Category: TV

Sybil Danning / Paul Gulacy / Bill Black and Me

Posted on by

The Black Diamond comics shown above each feature a cover drawn by Paul Gulacy.  A fan of the series and actress Sybil Danning recently posted the covers on Twitter with this response…

I responded to his Tweet with, “Funny story – I was Bill Black’s connection for both Paul Gulacy & Sybil Danning!”

I thought I had told that story here before but a search of the site indicates I didn’t… until now.  Let me take you back to 1980…

It’s about 10 at night and I’m watching tv.  The phone rings and I answer.  The voice on the other end asks to speak to “Mr. ZAB-blow.”  Dead giveaway that he doesn’t know me since he mispronounces my name. (For the record it sounds like ZAY-BLOW.)  I think he’s a nervy sales guy and am ready to hang up when he says, he got my name from a Bill Black publication that listed me as an editor.  The guy wants to get in touch with Bill Black.

Little does this guy know, my editing amounted to either putting Bill in touch with artists or copies of convention sketches.  My biggest contribution in this area was that I introduced Bill to Paul Gulacy.  Paul was my favorite artist, we talked fairly regularly and I had commissioned a few pieces from Paul.  Bill wanted to get Paul to do some art for him.

Ah, but back to the Sybil Danning phone call.

The guy says that he couldn’t find any phone number for Bill, but he was able to locate mine.  I tell the guy, that I can’t give out Bill’s number but would be glad to take a message for him.  The guy proceeds to tell me he is Sybil Danning’s manager.  He asks if I know who she is.  I do.  He says that they want to do a comic with Sybil as the main character.  They want Bill to publish it.  I take his number and tell the guy I’ll pass Bill the info.  We hang up and I go back to watching whatever I was watching.

I’m pretty sure it was the next day that I reached out to Bill to let him know that I had received a call from a guy saying he was Sybil Danning’s manager and they wanted to do a comic with him.  If you know Bill, you know how enthusiastic he gets.  Bill begins rapid fire asking questions, “When did he call – do I have his number – why didn’t I call him last night to tell him – etc.”  I explain to Bill it was late, I don’t know if the guy is on the level, etc.

Needless to say, Bill was able to contact Danning’s manager and the rest is history.

Seung Eun Kim – Check Out This Artist’s Work!

Posted on by

I can’t remember the last time I came across a new (to me) artist whose work excites me as much as Seung Eun Kim.  Check out Kim’s childhood heroes drawing above.  Not only does he have excellent taste in heroes, but man, that art!

Usually I will post one piece of art with a link to the artist’s site, but there were so many candidates for posting on Seung Eun Kim’s Instagram that I just had to post two… and which two to post was a tough decision.  Click over and you’ll see what I mean.

RIP: Mike Henry

Posted on by

Mike Henry, best known for his roles as Tarzan in three feature films and Sheriff Bufford T. Justice’s son in three Smokey and the Bandit movies has died.  Henry died at age 84 on January 8th, from chronic traumatic encephalopathy after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Henry was a standout linebacker at USC and went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1958 – 1961) and the Los Angeles Rams (1962 – 1964).  Henry had played a few minor roles prior to his retirement from football and in 1966 he got the lead as Tarzan in three feature films.  

After playing Tarzan, Henry alternated between guest spots on television and co-starring roles in feature films.  Mike Henry appeared in an episode of Burt Reynold’s series, Dan August and also had a role in Reynold’s feature film, The Longest Yard.  Henry also appeared twice in Charlton Heston films (Soylent Green and Skyjacked) and twice in John Wayne movies (The Green Berets and Rio Lobo).  Most fans may know Henry best as Jackie Gleason’s sidekick in three Smokey and the Bandit films where Henry played Sheriff Bufford T. Justice’s dimwit son, Junior Justice.

I first saw Henry in his Tarzan trilogy which was a new take on the King of the Jungle.  Now Tarzan was an educated, almost James Bond type character.  It was a shocking change, but one that was interesting.  Henry definitely had the physique to play Tarzan.  After the three films, Henry was offered the chance to play Tarzan in the television series that was being developed, but he declined.

In 1988, Henry was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and he retired from acting.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike Henry’s family, friends and fans.

 

The “Tribes of Europa” Trailer is Here!

Posted on by

I think the Tribes of Europa trailer gives us hope for an interesting, fun series.

2074. In the wake of a mysterious global disaster, war rages between the Tribes that have emerged from the wreckage of Europe. Three siblings from the peaceful Origines tribe – Kiano (Emilio Sakraya), Liv (Henriette Confurius) and Elja (David Ali Rashed) – are separated and forced to forge their own paths in an action-packed fight for the future of this new Europa.

Tribes of Europa premieres on Netflix on February 19, 2021.

RIP: Hal Holbrook

Posted on by

It has been confirmed that Hal Holbrook, award-winning actor, director and author died on January 23, 2021 at the age of 95.  Holbrook is best known for his one man show portraying Mark Twain which he began in the 1950s and continued well into this century.  In 1966, Holbrook’s portrayal of Twain won him the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

In addition to his stage work, Holbrook could often be found adding class to television and movie roles.  Holbrook was a 5 time Primetime Emmy Award winner.  Holbrook’s IMDb resume includes 136 acting credits.  Some of my favorite Hal Holbrook roles were in Magnum Force, All the President’s Men, Capricorn One, The West Wing, Lincoln, and Sons of Anarchy.  Whenever Hal Holbrook appeared on the screen the tv show or movie got at least a little bit better.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Hal Holbrook’s family, friends and fans.

RIP: Cloris Leachman

Posted on by

Cloris Leachman, whose acting career spanned over 70 years, died yesterday of natural causes at the age of 94.  It is hard to say the role that she was best known for since she had so many memorable and award-winning parts.  Leachman was nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards (earning her the record for the most nominations).  She won 8 Primetime Emmy Awards (tying her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most actress wins in Emmy history.)  Leachman also won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award!

My first memory of Cloris Leachman is from her role as Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Her character was so popular that Leachman played her in two spin-off series; first on Rhoda and then in her own show simply titled Phyllis.  Although my first memory of Cloris Leachman is from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, there is no doubt that I’d seen Leachman in many other television guest appearances.   Her tv credits include dozens and dozens of appearances on popular shows… everything from Lassie to The Twilight Zone.

Cloris Leachman wasn’t just limited to television roles.  Her appearances in Mel Brooks’ films were always funny, welcome additions. Her role as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein is a classic.  Who can forget her first major movie role as Christina Bailey in Kiss Me Deadly?  Leachman also appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Last Picture Show (where she won the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress), High Anxiety and many other features.

Cloris Leachman has nearly 300 acting credits on her resume and she made everything she was in better by her presence.  She will be missed.

Our thoughts and prayers go our to Cloris Leachman’s family, friends and fans.

 

    

“Debris” – The Trailer is Here!

Posted on by

The Debris trailer looks pretty interesting.  I’ll give it a shot.

When mysterious wreckage starts falling from the sky, a secretive international agency is tasked with figuring out what it is, where it came from, and most importantly… what it can do. British agent Finola Jones and American agent Bryan Beneventi are partners who have very different styles – she’s warm, intuitive and detail-oriented, and he’s charming, confident and guarded. But they have no choice but to trust each other as they track down the debris scattered across the Western Hemisphere. Each fragment has unpredictable, powerful and sometimes dangerous effects on the everyday people who find it. Every discovery is also a race against time, because shadowy outside forces seek these objects for nefarious purposes.

The cast includes Jonathan Tucker, Riann Steele, Norbert Leo Butz and Scroobius Pip.

Creator and showrunner J.H. Wyman will write and executive produce alongside his company, Frequency Films. Jason Hoffs, Jeff Vlaming and Samantha Corbin-Miller will also executive produce.

“Debris” is produced by Frequency Films and Legendary Television in association with Universal Television.

“Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

Posted on by

I like the poster and trailer for Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.  I’ll be watching come February 10th.

From housing serial killers to untimely deaths, the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles is known to many as LA’s deadliest hotel. The latest chapter in the Cecil’s dark history involves the mysterious disappearance of college student Elisa Lam. Check in to the Cecil Hotel on February 10, only on Netflix.

RIP: Larry King

Posted on by

Larry King died this morning.  He was 87.  King had been hospitalized in December for complications from Covid-19.  King, who was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger worked on radio and television for over 60 years.

King became a national celebrity when his Larry King Live interview program on CNN went viral in 1985.  King hosted the show for 25 years and interviewed just about everyone who was making headlines.  That was the joy of King’s program, one night he might be talking to a top political figure, the next night a celebrity or psychic.

King became so popular and well known that he began to appear in movies and television roles (hundreds listed on IMDb) usually playing himself.  Throughout his career King earned an Emmy, two Peabody awards and 10 Cable Ace awards.  When King left CNN he continued to work in television with Larry King Now (2012-2020) on Hulu and Politicking with Larry King (2013 until his death).

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Larry King’s family, friends and fans.

RIP: Gregory Sierra

Posted on by

Although Gregory Sierra died on January 4, 2021, from cancer, his death wasn’t made public knowledge until yesterday.  Sierra, who had a long career acting in television and movie roles was probably best known for his co-starring role on Barney Miller.

Sierra made guest appearances on dozens and dozens of television shows with reoccurring roles on The Flying Nun, Sanford & Son, Soap, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Murder She Wrote and more.  Sierra’s major theatrical film roles were in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Papillon, The Towering Inferno, Vampires and Vic (written and directed by Sage Stallone).

I always enjoyed tv shows and movies a bit more when Gregory Sierra appeared.   Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gregory Sierra’s family, friends and fans.

Syfy’s “Day of the Dead” Limited Series Ties into the Romero Classic and Sounds Great!

Posted on by

John Squires at Bloody Disgusting broke the story that Syfy’s Day of the Dead Series Will Have Some Ties to George Romero’s Original Classic.  This is great news for Romero fans.  Not only will the 10 episode limited series tie in to Romero’s film, but will focus on…

 …six strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion.

The thing I love about the best zombie (or any apocalyptic) movies is the interplay between strangers trying not only to figure out what is going on, but also how to best survive.  As you can guess, I’m looking forward to Day of the Dead.

For more details click over to Syfy’s Day of the Dead Series Will Have Some Ties to George Romero’s Original Classic at Bloody Disgusting.

Joe Dator’s Rediscovering “Columbo”

Posted on by


Over the last year I’ve posted about my wife’s and my renewed interest and love for Columbo starring Peter Falk.  Because the series is so popular it appears on several networks daily which makes recording episodes easy. My wife and I have been working our way through every episode.  Joe Dator is doing the same thing.

Joe Dator is an accomplished cartoonist whose work can regularly be found in The New Yorker, often be found in Mad Magazine and Esquire and believe it or not, at his personal website.  Joe was a winner of The National Cartoonists Society’s 2018 Silver Reuben Award.

I tell you all of this as a way of introduction into Joe Dator’s Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020.  The cartoon strip first appeared in The New Yorker last October, but can be seen in full at Joe’s website.  I agree with everything Joe says about the joys of watching Columbo.  The one thing I would add is that while Columbo’s first name is never spoken it does appear to eagle-eyed viewers when Columbo shares his ID in a few episodes.

RIP: Peter Mark Richman

Posted on by

Peter Mark Richman died yesterday at the age of 93 from natural causes.  Richman was an accomplished actor who appeared in feature films, television and on Broadway, an author who wrote plays, short stories and novels, and an artist.  Talk about being a Renaissance Man.

I’d be willing to bet that you’ve seen Peter Mark Richman perform, even if you don’t recognize his name.  Richman has 159 credits on his IMDb resume.  I remember him best from the classic Twilight Zone episode The Fear, but that was one of well over 100 appearances Peter Mark Richman made on television.  In addition to Cain’s Hundred (which he starred in), you could see Richmond regularly show up on tv shows starting in the 1960s through the 1990s.  He had reoccurring roles on Longstreet, Three’s Company, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, and guest appearances on just about every other major television show.  

 Richman’s features films include The Strange One, Black Orchid, Naked Gun 2 and Friday the 13th, Part 8, and Vic (a short film co-written and directed by Sage Stallone).  Starting the in the 1990s, Richman began doing voice work for Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.  

Mr. Richman appeared on Broadway, had several of his one-act plays, novels and short stories published.  He also had 17 one-man exhibitions of his paintings.  

Peter Mark Richman was married to his wife, Helen for 67 and they have five children.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Peter Mark Richman’s family, friends and fans.  What an amazing creative life he led.

RIP: Steve Carver

Posted on by

Steve Carver, best known for directing action films, died yesterday of a heart attack.  Mr. Carver was 75.

After graduating from college (BA from Cornell University and MFA from Washington University), Carver worked as a cameraman for the Wide World of Sports for the St. Louis Cardinals, taught at local colleges and made documentaries.  One of his documentaries earned him a spot in the American Film Institute.  Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, one of the short films Carver created there, was well received and led to Carver meeting and working with Roger Corman.

Carver cut trailers for Corman’s New World pictures and began writing scripts.  Corman then gave Carver the opportunity to direct The Arena starring Pam Grier.  The success of that film led Corman to give Carter the helm of Big Bad Mama starring Angie Dickinson, William Shatner and Tom Skerritt.  The success of Big Bad Mama led to Carver directing Capone.  Capone starred Ben Gazarra, Harry Guardino, Susan Blakely, Sylvester Stallone and John Cassavetes.

The success of these films made Carver the potential director for Billy Jack Goes to Washington.  That fell through when Tom Laughlin decided to direct it himself.  Carver was instead hired to replace director Burt Kennedy on Drum which starred Warren Oates, Ken Norton, Pam Grier and Yaphet Kotto.  Although the film was successful, Carver didn’t enjoy the experience.

Carver had ideas for a couple of films but they fell through. Instead Carver went on to direct David Carradine and Brenda Vaccaro in Fast Charlie… the Moonbeam Rider and Steel starring Lee Majors and Jennifer O’Neal.

In 1981, Carver directed Chuck Norris, Christopher Lee and Richard Roundtree in An Eye for an Eye.  Two years later, Carver reteamed with Chuck Norris for Lone Wolf McQuade (co-starring David Carradine, Barbara Carrera and Leon Isaac Kennedy).  Both of these films were highly successful, but Carver was becoming less enchanted with Hollywood and more interested in photography.  Carter made six more films, but in 1995 opened his own photography studio and left directing behind.

Thanks to Steve Carver for many hours of entertainment.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

“Longstreet”, “The Immortal” & Other Classic TV Investigators

Posted on by

Keith Roysdon at CrimeReads.com posted A SHORT HISTORY OF CLASSIC TV’S MOST UNUSUAL INVESTIGATORS.  If you’re of a certain age, I’m sure you’ll remember some of these shows. Here are the shows (and my thoughts on each) that he covers…

  • Longstreet:  I was a fan of this show, mainly because of Bruce Lee.  Although Longstreet ran for just one year, the idea of a blind investigator was (and still would be) unique.  Sadly Bruce Lee didn’t appear in each episode, 

  • Coronet Blue:  I never remember even hearing of Coronet Blue.  The concept sounds like a cool one – a Russian sleeper agent is planted in the US, but wants to defect.  The agent’s true identity is a mystery and Russian agents are after him.  

  • The Immortal:  Of all the shows on this list, The Immortal was my favorite.  I was a regular viewer and disappointed when the series ended (after just 16 episodes).  I was the perfect age for a race car driver who is on the run from a billionaire and his many hired thugs because the driver has unique blood with properties that heal and prevent aging. (Wolverine, anyone?)  I haven’t seen any episodes in decades and wonder if it would still hold up.  It was must-see tv back in the day.

  • Nowhere Man:  This is the other show on the list that I never saw.  Nowhere Man sounds like a Twilight Zone plot but from the description Roysdon provides it was not as well executed.

  • Barnaby Jones:  I watched Barnaby Jones when I was visiting my grandparents… and remember it being okay.

  • Cannon:  Was another favorite of my grandparents.  Cannon was also okay.  Nothing special but not bad.

  • Ironside:  I remember seeing the pilot while on vacation with, you guessed it, my grandparents.  

Roysdon’s list is a good one and he provides info on each show in a concise manner. His piece is worth a read. Other shows I wish he would have covered include…

  • The Magician:  Bill Bixby as a rich, playboy magician who solved crime.  I used to watch this show regularly and really enjoyed it.  

  • Banacek:  George Peppard stared as an investigator who solved impossible crimes.  I really enjoyed this one.

  • A Man Called Sloane: Robert Conrad was an American secret agent.  I never saw an episode, but have heard good things about it and would like a chance to check it out someday.