Batman and Santa Silent Knight pt 1

Welcome to Word Balloon, the podcast that dives deep into the art and craft behind the comics you love. In today’s festive yet fierce chapter of the DC Universe, we’re exploring one of the most delightfully unexpected team-ups in comics history. Imagine the Dark Knight of Gotham City — brooding on rooftops, stalking shadows… now pair him with a man in a red suit who slides down chimneys and actually trained him once. Batman and Santa Claus together, facing supernatural forces, holiday horror, and the kind of mythic storytelling only a master like Jeff Parker can deliver. 

In this episode, Jeff — writer of Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight and its winter sequel — joins us to talk about his new weekly DC Comics series, how Santa fits into the DC Universe, the lore behind their partnership, and why this strange yet wonderful story is resonating with fans this holiday season. So strap in for ghosts, gods, demons, and yuletide myth — because this isn’t just Christmas with the Caped Crusader… it’s Silent Knight, and it’s one wild ride. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back everybody time again for Word Balloon. The Comicpok
Conversation show John Sutris with you bringing the Ghost of
Christmas Past today with Jeff Parker and I talking about
his Batman Santa Claus crossover from twenty twenty three. It
was an excellent story. It recaptured that charm of those
great seventies DC Christmas stories. I'm kind of glad that

(00:22):
they've gone back to that in the last couple of
years as well. But this is a really fun mini
series that came out weekly leading up to Christmas, and
Jeff really pulled out all the stops. In fact, later
this Christmas Week I'll be presenting the second chapter of
that fantastic story from twenty twenty four. But today it's
a combination of Norse mythology with the backstory of Santa Claus,

(00:46):
and of course a lot of great Gotham stuff as
well in Batman and Santa Claus Silent Night Volume one
that's the subject of today's word Balloon.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
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Speaker 3 (01:08):
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Speaker 2 (01:14):
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Speaker 1 (01:26):
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Speaker 3 (02:26):
Every month.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Patreon dot com slash word Balloon as always, thank you
for your support. League of word Balloon listeners. Welcome back, everybody.
It's time again for word Balloon The complic Conversation Show.
John Santras here, happy to welcome Jeff Parker. Good to
see him, my men. Yeah, it's great to be what's

(02:47):
that man, It's.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Great to be back again.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, I'm sorry it's been so long, Bud.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know, I'm sure, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Well, I'm sure it's been a few months at least.
You know, Gabe and I have been talking about a
new scene missing, so we'll talk about it after after
we're after we're done the interviewing here, as long as.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
We don't talk about scad Doo again. I am there. Sorry,
you talk about scad Doo again, I am also there.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
So I'll say again, sorry, I know it hurt. That's
a bad It's a really someone had to take you.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Had to take one for the team, and you did it,
and I appreciate it. You know.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
So many of my favorite comedy podcasts have talked about
how bad that movie is. I'm like, all right, we
got it. We got to see it, come on, and
I'm happy and sorry that we did. But we are here. Well,
there's one image variants and I love this homage, but
here's the main cover.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
For issue cover.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, Batman Santa Claus Silent Night a fantastic mini series,
and I'm so glad you have because of course it's
a parody, but it's a good adventure story. At the
same time, tell me it's no.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
More of already than anything else I write for DC.
So it's just I generally people always think like, oh man,
what a send up this is gonna be, and then
I always play it straight. You know. It's like I
send up everything, really and then I play it straight.
At the same time, it's a tone thing, it's vibes.

(04:21):
I don't know, I'm not as good. We haven't been
doing the show in a while, so I'm not as
good at talking about my process anymore.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Did you Did they approach you and say, hey, we
want to manas Sory?

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, Ben Abernathy approached me and uh, and it's kind
of the way a lot of this stuff goes. I
think he and Marie Javens have been talking about doing
some kind of Christmas event and uh, you know, and
then they're talking about, you know, it's some different way
to incorporate Santa in there, and they they knew I

(04:56):
would be into it probably you know. He he uh
called me over and started talking about it, and I
was like, oh wait, I got this. Don't worry about that.
I've got Santa opinions. Yeah, first we've got to get
Crampus in there. Indeed, and uh, you know, and you know,
and some things were floated by editorial that you know,

(05:18):
they would have They would wouldn't have mind if I
left them out, but you know, they would suggest They
suggested the idea that perhaps uh Batman met Santa back
during his global travels and training himself. And I was like,
of course, who, you know, it's who's the ultimate breaking
into houses it's you know that guy, this giant guy,

(05:39):
this giant Viking guy, and uh so, yeah, it made
perfect sense to me. And then I started having fun
thinking about how all the other characters would react once
they realized they were essentially working with Santa on a mission.
And then it's just the thing wrote itself. Really it
was great.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
I love that. Uh when he when he meets everybody
face to face, his first words are, yeah, I know
where you live? You know, Dick Grayson, now you doing
fifteen fourteen blood? Even drive you know? It's like and
they're all like, you know, and was it background, like
you got my letter?

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah? Well like that because what he's specifically saying is
their childhood address. He's he's he's not saying where they
live now, He's saying whenever they wrote him, like he can't.
It's some kind of even though he tells, uh, you
know the heroes, He's like, this holiday hasn't needed me
to drive it for a long time. We get into

(06:40):
it later in the last issue. We talk a little
bit more about what Santa actually does, uh now on
Christmas Eve? But and when he says that, but then
you realize, like if a kid ever wrote him a letter.
He can't forget it, you know. It's like, so you
get to find out who wrote Santa letter. And I'm

(07:00):
not going to spoil any of those because those are good.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
They're hilarious, man. No, absolutely, And yeah, people are reacting
obviously that it Craps is the big bad and he's
got kind of a Nusferatu vampire underlings.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's a very Dan Mora kind of design. It's you know,
because it.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Is did did Dan design everything?

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Mostly? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Wow? And yeah, man, I love stoic Viking Santa. Yeah
that you know, clearly, dude, And I don't want to know.
But as I've been saying after reading the first issue,
I'm like, if at some point Santa just doesn't give
a roundhouse punch the way Sean Connery does in Leg
of Extraordinary, Gentleman, I'm like, I'll be a little disappointed

(07:45):
because you do kind of want to see ye just
like kick some ass and everything live. These variant covers,
I just adore these. Who painted this?

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Oh wait, this one is by crap I was just
looking at this. Who is this? Hey? Somebody hopeful just
right in because okay, I know, like the something the
uh it's like, yeah, I think that they were letting
people run with it.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Well.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
The nice thing is they realized that once they had
a Christmas event, now they also have a reason to
have variant covers to tie into our Christmas event. So
everybody could do something really cool and fun Santa themed,
uh in their own books. And it doesn't really matter
that Santa doesn't look the same across the board, you know,
it's like he's open to interpretation. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Absolutely, I love I love this to me.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
I feel like Tony Shastein went a little too saw
with his like, come on, man.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Of Marvel Cinema, Iron Man kind of there's gonna.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Be a little cut up bodies in there or something.
It's like sharpening his sol blade.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
I like it. I like it a lot. Man. And
of course the little cheese cake, nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, And we've got Zatana in the book because I
did freaking loves Zatana and I'll put her in anything
I can that I can get away with. It just
made sense. It worked really well for the first issue too.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well in this four issues, right yeah, And.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I think in shops tomorrow is when the next one comes.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Out, right issue too absolutely?

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah. My big note on Zatana was like, Okay, she's
dressed like she normally is, but since it's winter, let's
give her a big furry cape and you know. And
then Michelle Bandini also added a little thing of fur
over her boots, which I thought was a really nice touch.
And I was like, yeah, this looks really sharp. Now
she's got a whole other complimentary look for the season,

(09:51):
you know.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, so Michelle and Trevor Harsign. I don't even know
how to say his name properly. I'm sure I'm murdering it.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
I always thought it was hair sign, but I don't know.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
Let's say, let's say it saying it wrong, Like, yeah, great,
great job on the art. And Alex Sinclair is coloring
beautiful colors. I'm glad you mentioned ale It's absolutely man. Yeah,
you know, this is great and it and it's fun
because yeah, it's a Batman thing, but really it's DC
universe and it reminds me of you know, those great

(10:20):
stuff when we were kids, those Treasury edition collections of
Christmas stories and stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
You know.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, I don't know. DC always had it as far
as the Christmas Italians. As far as I was concerned,
a little bit more so than Marvel. Not I I
can't remember memorable Marvel Christmas stories.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, wasn't really their thing. Am I starting to already
do the double voice deal again?

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Not on my end?

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yeah, I don't know, Like do I have YouTube open
somewhere or whatever?

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (10:54):
There's a big thing of that Panera lemonade that kills people.
Hold on, I'm just closing out who was just to make.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Sure I as am I. If I, if I cause that,
I apologize.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
Okay, Now I don't hear it.

Speaker 1 (11:06):
Okay, Well I just closed the window, so maybe it
was on my end. If other people heard it, I
apologize everybody, But it was.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
It's always me. I always messed this thing up, and
that's why I had to sit out a lot of
kinescopes and just drubbed me nuts.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Well we were bombed, man that when you couldn't join us.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
But I got a newer computer and that helps.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
My camera crapped out when I and people know if
they've watched one of the latest word balloons. Last week,
I was talking to Jeff John's mid conversation, the camera died,
so I had to finish it on just my avatar
and my microphone. So but this is so much better
camera now, So everything's fine, Everything's.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
I should also say the We're going for a real
shot by Conrad Hall sort of look for this book.
I just wanted to get that in there, because it
took Gabe like an hour to finally mention Conrad Hall
in your talk last week. I was like, what, what's
going on here? Why is this? Do I even understand

(12:11):
these men anymore?

Speaker 1 (12:13):
You know, I hope the people at DC Animation are
considering animating your story because it really would make a
great Christmas DVD and so many guest star appearances, and
I'll leave it at that. You could tell with Satana
showing up and certainly the back family shows up. But yeah,

(12:34):
I think this would be fantastic and you know, get
bad ass Santa as a guest star and everything. Why not.
I think it'd be terrific. Good.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
I am glad the whole I didn't know. You never
know when you messed with mythology how much it's gonna
work for people. But I've been seeing great reviews. People
seem to really be into it, so you know, like, good,
thanks for letting me tinker with your childhood again, you.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Know, it's like, like you said, Man, no, I guess
it is. It is a typical Jeff Parker DC universe
and adjacent universes. I mean, I suppose this pairs well
with Future Quest and some of the other dcs.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, it probably fits in with the way we did
Evan and I did Future Quest and things like that,
you know. And it gets back to, uh, it's been
a while since I've gotten to do Batman more of
the detective way I tend to think of him. I mean,
because I did sixty six. Yes, so long, and I

(13:37):
love sixty six, But really, really the take I naturally
gravitate to is the one Hardman and I did this
Gotham Spirit story a few years ago, and it was
one where Batman doesn't talk at all and he's not
the point of view character. I love stuff like that

(13:59):
where they're the heroes are not seen, you know, we're
not right with them the whole time, and it's seen
from the the bad guys or somebody else's POV.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
It reminds me too, although again a different tone, what
Mike Barr did with Detective four hundred, when all these
other detectives who were in Detective comics show up and
then finally the biggest guest star is one hundred plus
year old Sherlock Holmes. Right, and this is when Batman
still smiled on panel and the whole anytime, anytime Holmes

(14:36):
is talking, Batman has just got this like fantastic smile
on his face. And at one point Holmes says the
pipe and Batman goes to let He's say, oh, no, no, no, son,
it's okay, it's just for show. I haven't smoked it,
you know, decades, But it's just like, yeah, man, that's
that's great. And I love the contrast of your story
where Batman's just like, yeah, it's Santa. Yeah we know

(14:56):
each other. Yeah, I mean very very Joe Friday about
about his relationship to Santa. Yeah, yeah, we we're colleagues.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
We we know.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
And and like you said, good good detective work, not
only from Bruce but also Damien.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
You know, yeah, I Damien is super important to the
story because one he's the only kid, so he's really
got to be a focal point somewhere in there. It
turns up more later, but you know, I just thought, no,
he's and this is a great chance to do something

(15:32):
with a kid who's had a weird background like him, uh,
and like how does he react to Santa and what's there?
You know, how did they interact and so far? You know,
at the beginning of the story, Santah it's pretty rude
to Damien. He's bactically knocking him out of the way
as he's walking around, like you know, it's like and

(15:53):
you see Damien even pout a little bit like well,
it doesn't seem to like kids, you know.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Very funny. Absolutely no, and even the side conversations between
Dick and Barbara and the like good stuff.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
Man, No, this is this is a in Batman's mind.
He was like, I told you about this, Dick, you know,
you know, and Dick's like I thought he was just
making all that up, you know, just to make Santa
sound cool.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
That's the thing, I know. It's it is little moments
like that that dip into the characters past and everything.
But no, it's an enjoyable story. I'm glad it's coming
out weekly. It's kind of a nice little special event.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
This is a cool way. It's a cool way to
do an event. I feel like, you know, it's like
one I love it. You can't sustain it for long,
but I love the whole weekly comic thing is like
having a show, yes and yeah, and uh, you know,
of course we had to do it like I had
to get in the Christmas spirit back in April or

(16:54):
whenever our March, you know, uh, to go ahead and
write the story and get everybody work way way way
ahead of time, because not only does it have to
all come out in the month of December, but they're
the printer for DC and Marvel. They have a very
early cutoff, and uh, this is you often hear artists

(17:18):
in pain about this at the end of the year
because they find out they've got a lot less time
to draw a book than they normally would have because
often people will forget to say, oh, yeah, we've got
to get everything into the printer by the first week
of November or whatever, and so you know, we tried
to get way ahead on that. It was a heroic

(17:39):
feat by editorial like managing stuff, because I tried to
be cool about it, but there was sometimes I had
notes and I was like, guys, we've got to fix
this scene because blah blah blah, and uh, you know,
because and I don't like to do that. I don't
do it arbitrarily. I only do it if like it's
very important to the story understood.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Crampis obviously the big bad in the story and looking
very scary. Yeah, I think appropriately so. And yet you know,
I'll admit I hadn't known much about Crampus before the
movies of late that kind of exploit him and stuff.
But no, this is really a good lesson about Viking lore,

(18:23):
Andana provides us with that backstory in issue one.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Campus has really made a comeback in the past couple
of decades or so. You know. Yeah, everybody's like, wait,
Santa used to hang out with this wild beast man
with horns and we're not talking about it, come on now,
and yeah, and you can see how obviously, uh, a
devil looking guy would get really downplayed once uh you know,

(18:49):
it became a Christian holiday, you know, or it got
kind of got co opted, you know, But the thing
is originally a solstice holiday. It's uh, yes, it's it's
it's about the bleakest time of year when things start
turning around, the sun starts coming out again, and and
that's the whole feeling of hope. And uh, you know,

(19:11):
we don't go too much into that we we leave
it a little open so everybody can interpret still the
way they like it. You know, I'm not telling people
how to do their holidays at all. Sure, but I
am thinking I did tie it more heavily into the
North stuff because it just, I don't know, it just
felt right. It felt like, yeah, sand is kind of

(19:33):
like four. You know, it's like if.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's Yeah or Odin Battle Odin basically you know, yeah,
I absolutely agree, and uh, it's it's again. I mean
I like Sweet Santa too. I like him showing up
out a corner and is he real? But you know
this is you know, DC is about action adventure, so

(19:55):
it's as comic.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
And I saw somebody saying, oh no, not a grim
dark thing, like it's it's not it's not grim. I mean, yes, yes,
Sanna is more of a heavy than you've seen usually
see him, but it's not it's not depressing, uh, you
know it's at all. It's just you know, they killed
some vampires with antlers.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
I mean.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
That's what I wanted.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Absolutely. Man, it's Donna right that he's writing Prancer. It's Prancer.
Pardon me, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
I just thought it would be more entertaining for Prancer
as also, Donner also just suggests kind of cannibal vibes
to me, so I was just like.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh, that's Lario's the Donner party. Yeah, thanks, thanks a lot,
everybody you ruined Christmas? Exactly? Are we without spoiling? Because
I'm a little Vixen is a character? So no, you know,
right right, Well, that would have been fun to see
Vixen and Vixen. Yeah, like, which of us game first?

Speaker 3 (20:55):
Am I named?

Speaker 1 (20:55):
After this this caribou? Will we see any of the
other reindeer without spoiling?

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Good, good to hear.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
You don't necessarily get them called out by name. Well
a little bit actually, now that I think about it.
But you know, it's like you see all your faves.
Maybe not Rudolph, but you know.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Well and again, uh this really again, because I've read ahead,
everyone's in for a treat because really a lot of
DC Universe heroes will show up and have a moment
in this story. So now this is gonna it's gonna
make it a great novel.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Jeff, we kind of suckered everybody into thinking it's purely
a Batman family story, but by next issue it expands,
right away and everybody. I feel like they start coming
in very naturally, like who would next come into the story,
And so I won't spoil it, but if you like
a hero, they're probably in the story.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, this is great, No, absolutely man. And also I
love the little note that in this first cover that
Superman is reading from a forties is that I'm assuming
world's fine's kind of or maybe it's a Batman time.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
I think it's Batman's first the first appearance of Sanna
in Detective comics or National Comics at the time. So
that was a yeah, sharp callback by Dan.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
That's outstanding, man. So what else, Like, do you have
other things that are currently out or about you?

Speaker 3 (22:29):
I am also at Dynamite. I am working on the
Negaduck series. If anyone out there used to watch dark
Wing Duck in the nineties, you may remember he had
a super villain who was the evil opposite of him
called Negaduck, and for some reason they thought Nega Duck
deserves his own book. So I was like, all right,

(22:49):
let's do that, and that's it's a lot of fun.
And that was neat because I got the books, like
some of the books just in time when I was
at the Rose City show in Portland, and I see
people kind of going along and you know, they kind
of politely look at your table and then they'd see
Nega Dug like whoa and grab and it's like, oh, okay,

(23:10):
these are going to go over pretty well. Like I've
kind of forgot how much people love that cartoon, you know.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Well in the nineties Desalgia right now, that's the sweet spot.
It is a sweet.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
Pot, you know. Like, uh, my other former collaborators, Declan
Schalvey and Drew Moss are working on ThunderCats, which is
really more eighties but uh, you know, like some stuff
like that that actually is kind of surprising. They haven't
been in comics that much. You know. It's like, oh, well,

(23:42):
good on Dynamite for seeing a thing and going for it. Sure,
I like it because then at Halloween all the time,
I tend to I like to give out candy and comics,
so I need some kid friendly comics. You know, this
may I'll be able to give this out. It's good.
You know, they do murder the hell out of some

(24:04):
Carollers at the beginning of the story, and it's rated
Team plus, so I'm not quite sure. You never know.
It's like this could come back and bite me. I'm
not sure.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
I understand absolutely regarding negaducty. Have you talked to Tad
Stones about it at all? Have you met Tad Stones?

Speaker 3 (24:21):
I've not met him in person. We talk online some
and U and he h. He had tagged me on
Blue Sky and said where by the way, I'm Jeff Parker,
just like I used to be on Twitter, and and
I was like, oh, it's like, I'll send him to you.
He goes, I'm not, don't worry, I'll get him on

(24:42):
the kndle and like, you know, it's like so he
went and ordered all the things are bug dynamite or
whatever to send him over so that he could read
him on his kindle. And I understand, there's only so
much space in one's house.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
I'm the same way, man, I'm ninety percent digital these days.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
So I didn't succeed in getting Tad's address so that
I could just send him junk all the time. But yeah,
but then again, I never heard from him after that,
so maybe he didn't like it. I don't know. I
I got to wait and find out, Like Tad, did
you you never said if you liked the book you.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Know, I missed going to San Diego so I could
see him face to face. Yeah, he much like yourself.
Like a year after we established contact, now we established
contact word balloon year one, two thousand and five. I
was talking to Jeff and Tad was doing the hell
Boy animated shorts right that were coming out, and he

(25:39):
contacted me at which blew my mind. But he was
an early podcast adopter, so he got in and no,
we've been friends ever since and he never got great
great guy. Yeah, I was so happy. He has a
brief cameo in that Chip and Dale movie really yeah,

(26:01):
with Maulvany and Andy Samberg. Right, it wasn't Pete. What's
his name, Andy Samberg. Yeah, he's on the phone and
he's a he's a voice on the phone, and I
was so happy for him. Where Yeah, yeah, so bizarre.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
I still haven't seen that, but it was kind of
bizarre premise to have like one of them computer animated
one two D. But so I want to see that.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
It's really it's pretty good. It has that Roger Rabbits
sort of vibe to it of different different animation as
they're exploring the mystery that they're exploring and yet it's uh,
it's it's good. And especially you know, I don't know
about you, but I I grade more understandably for streamers
versus a theatrical release. And I'm like, no, I look,

(26:53):
I remember when Kimmel had them both on Malvany and
and uh and Sandberg yeah, and I know I have
to keep thinking and uh. And I'm like, you know,
and the whole thing was really a commercial for the movie.
And I'm like, yeah, I don't know. But then Franco
told me. He's like, no, it's actually funny. And I'm like,
all right, and I watched it. It's good. It's good.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
I like the way you can remember the guy from
Chicago easily, no problem Chicago. Absolutely, you're right, that's one
of your boys.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
I I am always rooting for mulvaney. I love I
love his mullaney.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Actually there's a Nick mulvaney, but uh, it's uh, you
know John Mulaney.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
He's great.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Uh, he's great. I love the fact that he gets
confused for Grant Gustin, who plays the Flash on Sea.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
I could see that.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah. Someone brought that up in an interview and he said, like,
thanks for confusing me with this young good looking guy
who does this thing or what.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, and I'm glad. I'm glad he's recovering and everything,
and I'm root I root for you.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
I guess, you know, brilliant versions. But like you know,
it's like every time I think, like but I I
hear whatever someone's story is, and then later it's like boom,
it goes wilder. And he was He had a good
appearance on uh, what's his name show other Saturday Night?

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Huh oh, I was gonna say Colbert, but oh it
must be Fallon.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
No, no, no, uh the wait, I'll get it in
a second. Uh yeah, the one who hooks up with everybody,
hooks up with everybody. Uh the rings under his eyes.
His dad died nine to eleven.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Uh oh yeah, that's Pete Pete Davison. Yeah, I don't
know Pete Davison as a podcast or whatever.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
No, it's not a podcast. It's a it was a
short show that's really roughly based on his life. And uh,
John Mulaney turns up in an episode. Uh, Joe Pesci's
in it a lot. Wow. Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's
like they got some big people. Edie Falco plays his mom,

(29:09):
it's just it's great.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
It was like, you know, is it on Peacock? It
must be on Peacock?

Speaker 3 (29:16):
Maybe probably. Yeah. Now I'm trying to remember what shall say.
What's on Peacock Craig Robinson's show where they you know,
uh kill pythons and uh killing it stuff like that. Okay,
that the Dark NBC show.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
You know I dropped a peacock, you know, like when
they because I used to get it through Exfinity Cable
and then they changed the deal and it's like, well, no,
I mean, I think the least you can do is
give me a peacock. So I was kind of bummed.
So I I haven't renewed it, and now I'm kicking

(29:58):
myself and I I'm wait till Galactica gets rebooted because
I know that's in process and I'm such a fan
I have.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
Then you then you can catch up on everything all
at once, right.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
Yeah, because now even blew off poker face like an idiot,
and especially being the big Columbo fan that I am,
I know, I know.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
It's so good. God, that was one of the best
shows of recent years.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
I love I'll get to it. I promise I'll get
to it. But I had too many streamers and the
other one that I dropped, and I'm a big British
television fan and I keep discovering shows left and right.
But I dropped BritBox like a year ago. And now
that Carry Grant mini series and Jason Isaac's the last

(30:41):
guy I would think to cast is Carry Grant. And
I saw that CBS Sunday Morning interview segment he did
in makeup and hair, and it's like, holy fuck. I
mean that's a tough look to pull off. Yea, and
god damn it, man, I mean it's his eyes are
a little different. You can't you can't fix the eyes everybody.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
But when I was walking by, I was walking the
dog at night the other night and uh, because it
gets night very early right now, and uh, and I
was going by someone's house and they were watching that
show and I was just like, whoa Carry Grant? You know,
across the street. And then I was like, wait, is
he looks slightly different? But it's Carrie Grant. And I

(31:22):
was like and then I realized later it's like it
was that show. They were watching brit Box, and I
was like, I need to see that.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Oh man, it looks so good. And I guess Diane Cannon,
his last ever as old Hollywood fans know, his last wife,
she and their daughter produced it, and I and I
think it's a warts and all thing because man, poor
Carrie Grant. I mean, he was really sucked into that
psychoanalysis period where hey, let's give our a pittients LSD.

(31:50):
What could go wrong?

Speaker 3 (31:52):
You know, it's like, yeah, it was the it was
the fifties that was the big thing, like just just try.
He seemed pretty into it for a bit.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
He was very into it and even kind of forced
Diane Cannon to try it and she had and she
had a bad trip, so you know, it's yeah, just
crazy shit. Man, come on, darling, it's only LSD. I
think let's watch The Wizard of Oz and put Dark
Side of the Moon's see if.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
They at this precise moment, Look.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
The lunatic is in the grass. That's supposed to be
Ray Buljit. Of course it does. You know. Actually, as
we're talking, you know, I.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
Used to walk into parties when people were doing that
and I'm like, oh, yeah, someone's doing this again.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
You know the movie and shame on me because people
might tune away the movie's on tonight on on one
of the Turners. I think I neither t T or
TBS really still a classic. Man, you know, all right,
new movies, I gotta be I gotta be honest. I
hope everybody that wants to see and is seeing WAKA
is enjoyed it. But man, I don't know. And I

(33:02):
mean I felt this way well before they tried with
Johnny Depp playing Walker. It's like, listen, Gene Wilder, man,
he owned there are as you know, Jeff, there are
rules that are vehicles for stars. Yeah, and Wonka was
the original Willy Wonka movie is so Gene Wilder in
the best ways. And I don't see anybody else, you know,

(33:24):
even though they put him in the appropriate cosplay outfit
and stuff. I'm just like, I have no interest unless
people tell.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
Yeah, you can put a velvet coat on him all
you want, Like he's not Gene Wilder. Gene Wilder was funny.
I mean, the man was just funny. It's like he
was writing a lot of the stuff that you know,
Mill Brooks did that we like so much.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Young Frankenstein was his idea. Yes, I don't write I
don't believe dip or you know or I don't even
know the name. I don't even know.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
Uh sorry, get it. I'll get it in a minute.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
No problem. Again, that's where the chat comes in if
we can't think of it.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
But uh chat uh but uh, like I mean back then,
you would get, you would, well you do still get
people who write and perform now you know, you forget
like you know Bill Hater or somebody like that, you
know or what Actually Hater would have been a better
walker than than the kid Timothy Timothy Shall May good God,

(34:30):
I like, well, yes to me, Shall, I made just
rolls right out of my head. I can't uh, I
can't hold that name in. Uh.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
I totally understand by the way I Drew Moss watching,
and I want to acknowledge that.

Speaker 3 (34:44):
He thanks Drew. You're gonna like this. This has got
a lot of very drue things in it. I think
you'll enjoy. But you don't have specially narrow cast it
to people calling in.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
No. No. I love when creators or or people in
comics are watching word Balloon live. I find that to
be a very high compliment.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Well, and you always have this Larry King background, so
I can do the thing like, oh call of Florida.
You know, somebody was always calling in from Ocala. I
don't know what it is about that place.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Pennsylvania. Hello, you're on the line with Don Rickles.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
I was watching a I got sucked into watching an
old guest host session of Don Rickles. I think it
was somebody was putting it on because Lee Marvin was
being such a pain in the butt as a guest.
And uh, and of course Rickles is just having a
blast with and and Ali's on there right now. He
had just talked before him, and then Lee Marvin just

(35:45):
goes into talking about Muhammad Ali for a while. Of
course why not. He's the greatest, you know, and uh,
and Rickles just just sitting there just like really like
you know, we're on TV. Don't feel you have to
do anything. It's like you forget how good Rickles was though,
Like when he actually got put into the host role

(36:05):
and wasn't just supposed to be singing people like what
he was kind of he was like you, he could
remember facts and uh weird connections and everything, and like
he could just bring it up really fast. He was
great at it and arguably better than Johnny really when
he like was turned loose in that role, you know,

(36:25):
I don't. He may not been able to sustain it
the way Carson could.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
You know, that's the difference. That's what every everyone and
again forgive me everybody for you.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
You can suck it up for a week, but it's
hard to do it in and out like that, you know.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
Yeah. Yeah, well that's what I would tell people about
radio because they're like, so all you do is talk
about sports for four hours. Yeah, try and do that
five days a week, Try and do that in try.

Speaker 3 (36:50):
To fill fifteen minutes.

Speaker 1 (36:52):
See yeah, well but even like February and July. Yeah,
but there's nothing of sports. Yeah, where it's two, it's
too far away from playoffs or March madness or whatever.
And you gotta you got a vamp. You gotta figure
out something clever to say for the next five days
and the next month. And it's it's tough, No, that's

(37:13):
the tough part. I saw an old Tonight show where
Rickles was hosting and Charro was the guest, and at
one point that one just.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
Goes on it. So that's that's a perpetual motion machine.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
At that point, well, she she's in some sort of
tube top and this is Charo in her prime. This
is like early seventies Charo. And at one point.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
She remember, well, yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
Well, and they're gonna wrestle or something. They're on the
main stage and Rickles and forgive me already, I'm saying this,
not Jeff, but Rickles just goes my wife is a guy,
and it's like looking at Charo's body and he's just
like that was his comment. It's fantastic and again terrible,

(37:54):
but I'm laughing also.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
And then that thing where, like you you would think
it would be like a one thing where like, oh,
Charl's just gonna come out and be hot, dance around,
and then she'd go play flamenco guitar and be a
freaking master at it. Vertus like, and you're just watching
her go to town and like, what the hell, Like,
if you could only do one of these things, you're
doing great, And it's like, no, you had to be

(38:18):
good at everything.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
Well, and that's what I was gonna say about Wilder earlier,
and Rickles too.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
Wilder was good at everything.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
When he sings Imagination nowadays, I almost cry because it's
such as sweet and I'm the first person that makes
fun of over sentimental stories or ideas. But that said,
when he sings that song, he's not the best singer,
but it's just perfect for him, and it's this beautiful,

(38:45):
ernest performance.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
And it's and of course now they could mix it
to death and make it sound you know, like he
could do more than he could so that he sounded
that good at all. It was pretty impressive, a great
And you know, everybody always brings up the way he
establishes the the whole bit of the character by doing
the walk out and everybody thinks he's the feeble old man.

(39:10):
And then he loses his cane in the cobblestone and
starts to fall forward and then does that flip yep
and uh and and with the reasoning that's like, from
this point on, no one will know whether to believe
me or not. And it's like that's brilliant. It's like
and you know, like they they had the good sense
to go with it, and like, yeah, let him just

(39:32):
steer because he knows what he's doing here, because he's
partly menacing is several points.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Yes, of course, God at the end, you good dang,
very mean, very mean.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
No, he's still busy lifting drink.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Yep, that's fantastic. And Jack Albertson, of course, the the
grandparents in bed together, all four of them, that's the
only part that creeps me out. And the whole time
I'm like, all right, I know they're in allows the apartment.
God damn it. I hope they have running water. Yeah,
that's pretty gross. Please bathe frequently.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
Yeah. Yeah. And then when Grandpa Joe gets up, you know,
like Jack Albertson's like, You're like, he can walk, like,
according to them, that's the only place I would cut,
like they do. Charlie's mom has a song, yes, Charlie, Yes, Yeah,
And I feel like it just goes on a bit
too long there and it's like it's like but also,

(40:33):
you know, I've I don't have probably the attention span
we all had back then of being able to like, yes,
things must take time.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Well, I wonder when they put that movie in a
commercial two hour thing for anyone who's left still watching cable.
Uh yeah, I would cut that, would I would cut
mom's song absolutely? Yeah. We don't need that. We don't
need that's gonna.

Speaker 3 (40:57):
But the Chlamy thing is gonna be a prequel, right,
it is.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
It's out. I guess it addits Uh, I think it
added its first weekend, So yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
I didn't know. I'm still wanting to go see Godzilla
minus one and I haven't gotten out to the theater yet.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
I was gonna, I certainly was gonna ask I haven't either.
I gotta be honest. The price of a movie ticket
is insane. And I have to admit because friends also
said we'll join a movie club, and I'm like, yeah,
but when I go to the movie that I want
to see and I look at what else is playing
on the marquee, I don't want to see anything else.

(41:37):
And it's it's not like it wouldn't be there wouldn't
be a value to joining the movie club. I'd only
be seeing one movie a month. So I don't think,
Uh no, no, sorry, I don't And and it's and again,
this has been a problem. This is a problem before
COVID and now post COVID.

Speaker 3 (41:55):
It's even it's it's a streaming problem.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
It's like you can't have your cake and eat it too,
Like guys, you got to either hold one out for
a long time like they used to do, you know,
it's like like, let it have a real movie run
before it goes Now everybody knows it, like it's like, oh,
if it doesn't make this, it's like, uh, what was
what was that movie? Everybody in the little New England

(42:22):
town knew way too much about how movies were made.
The Mammot thing.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Oh, State in Maine, I know exactly.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
It's like in state and Maine like every other.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
If they don't hit this number by a weekend too,
then we'll be able to see it.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
I like that movie. That's a great movie. It was,
And that's the kind of movie that and I mean
it was a little movie when it came out, the
Mammon movie, and uh yeah, that's the kind of movie
that I probably probably wouldn't get a theatrical really sort
of very limited. But yeah, man, no, you're right again.
Sorry everybody. We're two old men, you know, yelling at
clouds from our porch. But it was something to see

(42:56):
these clouds. I mean, they need it, they deserve it well.
And again we saw that because we paid attention for
more than four weeks and then they're out of the theaters.
I mean, the Marvels is a classic example. My god,
it's barely a month and it's like gone.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
See, yeah, I was thinking about going out to the theater,
and by the time I don't know, I had stuff
to do, and then by the time I turn around,
it's gone. So I'm trying to think, what was it?
There was something else that came out and was starting
to do great and then got jerked out of theaters
way too fast. I know that probably applies to a
ton of stuff now, but it's hard not to feel

(43:35):
like they're doing it simply because well, good. This way
we'll still support our streaming audience and we won't have
to pay all of these residuals to the actors by
getting it out of the theater. And that's exactly what
they're doing in a.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Lot of I didn't realize until I read the headline today.
I suppose I'm hearing that maybe Brie Larson is kind
of attacking Disney for pulling it so early.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
Oh good, I hope she just goes in on him,
you know, like ye, it's like sorry, you know, you know,
that's a selling point that they make in their contracts,
and then they don't have any intention of really keeping
it in that long because they want. Ye, Marvel's been
killing themselves with the you know, Disney Plus rather is
killing Disney you know. I mean, I guess it's great

(44:26):
if you want to watch everything on TV. And again
if you want to watch those dark wing ducks I
was talking about, it's on Disney Plus. There you go,
and a lot of good stuff is on there. But yeah,
I don't know how they expect theatrical to to keep
hanging in for dear life when they are undercutting it themselves.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
But I don't know who am I well, you know,
my buddy, uh Mark or no, she's my buddy. Robernette
goes to what used to be I think it's called
Sinecon now and he used to be called show West
and essentially it is an industry convention, uh for theater
owners and it's all the and it's all the studios.

(45:08):
This is what we got, this is what's coming. And
certainly in the last couple of years to fight the
streaming impact, uh you know Nicole Kidman, And I mean
it started with the theater owners, but then it even
went to the uh be part of the preview package
of oh no, come back to the theaters please, we
miss you. And it's like, yeah, but my couch is comfortable,

(45:30):
and you made a three hour movie and I can
hit pause and run to the bathroom if I need to.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
Well, you know the funny thing with that commercial is
you look there, there's no one sitting around Nicole Kidman.
You're like, wow, Nichole is the only person in this
ready to go with her and she's super famous.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Not even not even Keith, her husband. I can't think
it was the.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, finally I remember a name.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
This is yeah yeah. This is the Memory Podcast now
book of those.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
It makes you wonder because like like here in Portland,
the way some theater chains have chosen to fight back,
we have like these the bedroom theaters. We have these
like specialized screening rooms, and like I went to one
the other night to watch the here to watch a

(46:32):
thirty year old rock video to watch Stop Making Sense,
and uh, you know it's like I was laying back
on this big couch with a big pillow and everything,
and I had a beer and they were making it like,
you know, this is like your home experience actually actually
nicer than your actual home, and you're watching a giant

(46:54):
screen and you still have a little bit of audience
reaction with people you don't know. And then it's like
the rooms aren't as big as you know, a whatever
plex that you would go to, but you know there
are plenty big for what you're doing and didn't cost anymore.
So it's like, yeah, this is a total this is
a good solution, you know. I hope it catches on

(47:15):
in more places. I know, like you know, people like
the Alamo Draft House or something where the seats vibrate
and William Castle style or some stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Jeff I saw and I word alone, people might be
sick of me talking about this. But when I went
to see the Flash, I missed the showtime that I
wanted to see, which would have been standard deaf, and
they're like, well, we've got a showing in ten minutes
on forty X. Oh do you want to do that?
And I had no idea what forty X was And
then I found.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
Out and I've not seen one.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
It's a it's a carnival, right, It literally is. Your
seat is on a piston. You are pitched forward, you're
pitched backward. My wallet flew out of my pantscket and
it was four feet away from my seat, and uh,
and my my phone slipped out of my other pocket,
and I'm like, all right, I haven't moved. It's got

(48:10):
to be somewhere. I'll wait till the lights come out
at the end of the movie. But I am a
little uncomfortable myself.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
It is not in my pocket, I'm sure staggering back in,
I can't get in my car.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
Where's my keys? And you're constantly handing all your stuff back.
A lot of families brought their kids, and I'm sure
the kids loved it. And it was the It was
the flash, so anytime somebody was shot, you got compressed
air and water shot in your face. I mean it
was insane.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
It was the I remember from the Indiana Jones great movie.
Uh not the great movie Ride, the later one that
you get at Disney. Now. Yes, the compressed air things
that they do when arrows are flying or whatever. That
works really well because you feel it. It doesn't hurt.
No one's gonna sue you anything, but it is. It
is a neat thing. Like God, what would William Cassel

(49:02):
would have lost his mind being able to make a
movie in one of those and show it in one
of those places.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
That's hilarious, you know.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
I got to the electricity up so hard.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
I interviewed his daughter years ago, but the recording didn't work,
so I don't have it. Unfortunately, I know, and I
couldn't get her. I couldn't get her back. And it's
like that and my other great regret and people can appreciate,
especially during the holiday season. I spoke to the TV
producer Steve Bender, who on the one hand made the
sixty eight Elvis Comeback Special and a man variety shows

(49:38):
during the TV era, but also did the Star Wars
Holiday special Wow, and we had the greatest talk, and
unfortunately the recording didn't keep and I couldn't get him back,
and I'm like, okay.

Speaker 3 (49:49):
It hurts. They were just was a MPR was just
doing a thing with the Pop Culture Happy Hour talking
about the Star Wars Christmas Special, and they brought up
things because I've you know, I've watched a little bit
of it again online, uh and stuff, and it's like,
I always remember. The things that always stick with me

(50:10):
are b Arthur's number where she's working in the canteena yep,
and the one where Art Carney comes in and actually does.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Yes some Norton business.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
Yeah, he totally does that. Norton and it's like, I'm sorry,
that's genuinely funny. And then you you actually hear a
stormtrooper going, well, you get on with it, and uh,
but they talk about you know, they talk about other
parts that I had completely forgotten, like because it's actually
a really long show.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Yeah, yeah, I think it was a two hour show.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
Yeah, they do some weird stuff in it, like cause
I like, again it was made by people who do
like like bender, like who do variety shows.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
Right, so you know Bruce Bruce valland the wonderful comedy writer.
I heard him on a podcast talking about it. Mister
absolutely man, you know, do something with that hairbers. But
other than that, God bless you, you're a brilliant man.
And no funny stories about like that. B Arthur's song

(51:17):
was written to sound like three penny opera, that kind
of that kind of style of me.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Yeah, it's kind of the send in the Clowns sort
of sounding thing if I remember. Yeah, right, Like it's like,
what is this traumatic number b is doing or whatever?
Like why aliens out of the thing.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Yeah, it's you know, you don't have to go home,
but you can't stay here. Basically, it's the theme of
the song. But now all that and then the various
creatures that show up in in the special that didn't
show up in the first movie, you know that they
made but didn't use, and then they still had him around. No,
it's a it's a great story, and bender was fantastic.

(51:59):
And again it's like, well, at least I had the conversation.
It's teamed dinner. I'm sorry word ballow, and I really
I really wanted it for all of us.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
But did you guys think about.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Ad to.

Speaker 3 (52:12):
Even know this?

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Thankfully YouTube exists and well and also like they still
syndicate at Sullivan's show, But I really wanted to know
about music performance on these variety shows, and you know
they would they would do whatever tricks cameras could do
back then, super imposing a bigger version of the singer

(52:36):
and uh, you know that kind of thing, or mirror
images and kaleidoscope effects and all this stuff. And it
was I'm like, no, I really want to hear about that.
But the comeback special absolutely, and how that's stripped down
when Elvis is in the red uh, in the black
leather suit and he's just surrounded by kids and it's
him and his original uh, Sun Records, Guys like Scottie

(52:59):
Moore just just stripped down singing some of the classic
fifties stuff. And it's like, oh my god, because you know,
as you and I know and listen, I love a
lot of the Elvis movies, the cheeseball movies. And it
was so great, I know, and it was so good
at that moment for Elvis to kind of reclaim and go, no,
guess what I was the original rock and roll badass

(53:22):
and it's like, yes, sorry, we did all forget. So
you know, it's a I mean, and don't get me wrong,
Elvis has a lot of words and all and his
well that Austin I can't think of his last name now,
the guy who played Elvis in the last movie.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
Yeah, and I was gonna say the baz Luhreman movie
got that good, really well, like they recreated that set
really nicely. And him sitting there, it was like it
felt like when I had watched you know, years ago,
because my mom was a big super Elvis freak, and

(53:57):
so like I was constantly hearing all the album. If
there was anything to watch, I had to watch it,
you know, and everything. So as a kid, I was
kind of snotty about it and like I'm sick of Elvis.
And then a course of years later it's like, you know,
I'll turn up any of the song that comes on
because like I know it.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
Yeah, yeah, you know, I'm like that with Nat King Cole.
My dad, my dad adored that King Cole. And I
remember we dropped off my sister at college and had
a two hour ride back and whatever radio station we
were listening to is like, all right, then we're about
to start our Nat King Cole retrospective. And Dad was
great letting me play the radio, but he just looked
at me with this can we you know, no, He's like,

(54:35):
can we please listen to that? Like that's my dad,
It's like can we please listen to this? And I
was like twelve, and I'm like, yeah, Dad, it's cool,
Like of course, I'm like every really now it's I mean,
I love Nat King Cole. And immediately my thoughts go
to my father. It's terrific, Uh what it was?

Speaker 3 (54:52):
What a sweet man to sit there and actually ask
his son. My dad would have told me we're listening
to that King Cole that that's just the way it
would have gone on your dad actually asked you, and
that's great.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
He was. He was amazing to me and when I
could make him laugh it was the greatest feeling in
the world.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
So yeah, he was. He was terrific. He was not.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Just like Nat King Cole was amazing. It was an
education and so was Nat. You know. It was like, uh,
but uh, I always feel obliged once we if we
get on the subject of the Cole family to bring
up Natalie's uh really horrible uh act of dubbing herself

(55:34):
into her dad's song. Yeah, and uh, Drew Friedman's incredibly
tasteless comic that just roasted.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
I forgot that, that's right, I remember.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
Have seen it. Well, Drew Friedman is Drew Friedman. If
you don't know who he is, I'm not going to
explain it, but uh, he's the cartoonist who puts dots
on everybody. And uh, this car tune ran in one
of the trade magazines. I'm forgetting which one, but anyway,
like it's like a recording session with her and her dad,

(56:10):
which of course was posthumous. She's singing it and she's
saying watch it poker stepping on the lines, and then
over at the side. There's a skull with Nat King
Cole hair on it and maybe headphones. I can't remember
if they were actually in front of the thing, and
it's like, oh my god. They lost so many advertisers

(56:34):
because of that cartoon.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
I remember Ellen Cleighorn doing on SNL a parody of it,
and it was kind of just like how Sinatra did
duets and then did duets too, and that it was
going to be a second album of a bunch of
different dead celebritis and it was very, very fun. I'm
sure you could find that on YouTube and that's you know,
yeah that thanks, thanks, thank you YouTube dude. I know

(56:58):
about you, but I am well you even mentioned before.
I'm constantly finding myself in YouTube rabbit holes and watching
and I really get excited they have. I found several
Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass Variety, not really variety
specials because it wasn't an audience. It was like a
travelogue with them. And they were early like late sixties

(57:20):
ABC specials.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
Yeah, and there are early music videos you'd see, Yeah,
you see this sometimes and you think, well, this is
this is what later you just call a music video exactly. Yep,
And they would be calling something like that, like a
travelogue or something with the Tijuana Brass, and I'm.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
Like, hey, we're in We're in New Orleans and whatever.
You know, it's all right. SETV would parody these specials, Yeah,
in comedy sketches and stuff like with the Schmengies or whomever,
and yeah, it's like this is what they're making fun of.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
Absolutely, and and maybe if we're lucky, uh uh you
know Brazil sixty six old struck by or something or whatever,
you know, and they show a whole show and saw
it not and probably me as a kid, I'm like,
where's that lady with the whip cream all over? And
she's supposed to be here. She's the reason I stare

(58:14):
at that album all the time.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
The lights absolutely, man, oh yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (58:19):
And then later when you look at it as a
grown up, you go, oh, she's wearing a blanket for
most of it, Like oh, it's just like.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
You know, it's funny. Before we started, I was watching
a bit of a new documentary that's on MGM's cable channel,
and it's all about the San Francisco bands of the
sixties and how they broke out, and it's really good
and it reminds me of the one they did on
Laurel Canyon. I think either MGM or Stars did that recently.

(58:49):
And yeah, I'm a bit I'm a sucker for rock
rock documentaries. Hey, all right, there we go, libers watching
dish Mangies. Absolutely I found I found an s CTV
sketch and if if you guys want, I'll send it
to you the uh and it was how the Newtonians,
the nationality of the Schmggy's, how they celebrate Christmas. And

(59:13):
one of the things is the the men at one
point exchange socks. It's looked on the intradition and it's like, course,
it is fantastic.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
That was the banner years of CTV too. Like my
my favorite personal favorite all show skit was the Whole
Ocean's eleven takeoff. Yes, it's so funny, it's so good.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
They're stealing money from Danny Thomas's coat. Yeah, because he
keeps rolls of cash and stuff on his in his coat.
But yeah, it's Ocean, It's eleven classic and uh.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
And it's such a thing that they would do that
probably was not even popular at the time, probably was
at its least popular during the time they were doing it,
you know.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
Again, I mean you know, I got it. I got
a decade on you and I and I know every
every New Year's they would, at least in Chicago they
would still show the original Oceans eleven because it is
a New Year's Even, like it's Wizard of Oz. Well, yeah,
well it was a great New Year's Even movie, because
you know they would they would show that, they would
show a Marx Brothers movie at least one, like Duck

(01:00:16):
Soup or something like that. And right now I can't
think of what else they would show, but I was riveted.
So no, when it hit me in nineteen eighty two,
good lord, forty years ago, I'm like, oh, I know
what this is.

Speaker 3 (01:00:27):
It was.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
It was great. You know.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
I'm still when I was younger realizing like, hey, that's
Caesar romerow you know, I'm like listen. And then I'm
watching it again thinking like what Frank Sinatra thinks he
can threaten see Caesar Ramerol break his neck? Like look,
I'm like, he's a huge guy.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
You absolutely Caesar Romero a bad guy in a lot
of Disney movies too. Oh yeah, those seventy sixty movies.

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
I met him. Was he in Flobber or was it
the computer wore tennis shoes?

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
I think it's the computer who wore a tennis shoe.
One of those Kurt Russell movies Flubber. Yeah, Flubber was earlier,
and it was Keenan Wynn was the bad guy in
that one. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure. Computer. Where you
know Dexter Riley the Kurt Russell where you where you
could spot at Begley Junior as one of his teenage
friends in a lot of these movies. Oh no. And

(01:01:19):
Joe Flynn is in them. From mcale's Navy. He's always
in those movies. He's like the dean of the college
or whatever. They're all going to hilarious. I love it.
I met. I'm all right again. Sorry, everybody, war balloon,
broken record. I met Caesar Romero in God damn. It
was was forty one years ago, nineteen eighty two. We
were in La me and my stepmother and we went

(01:01:41):
to a pilot filming and it was for Anne Gillian
and it was a show that didn't make. It was
called The Rainbow Girl, and she was working in a
blue collar city but she wanted to be a singer,
and she was on a polka show as the Rainbow
Girl and she's Romero played the polka band leader. And

(01:02:04):
it was a Fred Silverman who used to run all
three networks at one time each but he produced the
show and the cast was really nice and went out
and talked before they started filming. They talked to the audience,
thank you very much for coming. So I got to
talk to Caesar Romeiro. I wish I had the photo.
My stepmother might still have it. I don't know. We're
not a good time. Yeah we're not in a good terms.

(01:02:25):
But I had to tell him. I'm like, well, we're not,
but mentioning Batman sixty six, I'm like, man, when I
was four years old, you scared the shit out of me.
And he's laughing, and I'm like, I literally if it
was one of your episodes. And once I heard your
laugh I had to run away. I could not stay
in the room of looking at it and behind the

(01:02:46):
sofa one hundred percent. And he's like, good, I was
supposed to scare you. And he's laughing, clap my back
and stuff, and he goes, come on, let's take a picture.
Could not have been nicer I'm like, oh my god,
for joker, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
And you know when you start that he was the
nat and lover in movies. That was his whole thing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:03):
Oh yeah, absolutely. Have you seen any good old movies lately.

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
Let's see what have I watched recently. I'm trying to think.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Well, you're thinking I did rewatch because I always love
it and it's not a good example of real history.
But I love Sunrise at Campabello with Ralph Bellamy and
Greek Garson as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Hume Cronin
as God. I can't think of his name, but basically
Roosevelt's political like mentor and fixeris damn it, louis something.

(01:03:38):
It's not long, it's not an alliteration, but oh my god,
such a good movie. And yeah, and Hume Cronin just
is the He's the like Juice in that movie, very
very funny.

Speaker 3 (01:03:50):
Uh yeah, yeah, yeah, well of course, I mean right,
any week now, I'll be, of course watching Wonderful Life again,
the movie I can apparently watch hundreds of times and
never get tired of. But luckily my wife likes to
watch it too, so you know, we try to get
the kids like, come on, I watched this and it's

(01:04:12):
like and they don't get it. It's like, no, they
used to show this all the time, and it's like
and you start to realize how great it is. Don't
get thrown off by the silly angel antics at the
beginning of the movie, which is the weakest part of
the movie.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
You know, well, he's funny though, I mean, and I
love at the beginning.

Speaker 3 (01:04:33):
I'm talking about when they're just the little stars.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
But that's what I was gonna say. I just love
that the galaxies are talking to each other and all
of a sudden, the little star, Hi, how you doing sir? Sorry?
And then I love Clarence. Yeah, you want that to
save Harry and every.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
Man on that transport died. You know.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
It's like now and that's what I focus on now,
all the different character actors. Why don't you kiss it?
You know, the guy in the porch you think about Yeah, now,
I just say all of that guy's lines all the time, yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (01:05:05):
And now I want mister Potter more than anybody else,
like a scurvy young spider, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
And also what he's about to and I don't remember
who he was intimidating, Lionel barrymore, but at one point
he tells his assistant, move my chair up, move my
chair up to get in the guy's face. You'll think
I'm gonna let you get away with that, And it's like,
oh man, he's so brilliant.

Speaker 3 (01:05:29):
I love the fact that he's got this little skull
figure thing that he has on the table, just in
case Campra's worried you might not get that this guy
is evil.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
You know, that's true.

Speaker 3 (01:05:42):
That's also, mister Potter is already old when you know,
when Harry and George are kids, you know, so it's
like he's eternally old. He never only changes.

Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
He's gotta be ancient by the time they're adults. That's true.

Speaker 3 (01:05:57):
And it's really fun to switch from that to mister
Smith goes to Washington and see the whole cast, you know,
pretty much flipped around, except for the mom who's still
his mom, but uh, you know, everybody else suddenly you know, uh,
uncle Billy is is kind of just a cynical DC hack,

(01:06:18):
you know, a news reporter. Yeah, yeah, he's not. He's
not a happless druck well, he probably is a drunk,
but he's not a halfless drunk. And uh, you know,
I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
No, I love both of those movies. That's that's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:06:32):
I can watch any care for that's so good.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
And as I've become more and more of a noir fan,
Gloria Graham, who I from being a little kid, I
only knew her as violent bands and I didn't know
that she was this great noir fem fatale that in
Oklahoma once she's ado Annie.

Speaker 3 (01:06:48):
She's so good in Oklahoma. Uh yeah, with her, I
mean they're pretty outright suggesting she's slept with all of Oklahoma,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:06:59):
Like he's a girl that can't say no. Come on,
you can't say no. And with Violot Bains, Violet Bains
has gotten around Bedford Falls. You know what's that? What's
what's the last name?

Speaker 3 (01:07:11):
It's big? Oh excuse me, I think I think I
got I think I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
I'll take a word.

Speaker 3 (01:07:17):
But uh and of course, yeah, so I know we
always get sucked into this, but it's such a great
movie in a lonely place with Bogart, she is so
good in that. Ah. Again, we were we were talking
about it on Blue Sky. Somebody was bringing up the

(01:07:38):
Bogart movies and uh, it was the comics in the
Golden Age, and uh, and we're and I had to
immediately someone brings up Bogie. I have to bring up
that movie.

Speaker 1 (01:07:49):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:07:50):
It's just so short but tight, and uh, it's just
got so much energy and it's just the it's the
best he's ever been in my look. He's genuinely seems
unhinged at parts, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
Absolutely, My favorite movie that nobody talks about of Bogart's
is Oh Now, It's Sorry All through the Night, and
it was made right before Casablanca. And I always say
it's like a big budget Bowery Boys movie because essentially
it's Bogey and his crew against Nazi spies in New
York and William Demris, uncle Charlie from My Three Sons

(01:08:28):
is his main wingman. And it's so great because all right,
we're gonna go in the ware house. Sure we'll go
in the warehouse and maybe we'll get our brains bashed
it and he's just got all these great, like fatal
lines of that we're gonna get killed and he but
he follows Bogey at it. It's I mean A Gleason
and Phil those Silvers are babies in this movie, and
only at the very beginning of the movie. But it's

(01:08:49):
just like, oh my god, look how young they are.
Because it was nineteen forty one or forty two.

Speaker 3 (01:08:54):
It's so weird to see then Demerist and Fred McMurray,
these two icons of noir films. Like later they're on
this dumb kids show with like too many boys in
the house. Yep, it's like these guys are in murder movies.

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
Now it's come out stave. I can't get that stain
out of the sink. Yeah, now you see, Charlie, don't
worry about it. Well that old thing, you know, you know,
the whole like shooting schedule for my three sons to accommody.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
Like mc murray was very regimented about it. He wanted
to do his thing and then get.

Speaker 1 (01:09:30):
Out so I get back to my real career of movies.

Speaker 3 (01:09:35):
Yeah, so yeah, are are he just our golf all
day or whatever it is he wanted to do. He
he was the I think he sold a lot of
other stars on TV because he told him like, oh,
you can play in your schedule, Like well, yeah, you're
kind of a big shot Fred. So you know it's like,
of course you'll go do Disney movies and everything, but uh,

(01:09:55):
you know, he he would just do that and they
so they would have to write the whole scene he's
in the head, you know. They couldn't like fart around
all summer or whatever. They have to get it done
so they know exactly when to line him up with
which kid and shoot the scene.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
And all the kids. And Demeris, while he was still alive,
would say it was the toughest thing in the world
because they would do just scenes with Fred McMurray for
months and then go back.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
To the story or what.

Speaker 1 (01:10:25):
Yeah, right there we go games watching and acknowledges. Whim
Demors the greatest, absolutely, those Eddie Bracken.

Speaker 3 (01:10:34):
That summon a hardman on you. You bring up William Demeris.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
That's true. Those Eddie Bracken movies that DeMars Is in too,
Those Preston Sturgis movies unbelievable stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:10:44):
Well, all Preston Sturgis movies are just wonderful.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
Yes they are, Yes, they are so yeah, Jeff, I
don't know anything else is so so nun It's it's
nega duck right, not mega duck with an M.

Speaker 3 (01:10:55):
It's yeah, it's actually nega duck, like a negative duck. Yeah,
let's see. I feel like I'm missing some Yeah, there's
other stuff that I it's not that I'm like me
and KG about like I better like I might jinxit.
So I'm not gonna go ahead and say, oh, you're

(01:11:17):
like this, and then it falls through and then everybody
asked me about it for the next billion years.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Well, as I always say, this is an entertainment show.
This is not a hard First of all, there was
no such thing as hard journalism in comics.

Speaker 3 (01:11:29):
You know. See, I should do the Lee Marvin thing
and just sit here and be an uncooperative guest who
says nothing while you don Rickles hit me for like
an hour trying to get something out of me.

Speaker 1 (01:11:43):
But right now, everybody and they shoot two drops tomorrow.
This fantastic mini series of Batman and Santa Silent Nights
with a K and it's all December through DC. Fantastic
stuff Man, hilarious story.

Speaker 3 (01:11:58):
Jail Bandini, the main artist in the story, Pat Brusso
is doing letters and now ITX and clear coloring. Yeah,
everybody really brought their a game. So go pick it up.
It fits conveniently into a stocking if you need something
that's you know, stockings can't be too heavy, they'll fall

(01:12:19):
off the mantle. So a comic book is what you
want to put in.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
Brilliant. I agree with you, that's fantastical and so no thanks, buddy.
Well that'll do it tonight for Word Balloon Live. I
hope everybody enjoyed it. It's gonna be a great December.
We got cool people coming up and thank you, and
Jeff is certainly one of them. But until next time, everybody,
stay safe, stay happy, stay healthy.

Speaker 3 (01:12:41):
Have you Hella Days