The Banned "Tiny Toon" Adventure

I always hated Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures. It felt like Spielberg and Co. tried a little too hard to capture the manic spirit of the old Looney Tunes. Everything about these cartoons - from the overbearing music, to the "wacky" animation and obvious jokes - was a pale imitation.

Today, we look at "One Beer" - an unbearably heavy-handed anti-drinking cartoon that was so bad Warner Bros. made it disappear after one TV airing. Bugs, Daffy and Porky (or the "tiny" versions thereof) get drunk from one beer, and end up crashing a stolen police car off a cliff.

Har har har de har har.

Most of the other Tiny Toons episodes were about as funny as this, so if you see this (and I doubt you'll stick around for the whole thing) - you've pretty much seen the box set.

Elvis Forgets The Words

Perhaps you've heard the tapes of Elvis butchering the lyrics to "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - well, here's the video. (If I've linked to the video correctly, you should jump write to the good part.)

There's always been speculation that Elvis is drunk (or high) here. Perhaps. I like to think he's just goofing around during the super-serious monologue part of the song. His pre-song banter would indicate that he's either extremely nervous or disoriented; so who knows?

Neil LeVang

The Lawrence Welk Show wasn't always unhip. The older episodes (especially the B/W ones) - often contain buried treasures like this one - Neil LeVang playing "Ghost Riders in the Sky".

One Toke Over The Line

TV's "Gail and Dale" (Gail Farrell and Dick Dale) sing a notorious "pot" song - "One Toke Over The Line" on the otherwise squeaky-clean Lawrence Welk Show.

I seriously doubt anyone in this clip has a clue what the song is about. (This is the same Lawrence Welk who once fired "champagne lady" Alice Lon for showing too much knee on camera.) It has the words "Sweet Jesus..." in it, so that's probably why Welk assumed it to be a "modern spiritual".

I have a feeling somebody from the band suggested it as a prank, and it somehow made it all the way to broadcast.

The Teddy Bears (Phil Spector)

Let's celebrate Phil Spector's 19-to-life prison sentence by looking back at his younger days - back when he was just threatening to kill people.

Here he is with the Teddy Bears - playing guitar on a hit song he wrote, which was later covered by The Beatles, Marc Bolan, Peter and Gordon, and others.

Interesting fact - the lead singer in this clip, Annette Kleinbard, later changed her name to Carol Connors and co-wrote the theme from Rocky ("Gonna Fly Now").

Not a big fan of Phil - the person - but I think we can all forgive him for pulling a gun on Dee Dee Ramone.

Goodbye Jay Leno ... for now.

I'd like to celebrate Jay Leno's imminent departure from The Tonight Show with a really funny clip from his many years on the show - but to be honest, I couldn't find any.

I've avoided Jay's Tonight as much as possible. I always found his show to be safe, calculated, and only mildly amusing. (For a good example of what the pre-Leno Tonight used to be, click here.)

Jay wasn't always a stiff - his appearances on David Letterman's old NBC show were the stuff of legend. He was one of those recurring guests you looked forward to seeing, and he always put a lot of effort into his material. Click here for an example.

Of course, Jay isn't really going anywhere. He'll be back every night in the Fall at 10:00. I can even envision a "Doomsday Scenario" where Conan O'Brien tanks in the ratings (possible, given Conan's uneven style of humor) and NBC re-instates Jay at 11:30.

Actually that's not the worst scenario. That would be The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

The Patty Duke Show Obervations, Part 3

Just one final observation - for now.

When Patty Duke is dancing during the opening credits, I like to pretend she's listening to "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am" by Herman's Hermits.

OK - I'm going to go seek professional help now.