The Knodelseder book made it clear in the opening chapter that Letterman and Carson believed that one of the functions of their shows was to give comics a break and a showcase. I always thought that Jay didn't do the same is that he cratered so badly on his second Tonight Show appearance that he wasn't asked back…

The fact that Jay was no longer showcasing comedians on his "Tonight Show" was a sore spot with comics of his generation. It was mentioned in the opening chapter of William Knodelseder's "I'm Dying Up Here", which chronicled the LA stand up scene in the '70's. Jay kept begging off saying it's "The network's call." …

I remember reading in Johnny's 1979 Rolling Stone interview that he liked rock music,was a fan of Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys to name two, and said that the best live performance he'd ever seen was the Rolling Stones at Madison Square garden in 1972. He admitted that he'd had a bad experience with the group The…

In the interview that Dave did with Jane Pauley, she asked him if he was going to take his desk with him after he retired, Dave replied, "Why? It's just a desk." He then went on to tell the story of how he had the chance to buy Johnny Carson's desk from the Tonight Show. Dave's take was, "I thought about it for…

I remember in the days before the announcements were made as to who was going to become hosts of either "The Daily Show", The Colbert Report", and "The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson", In articles that would name the usual suspects, (Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Joel McHale, etc.) There would be a wave of…

I remember reading an interview with Jim Downey in which he preferred working with Michael O'Donoghue to Harry Shearer, as unlike Shearer, O'Donoghue preferred to only make people miserable that deserved it. Shearer didn't learn that skill set.

For cryin' out loud. They've got an extra $10 million a year to put into staff salaries now! From what I understand, the cast took a 45% pay cut during the last contract negotiation. And since the show has been sold to FXX, which jump started that cable network, I would imagine that Shearer may have wanted to get…

I’ve read horror stories aplenty about Shearer, as his contrarianism knows no bounds. That being said, what voice actor or actors would be willing to take over his roles? I read in another report on Shearer’s leaving that voice actor Maurice Lamarche was contacted as a possible replacement to take over roles on the…

David Halberstam's book, "The Fifties" goes into great detail on how Ray Kroc turned McDonald's into a juggernaut. He believed that the McDonald brothers weren't doing enough to help him build the brand nationally, And the McDonald brothers were tired of Kroc's hard charging manner. The brothers offered to have him…

This has become a “thing” in the Upper Ohio Valley, and is mainly done by people who work in the fracking industry. I was at an intersection in Moundsville,WV, attempting to cross back into Ohio, when a guy in a Ram pulled this crap two cars up from me. I guess he didn’t like new Camaros, which was the car directly…

Nope, Dabney's not dead. He did have a bout with oral cancer though, while filming "Boardwalk Empire", and that is one of the reasons the writers had the Commodore have a stroke. His voice was temporarily impaired during treatment. He's made a full recovery, and is appearing in MeTV ads, so that's a good thing.

If you missed last night's The Comedians, you missed Taylor Negron as Josh Gad's acting coach. It was probably one of his last performances, and he was still more interesting than either Gad or Crystal.

In a related story, Anthony Jeselnik will be playing a Yuk Yuks near you.

IIRC, wasn’t the second Cadillac pictured here one of several that were purpose built for GM to chauffeur VIP’s around Indianapolis during the week of the Indianapolis 500? I believe I’ve read a piece on the web about those particular wagons somewhere.

Also, a lot of floral cars have a bowed stainless steel tonneau, to place large floral arrangements on. And in some cases, flower cars were used as “first call” vehicles before vans became popular, to remove bodies from hospitals, homes, etc. so the tonneau acted as a cover for the cot the body was placed on.

"Spoiler Alert! The Mindy Project is still unwatchable!" Andy Kindler.

"Spoiler alert! The Mindy Project is still unwatchable!" Andy Kindler.

I'm still waiting to see who will play F. Lee Bailey and Barry Schenk.

And Norm is one hell of a student of comedy. From the piece he twittered on the behind the scenes stuff that went on in creating the "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch on the SNL 40 special, to he and Dave recalling their favorite George Miller jokes, what's not to love about him?

I would imagine that Tosh, Shumer, and McHale were examples of CBS's historic tactic of trying to "buy" a younger audience, and appeal to their fans. But all 3 make a lot more money, and have more control over their individual careers than they would at a show that historically has eaten it's hosts due to network…