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HOME AUGUST BIRTHDAYS Shelby McIntyre, Aug 9, 38 yrs. Nolan Canova, Aug. 13, 52 yrs. Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our eighth calendar year! Number 384  (Vol. 8, No. 31). This edition is for the week of July 30--August 5, 2007. Tomorrow Never Knows Also...Retrorama Debuts           Website Down...My Bad.           Readers Comments THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW by Mike Smith "The Simpsons Movie" ODDSERVATIONS by Andy Lalino Stan Ridgway in Concert - July 29th, 2007 .... Remembering Ingmar Bergman and Laszlo Kovacs RETRORAMA by ED Tucker Welcome to Retrorama! I was very sad to hear of the passing of iconic newsman and broadcaster Tom Snyder at the age of 71 of complications from leukemia. To me, he had the most incredible blend of magnetism and weirdness of any TV interviewer I'd ever seen (Dan Rather's weirdness was just plain weird). His semi-combover, stern expressions, frequent references to his newscaster days in Philadelphia, and sudden horse-laugh became fodder for many comedians over the years, most notably, Harry Shearer and Dan Ackroyd. FANGRRL by Lisa Ciurro Book Review: Resurrection Angel by William Mize MIKE'S RANT by Mike Smith Art House Sorrow .... Ironic .... Geeks Rejoice .... Nice Timing....Whatever Happened To--? Chapter 26: Steve Guttenberg The Tomorrow Show, the landmark one-hour live program starring Tom Snyder debuted in the mid-'70s as sort of a last-snack-before-bed-after-Johnny-Carson at 1:00 in the morning, just before sign-off (remember those, kids?) and I was there from episode one. I remember the first year was peppered with shows done on remote locations, outside, in case there were any UFO sightings! The studio set was so basic as to be almost public access-like with a black backdrop, maybe a few plants, his coffee table and a few chairs. His cigarette smoke would give this awesome ambience to the room, and if a guest also smoked, it was almost as if they were speaking from another dimension. (A reminder that in those days, cigarette-smoking was very common on TV.) One of the most wonderful things of seeing it at that late hour is the feeling that only a few people like yourself were still up to watch making it very special (especially in those days before 24/7 television was the norm). It was the perfect gearing down after the much louder and flashier Tonight Show, and seemed to segue perfectly into your local station's sign-off. I have several great memories of The Tomorrow Show, some of them are available on YouTube, others may never be seen again. Among my favorite episodes: the reunion of the cast of TV's Superman ('50s version), Star Trek ('60s version), The Our Gang Comedies (including an adult Spanky McFarland!), KISS, several other rock and punk bands, political commentators, hard-to-get movie people, and fringe-lunatics. My #1 favorite fringe-lunatic guest was a man who officially changed his name to 1069 (pronounced, "one-zero-six-nine") and lost Tom completely trying to explain it. As far as Hollywood guests, I don't know why it sticks out in my mind, but my memory of Dino DeLaurentis trying to drum up publicity for his version of King Kong on Snyder's show is how I'll always remember him. As far as I know, this was his only TV appearance. I was not so regular a viewer of The Late Late Show, Snyder's early-to-mid-'90s effort, likely because my work schedule changed dramatically by then. But it was always good to know he was around. Tom Snyder was a true original and will be sorely missed. ED Tucker's RETRORAMA debuts To long-time readers of this website, ED Tucker is a familiar name associated with well-researched, in-depth special articles and interviews (starting with a bang via 2002's Lost Interview of Dr. Paul Bearer). While ED is certainly no stranger to these waters, and has always been a valued special feature writer at Crazed Fanboy, time and situation have, up till now, prevented him from becoming a regular staff writer here at PCR. As of this week, another historic landmark is set as ED begins RETRORAMA, a regular to-semi-regular column dealing with all things collectible and nostalgic, from toy collecting to DVD reviews and all points in-between. Check out his inaugural column, I think you'll see there are some exciting times ahead! WOOPS! Website Down! My Bad! First of all, I gave always found the ultra-hip-by-way-of-urbanity phrase "my bad" to be absolutely replusive and I never use it in day-to-day life, so my use of it here is meant to be taken as sarcasm. That said....please forgive a little tech-talk to explain a 2-hour website outage that occured last weekend. I'll try to be brief. Long-time readers, fans and friends of Crazed Fanboy know I am pretty aggressive when it comes to hand-coding this website (I don't use programs) and I'm always in HTML research-and-development mode when I'm not committed to anything else. This year more than any, I have been experimenting with new source codes in an effort to increase interaction with readers and initiate a smidgeon of automation with the columnists. The former, I'm happy to say, has been very, very successful. (The Message Board, Readers' Comments, the Live Chatroom, and homepage hitcounter have all been very reliable.) Long story, short. Last Saturday, just before hitting the sack, I began trying to write a few lines of what I thought was a simple script intended to automate uploads for the writers. After several unsuccessful attempts, I was horrified to discover that I'd somehow crashed the website. Relentless diagnostics and many panicky calls to tech support later and somehow, power was restored. I'm still not sure what happened (I think I inadvertantly screwed up the PHP interpreters with misconfigured code). So.....I hacked my own website, that'll learn me. **blushing**. Mea Culpa. Consider me humbled by the gods of the internet. Readers' Comments The Readers' Comments section is closed for this issue. To continue to comment on articles or interact generally, please use the Message Board or write a Letter to the Editor! Thank you. Crazed FanComments -- starting with most recent. Nolan [07-08-2007 01:51]   Relax, everybody, I'm pretty sure that wasn't the_truth (from our message board for those confused out there). Neither is there a "Griswall" (although I howled at the "Neil" reference, haha.) It's one of our mischievious posters who himself likes to play identity games trying once again to shake out who the _truth is. I agree the_truth is a good writer and of course I'd also like to know who it is, but I guess (I hope) he/she has personal reasons to stay hidden. Griswall [06-08-2007 22:45]   Anyone can be the truth since the truth is anonomous. How do you know that it isn't the truth. For someone who writes so well, it is a shame that they feel the need to keep their identity a secret. There is no reason to hide. Right, Neil? Terence [06-08-2007 21:11]   um and how do we know you are really The Truth? anyone can post the name The Truth on the comment section. The_Truth [06-08-2007 20:02]   I will reveal my identity soon. You will all know The_Truth. You will be shocked as to who I am. Nolan [03-08-2007 19:12]   We don't really have MegaCon-sized conventions in Tampa, but a really decently-sized one, and one we all enjoy attending locally, is the Tampa Giant Comic Con & Toy Show (aka, The DoubleTree Con). Next show is August 19th. Michael [03-08-2007 15:40]   Thanks for the book tip, ED. I'll have to see if I can find it online or at a con. I picked up both of the Gilbert Figures about 15 years ago at a garage sale. Great shape, $2.00 each. My favorite toy as a kid was the portable radio that turned into a rifle. Man I wish I still had it. Speaking of Cons, when is the next big one in the Tampa area? Nolan [03-08-2007 12:55]   You mean do I remember where the store was? I think it was 40th Street and 12th, just where the interstate passes over 40th, east of downtown Tampa. 12th was a tiny dead-end road in the middle of an industrial district. Strange location, but that lent to its ambience. Odds [03-08-2007 09:36]   ED, Nole, I didn't necessarily know Fireside Showcase was a store in Tampa, rather I knew it as a business that set up every so often at a convention. I recall picking up one of their flyers and/or biz cards. I probably met Richard Lamb at a con at some point or another; can't recall. Do you remember where it was? Odds [03-08-2007 09:33]   Lisa, Yes, interseting mention of the Creature Feature element of "Resurrection Angel". I, too would love to punish Channel 44 for that outrage, as I'm sure we all would. I'll have to check out the book. ED [03-08-2007 09:03]   Richard Lamb. He was a strange bird but fascinating to talk to. I have no idea what happened to him. I went to FS for several years and then I heard he moved. Nolan [03-08-2007 07:44]   Fireside Showcase??? HELL, yeah, hahaha. I'm struggling to remember the proprieter's name, was it Richard something? I can't believe it's slipped from my memory. ED [03-08-2007 07:35]   Thanks guys, I will gladly take any and all suggestions into consideration. Mike - there was a cool book published years ago called The Toys from U.N.C.L.E. that had incrdible coverage on all the merchandise from the series. It was a little before my time but back in the 80's I bought a both of the Gilbert action figures IN THE BOXES with all the original accessories and paperwork for $25 each! The came from a place in Tampa called Fireside Showcase. Anyone remember that place? Nolan [03-08-2007 07:22]   Lisa, I'm extremely amused and gratified that the two main characters of Resurrection Angel have such strong feelings about Creature Feature! (No doubt William Mize's former residency here played a role in those scenes.) That alone makes me want to read his book, haha. Keep up the great work, and thanks again for the review. tampafilmfan [03-08-2007 06:38]   Welcome ED! Interesting column...looking forward to future installments. Michael [02-08-2007 18:56]   Great stuff from ED. Nice to have someone around that appreciates the great collectables from the "old days." :-) One collection I've been trying to regain was the series of toys from "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." I'd love to hear about these in a future installment. As always, great work ED. Terence [02-08-2007 18:15]   Im going to be looking forward to the new column by Ed Tucker. I cant wait till he (if he) gets to some of the 80s toys im familiar with and of course trading cards like Garbage Pail Kids. But also to learn about some the cool 50s, 60s, and 70s items that i didnt have the privelige to be able to collect. Like the old 60s Batman Trading Cards. I did collect the reissue of that set. I believe it came out in either 89 or early 90s. Nolan [02-08-2007 12:18]   Andy, thanks. Odds [02-08-2007 10:13]   Welcome, ED! Loved the piece on the "Richochet Racers" (I did indeed have the Spidey version!) - brought back a lot of mems. The black light posters too. Used to see them at Spencers and the Barefoot Mailman novelty shops. Great commentary on the Flintstones Shooting Gallery! So sad about Tom Snyder. Great mems, Nole. Nolan [01-08-2007 14:15]   Welcome ED Tucker, everyone! End of Comments

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