May (first post ever) through December.

1. Bill Clinton's Nose
About eight times as many hits as anything else on the site.

2. SNL Calculator Sketch
My post about this skit comes up #4 or something on Google - go figure.

3. Can't Stop Eating
This was around the time the site stopped taking itself seriously.

4. Sykes Living in Delco
Since revealed to be some kind of Lesbian Love Nest. The site was so naive back then.

5. S From Hell (and Others)
People love scary logos.

6. Spider-Man's Greatest Bible Stories
I was heavily into posting copyrighted material by this point.

7. Superstar Pro Wrestling Game
Lots of sad geezers like me fondly remember this game.

8. Who's Nailin' Paylin?
I'm shocked this isn't #1.

9. Wildwood, NJ
Fave vacation destination of many of our readers.

10. Eagles Kids Club
Many share my fascination with this show.

11. Surf the Channel
Good place to watch otherwise unavailable TV shows.

12. Gobbledy Gooker
Wrestling at its finest.

13. Virginia O' Brien
Queen of Deadpan.

14. Beau Brummels
...on The Flintstones no less.

15. Solo Cups (Red Ones)
Even I don't remember what this post was about!

16. Obama Girl (Things I Hate)
Like Obama, hate Obama Girl.

17. Scary Logos Revisited
Because you can't get enough of those scary logos.

18. Dove - the Band of Love
...aka Devo.

19. Fantastic Four Radio Show
Featuring Bill Murray as The Human Torch.

20. Stan Kann
Gadget guru...RIP.

Have a Happy New Year!

Year in Review: Top 20 Famous Deaths of 2008 (Part Four of Four)

1. Tim Russert
This one really got to me. I watched Meet The Press most weekends, and it's always a shock when someone - even someone you only know from television - dies before their time.

2. Harvey Korman
Known primarily as Tim Conway's straight-man, he was equally talented and funny in his own right - especially in several of Mel Brooks' films such as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety.

3. George Carlin
Hilarious and inventive stand-up in his day. I preferred the hippie version to his later "curmudgeon" schtick.

4. Will Elder
One of Mad's founding artists. I was so in awe of his technique as a child, that I copied it shamelessly in most of my drawings.

5. Dick Martin
The funny half of Rowan and Martin. I have fonder memories of watching Laugh-In than perhaps any other show from my early childhood.

Year in Review: Top 20 Famous Deaths of 2008 (Part Three of Four)

Just to clarify - this is a list of the people who passed in away in 2008 in order of whose work I most enjoyed. I will touch on those who didn't make the Top 20, but deserve honorable mention, before after revealing the Top 5 on New Year's Eve.

6. Forrest J. Ackerman (above)
Published Famous Monsters of Filmland, a horror mag I purchased about once a year (whenever comics were lean), but more importantly creator of one of the Golem's all-time favorite characters.

7. Paul Newman
I'm not the biggest Newman fan, but I definitely respected his talent. I often think about his role in The Verdict in particular.

8. Charlton Heston
Was still one the biggest stars in Hollywood when I started going to the movies (early '70s) - with films like Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, Soylent Green, Earthquake, and frequent respect on TV as Moses in The Ten Commandments. (My favorite role of his is the Mexican detective from Touch of Evil - well worth TCM-ing).

9. Allan Melvin
Appeared in too many shows I watched over the years - including (but not limited to) Sgt. Bilko, Gomer Pyle USMC, All in the Family, The Banana Splits, The Brady Bunch (as Sam the Butcher), and twice as many cartoon voice-overs.

10. Suzanne Pleshette
First and best of the "Newhart Women".

Big Train - George Martin

I ignored Big Train when it aired in the U.S., so I missed a lot of funny sketches like this one: George Martin won't let a little thing like being kidnapped by terrorists stop him from doing what he does best - waxing lyrical about his days with the Beatles.

A Show Me The Curry Christmas

This is, without doubt, my new favorite Christmas song. (And I think you'll agree the performances in this video are top notch).

Year In Review: Top 20 Famous Deaths of 2008 (Part Two of Four)

11. Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Author of the 2001: A Space Odyssey novel, and co-writer (with Stanley Kubrick) of the film. Proposed satellite technology in 1945.

12. Bill Melendez
Animation director responsible for A Charlie Brown Christmas and most of the Peanuts TV specials.

13. Don LaFontaine
Voice-over artist identified with the phrase "In a world...". Known professionally as "The Voice of God".

14. Stan Winston
Visual effects artist for Aliens, Jurassic Park, and other modern classics.

15. Bernie Mac (above)
Hilarious stand-up comic. His appearance on SNL as original fourth stooge (my favorite clip of his) is sadly absent from Hulu and YouTube.

Year In Review: Top 20 Famous Deaths of 2008 (Part One of Four)

Ranked in order of how much I appreciated their work:

16. Ollie Johnson
Pioneering Disney animator, worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, and many other classics. Literally wrote the book on modern animation.

17. Jim McKay (above)
Host of ABC's Wide World of Sports - many an episode of which was watched by The Golem in the '70s and '80s. Covered the "Munich Massacre" at the 1972 Olympics (also witnessed by impressionable young Golem).

18. Killer Kowalski
Wrestling "bad guy"; trainer of Triple-H, Chyna, Perry Saturn, and others. Scared the Golem in early '70s.

19. Paul Benedict
Funniest white person on The Jeffersons.

20. Edie Adams
Widow of comedian Ernie Kovacs; was quite funny in her own right.

List Updated: Beverly Garland removed to include Killer Kowalski in Top 20.

Criswell Predicts 1966

The Amazing Criswell predicts the forthcoming events of 1966 on a very old episode of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

What makes this great is Johnny's reply after Criswell's opening statement, and sidekick Ed McMahon's subsequent burst of laughter.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas today.

Here is my favorite moment from all the Christmas TV specials over the years. You've seen it a hundred times. Enjoy!

Crazy Eddie

Crazy Eddie hawks video games for Christmas. (And judging from the inclusion of Colecovision on the list - this is just before the entire industry went belly-up!)

These ads only ran in the New York market, but thanks to parodies on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere - everybody knew about "Crazy Eddie".

Norelco Christmas

In our house growing up - we used to say that it wasn't "officially" Christmas until this TV commercial aired.

Rich Little's Christmas Carol

Rich Little's Christmas Carol aired on HBO in 1978 - a safe distance in years and quality from that network's future "Sopranos" golden era.

Little was/is an impressionist - almost certainly the most successful one of his generation. But he had an unfortunate penchant for doing cringe-inducing Edith Bunker impressions. They weren't even close. The voices he does here (W.C Fields, Paul Lynde, Nixon and such) are among his better ones.

He was much better than Frank Caliendo, but that's not saying much, is it?

Dean Martin - Marshmallow World

Dean sings "Marshmallow World" in his inimitable style.

Often it's been said that Dean played a "pretend" drunk for comic effect, but it seems like he's the real deal here.

Pretenders - 2000 Miles

One of the Golem's favorite women of all-time - Chrissie Hynde - sings "2000 Miles" (in a "Sally Ann" outfit).

Fairytale of New York

A Christmas classic - The Pogues and (the late) Kirsty MacColl: "Fairytale of New York"

Snow Miser / Heat Miser

Let's ignore the recent "Miser Brothers" reunion special, and remember the duo from their glory days - the early '70s. (That's the late Dick Shawn as the Snow Miser, and George S. Irving as The Heat Miser).

World's Strongest Santa

Mark Henry - the WWE's "World's Strongest Santa" - recites a poem about crushing a midget.

Devo E-Z Listening Cassette

If you saw Devo in concert in 1981 (as did I; the very first concert I ever saw) - when you entered the arena, you listened to muzak versions of Devo's hits on the way to your seat.

The recordings proved so popular with fans, they were sometimes stolen from the audio boards at the shows.

To combat this behavior, the band released the Devo E-Z Listening Cassette through it's fan club. Of course I purchased it, and listened to it frequently.

Some of the tracks were quite good; in fact, the "muzak" version of "Girl U Want" was so good, Devo changed the arrangement of the song to the muzak version when the performed it in 1982.

The cassette (and it's 1984 sequel) are written about lovingly in a great blog posting here. You can even download MP3 files of all the original tracks. (The blog, by the way, is quite good. I highly recommend you look around while you're there.)

Bacolicio.us

Who among us hasn't wanted to see our favorite web site almost totally obscured at all times by a huge piece of cooked bacon?

Luckily, the tech geniuses at Bacolicio.us have made our dreams come true, although they seem to think the primary use of this incredible technology is to piss off vegetarians.

Philadelphia Time Machine

Ok, this is for our Philadelphia-area fans only (or anyone who lived in Philly in the '60s, '70s or early '80s).

I am purposely not identifying what you are about to hear, so as to spoil the surprise. But rest assured, this ran every day for about twenty-five years or so on television and radio. (The TV version, sadly, has not been posted on YouTube yet - this appears to be the radio copy). If you lived anywhere near the Philadelphia TV market during those years, you probably STILL sing this song in your head today.

Ready? - click here.

What If ™

What if Milton Berle recorded a version of Yellow Submarine?

Wait... it really happened!

[MP3 courtesy of AprilWinchell.com - which refers to this correctly as "the definitive version".]

Monkey Sneezing

The new Late Show holiday tradition - a monkey sneezing.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory has been one of my favorite movies for years - ever since the days when NBC aired it every year around Thanksgiving.

I still love it - it was the very first DVD I purchased (even before I had a player to play it on).

While I was watching it earlier tonight (on AMC, with commercials - including a terribly inappropriate one for Extenze), I wondered what all the kids from the film looked like when they grew up. Thanks to YouTube, we all shall wonder no longer. (Note: Charley grew up to be the real life Ned Flanders).

"Dr. D" David Schultz

"Dr. D" David Schultz was a wrestling "bad guy" redneck in the WWF in 1984.

He was fired from the fed shortly after slapping 20/20 reporter John Stossel to the ground - causing permanent eardrum damage and an immediate cessation to the interview. (The question that caused the slapping: "Is Wrestling Fake?").

He was also reported to have challenged Mr. T - who was preparing to make his "fake" debut at Wrestlemania I - to a "real" match backstage.

He never really caught on anywhere else, which is a shame because his performance in today's video is absolutely priceless. (Bonus kudos to "Mean" Gene Okerlund - who sets up the segment with sufficient dread - like we're about to witness a clip from Faces of Death.)

Farewell, CN8

Goodbye to CN8 - a channel which took up valuable real estate on the cable dial, and one that nobody ever watched.

In January, it becomes "The Comcast Network" - with an all-new slate of boring shows.

I'd post a link to a CN8 YouTube, but nothing interesting ever happened on that channel. Well, almost nothing.

Cats That Look Like Hitler

This is exactly what it sounds like.

Arena Football League

The Arena Football League - which is wildly popular in Philadelphia - has cancelled it's 2009 season, but is definitely, absolutely not folding.

SNL - Armisen as Gov. Patterson

Another week, another funny segment from Fred Armisen on Saturday Night Live.

His David Paterson impression is much better than his Barack Obama. (But even that seems to be getting better).

The Beatles Christmas Album

Have you ever heard of The Beatles Christmas Album?

Released in 1970 through the Beatles fan club, it consists of seven recordings the Beatles sent each year to fans at Christmas. The early records were simply the band thanking their fans and clowning around - but the later ones contained original songs and sketches.

It was never made available in stores. It, and the original singles are super-rare collector's items - although the recordings themselves occasionally pop up on the radio, and are all available on the Internet. (You can also get a bootleg CD of the album on Amazon!)

This recording, from 1967, is probably their best. The song, "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" was even given a proper release in the '90s as part of the Anthology project.

Then & Now

Sirius-XM has a channel called "'60s on 6" which plays - you guessed it - sixties music. Every so often they name the Top 6 songs on the Billboard charts for a given week in the 1960's. Yesterday, they did THIS week in 1967 - and I was especially impressed with the songs.

It's amazing how many hit songs from the sixties have since become enduring classics. There was something special about the decade that can't be attributed simply to nostalgia; the same cannot typically be said about the '70s or '80s (or even the '50s).

I like to play a game where I list the top songs from a particular week in the past, and compare them to the top songs from the current chart. Take a look at the classics from this week in 1967, and compare them to the top songs of today...

THEN:
6. Incense and Peppermint (Strawberry Alarm Clock)
5. The Rain, The Park, and Other Things (The Cowsills)
4. I Second That Emotion (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
3. Hello Goodbye (The Beatles)
2. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)
1. Daydream Believer (The Monkees)

NOW:
6. If I Were a Boy (Beyonce)
5. Whatever You Like (T.I.)
4. Just Dance (Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis)
3. Circus (Britney Spears)
2. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) (Beyonce)
1. Live Your Life (T.I featuring Rhianna)

Do you think we'll still be hearing "Live Your Life" forty years from now?

I'm Dickens... He's Fenster

I'm Dickens... He's Fenster is one of those TV shows that I have never seen or heard, but I know about - because my parents remembered it fondly. It's one season on the air (1962-63) occurred before my birth, and didn't yield enough episodes for any subsequent syndication.

Not surprisingly, there is a website devoted to it. This one appears to be an official attempt by the original creator of the show to get the thing released on DVD. (Hey, they released Good Morning, World, why not this?)

The site contains a clip of the entire first episode, so check it out.

Magic Bullet Infomercial

Let's revel in the absurdist masterpiece known as the "Magic Bullet" infomercial.

Surely you remember the ad - a few years back, it ran virtually every hour of the day on some channel somewhere. Ostensibly a straight-forward commercial for a blender - it quickly devolves into some kind of half-assed sitcom with broad "characters" including Berman the lovable drunk, and Hazel the crusty old bag (above).

There is a site on the web that loves the commercial even more than I do. They even sing the praises of its equally oddball sequel - which I've sadly never seen. You can watch the entire infomercial, or just the highlights (with separate video tributes to Hazel and Berman).

Enjoy.

Who (Allegedly) Said It?™

It's time to play "Who (Allegedly) Said It?" (brought to you by The Daily Beast).

Today's contestants are Tony Soprano and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Jimmy Fallon

America's most beloved comedian - Jimmy Fallon - has debuted the web version of his new late night talk show.

It's EXACTLY how you would expect it to be.

Betamaxmas

Betamaxmas - An old-fashioned TV showing fuzzy YouTubes of Christmas commercials and holiday episodes of old TV shows.

Pretty much what it sounds like is what it is.

New Corporate Logos

Here we have something called After the Crisis: A Parody of 15 Corporate Logos.

Some of the parodies are no more creative than just taking the existing logos, and knocking the letters over... but their heart is in the right place.

Beatlesuits.com

I've got a problem. I'd like to dress like the Beatles did, but it's so difficult to find collarless jackets, "Shea Stadium" suits and what not.

That is - it used to be difficult.

Jay Leno

Big TV news (if true) - NBC will give Jay Leno the 10 PM slot some time after he relinquishes the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien in May, 2009.

Ausiello's Blind Items

Blind Item: When a gossip columnist doesn't have enough evidence to support a claim about a celebrity, where naming said celebrity would result in a lawsuit, giving no names but mild clues to the celebrity's identity in the latest gossip. - Urban Dictionary

Brian Ausiello writes interesting blind items for EW.com (Entertainment Weekly). His latest, alleges that an original cast member of a current hit TV show has been fired - but doesn't know it yet. Judging from the comments, speculation seems to be that it's either Ketherine Heigl, David Caruso, or Hiro from Heroes.

Blind items are a lot of fun, so check it out.

SNL - Calculator Sketch

I just read an online review of last night's Saturday Night Live, where the reviewer remarked that he sat with a furrowed brow - never laughing once - throughout this sketch.

Personally, I wish SNL was always this funny.

Paul Benedict

I'm sad to report that actor Paul Benedict has died. He was famous as "Mr. Bentley" on The Jeffersons, but he played many other character parts in movies and television. He was a likable, funny guy.

Not many people realize that Benedict had acromegaly - the same thing Andre the Giant had. He was able to have it treated at an early age, so it never threatened his life, but it did contribute to his oddball looks - which helped him considerably with comedic roles.

Our clip today is from Sesame Street, believe it or not, where Benedict played "The Mad Painter". This is from Sesame's early days - when Oscar the Grouch was still orange, and Jim Henson and his crew of hippies set the tone of the show. This sketch looks like it's right out of an Alan Ginsberg LSD-induced nightmare.

Enjoy!

WWF Magazine

Here is the WWF Magazine - a periodical I used to read openly on public transportation through my college years and beyond. I didn't even stop after some wise guy noticed the cover (of the exact issue on the left, above) and felt compelled to inform me, "Now that's REAL journalism!"

I wasn't a big fan of the magazine, but I felt compelled to read it anyway. After all, it was the only "official" publication of the World Wrestling Federation. I greatly preferred Pro Wrestling Illustrated, and its family of magazines. They wrote about all the federations (including the NWA), and were often critical of the WWF. They also blatantly made up their "exclusive" interviews with wrestlers - which entertained me greatly.

Both the WWF mag and Pro Wrestling Illustrated are still around, but I don't read them anymore. The last time I picked up a Pro Wrestling Illustrated, I was pleasantly surprised to discover - after it had already been rung up at the register - that it just cost me $9.95.

Here is a cover gallery of WWF/WWE magazines. It makes for an interesting look at who was most popular over the years.

Error 404 pages

"Error 404" pages are those things you see on the web whenever the server cannot display the page you are requesting.

Most of the time, site admins just go with the default server page, but more and more are customizing their own pages.

Some are quite clever. You might ever describe them as "really cool and creative".

Mego

When I was a kid, there was nothing I liked better than playing with my Mego action figures.

Mego was a (now-defunct) toy manufacturer which made 8-inch plastic figures that recreated comic book heroes with varying degrees of quality. (Two of the good ones are pictured above: The Lizard - my favorite, and of course, Iron Man).

The figures were extremely fragile - held together internally by tight rubber bands. If you held them too tightly, they would snap and become virtually useless. Also, if you placed Aquaman under water too often, he would also snap apart (I learned this from cruel experience).

I had dozens of these including their vehicles and accessories. It probably cost "Santa" a small fortune.

Find out more than you could ever want to know about these wonderful little bits of molded plastic at the Mego Museum.

Hollywood Logos

In a world - where Hollywood movie studios all have recognizable logos - this is THEIR story...

Sean Avery

NHL Hockey player - and all-around asshat - Sean Avery - refers to his former girlfriends Elisha Cuthbert (the daughter on 24) and Rachel Hunter as "sloppy seconds".

Hilarity does NOT ensue, but indefinite suspension does.

The Philly Accent

Let's take a second today to celebrate the Philly Accent - and it's twisted cousin, the Baltimore Accent.

Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar

Today, we look at one of my favorite moments in pro wrestling history.

Big Show (Paul Wight, above) is wrestling Brock Lesnar on Smackdown in 2003. Both guys are BIG (Wight is legitimately over 7 feet, and easily weighs over 400 pounds here).

What happens at 2:45 is what wrestling is all about. (The reaction of the crowd - and the announcers - is priceless).

Note: Brock Lesnar left the WWE not long after this match, and recently won the UFC (legit) Heavweight Title.