Match Game

This is old news (from June), but I only just found out about it last week - TBS has made a pilot for a new version of Match Game featuring some decent comedians (Robert Smigel, Norm MacDonald, Sarah Silverman, and others.)

The host is Andrew Daly (above) - who was the funniest thing about Semi-Pro. (In fact, for no apparent reason, here's the Jive Turkey scene from that movie.)

If he hosts the show as his "Dick Pepperfield" character - it will be a sure-fire hit.

Mob Art

We're kicking off a new label today - Things I Don't Understand - and today it's all about the Deck the Walls phenomenon known as "Mob Art".

One of the reasons I avoid "the mall" like a plague these days is that this type of thing pretty much sums up the clientele within. I mean, who in their right mind is buying this shit? "I'm a big fan of mafia movies, so I just gotta have a cheapo photoshop of all my beloved characters sitting in one room!" And the "frame store" selling this lowbrow crap has replaced the organ emporium as a staple in every mall in the country.

Let's examine what's going on here - DeNiro from Goodfellas (Analyze This would have been funnier) is seated with Don Corleone, Scarface, and Tony Soprano? Okay. And Scarface is holding a machine gun why? And nobody else at the table is concerned why? And are they in the Vatican or something?

I've seen variations of this theme that also includes the guys from Reservoir Dogs walking in the background. I guess it's not just about Italian stereotypes with that one - any old bad-asses will do.

Potrzebie

Early issues of Mad Magazine frequently used the word "Potrzebie" as a humorous non-sequiter. It's almost impossible to explain why this was funny to the uninitiated - but I was surprised to find a Wikipedia article attempting to do so.
I was also surprised to learn that the otherwise legitimate Google Calculator converts Potrzebies into millimeters based on a throwaway joke from Mad #33 (see original parody at top of post).

WInged Migration

There was a nice film a few years back called Winged Migration which featured incredible footage of wild parrots.

Just about everybody's favorite scene in the movie happens about 2:15 into this clip. (The title kind of spoils the surprise, but it's still worth watching.)

To put this scene in perspective, it is illegal to capture a wild Hyacinth Macaw for trade, and they sell for between $7,000 and $12,000 in the U.S.

Hee Haw... Evil?

I found an interesting site that theorizes the television series Hee Haw was the work of Satan. Here's the gist:

"HEE HAW was one of the most godless and evil television shows ever produced; yet, many Christians watched it regularly because Roy Clark, Buck Owens, and others, sang a Gospel song towards the end of each show. During the rest of the show, much of what you saw was women's breasts exposed, whores laying in suggestive positions, dirty jokes, women wearing miniskirts, women being sensual, women and men flirting with each other, men looking at women's breasts, etc. It wasn't just clean fun. There's nothing "clean" about lasciviousness..."

All I can say is that when I used to watch Hee Haw as a kid, it sure wasn't to look at Buck Owens.

Richard Dawson

Courtesy of AprilWinchell.com, we have Match Game superstar and Family Feud host-extraordinaire Richard Dawson - displaying his vocal chops with the psychedelic and very groovy "Apples and Oranges".

Stick around to hear the shock ending!

Dr. Strangelove

Here's a kid re-enacting a famous scene from Dr. Strangelove.

He completely nails the George C. Scott role, and adds a number of awkward pauses that were totally missing from the Kubrick version.