Jimmy Fallon Hurts Hand
The picture below is the aftermath of Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon’s unfortunate accident last Friday. Fallon fell in his kitchen and while trying to grab something to steady himself caught his ring on a table and almost ripped his finger off.
Tweeting with one hand. pic.twitter.com/1Yyp8Nl5eR
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) June 26, 2015
The accident forced Fallon to skip the taping of his show that night, but thankfully he is on vacation this week and can rest. Expect the whole story when he returns Monday, along with a new wacky segment that centers on his hand, probably called Talk to the Hand or something similar.
RIP, Jack Carter
I’ve talked to a few people who thought that veteran comedian Jack Carter had actually died a while ago, but he was still going strong in his 90s. He had roles on such recent shows as Parks and Recreation, iCarly, Shameless, Rules of Engagement, and Family Guy. He seems to have at least one guest-starring role on every single show that has ever been on television, starting in the early 1950s, and was a veteran of the stand-up circuit for decades. He was really of the old school and there aren’t many like him left now. Carter passed away of respiratory failure at the age of 93 in Beverly Hills.
Comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff has a series of fantastic interviews with Carter that you’re going to want to read if you’re a fan of classic comedy and the behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty of show business. Start here and then read the other parts listed in the right-hand menu.
Jiggery-Pokery?
Regardless of where you stand on the recent SCOTUS ruling on the Affordable Care Act, you have to admit that Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent is pretty entertaining. Besides being more creative and blunt than you might expect in a legal opinion, you also get words like “jiggery-pokery.”
What’s that? It means deceitful or dishonest manipulation or humbug. (Humbug is another word that we should use more.) Name developer and copywriter Nancy Friedman has a detailed explanation of the phrase and where it came from on her entertaining site. She also explains what Scalia meant when he used the phrase “pure applesauce.”
Other words we should use more: “snowbroth” and “brabble”. Definitely brabble, since it describes what a lot of people do on social media and in comment sections these days.
The Big 5-0
Fifty years old is one of the big milestones, right? What’s bigger? One hundred I guess, if you’re lucky to get that far and be honored by Willard Scott and Smuckers. One of the things turning 50 this year is me (and no, I can’t believe it).
Here are some other things turning 50 in 2015 that you might want to celebrate:
- The Pillsbury Doughboy
- SpaghettiOs
- Honeycomb Cereal
- The Sound of Music
- Days of Our Lives
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Chris Rock
- Medicare
Merman: The Next Big Hair Color?
Metro U.K. seems to think that the Aquaman-esque merman color is going to sweep the United Kingdom if not the world! Three things. One, I didn’t even know that “merman” was a color. Two, I didn’t know that the man-bun was so popular it had to be “replaced.” And three, no, it’s not the next big thing, unless you are someone between the ages of 18 and 24, go to clubs every Friday and Saturday night, and you’re also sporting a tattoo. As for the rest of us, we’re just going to stay over here with our boring brown and black and blond hair. And some of us, ahem, will go with our skin color.
TV Land Has a New Logo
If you’re a big fan of classic television like I am you probably don’t watch TV Land as much as you used to. Sure, there are still some classic shows on the network, but they’ve really moved away from what they once were. Now they seem to be focused on more recent sitcoms, original shows, and for some reason 27 episodes of Family Feud every day. And that’s why you’ll find me watching MeTV instead of TV Land.
The network has unveiled a new logo. There’s a reason for the change. According to Kim Rosenblum, a VP at the channel, “The majority of our audience in prime time and weekends are now Gen Xers — vibrant, working adults who grew up on MTV and edgier shows. … They demand and deserve a brand that is more connected to where they are today. They are layered and complicated, and their idea of escape is to lean in and go deep.”
Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh, I’m sorry, I dozed off there for a second. I don’t even know if what she says is 100 percent true. I’m Generation X and I don’t watch the shows they’re talking about. I actually watch the shows that they’re attributing to boomers (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, and other shows from the ’50s and ’60s). Run shows like that and I’ll watch. I don’t need “edgy” anymore.
The old logo, the one with “TV Land” inside an old TV set, is still going to be used during the day, when some of the older shows still run (even if they are giant blocks of Gilligan’s Island and Three’s Company). The daytime lineup will now be called “Classic TV Land,” which I guess makes the nighttime lineup TV Land New Coke.
In other TV Land news, they also did this. I’m not a fan of the show, but boy has this gotten silly.
July Is National Ice Cream Month and National Pickle Month
Finally, a food holiday that makes sense. Of course National Ice Cream Day is in July, when the summer is in full gear and the heat increases. Pickles? I guess they’re a summer thing too, as you’re having them with sandwiches and potato chips and all the other things you’ll be eating at the beach or a cookout this weekend.
Oh, and if you think there’s no way that you could combine National Ice Cream Month and National Pickle Month into one recipe, well, you’d be wrong. And if you make that, let us know how it turns out.
Upcoming Events and Anniversaries
The modern bikini is introduced (July 5, 1946)
There might not be too much to a bikini but the Wikipedia page for it is long and detailed.
Hoover Dam construction begins (July 7, 1930)
The official site has information if you’re thinking of visiting, along with a detailed history.
President Zachary Taylor dies (July 9, 1850)
The 12th president died after a July 4 celebration, though historians differ on what exactly killed him.
Scopes Monkey Trial begins (July 10, 1925)
SEP Archives Director Jeff Nilsson explains what happened to John Scopes, the teacher who became the “Monkey-Trial Man.”
Vice President Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton (July 11, 1804)
Maybe that’s why The Saturday Evening Post named him one of the 10 1/2 worst vice presidents.
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Comments
First of all, I forgot to thank you last week for the feature on ‘Bring Your Dog to Work Day’. The picture of that dog in the sleeveless sweater in front of the computer is wonderful. Where else would he be after driving in to work in a 2015 Subaru? (See ad series on you tube!)
It is chilling that Jimmy Fallon had an accident with HIS hand just weeks after Enrique Iglesias’ freaky on-stage incident. I’m glad he’s okay. His impressions are so dead-on accurate—especially for singers, right Neil Young?
Some words should be revived like ‘Brabble’ and ‘Hugger-Mugger’ from the 1500’s. A bartender back then may have said something like “Thee been brabblin’ about in thy bar fer three hours and now yer goin’ ta pay up fer all the whiskey ‘n wine Brandy poured fer ya–fetchin’ round after round, lest ye be arrested, ya ungrateful hugger muggers. Pay now and be gone with ya, outta me bar!!”
TV Land’s Kim Rosenblum should get a round of applause for stating (with a straight face mind you), that absolutely STUPID, psycho-babble laden load of crap. Did she write that, or was it some other beef-witted moron working there?!
Look at all the neat stuff that came out in 50 years ago you listed, and that doesn’t even include any of the cars!! When my Dad turned 50 in 1965, everything 50 years ago (1915) looked old fashioned; especially the cars. 1915 stuff was/is charming and wonderful, don’t get me wrong.
You really can’t say that NOW about 1965. So many of the wonderful things about ’65 including the cars (like the sleek and sexy ’65 Pontiac Le Mans) seem far more modern than what we have now (uptight 4 door rent-a-car sedans, SUV’s & crossovers) compared to the endless variety of what you could get then. They’re safer and more efficient now, granted, but in a lot of ways, ironically, 2015 seems as old fashioned as 1915 when compared with 1965, but in a different ways. Just the right amount of technology that made life easier without the unnecessary junk tech that’s made it harder and much too stressful. That should make you feel better about turning 50!