Twenty nine years ago today, music television was born in the form of MTV. Of course, music television died a decade later, replaced by a zombie version of it also known as MTV that only plays shitty reality shows.
But we celebrate that naive and exciting moment when pop culture took a radical left turn into bad fashion, weird electronic sounds, and experimental video forms. Here is how it all began:
Prophetic, eh?
Those first few years of MTV were exciting. (more…)
It’s a good thing that Betty White has had a resurgence in her career in the last few months. As it often does, life is demonstrating that you need to appreciate the aged among us before it’s too late.
Rue McClanahan died today of a massive stroke. She was 76 years old. She hasn’t been seen much in recent years, which is a shame. Rue had marvelous timing and a classiness that enriched any project. Easily her most famous role was that of Blanche Devereaux, the sexed-up vamp on television’s long-running classic The Golden Girls. That show had massive comedic firepower - possibly one of the strongest casts ever assembled in sitcom history – and Rue was always right in the thick of things.
Check out her precise delivery in this brilliant moment, in my mind one of the most perfect scenes in television history:
This one ain’t bad, either:
Or this one:
We may never see comediennes as skilled and as professional as Rue again. Goodbye, Rue, and thanks for the laughter!
There have been actors prettier, smarter, cooler, wackier, and just generally better than Dennis Hopper. But you’d be hard pressed to find an actor that embodied ALL of those traits at the same time like Hopper. From his iconic moment crystallizing the wanderlust of a generation in 1969′s classic Easy Rider to a nutso turn in Blue Velvet to an environmental monster in Waterworld, Hopper made crazy almost poetic.
Here’s a favorite scene, taken from True Romance in which Hopper squares off against another creepy icon, Christopher Walken:
It’s sad to see such an original pass away. And to the paparazzi who too kthat picture of an ailing Hopper falling in his last days, I hope to one day see you burning alive so I can snap a photo for my personal collection.
Earlier today, the plug was pulled on the life support machine that was keeping Gary Coleman alive. Coleman suffered a brain hemorrhage after falling and hitting his head earlier in the week. He was only 42 years old.
Most people remember Coleman as Arnold ”What’choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” Jackson from the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman was 10 years old when the show debuted and his incredible comic timing and natural charm made him one of the biggest young stars of the 80′s. He spent 8 years in the role of Arnold and seamed destined to have a bright future once the show finally left the air.
Unfortunately, Hollywood wasn’t able to find a way to work around his small stature. Coleman suffered from kidney damage as a child and never only grow to 4 ft 8 in tall and remained child like in appearance. The lack of work in Hollywood led Coleman to a financial and personal downfall that he was never able to recover from.
Despite that fact the Gary Coleman was the punchline of many joke over the last twenty years, there’s no denying his natural ability to make people laugh. It’s a shame that he was never given a fair chance to reach his full potential.
RIP Gary Coleman!!
Ronnie James Dio died today of complications from stomach cancer. He was 67 years old. Only one question remains: why couldn’t it have been Ozzy Osbourne instead?
While Osbourne deserves some credit for being one of the founding members of Black Sabbath – the Patient Zero of heavy metal music - it was Dio that gave their songs a bluesy, gutsy feel. Unlike Osbourne’s sickly and pathetic shriek, Dio actually had a singing voice. He was also playful in concert, not a drunken, shambling joke like Ozzy. Check this out:
Black Sabbath fans are mourning his loss tonight. And with good reason – this means that Ozzy will be the only and permanent singer from now on. UGH.
