The Morning Delivery

Super Bowl 47: Feats, Facts, and Historic Firsts

The opening kickoff of the Super Bowl is so near, I can almost hear ESPN’s Chris Berman (``The Swami’’) in my ear, saying:  ``"Tick…tick....tick tick tick….’’

On Sunday, February 3, the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, this year’s home team, take to the field in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Not that this annual clash needs any added buildup, but Super Bowl 47 will feature a historic family feud in that it marks the first time in Super Bowl history that brothers (Baltimore’s John and San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh ) lock horns as opposing head coaches.

CBS officially kicks off its coverage at 6:30 PM, ET live on the CBS Television Network.  Super Bowl XLVII, will be the network’s 18th Super Bowl broadcast overall. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call the action, and will be joined by analysts Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots, serving as sideline reporters.
Both NFL.com and SuperBowl.com will link to Super Bowl on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports’ live stream of Super Bowl XLVII, which will include a host of unique and interactive online and social features.

Of particular note is that during the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLVII, fans will be able to vote for the Super Bowl XLVII MVP on NFL.com, either online or on web-enabled mobile devices. The fan vote counts as 20 percent of the overall vote, with the remaining 80 percent determined by the media.

In addition to the Super Bowl coverage and analysis on CBS and at NFL.com, ESPN [See complete Super Bowl coverage ] will offer more than 120 hours of TV and radio programming throughout Super Bowl with more than 35 ESPN commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors) in New Orleans –as well as an star-studded analyst team of former players and coaches with a combined 18 Super Bowl rings in 28 appearances, including Hall of Famer Steve Young, SB XXIX) and Ravens (Trent Dilfer, SB XXXV) as well as Hall of Famer and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka, winner of Super Bowl XX in New Orleans and a former coach of the 49ers’ Jim Harbaugh.

So before the Ravens and 49ers exchange blows on Sunday evening before millions of energized and anxious fans worldwide, this might be the perfect time to review some feats, facts, and historic firsts about Super Bowl Sunday.

• To date, 3,581,385 have attended Super Bowl games. The largest crowd was 103,985 at Super Bowl XIV (Jan. 1980), which was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

• Player shares in 2013 include: $88,000 to each member of the winning team; $44,000 to each member of the losing team.

• The Vince Lombardi trophy stands 20.75 inches tall, weighs 107.3 ounces, and is valued in excess of $25,000. The words Vince Lombardi and Super Bowl XLVII are engraved on the base along with the NFL shield.

• For this year’s Super Bowl, American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress Beyoncé will perform at halftime. In Super Bowl I, the halftime entertainment consisted of the Universities of Arizona and Michigan Bands.

• The Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI halftime show last year featuring Madonna was watched by an average of 112.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime ever, surpassing Michael Jackson’s halftime performance in 1993.

• Tom Brady’s 127 pass completions over five Super Bowl games is an NFL record

• Joe Montana threw the most touchdown passes (4 games) in Super Bowl history with 11 perfect strikes.

• Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris rushed for a league record 354 yards over 4 Super Bowl games.

• Minnesota, Denver, Buffalo and New England have all lost 4 Super Bowls.

• San Francisco scored 8 touchdowns in Super Bowl XXIV (Jan. 1990) over Denver, the most by any team in Super Bowl history.

• Buffalo turned the ball over 9 times in Super Bowl XXVII (Jan. 1993) against Dallas, the most in Super Bowl history.

• 23 NFL head coaches have won Super Bowls with more than one team.

• 18 individuals have won Super Bowls both as a player and as a coach.

• 14 Fathers and Sons have reached the Super Bowl.

• 22 sets of brothers have reached the Super Bowl.

• 6 NFL head coaches led their team to the Super Bowl in their first season, the last being Jim Caldwell of the Indianapolis Colts in 2009.

• Based on Nielsen record figures, Super Bowl XLV (Feb. 2011) was watched by 162,900,000 viewers on FOX, the most in Super Bowl history.

• The oldest winning coach in Super Bowl history was Tom Coughlin, 65, in Super Bowl XLVI (Feb, 2012); while the youngest was Mike Tomlin, 36, in Super Bowl XLIII (Feb. 2009)

• The ticket prices for Super Bowl I (Jan. 1967) in Los Angeles were $6, $10, and $12

• The ticket prices for XLVI (Feb. 2012) in Indianapolis were $600, $800, $900, and $1,200.

• On average, 10,000 tweets were sent per second during the final three minutes of the New York Giants' 21-17 defeat of the New England Patriots last year in Super Bowl XLVI, according to a Twitter spokesperson.

• More than 2.1 million people turned on the live Internet stream of Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5, 2012, according to an NBC spokesperson.

• Super Bowl XLVII will be the 10th Super Bowl held in New Orleans since 1970, putting the city into a tie with South Florida for the most by any single location.

• There were 338 credentials issued to media at Super Bowl I in Los Angeles; last year in Super Bowl XLVI, there were 5,156 accredited members of the media, the most in the history of the game.

• The use of Roman numerals to designate Super Bowls began with game V (Jan. 1971), won by the Baltimore Colts over the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13.

• The price of a 30-second commercial for Super Bowl I in 1967 was $42,000.  This year, by comparison, for Super Bowl XVII, a 30-second commercial will run $3,800,000.

• According to a new survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation, conducted by BIGinsight, more than 179.1 million people will watch the game Sunday, February 3, the most in the survey’s nine-year history and up from an estimated 172.5 million last year.

• The NRF survey additionally found nearly three-quarters (74.0 percent) of those watching the game will buy wings, pizza, chips, soda. Additionally, 3.9 million households will buy new furniture items, such as entertainment centers, chairs and couches, while 7.5 million will buy decorations.

• Americans will consume 1.23 billion chicken wings during the Super Bowl this year, a 1 percent decline from last year, according to the National Chicken Council.

• Mexico will be the largest supplier of avocados for the Super Bowl, according to the Henry Avocado Corp.

• According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, $93.90 million was wagered on the Super Bowl last year in the state of Nevada.

• There are approximately 22,000 hotel rooms in downtown New Orleans and another 37,000 in the metropolitan area; and all are but officially sold out, according to the NFL.

• According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, approximately 150,000 tourists will have stormed New Orleans for Super Bowl 47 this year.

• According to an economic study conducted by the University of New Orleans, Super Bowl 47 will have a $432 million impact on the city.

Source: NFL

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
January 30, 2013

 

20 Years Ago, Johnny Carson Bids a ``Heartfelt Goodnight!’’

On October 1, 1962, Groucho Marx introduced Johnny Carson as the new host of the Tonight Show.

Source: AP

Johnny Carson shakes hands with the show's announcer Ed McMahon during the final taping of "The Tonight Show" in Burbank, Ca., Friday, May 22, 1992,

****

20 years ago, May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson, age 66, after serving as the Tonight Show host for 30 years, including 4,531 shows, while interviewing approximately 24,000 guests, tapes his final show at the NBC studios in Burbank Calif.

``I bid you a very heartfelt goodnight’’ was Carson’s final words before fading deep into the night.

He was succeeded by Jay Leno on May 25, 1992.

The crowned ``King of Late Night’’, except for a brief appearance celebrating Bob Hope’s 90th birthday in 1993 and hand delivering a top 10 list to David Letterman in 1994, never again popped up on any television show either as a guest or host of a special presentation.

Carson,  not quite 37, a shy Midwesterner and known only to a modest television audience as host of the ABC quiz game show, ``Who Do You Trust’’,  began his miraculous run on October 1, 1962 with guests Tony Bennett, Rudy Vallee, Joan Crawford, Groucho Marx, and a rising comedy writer, Mel Brooks,

A Footnote: Among the personalities, who turned down offers by NBC to replace Jack Paar, included:  Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason, Joey Bishop, and Groucho Marx.

Carson lived up to the grand billing he was given in the 26 weeks between Jack Paar’s last show and his debut on the Tonight show, which paid him just a shade over $100,000 a year.  During Carson’s first week, fan mail reportedly flew in at a rate of 12,000 letters a week, a rate never witnessed before in NBC’s entire television history.  During its first six months, the program averaged over seven million viewers; and by the time he passed the baton to Leno, the Tonight Show audience had leaped to 15 million, generating approximately 17 percent of the network's total profit, making it one of the biggest money makers in network history.

A Footnote: Carson’s single biggest audience came on Dec. 17, 1969, when Tiny Tim, an American singer and ukulele player, married 17 year-old  Vicki Budinger  or ``Miss Vicki’’ before an estimated 58 million viewers.

Jack Paar, Carson’s predecessor, told the Saturday Evening Post in a December 1962 interview that ``Carson is a natural wit. He’ll do well.  I recommended him personally to the network.’’

But not all greeted this tall skinny comedian’s entry into late night television with such enthusiasm.  “He [Carson] exhibits all the charm of a snickering small boy scribbling graffiti on a public wall’’ wrote John Horn of the New York Herald Tribune,  demonstrating “no apparent gift for the performing arts.”

From the outset, Carson wanted no part of his predecessor’s signature combativeness and emotional tension which he brought to the Tonight Show from 1957 through 1962, opting instead for a more good natured genial approach without lobbing hand grenades to his guests. ``I have no intention of being Mike Wallace’’ Carson told the Saturday Evening Post in 1962.
 
Under his 30-year supremacy, Carson earned six Emmy Awards, was the recipient of the Friar's Club Entertainer of the Year (1965, 1969), the Harvard Hasty Pudding Club Man of the Year in 1977, a Peabody award winner in 1985, winner of People's Choice Awards in 1987, inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1987, received the American Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award (1992), the same year he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President H.W. Bush, along with the 1993 Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award, while hosting the Academy Awards five times (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1984).

No one was more surprised of America’s national treasure announcing his retirement in May, 1991 than his long time friend and second banana, Ed McMahon.  Big Ed said in his book: `` For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times’’ that he had no warning Johnny was planning on shutting it down for good.  ``I don’t think he told anyone except his wife Alex, that he had decided to quit’’ McMahon wrote. So unprepared was the network for the retirement bombshell that NBC asked Carson’s sidekick to remain on the show for six additional months after the host departed. McMahon respectfully declined.

According to a Gallup poll, 10 years after Carson stepped down, four out of 10 or 39 percent of Americans considered Carson to be their favorite late-night talk show host of all time, well ahead of David Letterman with 20 percent followed by Jay Leno with 16 percent.

Johnny Carson was one of the highest paid entertainers in television history, earning an estimated $2, 380 per minute of airtime.

Carson died with his family at his side at 7:00 a.m. on January 23, 2005 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from emphysema. He was 79.

48 hours after his death, the $49.99 DVD set, ``The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection: His Favorite Moments from The Tonight Show’’ was the bestselling DVD on Amazon.com.

John William Carson, the second of three children, was born on October 23, 1923 in Corning, Iowa. The family moved to Norfolk Nebraska in 1933 when Carson was eight years-old. After serving three years in the navy beginning in 1943 during World War II and earning a B.A. degree in English at the University of Nebraska (1949), he launched his radio career in Lincoln Nebraska at KFAB (later in Omaha at WOW); in 1951, he moved to Los Angeles, where landed a job as a staff announcer at KNXT-TV, a year later in 1952, he segued into a Sunday afternoon comedy show ``Carson’s Cellar’’ with a budget of $25.

So impressive was this young Nebraskan in his television debut that a number of high profile comedians landed on his show, including Fred Allen, Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Red Skelton and Jerry Lewis.

The clear game changer in Carson’s career came in August, 1954, when he filled in for Red Skelton on his CBS show, delivering a hilarious opening monologue on the economics of television, resulting in rave reviews from television critics, which also caught the eye of CBS executives who offered him a half hour show in prime time, ``The Johnny Carson Show.’’ The show, which tore through seven directors and eight writers, never took hold, running for only 39 weeks in 1955. 

Beginning November 18, 1957 and up until he was tapped as Paar’s successor, he hosted an ABC game show, (along with announcer Ed McMahon), ``Who Do You Trust’’, which was based on a interview game show ``Do You Trust Your Wife’’? with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, which ran on CBS from January 3, 1956 through March 26, 1957.

A Footnote:  Carson filled in briefly for Jack Paar as a guest host on "The Tonight Show" in 1958; he also performed in nightclubs and in the Broadway comedy "'Tunnel of Love" before succeeding Paar permanently.

Except for entertaining a select group of friends on occasion, after the Tonight Show, Carson lived his remaining years in seclusion in his $12 million Malibu home while making occasional excursions on his 125-ft. yacht.

Outside of the NBC studios, Carson often made news with his stormy marriages, first with Joan Wolcott Carson  (1949-63), then Joanne Copeland Carson  ( 1963-72), followed by Joanna Holland Carson  (1972-83).  The fact that his first three wives had such similar first names, led to a running joke within the industry that the only reason the Tonight Show host married these particular women was so that this shameless penny pincher wouldn’t have to change the initials on his monogrammed bath towels. Carson married a fourth time on June 20, 1987 to Alexis Maas Carson.

Upon his death, Carson was survived by his wife, Alexis ; two sons, Chris and Corey; his brother, Richard; and his sister, Catherine. Another son, Richard Wolcott Carson, known as `` Ricky’’, died in a car accident in 1991 after his car plunged 100 feet down an embankment in Cayucos, Calif. He was 39.

Beginning in  August, 1971  with Carson taking Monday’s off, along with taking frequent vacations, the popular host had his share of guest hosts over the years. According to JohnnyCarson.com, Joey Bishop hosted a record 177 times, followed by Joan Rivers with 93.

The papers of Johnny Carson, which were acquired by the Library of Congress in 1996 from the Carson Production Company , includes approximately 47, 600 items consisting exclusively of the records of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," arranged chronologically by date as aired from October 1970 to May 1992, with a gap in the 1976 files.

Records for each show include cue cards, chronologies, outline, scripts, and broadcast standards acceptability reports, an assortment of correspondence and other materials.

In addition, The Library's Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division archives NBC and other broadcasting materials and recordings, including approximately 30 Jack Paar shows; 1,500 David Letterman shows, from NBC and CBS; 1,000 Jay Leno shows; and 750 Conan O'Brien shows, as well as a sound recording of excerpts from the early years of Carson's reign.

-Bill Lucey
May 22, 2012
[email protected]

Remembering How Reality TV Talent Shows First Got Started

 

 © Fisher Media Productions

 

Gladys Knight, age 7, before her appearance on the ``Original Amateur Hour''   © Fisher Media Productions

***

With talent shows popping up like toasters on television, whether it’s ``American Idol’’, ``America’s Got Talent’’, ``Top Chef’’, `` America’s Next Top Model,’’ or Simon Cowell’s latest mega-project, the ``X-Factor’’ waiting in the wings, it’s worth noting that when television was in its initial stages, ``Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour’’ was the only real game in town for amateurs to showcase their talent.  Another talent show at the time, ``Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts’’, which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958 would often book performers who previously earned money in their entertainment professions, distinguishing it from the pure amateur, non-professional status of Mr. Mack’s show.

This year, in fact, marks the 77th year when the ``Original Amateur Hour’’ hit the radio airwaves in 1934, and shortly after its debut; it was taken over by Major Edward Bowes, the show’s original creator. After his death in 1946, Bowes talent coordinator, Ted Mack became its permanent host.

The television debut came on January 18, 1948 on the DuMont Network; a year later it moved to NBC; and later both ABC and CBS carried productions of it.  All together, the ``Original Amateur Hour ‘’continued on radio until 1952 and on television until airing its 1,651 episode, its last, on September 27, 1970, making it the longest-running variety program in the history of broadcasting and consistently one of the highest-rated programs on-the-air.  ``The Original Amateur Hour ‘’was revived for one season in 1992 on the Family Channel network with Willard Scott as host.

The premise of the show pretty much stayed intact during its entire run. After talent scouts scoured the country looking for entertaining acts, they would then be brought to New York for auditions. If they made the cut, they performed on the show, while members of the audience would vote by phone calls or letters. Winners would then return and square off against a new crop of talent, leading up to the final competition at Madison Square Garden.

After reviewing the ``Amateur Hour’’ alumni, it’s truly stunning how many participants went on to fame and fortune after first being introduced to radio and television audiences. The list of graduates includes: Joey Bishop, Jack Carter, Robert Blake, Alan King, Red Foxx, Connie Francis, Robert Merrill, Beverly Sills, Paul Winchell & Jerry Mohoney (the ventriloquists), Jose Feliciana, Theresa Brewer, and Pat Boone, among many others.

In addition, a scrawny 21-year-old from New Jersey, Frank Sinatra, the lead singer of the ``The Hoboken Four'' first hit the airwaves back in 1937, in the radio version of the ``Original Amateur Hour.’’ At the tender age of 16, Ann-Margaret Olsson from Wilmette, Illinois, made her professional television debut on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, losing to a man who played a tree leaf between his fingers; while comedian Robert Klein appeared with his singing group, the ``Teen Tones’’, only to lose to a one-armed piano player.  Future R&B/soul singer-songwriter, and actress, Gladys Knight, as well, first appeared at age seven, distinguishing herself as a three-time winner.  And Louis Wolcott, later known as the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, appeared in 1949 playing a violin.

© Fisher Media Productions 

But the ``Original Amateur Hour’’ did let a few would-be -stars slip through the cracks, such as when Elvis Presley, auditioning for the show in Tupelo, Miss., back in 1953, failed to make the cut. Wayne Newton’s family traveled to New York from Roanoke, Virginia when he was nine to audition him for the Amateur Hour, only to be turned away; the show also took a pass on a ukulele player named Herbert Khaury, who would later earn fame with his falsetto voice as Tiny Tim.

According to Albert Fisher, who was a 22-year old talent scout auditioning acts for “Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour’’, more than 50 amateurs who first appeared on the show went on to become top international stars; and of the more than 10,000 amateurs that appeared on the show, about 500 became professional entertainers.

When I asked how much the smash hit ``American idol’’ reminded him of the ``Original Amateur Hour’’, Fisher said he sees little similarity to the show he was a part of for so many years. 

In Fisher’s opinion, most ``American Idol’’ contestants, at least those that advance to the semi-finals and finals, are so well polished, they’re not far from being considered professional singers. ``Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour’’, by comparison, was an amateur show in the truest sense of the word.  While the show was noted for turning out a number of future stars, the ``Original Amateur Hour’’ was better known for showcasing obscure local talents from around the country who more than likely would never be heard from again, whether it was a yodeling duo (Smokie Ridge Boys) from New Jersey, the Ozark Square Dancers from Tuscumbia, Missouri, or Judy Kassouf, a two-baton twirling champion from Lakewood, Ohio.

A strict requirement before appearing on Ted Mack’s talent show was that no contestant was permitted to have earned money performing. No such requirement applies to either Fox’s ``American Idol’’ or NBC’s ``America’s Got Talent.’’ A representative from ``American Idol’’ said that a number of the Idol contestants’ appearing on the show, previously earned money in bands, playing at coffee shops, or performing at local festivals.  NBC’s ``America’s Got Talent’’ also doesn’t place any restrictions on participants from having earned money performing before appearing on their talent show.

Another striking difference between ``Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour’’ and talent shows on television today is the grand prize for winning the contest.  The winner of Ted Mack’s show was given a trophy and a check for a whopping $1500 before an audience at Madison Square Garden.   The winner of ``American Idol’’, by contrast, receives a lucrative recording contract with 19 Recordings and a management deal with 19 Management; while the winner of ``America’s Got Talent’’ receives $1 million.

One way of measuring the success or originality of any popular show is observing how many steal from your act. `` The Original Amateur Hour’’ certainly had its fair share of copy cats.  The famous "Wheel of Fortune"; the phrase: “‘round and 'round she goes ... and where she stops ... nobody knows" ... while the infamous "gong", which would later appear as a title of a show on NBC from 1976-1978 with Chuck  Barris as host, were all devices that can be traced back to the ``Original Amateur Hour.’’  As comedian Fred Allen once said (Newsweek, January 14, 1980), ``imitation is the sincerest form of television.’’

As a way to ensure that episodes of the ``Original Amateur Hour’’ are properly archived and preserved in meticulous condition, Fisher has donated copies of the long running talent variety show to the Library of Congress . In addition, anyone who had a family member perform on the show, can contact him on the address listed on his Web Site  and he will provide them (after charging a processing and handling fee) with a copy of the individual show.  It’s Fisher’s way, he said over the phone from Los Angeles, of showing his appreciation for the way the show gave him his first start in the entertainment business at such a young age. Fisher is now a highly successful television executive with creative credits from all major networks.

So next time you plop yourself in front of the television to watch your favorite talent show, in whatever form it may take, it might be worth remembering it was Major Edward Bowes and Ted Mack who were instrumental in first moving this whistle-stop tour down the tracks.

Bill Lucey
[email protected]
June 14, 2011

 

Oscar Host(s) Suggestions for 2012

 

Anne Hathaway and James Franco; we hardly knew ye.

After television critics unleashed a battery of sharp arrows at the two young entertainers for falling flat in last night’s Oscar telecast; chances are this adorable twosome won’t be invited back next year.

Though the show did attract younger viewers; overall, preliminary reports are that the show dipped seven percent compared with last year’s telecast.

Is it really that hard to settle on an Oscar host?  Why is ABC so obsessed with finding hosts that meet a certain demographic, like they’re preparing for a presidential primary?

Here’s a novel thought: Why doesn’t ABC put away the demographic charts, the social networking tools, the iphone apps; and just land hosts that can poke fun at Hollywood newsmakers, who will come to the theater armed with material that can make young and old alike laugh, entertainers experienced enough to let viewers forgot how old they are:  only that they have one thing in common; which is their love of movies and their longing to revel in the nostalgia of Hollywood.

It doesn’t seem like finding hosts to fit that criteria would be hard to find.

But just in case ABC finds themselves scratching their heads for next year’s host or hosts, here are some suggestions:

Top 10 Oscar Hosts for 2012

1.) Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: If ABC is interested in bringing back glamour, entertainment and star power to the Oscar show-look no further.

2.) Nathan Lane: Why this ultimate song and dance man has never been asked to host the Big Show is beyond me.

3.) Tom Hanks:  This two-time Oscar recipient would be a natural to host.  You could pair him with any bosom buddy you like-the entire night would be a blast. Actually, Hanks was asked and agreed to get ready one year to fill in for an ailing Billy Crystal; but Crystal recovered in the nick of time.

4.) Tina Fey/Jimmy Fallon:  Another excellent choice, reuniting the former SNL Weekend Update hosts.  Who cares if they’re NBC products; so were Johnny Carson and Alec Baldwin.

5.) Kevin Spacey:  Often overlooked is that this superb Academy Award winning dramatic actor can showcase a smorgasbord of impersonations, including Johnny Carson, Jimmy Stewart, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and a host of other show stopping impressions. It would be a shame for ABC to deny the television audience the talents of such a highly prized showman.

6.) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck:  This duo was hysterical on Oscar night after winning the statute for ``Good Will Hunting’’ No reason why their unique banter wouldn’t work equally as well as hosts of the Oscar show.

7.) Will Smith: If ABC wants to tap into a younger demographic and still offer some real star power- this two-time Academy Award nominee, former rapper, and former star of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air might be just the ticket.

8.) Billy Crystal. Billy, just knock, and the door will always be open.

9.) Matthew Broderick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker:  Two words: That’s Entertainment!!!

10.)   Ron Howard and Rob Reiner: While these two have gone on to distinguish themselves as remarkable directors—to the television audience-they’re still Opie and Meathead. How could this engaging team possibly fail?

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
February 28, 2011