First of all, thanks to the stalwart seven who actually showed up to my birthday gathering/dinner at the Durango Steakhouse last Sunday night: William Moriaty, Terence Nuzum, Vinnie Blesi, Paul Guzzo (and Pete Guzzo by phone), Chris Woods, Lonnie Dohlen (drove from Bradenton!), and young filmmaker Damien Kincannon (a first-timer for this sort of thing). It meant a lot to me that y'all went to the trouble and I thank you.
Last-minute cancellations from would-be attendees came raining in primarily due to it being held on a Sunday night, and add in two cases of illness (well, sure). What a difference a year makes, eh?
Predictably, filmmaker shop-talk dominated the conversation. Lonnie and I shared a few asides about Creature Feature and collectible episodes. Lonnie brought a camera, but in the excitement we neglected to get pictures of Paul and Damien before they left (although they appear elsewhere on this website). See Lonnie Dohlen's other pics here.
The Passing of Mike Douglas at 81. My earliest memory of a talk show I viewed with any regularity was The Mike Douglas Show back in the '60s. In fact, it may have been from the very first episode as my mom was a huge fan. Mike Douglas was syndicated in this area on WTVT Channel 13 at 9:00am, following Captain Kangaroo which came on at 8:00am.
I enjoyed his show immensely and found it both entertaining and informative. (Funnily, Douglas himself regarded his show as primarily a music show with talk segments.) Mike always featured a "co-host of the week", which was unique then and now. My fondest memory was the week co-hosted by John Lennon and Yoko Ono--in addition to that weirdness, it was capped off by a jam session with Chuck Berry! Those were the days.
Later I got into The Merv Griffin Show (with co-host Arthur Treacher -- yes the Fish & Chips guy -- and was syndicated initially around suppertime. Merv also had differing co-hosts and show themes.), Dick Cavet (exquisitely intellectual, but came on too late in the evening for me to watch with any regularity), and ultimately, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (the standard by which all others would be measured).
But, for me, it all started with Mike Douglas. He will be sorely missed. For more memories of Mike Douglas, see this issue's Oddservations.
The JonBenet Ramsey Case. After PCR's "early" edition came out this week, news came over the wires, and is now widely known, that the confessed killer of JonBenet Ramsey, John David Karr was in police custody in Thailand awaiting extradition to the US on charges of first-degree murder.
This ends one of the strangest murder mysteries of all time --- or does it? Already much of his confession is straining under scrutiny. The times, dates and places are not quite adding up. His email correspondence with the Boulder, Colorado professor who contacted the FBI about him is under investigation. His previous connection to the Ramseys is spurious at best.
The only thing that must be more frustrating than thinking you're never going to solve a case is not being sure you've solved it even after an arrest and confession! Is this former school teacher and registered sex offender really the guy? I hope so. But if he's not, could he be such a demented loser that this may be his only chance at celebrity? The police are being understandably cautious with any speculations at this point.
I will have more to say about this case in next week's PCR (and I'll be inviting more commentary).
The Tampa Film Review for August!
Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our seventh calendar year!
Las Vegas .... Small Markets .... Hollywood East