Banana Splits %#!?!

This weekend marks the fortieth anniversary of the debut of THE BANANA SPLITS, 4 guys in hot looking animal costumes doing low-brow comedy with voices dubbed in by guys known for much better things. Hmmm...that doesn't exactly explain the appeal this show had or why even son BookDave gravitated toward them at age 6 (about 6 years back now) to the point that to this day we have the magnet seen here on our refrigerator (one of only two! The other is THE FLINTSTONES). Anyway, in honor (?) of that now-legendary first appearance, here's an exclusive guest blog report from ace researcher Derek Tague:

This coming Sunday marks the fortieth anniersary of the premiere of "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" over NBC. A few years ago, I accessed a 60-minute episode of such at The Museum of Television and Radio (MT&R) in New York City. Approximately 20-25 minutes into the precedings, Fleegle was doing some schtick with one of the puppets, a cuckoo clock's resident bird who sported a rainbow-colored head plumage (evocative of the guy wearing a rainbow afro wig while carrying the "John 3:16" sign at football games). The brief routine resulted in sawdust being emitted from the clock, causing Fleegle (voiced by the indomitable Paul Winchell) to laugh culminating in Winchell saying under his breath, "Oh, shit."

I rewound this several times to verify "did he say what I thought he said?" At a later date, my pal Brendan Spillane took a sojourn to the MT&R, and he, likewise, rewound it and corroborated my findings...going so far to say that this had to have been the premiere episode of the "Splits" since there were introductory elements in the "Arabian Knights" cartoon that preceded the cuckoo clock scene.

The Museum of Television and Radio has since been re-christened "The Paley Center for Media." A couple of weeks ago, my pal Dan Hollis http://timetravelispossible.com and I accessed the same "Splits" episode and I showed him the scene, and Danny has also verified that long before Mark Harmon uttered "Shit happens" on an episode of "Chicago Hope," that the suspect word got through NBC's "Standards and Practices" and aired nationally on Saturday, September 7th, 1968.

It turns out Dan, a video collector and archivist in his own right, has a copy of this "Banana Splits" episode. He played it at home for his wife Charlene and .... until the video surfaces on YouTube, it is overwhelmingly safe to assert that one of my all-time heroes, a certain ventriloquist/voice-over artist/cardiologist, said one of George Carlin's "seven dirty words" on a nationally aired kiddie show back in 1968, forty years ago this Sunday.

Sand Shades and You

Here is a link to a website-in-progress for the movie SAND SHADES. This completely independent film, made by Manoshi Chitra Neogy, shows just how far this visionary filmmaker has come since her days as the villain in Christa Helm's virtually unreleased LET'S GO FOR BROKE in 1974 (seen here in her death scene in that film). Chitra is asking for investors to finish this very personal film--she's not looking for thousands of dollars each, mind you, just one dollar each and telling your friends about the opportunity to help complete and distribute this amazing looking visual poem. Even the website has great, dreamy music and poetry so crank it up when you check it out. If you've always wanted to help produce a movie, here's your chance to get in on the ground floor! Take a look at SAND SHADES--http://www.pinksparksmedia.com/clients/sandshades/website/base.html.

Creepy Ad

I didn't discover CREEPY, Warren Publishing's latter-day answer to EC, until the early seventies, after my hormones and I had discovered the somewhat more explicit VAMPIRELLA. As with all the Warren mags, its early years were better, presenting lots of good Archie Goodwin stories and art by some of the best in the biz. This "beastselling" paperback looks to have included a goodly amount of that good stuff, boasting as it does Steve Ditko, Angelo Torres, Frank Frazetta and more! If you couldn't find it in your local store (and I never did), you could always order it from Warren's ubiquitous in-house "Captain Company!"

Spirit Scenes

While we all anxiously await (dread?) Frank Miller's upcoming version of THE SPIRIT, here are a few scenes from the 1987 TV pilot starring Sam Jones. I taped it the only night it aired but hadn't watched it in years until today. It's not bad. Somewhat camp but Jones is a bit better here than in his better known FLASH GORDON role in my opinion. DEEP SPACE NINE's Nana Visitor is a treat as Ellen Dolan and the two play off each other well in both the comedy and romantic scenes. Anybody know what Will Eisner thought of this?

R.I.P. Jerry Reed

Not again. Another favorite of mine has long been actor/singer Jerry Reed who also died yesterday. Jerry first popped up on my radar in 1970 with his song AMOS MOSES. I was really into the humor songs of Ray Stevens at the time and Jerry kind of reminded me of Ray with this and his next big hit, WHEN YOU'RE HOT, YOU'RE HOT. As an actor, one of his first appearances (seen here) was on THE NEW SCOOBY DOO MOVIES. Perhaps best known for his easygoing roles in the SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT films of the mid-seventies, Jerry could also play a mean villain. Still, he went on to play trucker and CB roles in other films and on TV, too. Thanks for everything, good buddy! Keep the bugs off your glass and the trouble off your ass, Jerry! Signing off.

R.I.P. Don LaFontaine

As many of you know, my dream has always to be a voiceover artist. I've actually been able to do it on several ocassions and enjoyed it thoroughly! Over the years, I've attended a workshop and exchanged letters with various cartoon actors. An honest list of my favorite actors and actresses would contain at least a few whose faces are rarely seen. The reigning king of them all, however, and the one man whose voice and attitude I have envied and admired for many years now, was Don LaFontaine. Don LaFontaine's amazing voice was lost to us yesterday. I think a moment of silence would be appropriate.

Gaspar!

Y'know, even as a child, I wondered why DC never credited its letterers the way Marvel did--especially as I never found anything all that special about the lettering of Marvel's Sam Rosen and Artie Simek. In fact, around the time I was really getting into comics, DC's lettering in their books and in their house ads got rather spectacular. Even though they still rarely gave credit, the name I started hearing in the occasional letters columns and fanzine pieces was that of one Gaspar Saladino.
Over the years, I've come to find out that Saladino was responsible for most of the DC house ads of my youth that are SO nostalgic to me now. He created the logos and lettering for many of my favorite late-sixties DC series and his style was one of very few lettering styles that I came to be able to recognize most of the time on sight! In fact, in my day to day job I find occasional use for block lettering and I never do anything normal--I do Saladino-lettering! Words with jagged edges or fire inside them or shading from the bottom or letters covering themselves. I learned! Gaspar (as he reportedly called himself after awhile) must have been in calligraphy heaven when DC turned him loose on Grant Morrison's now-classic ARKHAM ASYLUM graphic novel. His unique lettering offsets Dave McKean's ultra-modern illustrations by giving every single character individualized styles that are at once reminiscent of his classic work and yet cutting edge! I actually found that to be my favorite part of the graphic novel!
Find out everything you never realized you needed to know about the unsung Gaspar Saladino in today's 24 hour celebration at Dial B For Blog (http://www.dialbforblog.com/).