"Macho Man" Randy Savage, 1952-2011

Very sad news just came in about a half hour before I wrote this.  Legendary pro wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage has died today from injuries related to a car accident.  He was 58 years old.  Here are the details as told by TMZ.

Savage was one of my favorite wrestlers, possibly my absolute favorite, from the 80s and early 90s.  He was fun, energetic, and extremely talented in the ring and out.

Here is his theme song, the famous "Pomp and CIrcumstance" to which he entered the ring most of his career.



Here is one of my favorite matches with him, tag teaming with Hulk Hogan against The Big Boss Man and Akeem.  In was during this match that Savage turned back to a "heel" and betrayed Hogan.  The collision with Elizabeth is one of the most shocking and surprising things I've seen in wresting (and that's saying something).


Here, "Mean Gene" Okerlund makes an attempt to know the "real" Macho Man and "Elizabet."



Finally, one of my favorite Web sites this year has been Where's Randy Savage, a Tumblr site that places Savage in very funny photo situations.  Here is the link, and two examples of its silliness.

SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!



Rest in peace, Macho Man. OH YEAH!

Tuesday's Forgotten TV Movie: Dr. Strange

This week's offering is yet another selection I haven't seen for myself.  Dr. Strange was a made-for-TV movie that aired on CBS in 1978, and was intended as a pilot for a weekly series, much the same way The Incredible Hulk TV series came to be.  Obviously this one didn't work out.  Was it because of the quality (or lack thereof) of the movie itself?  Let's find out together.  Enjoy!

Tuesday's Forgotten Film: Battle Beyond The Stars

After my regrettable absence from the feature last week, I'm back with Tuesday's Forgotten Film.  This week, it's the Roger Corman produced Star Wars ripoff Battle Beyond The Stars.

I confess that I haven't seen the film, but you can deduce what the film is like easily enough from the trailer below.  Richard Thomas (The Waltons) plays a Luke Skywalker-esque character out to save the galaxy from the tyrannical villain played by character actor extraordinnaire John Saxon.  Throw in wisecracking pilot George Peppard (clearly a warm-up for his character of Hannibal on The A-Team) and you've got yourself a movie.



It's obviously a cash-in on the astronomical success of Star Wars--the title alone is a giveaway of that--but Battle has one thing the first Star Wars film doesn't--100% more mammography.

For more forgotten movies/TV/music/etc., click here.
Thanks!

Mr. Men and Little Misses

As Google so happily pointed out to us, today would have been the 76th birthday of Roger Hargreaves, the creator of the popular line of children's books Mr. Men and Little Misses.  I knew that very recently there existed a cartoon TV series featuring the adventures of the characters, but I didn't know until today that a series of cartoons previously existed.

Here is one example, featuring Mr. Tickle.  After you watch it, you may find him as creepy as I did.  The dude literally lives to go out and tickle unsuspecting innocents with his extremely long arms.  This is yet another example of how innocent children's stories can have an unintentional ick factor.  Enjoy anyway!

Free Comic Book Day 2011 is Tomorrow!

If you're a regular reader of the blog, you probably know this already, but in case you don't, tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!  This is a great opportunity for both longtime readers and first-timers to sample some great writing and artwork and, hopefully, inspire you to shell out some coin for more.  For more info, click here for the day's official Web site.
Here's a taste of what you can expect:



To find a local comic book store near you, click here.

Have a great weekend!  And Happy Mother's Day!

Elmer Lynn Hauldren, 1922-2011

Who is Elmer Lynn Hauldren?  He's this guy.



Yep, he's the Empire Carpet guy. His grandfatherly voice and gentle style have made him famous as the spokesman for Empire Carpet. The business started in Chicago and spread nationwide. Sadly, Hauldren died this past Tuesday at the age of 89. Certianly he will be remembered as an advertising icon much like Mr. Whipple or Madge the Palmolive lady. RIP.








UPDATE AS OF 7/22/2011: I've been contacted by the Empire Today carpet company and been informed that they have created a special tribute Web site in honor of Mr. Hauldren.  Please go to http://www.empirecarpetman.com/ to learn more about him and hear their famous commercial jingle--which was written by Hauldren himself!  Special thanks to Empire Today for letting me know about this and for appreciating my tribute!

Tuesday's Forgotten TV: Rags to Riches

Hi, remember me?  I'm back from my trip to Walt Disney World (which I may blog about in the near future), and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things here.

For this week's overlooked audio/video, I choose a particular childhood favorite of my wife's:  the short-lived NBC family musical series Rags to Riches.  The series, set in the early 1960s, starred longtime character actor Joe Bologna as Nick Foley, a self-made millionare and confirmed bachelor who takes in five orphan girls as a ruse to help him appear as a family man to close a lucrative business deal.  Although Foley only intends to keep the girls temporarily until the deal is sealed, the crusty man's heart falls for the girls and he adopts the girls permanently.  Throughout the series, the girls (and sometimes Bologna) would burst into song using classic pop songs from the era to desribe their feelings or thoughts.

Although the series had a loyal following, the series was never highly rated, and was cancelled during its second season.  But thanks to the Internet, you can enjoy the pilot right here!  Fans of Glee or High School Musical (don't know how many of those read this blog, if at all) would have loved this show.












For more forgotten favorites, please see here.  Thanks!