A Liberal Helping of Comedy

Entombing McCarthy
(Mark offers his REMoriam)

Or
Get the Closets Cleaned Out for Gene
(Mark on the assist, me on whatever you think of the headline)

Or
The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism
(Props to our resident historian, Craig, who doesn’t think you’ve read the McCarthy bio)

Or
Parting Shots from His Brittle Brow
(Further kudos to Mr. Barker, apparently revising his lesson plan for Monday)

Or
The Gentleman from Minnesota Will Yield
(Stolen from stiffs.com)
Eugene McCarthy, the last liberal to accomplish anything in Washington, has died at the age of 89 from complications due to Parkinson’s disease, and not, as one would have expected, from a bleeding heart. The dry-witted Minnesota senator fractured the Democratic party – not that that’s difficult – when he challenged President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primary almost exclusively on an antiwar agenda. Rather than face the embarrassment of losing in a primary, Johnson gave up his re-election campaign. With its standard bearer out, Robert Kennedy soon assassinated, the convention highlighted by tear gas and public beatings, the Democratic Party didn’t exactly rally around McCarthy’s prediction of being an “adequate” president and the Republicans would call the White House home for 28 of the next 40 years, including the 8 years of Ronald Reagan, who McCarthy endorsed over Jimmy Carter. Forever the arrogant self-appointed outcast, McCarthy would run again in 1972 and 1988, but the rest of the party found ways to muck up presidential campaigns all on their own. One can only wonder how the last half of the 20th century would have played out if the former first baseman of the Watkins Clippers of the Great Soo League had just learned how to hit a damn curveball.

Rookie Matthew notches the first hit of the year and James notches the first forehead slap of the year, having given up, like many others did, after his first taste of McCarthy in 2004.

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Over
(An epitaphany shared with Joe)

Or
Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!... oh, wait

Or
Jo-Jo Dancer, your life is calling collect... What do you mean you won't accept the charges?
(Kudos to Mark)

Or
Richard Prior
(Pilfered from deathlist.net)

Or
His flame, finally, has gone out
(“Borrowed” from stiffs.com)
Richard Pryor, the Stephen Hawking of stand-up, has died of a heart attack at the age of 65. Pryor was one of the first to elevate stand-up comedy to social commentary, to mix raunch with biting satire, to combine cocaine with uncontrolled temperatures. In doing so, he forever changed the face of comedy, influenced a generation of comedians and nearly died from burns over 50% of his body. Pryor introduced a mainstream (read white) to the language and anger of the ghetto, challenging stereotypes with his belligerent irreverence and earning a reputation as the best comic in America – he received the Mark Twain Award in 1999 and was named the greatest stand-up comic of all time in 2004. While in command on stage, Pryor’s personal life was a disaster – married 7 times to 5 women whose tolerance for his womanizing and drug abuse varied from time to time – and in 1986 he disclosed he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which started a nearly two-decade health decline. His controversial reputation cost him what could have been his best role – Bart in Blazing Saddles – and his style never really translated to the big screen, except as the Balloon Salesman in The Muppet Movie.

Paul’s Pushing Daisies aren’t in Critical Condition, joining Matt atop the standings. Unfortunately, Joy’s triumphant return did not include this one after listing him in 2002 and 2004.

And the rest of a busy week…

Archived
(Props to Monty)
Howard Gotlieb, Boston University and general nuisance, has died of complications from surgery at the age of 79. Since 1963, Gotlieb flattered, cajoled, stalked, groveled, charmed, hounded and persuaded princes and poets, actors and authors, singers and signatories, journalists and jesters to secure more than 7 miles of shelves of materials that paint the picture of 20th and 21st century American pop culture. Recognizing from the start that he lacked the financial resources to secure the valuable collections of famous authors, Gotlieb dedicated himself to being the first to identify up-and-coming talent. Among his discoveries: James Clavell after his first book and David Halberstram 4 years before his Pulitzer. Before he had marched to Selma, Boston University’s Martin Luther King, Jr., had donated his collection, and before he had made up his first news story, a 32-year-old reporter named Dan Rather started sending notes, ultimately working up to a box of material a month. Among the other treasures in what is now the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center are a pair of Fred Astaire’s dance shoes, Groucho Marx's jokes, George Bernard Shaw's scribbled instructions, everything in Bette Davis’ collection after she tired of a decade of Gotlieb’s persistence and Peter Benchley's notes for a book he first titled "Great White," known today as "Jaws." Other universities have since joined the game and some have surpassed Boston University, but none can boast such an eclectic clinic that was the vision of one remarkable personality.

You Wouldn’t Like Him When He’s Smelly
Jack Colvin, the world’s worst reporter who spent 3 years traveling the country and couldn’t find a 7-foot green monster with a preternatural need to solve the problems of the downtrodden, has died at the age of 71. Best known as Jack McGee, the prototypical tabloid weasel, he also played Andy’s doctor who is electrocuted by Chucky in Child’s Play and was a member of Hawk’s gang in Rooster Cogburn.

Strock, as in Schlock
Herbert L. Strock, whose works are a staple of B-movie festivals around the country, has died at the age of 87. Highlights of his four decades in Hollywood include "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," "How to Make a Monste," "The Crawling Hand," "Blood of Dracula," "Gog," "The Magnetic Monster," "Donovan's Brain," and “Monster, the Legend That Became a Terror.”

Sawed Off
Gregg Hoffman, who developed an eight-minute film into the horror hit "Saw" and its gory successor "Saw II," died unexpectedly after complaining of pain at the age of 42. The movies center around a sadistic serial killer called Jigsaw who devises intricate games to get his kidnapped victims to kill each other. The inspiration for the films came largely from his experience as producer in the Disney family flick "George of the Jungle."

Bringing Down the Steel Curtain

Or
Steel Curtains
(Cap tips and sympathies to Steelers fan Joe)

The Rest of Carson
(More from Joe, laughing through the tears)
Bud Carson, one of the finest defensive minds in NFL history, has died at the age of 75. The architect of the famed Steel Curtain defense in Pittsburgh, relying on the Hall of Fame talents of Jack Ham, Jack Lambert and Mean Joe Greene, Carson won two titles and laid the groundwork for two more. He also built the defense of the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles, one of only five squads to lead the NFL in fewest rushing, fewest passing and fewest overall yards allowed in the same season. He won another Super Bowl as the defensive coordinator for the 2000 St. Louis Rams.