Kalo

I agree. Watched the first 3 episodes this weekend and called it quits. The premise of the show is that you've got a manager who thinks he's one of the world's great comedians and no one else in the office does -- so what's funny about that? The other thing is that there really isn't a likeable character in the lot.......the manager's a goof and the underlings aren't much better. I think that The Office is one of the best things on the tube in years. And I'm a big fan of Fawlty Towers, which is perhaps the finest-ever realization of classic farce on television. The Office is a different animal. It's more about "off-rhythms" and hesitations; In Jazz terms it's analogous to Monk's relationship to Teddy Wilson. In comedy terms, The Office's relationship to Fawlty Towers is that of the deliberate, head-scratching Harry Langdon or Laurel and Hardy to the more straight-ahead comedy of Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd. And, Son-of-a-Weizen, it wasn't until the fourth episode of The Office that I really got it. It's one of the funniest single episodes I've ever seen, especially because it's so scarily, exactly like a particular place that I once worked.

Thanks, Free For All, It took me twenty years to forget that song, and you had to go and plant it in my mind Again!

Interesting that this happens around the same time as the rumors about Mac abandoning its own OS and switching to Windows....

I have to admit that Holmes was pretty literate for a 70s/80s top 40 songwriter. I still prefer Warren Zevon.

Now there's a guy who, at his best, wrote great "story songs." If you think I'm joking, check out his amazing "Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On," about a WWII 4-F who became a mass-murderer.

I just Googled Rupert Holmes, and it's even weirder than I could ever have imagined. He's a mystery writer now, it seems. And 20 years ago he wrote a musical based on Dickens's unfinished novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Not only that, but Canadian/Armenian film auteur Atom Egoyan's last film was based on a Holmes novel that was in turn based on the story of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. I hadn't the heart to Google further. Truth is surely much stranger than fiction.

Actually, Rupert Holmes probably doesn't tour anymore. However, I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere a while ago that he has some project slated for Broadway. (I'm not joking, either.) Anyone ready for ""Pina Colada: The Musical"?

I got it right away. That song was Huge when I was in college. Then, as I read further into the thread, I thought "am I missing something here?" So, Jim, when are you joining Rupert's band?

"George Clinton Presents the P-Funk All-Stars' How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?" I haven't heard it yet, myself. Have you? This recent Village Voice article makes it sound tempting: Also, Robert Christgau gave it a qualified thumbs up in his latest VV Consumer Guide.

...and the Remains were form Liverpool. ...and Boston was really from Kansas -- and vice versa.

He just practiced on it.

Agreed. Dig the creepy Bill Demarest hairdo.

The movies ain't bad either. (Though I agree that the commentaries are this series are very good.) I was especially impressed by "Curse," which could probably win some kind of award for "Best Movie with Worst Title." The little girl in the movie gives an amazing performance. What was your take on that one, Bruce? Excellent movie, though I can understand Lewton's anger at having such a dreadful title foisted on him. I thought it was hilarious that he turned around and made a movie in which no cat appears at all, so that in post-production they had to add a scene near the beginning with a cat up a tree. The suggested titles, "Amy and Her Friend" or "Imaginary Playmate" would have been not only more apposite (to say the least) but more fair to the audience. The girl gives such a good performance that I was curious about her later career, but it appears that she was one of those child-actors who didn't have a career after the onset of maturity. Too bad. (Nice, too, that the commentary included quotes from Agee.) Though, according to the commentary (as I recall it), she did have a fairly extensive career as a child in the 1940s, including an appearance as a child version of Veronica lake in Rene Clair's I Married a Witch. (Good casting!) True, but she didn't do anything, as I recall, past her teens. BTW, have you seen I Married A Witch? It's supposed to be rather bad. I saw I Married A Witch at the Brattle a few years ago. I remember enjoying it as half of double bill, and felt I got my money's worth if only for the extensive footage of Veronica Lake at her most luminous. Definitely not a classic, but one of the films that established her as a star and interesting for that reason.

Chuck beat me to the punch. I just got this collection and it is very nice. Good sound on the early stuff and the DVD is really cool.

Like Sid Vicious or like Sid Bechet?

I've barely watched any of Season 1 and 2. It's good news, but I think I'll hold off until I've caught up with past purchases. Maybe I missed it in the thread but Looney Tunes vol. 3 came out and is excellent. There's a DVD of all the Hollywood parodies, including The House that Jack Built (Jack Benny) and The Honeymousers. Personally, I devoured sets 1 and 2 of the Newhart show, while I'm still working my way through the first Looney Tunes box... Will eventually buy them all, though (Newhart AND Looney Tunes).

The movies ain't bad either. (Though I agree that the commentaries are this series are very good.) I was especially impressed by "Curse," which could probably win some kind of award for "Best Movie with Worst Title." The little girl in the movie gives an amazing performance. What was your take on that one, Bruce? Excellent movie, though I can understand Lewton's anger at having such a dreadful title foisted on him. I thought it was hilarious that he turned around and made a movie in which no cat appears at all, so that in post-production they had to add a scene near the beginning with a cat up a tree. The suggested titles, "Amy and Her Friend" or "Imaginary Playmate" would have been not only more apposite (to say the least) but more fair to the audience. The girl gives such a good performance that I was curious about her later career, but it appears that she was one of those child-actors who didn't have a career after the onset of maturity. Too bad. (Nice, too, that the commentary included quotes from Agee.) Though, according to the commentary (as I recall it), she did have a fairly extensive career as a child in the 1940s, including an appearance as a child version of Veronica lake in Rene Clair's I Married a Witch. (Good casting!)

Jack Crystal almost looks more like Steve Buscemi's dad than Billy Crystal's...

Based on the get-up, I'd say that Jack was low man on the totem pole, pay-scale-wise...

I remember that fondly, I must say. He sure can be "tight" for someone who grew up around such presumably "loose" improvisers...

You can't hear Django's paralyzed hand either.

A "needle drop" is a literal dubbing of a pressing. That indeed is the case with Jody Grind - listen carefully and you can hear groove noise. So that makes it even groovier!

I'm kinda surprised you don't have this. What can I say? One can't have (or afford) everything.

It's not as though a heroin addict would do something just for the money...

I wan' it. I'm a Rouse fan and the Weston tune sounds like the icing on the cake.