Happy Birthday, Tina Fey!

Guest Bloggers: Darryl and Tuezdae Littleton, authors of Comediennes: Laugh Be a Lady, contribute a little something for Tina Fey’s 43rd birthday today.

Despite SNL’s imperfections over the years, the show’s output of talent can’t be denied and no comedienne has been more impressive than Tina Fey. By sheer accomplishments and accolades alone she’s in a class all by herself – female or male. An alumni of Chicago’s Second City, the writer / actress / producer / author has managed, in a career spanning a mere 17 years, to amass 7 Emmys, 4 Screen Actor Guild, 3 Golden Globes and 4 Writer Guild of America Awards. Fey’s film, Mean Girls had a worldwide box office take of 129 million dollars. Baby Mama made 64 million and Megamind pulled down 321 million worldwide.

Her comedy virginity was broken by old Marx Brothers movies and Honeymooner episodes. Her father forbade the viewing of The Flintstones since he deemed them a Honeymooners rip-off. However, she was allowed to watch Second City TV and adopt Catherine O’Hara as the woman she wanted to be one day.

During middle school she did a project on the subject of comedy. Then Tina went to work on learning her chosen craft by studying playwriting and acting in college earning a degree in drama; next stop – Second City and total immersion in the religion of improvisation. She took a stab at stand-up, but realized her strength lied in improvisation.

Besides, being quick on her feet and a nimble wit, Fey was also a writer with a wicked pen. In 1997 she got her SNL gig by submitting scripts, which got the attention of then head writer Adam McKay, who suggested her for a paid writing slot. She took personal improvement to the next level and lost 30 pounds to make her physical package more TV friendly after seeing herself on camera. Following that version of scaling back she got approached to do a lot more sketches.

In 2000 she got the coveted co-anchor position on SNL’s ‘Weekend Update” along with Jimmy Fallon. Fey was now not only the first female head writer for the show, but according to alumni, Dennis Miller – the funniest “anchor” to ever sit at the Weekend Update desk.

30 Rock had already been green-lit be NBC by the time Fey left SNL at the end of the 2006 season. It had actually been a rejected pilot idea she presented in 2002 to a cable affiliate of NBC’s. In 2003 she signed a renewal contract for SNL that also allowed her to develop a sitcom. As soon as she left in 2006 30 Rock made its premiere in October of that year and ranked very poorly. Regardless, NBC stuck with it and the show became a critical darling if not a ratings blockbuster. Fey and the show won so many awards that you forgot there were other nominees.

On top of all the industry recognition Fey became a cultural phenomenon. Between September 2008 and March 2011 she impersonated Sarah Palin a half dozen times, with the September 13^th maiden voyage holding the distinction of going viral to the tune of 5.7 million hits (a SNL record), and the October 18, 2008 sketch where Fey meets the real Sarah Palin being the highest rated program since 1994. Fey’s debut as a screenwriter (Mean Girls) grossed 129 million worldwide and her follow-up, Baby Mama made 64 million at the box office.   She’s been ranked as hot and beautiful by Maxim and People magazines respectively and voted one of the 50 most powerful women by the New York Post.  And did we forget to mention that in 2011 Tina Fey was Forbes magazine’s highest paid TV actress.

Well, not every comedienne is going to be a Tina Fey, but she’s a yardstick; something to aspire to be and she’s just hitting stride.

 

Comediennes: Laugh Be a Lady chronicles the evolution of the humor through the research of Darryl and Tuezdae Littleton and the scores of interviews they conducted with veteran female performers from all mediums, as well as Tuezdae’s own experiences as a comedienne. Startling facts are revealed and tributes are paid to the icons of yesteryear by the titans of today in their own words and sentiments. Women have always made us laugh, from their outrageous characters, pratfall humor, cutting barbs, clever wit and unforgettable side-splitting moments. Their “herstory” has only just begun.

Pierce Brosnan’s 007

Guest Blogger: Tom DeMichael, author of James Bond FAQ. Today, we celebrate Pierce Brosnan’s 60th birthday with a reflection on his iconic role as 007.

Celebrating his sixtieth birthday today, Pierce Brosnan was well-known in the 1980’s as the title character of private investigator Remington Steele, from the ABC-TV show of the same name. But that notoriety nearly cost him the role of James Bond.

Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in County Meath, Ireland. An only child to mother May, Pierce’s dad, Thomas, was a carpenter who walked out on the family after only a few years. May moved to London to seek work as a nurse, leaving Pierce to move among relatives, friends, and even a Christian Brothers mission. In a 1997 interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Brosnan admitted, “It wasn’t all bleak…you learn how to create your own happiness.” When May remarried, eleven year-old Pierce joined the couple in London. One day, stepdad William took the boy to the cinema to see a film called Goldfinger. Young Pierce was very impressed, realizing, “…James Bond was very cool.”

Brosnan attended school to be a commercial artist and landed an apprentice job in a small South London studio at the age of eighteen. But he had become enamored with movies and, at the urging of a co-worker, joined up with a local theater workshop. Soon, they had formed the Oval House Theater Company and Pierce quit his art job. He waited tables, cleaned houses, anything that allowed him to be free to act in the evenings. Brosnan attended drama school, acting in repertory theater and London West End productions like Red Devil Battery Sign by Tennessee Williams. The playwright had personally selected Brosnan for the lead role.

British theater led to appearances in British TV by 1980. His wife, actress Cassandra Harris, landed a supporting role in the 1981 Bond flick For Your Eyes Only. Brosnan would amuse Harris by offering his impression of 007 when he would drive her home from the studio (Perhaps a view of things to come for Brosnan. Tragically, Harris would succumb to ovarian cancer in 1991.) A successful 1981 ABC-TV mini-series, The Manions of America, lead to Brosnan’s casting in NBC-TVs Remington Steele in 1982. The detective show ended up being in the top twenty-five TV ratings, but was canceled after four seasons as those numbers waned. Broccoli recalled Brosnan from the For Your Eyes Only days and he tested for the role of Bond for the upcoming The Living Daylights. Pleased with the results, producers named Pierce Brosnan as the new James Bond.

Apparently, NBC read the trade papers that day and, realizing the ratings boost having the “next James Bond” would give the network, they immediately renewed Brosnan’s contract as Remington Steele – effectively blocking his chances to play Bond. Ironically, the series would only air six episodes before getting the axe once more, but the damage was done. The Living Daylights would shoot with Timothy Dalton as 007.

Brosnan was understandably upset, but continued to work on TV and in films, including hits like Lawnmower Man in 1992 and Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993. When the 007 legal snafus were cleared up in 1994, it became apparent that Pierce Brosnan would be Bond in GoldenEye (over suggestions that included Mel Gibson and Ralph Fiennes) and it wouldn’t be enough to rescue the world – this time, he was expected to rescue the character from oblivion.

So, with that small task at hand, it was Pierce Brosnan who brought Bond into the 21st Century. It was Pierce Brosnan who had to come to terms with a new boss – still M, but this time, a female (gasp!). It was Pierce Brosnan that, with his four Bond films, brought nearly $1.5 BILLION to box offices worldwide. In his four turns as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan brought the suave and calm demeanor to the character that one would expect from an experienced performer. In 1995, he told Big Screen magazine, “The way I see James Bond is as a man with a passion to get the job done…This film is…not a cure for cancer, it’s supposed to be fantasy.” Film critics like Roger Ebert praised his portrayal of 007, offering that Brosnan was  “…somehow more sensitive, more vulnerable, more psychologically complete, than the (other) Bonds.” High praise, indeed.

No matter, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided to (get ready, here it comes…) “reboot” the role of Bond once more in 2005, just as Brosnan was in negotiations for a fifth whirl as 007. In a 2005 interview for Premiere magazine, he said, “It would have been sweet to go back for a fifth…It would have been wonderful to go out there for one last game and pass the baton.” Less poetically, he added, “…it f***ing sucks.”

Since leaving the world of Bond, Brosnan has worked steadily in films, with a wide variety of genres – drama, comedy, romance, western – even singing his own parts in Mamma Mia!, the quirky musical featuring the music of ABBA.

Like several of the actors who played 007, Brosnan has used his celebrity status to further many philanthropic causes. He has championed environmental activities by organizations like Save the Whales and Global Green, among others. Brosnan’s work for children’s welfare includes First Star and UNICEF in his home country in Ireland. The actor has also supported animal rights and women’s health.

James Bond FAQ is a book that takes on the iconic cinema franchise that’s lasted for so many years. Sometimes serious as SPECTRE, sometimes quirkier than Q, but always informative, this FAQ takes the reader behind-the-scenes, as well as in front of the silver screen. Everyone’s included: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig; little-known facts about TV’s first shot at 007, the same Bond story that was made into two different films; whatever happened to those wonderful cars and gizmos that thrilled everyone; plus much more. It’s a book for the casual, as well as hardcore, James Bond fan.

Cost-efficient Filmmaking

Guest Blogger: Glenn Berggoetz, author of The Independent Filmmaker’s Guide, helps out filmmakers with tips for smart budgeting and more on his blog.

 

Spend Your Filmmaking Money Wisely

I spoke with another filmmaker recently and found out that she spent well over $10,000 to make a six-minute short film. I haven’t seen this film, and it might be quite good, maybe fantastic, but had I met this filmmaker last year, I would have talked with her about a different way to make films. A more efficient, cost-effective way.

There are so many ways to trim your expenses when making a film. Don’t bring in a lighting expert. Don’t worry about gaffers, key grips, make-up artists, and a whole host of other crew members – I typically have a crew of three that consists of the director of photography doing the filming, a guy to hold the boom, and me. Sometimes it’s just two of us – the guy with the camera and me with the boom. It’s not glamorous, but it gets the job done.

With the more than $10,000 this filmmaker spent to make her short film, I could have made five to seven feature films (my feature film The Worst Movie EVER! was made for $1,100 and received a theatrical release).

If you want to learn about the dozens of ways you can go about saving money on a shoot so you too can make a feature film for a small amount of money, buy my book The Independent Filmmaker’s Guide: Make Your Feature Film for $2,000, and you’ll be well on your way to making your next (or maybe first) film in an efficient, economical manner.

Check out Glenn Berggoetz’s blog!

The Independent Filmmaker’s Guide: Make Your Future Film for $2,000

Award-winning independent filmmaker Glenn Berggoetz shares all he knows about making a marketable feature film for $2,000. While most books on independent filmmaking talk about how to make a film with a budget of anywhere from $50,000 to half a million dollars or more, the reality of the indie film world is that most filmmakers rarely have more than a few thousand dollars at their disposal for making their film. This book is written specifically for those filmmakers, and for filmmakers who would typically waste years trying to raise tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to make their film simply because they’re not aware that there’s another, more efficient way to go about it.

Happy Birthday, George Clooney!

So, George Clooney is 52 today (we can’t believe it either). Enjoy an excerpt from George Clooney, by Kimberly Potts.

George Clooney had often told reporters he wouldn’t attend the Oscars until he was nominated for one. He didn’t expect, though, that one trip to the Academy Awards was all he’d need to take home one of the little golden guys.

After nearly twenty-five years in Hollywood, more than a dozen failed TV shows, a breakout role in a hit TV series that gave him his firstbig success at age thirty-three, and another decade of critical film hits (Out of Sight) and box-office misses (Batman & Robin), 2006 was the year that his industry cohorts decided Clooney was a genuine triple threat: he had become the first person in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated for three different Oscars in two different movies. All of a sudden, in 2006 Hollywood had decided that Clooney was one of the best actors, one of the best writers and one of the best directors in the industry.

And all the big-screen triumphs he was at last enjoying had come not because he had motored along the usual path to success in Hollywood. Instead, Clooney had done things his way, shrewdly switching back and forth between projects with big box-office potential and smaller, more independent movies he felt passionately about, working with actors and filmmakers who shared his goals of turning out good work they could be proud of listing on their résumés and, in a reflection of his personal ethics, making it a priority in his professional life to treat people, at every stage and level of the filmmaking process, fairly.

Clooney had become a genuine movie star, one of the biggest in the world, one of the most beloved and most respected—and, judging from the crop of those coming up behind him, one of the last real movie stars in Hollywood. As unlikely as it might have seemed earlier in his career, when he felt lucky to land parts in movies like Return to Horror High and Return of the Killer Tomatoes! and to be playing sixth banana to Mrs. Garrett and the girls on The Facts of Life, Clooney had deftly managed to sustain and expand upon a career in an industry that is notoriously fickle. He’d become a better actor, one capable not only of genuinely terrific performances in movies such as Steven Soderbergh’s slick heist crime dramedy/romance Out of Sight and Joel and Ethan Coen’s comic adventure O Brother, Where Art Thou?, but also of aligning himself with filmmakers who could draw out his best acting efforts and who had likeminded commitments to making movies that mattered, that provoked, that entertained . . . that, above all, did more than just line a leading man’s pockets with an eight-figure payday.

He’s famous for twice being People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, for his penchant for practical jokes and his vow never to remarry, as well as for his Oscar-winning and Emmy-nominated acting career. But George Clooney’s reputation as a celebrity belies his essential seriousness, as a businessman, a humanitarian, and, of course, in his ascendancy to the Hollywood A-list.

George Clooney: The Last Great Movie Star 

In this updated biography of one of Hollywood’s most colorful leading men, pop culture expert Kimberly Potts traces Clooney’s life from small-town boy to big-screen idol. Clooney slowly and deliberately built a résumé that took him from TV stardom on ER to a winning film career as a serious actor, writer, producer and director. Along the way Potts fills us in on Clooney’s early attempts to break into film (including his Batman flop), his many well-publicized romances, his political and humanitarian efforts, plus a major fight with director David O. Russell on the set of Three Kings.

Potts also recounts how Clooney has gained success and acclaim with his shrewd strategy of alternating blockbuster movie roles, such as the Ocean’s franchise, with less lucrative “passion” projects – such as Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck – that reflect his personal ethics. He won an Academy Award for the former and rave reviews for the latter, and has continued to earn accolades and Oscar nominations for smart dramas such as Michael Clayton and Up in the Air.

Including fresh interviews, essential Clooney photographs, a filmography, a timeline, and a list of his favorite 100 films, this is the book no Clooney fan will want to be without.

Roger Ebert’s Legacy

Guest Blogger: George Case is the author of Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin FAQ, and Out of Our Heads. Below is an excerpt from his blog.

Always At the Movies

Roger Ebert, the famous film critic who died on April 4, is rightly being remembered as an impassioned defender of cinematic art and a fierce opponent of Hollywood’s lowest-common-denominator ethic. He was a champion of the sleeper and the un-blockbuster. If his aesthetic standards were not as rigorous as those of highbrow reviewers like John Simon or Stanley Kauffmann, they nonetheless informed a generation of moviegoers who learned from him that big budgets and big stars do not inevitably produce great films. But Roger Ebert left another, more troubling, legacy – one he surely didn’t intend but which has nevertheless changed, for the worse, the medium he loved.

When it debuted on PBS in 1978, “Sneak Previews,” the program Ebert co-hosted with Gene Siskel, was a unique show that afforded TV viewers the unusual opportunity to learn about new, old, and little-known films. Today the review paradigm it pioneered – thumbs up, thumbs down; five star, one star; I say, you say; he says, she says – is ubiquitous on television and the Internet. Today movies, TV series, music, books, dance, and just about every other art form are subject to instant judgements passed by countless professional and amateur critics, ranging from highly paid celebrities, as Roger Ebert certainly was, to talking heads on the local news and down to anonymous bloggers and online trolls. Today there are cable networks devoted to old movies, websites devoted to new graphic novels, YouTube channels about television and Facebook pages about radio. Today the opinions of Ebert’s descendants and imitators are themselves praised, panned, and deconstructed by ever-expanding circles of commentary. Today the relationship between even the most populist creators and the least discriminating audiences is mediated by leagues of insiders, second-guessers, and full-time spectators. Today the entertainment and cultural industries are, in a significant sense, their own chief subjects.

Finish the article on George’s blog! 

 

Led Zeppelin FAQ

In this exhaustive and insightful reference text, rock writer and cultural critic George Case details the key names, dates, figures, and features of one of the biggest and most mythologized rock-and-roll groups of all time: Led Zeppelin. Here, finally, are the answers to the puzzles that have haunted fans for over four decades – puzzles such as the meaning of Led Zep’s enigmatic album covers; the truth about leader Jimmy Page’s involvement with the occult; a breakdown of the sometimes murky roots of their greatest songs; firm data on their musical instruments, live performances, and studio productions; and sordid specifics of the band’s infamously debauched private lives.

But here, too, is a deeply reflective analysis of why Led Zeppelin’s music has endured as long as it has, and of how Led Zeppelin’s mystique has only grown in the years since their official disbanding. Placing the group in the context of their time and place, Case scrupulously compares and contrasts their achievements with those of their influences, rivals, and followers. Led Zeppelin FAQ is not only an indispensable listener’s companion to a classic rock act, but a considered history of rock and roll as a business, an art form, and a worldwide social phenomenon.

How Filmmakers Stay Sane on Set

Toni Attell and Carl Gottlieb are the authors of The Little Blue Book for Filmmakers.  Enjoy an excerpt of their book below, provided by IndieWire.

The source of most drama outside of the script is the actors, and anywhere they congregate may be a hotbed of intrigue, gossip, and disinformation. This is also true of anyone who talks to actors, so view the makeup, hairdressing, wardrobe, and transportation departments as minefields. Even on a low-/no-budget production, where all the departments are combined in the person(s) of your overworked colleagues, a few misplaced or ill-chosen words will resonate throughout the production, and anything said in confidence is public knowledge as soon as it can be repeated. A favor for one will be expected by all, and any violation of boundaries will result in the loss of those limits.

This is not to say a director cannot speak or be spoken to; if that were true, directors would be the loneliest people on the set. Feel free to chat about wind and weather, but remember that in all close-knit male groups, from nineteenth-century British colonial armies to the crews of nuclear submarines, there are three topics deliberately ignored: women, politics, and religion. In a less gender-specific world, include members of the opposite sex as subjects to be avoided. Add to those topics these sources of friction: the problems of the production, the character of the personnel, and the personal lives of everyone on or near the set. The director’s problems are uniquely off limits; like the captain of a ship or the leader of a combat patrol, his or her thoughts must remain private. We discussed the director’s isolation before; it goes with the job, it even has a name: “the loneliness of command.” If you must share gossip and commentary, do it with someone far from the set or the production: a therapist, a life partner, a close family member, or an animal companion (these may all be the same individual). If you’re a writer, your closest confidante may be the director. If he or she is not sympathetic, the same limits apply to your options.

A strategy (or habit) that many executives (including directors) find useful is to acquire or maintain a group of friends or confidantes with whom you can share frankly and safely. The advantage of this is that the natural loneliness of command is softened by a close-knit circle of advisors, sounding boards, and lieutenants who can be trusted to keep people and things organized and functional (including yourself, on the bad days). But, beware—the inherent danger is that your group becomes a “posse,” a gang that gives the appearance of a support group but is, in fact, a barrier. These individuals are people whose principal interest is preserving their turf, influencing your decisions, and insulating you from all criticism and useful input. They become gatekeepers and relish the role.

Keep reading this excerpt on IndieWire!

 

Originally conceived as a workbook for young directors, The Little Blue Book for Filmmakers has become a handbook for easy reference, with all the information a student director/actor/producer needs to create a film, from inception through production, to sales, distribution, and exhibition. The book discusses issues faced by all beginning filmmakers, with a historical perspective that explains problems and solutions that reach back to the invention of movies at the turn of the last century, and stretch forward to include new digital technology and the popularization of videography as global self-expression. A valuable addition to the shelves of all film school instructors who’ve not had years of practical experience working in the trade, it’s also a syllabus in itself and can be the foundation for a course schedule. More important, it’s something every film student will want to own as a reference and guide.

Happy 80 Years, Carol Burnett!

What better way to celebrate Carol Burnett’s 80th birthday than with an excerpt from Darryl and Tuezdae Littleton’s Comediennes: Laugh Be a Lady?

Carol’s first year in the city that never sleeps would’ve given most fledgling performers nightmares. One thing—her father died of complications from alcohol. She had to deal
with that while working the entire year without a gig in show business. Her gig was as a hat-check girl, and they weren’t discovering too many of them for stage stardom. The one bright spot of 1955 for Burnett is when somebody came up with the idea to hold a showcase. She lived in a boarding house and the girls there had similar circumstances. So Carol and company invited agents and industry types to The Rehearsal Hall Revue and displayed their talents. Carol got a gig playing the girlfriend to Paul Winchell’s dummy, Jerry Mahoney. From there she earned a sitcom spot on the Buddy Hackett one-season laugher, Stanley. Despite breaking in as the love interest to a piece of wood, Carol was on the radar. She gained a reputation as a rising talent on the New York night club scene. By 1957, Carol was performing on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show and was a regular on the game show Pantomime Quiz. It was a red-letter year. It was also the year her mother died.

In 1959, Carol Burnett appeared in the smash Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress and became a regular on The Garry Moore Show. The year 1962 gave Carol the memory of her first Emmy win, for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series. From there it was off to Carnegie Hall to headline along with friend Julie Andrews in Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall. The show won an Emmy. In ’63 she hooked up with producer Joe Hamilton and entered into her second marriage. Carol also met Lucille Ball and they became friends until Ball’s death in 1989. The relationship was so chummy that Lucy offered to produce a sitcom for Carol under the Desilu banner. Carol thanked her, but opted to do a variety show instead. A tragic side note to their friendship came in the form of a yearly ritual. Ball would routinely send Carol flowers on her birthday. On her fifty-sixth birthday, Carol got the news that Lucy had died, and as she grieved the flowers arrived with a note that read, “Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy.”

The plan to do a variety show was not met with enthusiastic applause from the suits over at CBS. They’d given Carol a one-year contract to do whatever type of show she wanted; little did they suspect she’d choose the variety format. That was the bastion of male performers. Women were guests on such shows, not hosts. It was going to be a big mistake. Carol didn’t agree and held them to their written agreement. Her big mistake lasted eleven seasons and received twenty-three Emmys with the cast of Lyle Waggoner, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Vicki Lawrence (who got the job because she looked like a young Carol Burnett).

The Carol Burnett mistake featured parodies of movies, TV shows, and commercials. One sketch was so popular it was spun off into the hit sitcom Mama’s Family starring Lawrence. Carol’s ritual of tugging her ear at the end of each taping to let her grandmother know she was doing fine and happy took on a bittersweet quality when her grandmother died during the show’s run. The success stopped in 1978, and Carol moved on to other aspects of her career. She starred in several films playing dramatic roles, guest starred on sitcoms, and returned to the stage to co-star with Rock Hudson in 1985. She even tried to revive the variety show format, but the ’60s and ’70s were over and so was that genre.

Comediennes: Laugh Be a Lady chronicles the evolution of women in comedy through the research of Darryl and Tuezdae Littleton and the scores of interviews they conducted with veteran female performers from all mediums, as well as Tuezdae’s own experiences as a comedienne. Startling facts are revealed and tributes are paid to the icons of yesteryear by the titans of today in their own words and sentiments. Women have always made us laugh, from their outrageous characters, pratfall humor, cutting barbs, clever wit and unforgettable side-splitting moments. Their “herstory” has only just begun.

David Tennant – The Tenth Doctor

It’s David Tennant’s birthday!  Below is an excerpt from Dave Thompson’s Doctor Who FAQ in honor of the Tenth Doctor.

At the same time, the Tenth Doctor remains the most personable of all his 
incarnations, well groomed and humorous, loyal and intense, capable of swinging from crushing sentimentality to seething rage on whims that are all the more alien for their sheer humanity. He is a Doctor who has imbibed the best qualities of every one of his predecessors, without weeding through them to discover which might actually clash with one another to set up a fresh internal conflict.

Losing the companionship of Rose Tyler and her family would become the single defining moment of the Tenth Doctor’s life span, just as her companionship was the single most important relationship. Subsequent cotravelers Martha Jones and Donna Noble attempted to break through the resultant isolation, but they were never going to do so, while the other “friends” who passed through his life would likewise fall a long way short of the Rose-shaped ideal, no matter what depths of pathos they descended to in their attempts to pierce his armor. Rather, he recruited them for what he could get out of them, maintaining their presence until they asked to be released, but disdaining their friendship in his rugged pursuit of a higher goal.

Even Donna’s grandfather, a whiskery old gentleman with a kitbag full of war stories, only briefly captured the Doctor’s attention, while a cynical viewer might think that Martha entered the Doctor’s life only so there could be a personal side to his oncoming confrontation with her sister’s employer, the fast-rising politician Harold Saxon. If we were discussing the Seventh Doctor, by the way, that would not even have been in doubt.

Doctor Who FAQ

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQalso includes a comprehensive episode guide.

Singing Songs About the Doctor

In which we learn that it isn’t all Dum-de-dum, Dum-de-dum…Woooo-ooooooooo!

In celebration of Peter Davidson’s birthday today…

The following is an excerpt of Doctor Who FAQ by Dave Thompson. Here, we list the author’s selection of songs about Doctor Who, but pick up a copy of the book to read the history, descriptions, and opinions that go with each song. Time for Doctor Who fans to load up their iPods with as many as they can get their hands on.

The Go-Gos—“I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek”

Roberta Tovey with Orchestra—“Who’s Who?”

The Earthlings—“Landing of the Daleks”

Jack Dorsey—“Dance of the Daleks”

Frazer Hines—“Jamie’s Awa’ in the TARDIS”

Bongo Herman and Les—“Doctor Who”

Jon Pertwee—“Who Is the Doctor?”

Thin Lizzy—“Doctor Who”

I-Roy and the Upsetters—“Doctor Who”

The Art Attacks—“I Am a Dalek”

Radio Stars—“Johnny Mekon”

Mankind—“Doctor Who”

The K-9s—“The K-9 Hassle”

Dalek I Love You—“Destiny (Dalek I Love You)”

Worzel Gummidge—”Worzel’s Song“

The Human League—“Tom Baker”

Blood Donor—“Doctor ?”

The Prisoners—“Revenge of the Cybermen”

Bullamanka—“Doctor Who Is Gonna Fix It”

Dr. Pablo and Dub Syndicate—“Doctor Who”

Bonnie Langford—“Just One Kiss”

Frank Sidebottom—sci-fi medley

Who Cares—“Doctor in Distress”

The Timelords—“Doctoring the TARDIS”

The Cybermen—“Doctor Who on a Mission”

Dalek Beach Party—“Teddy Boy’s Picnic”

Orbital—“Doctor Who”

Mitch Benn—“Doctor Who Girl”

Bill Bailey—“Dr. Qui”

Martin Gordon—“Her Daddy Was a Dalek, Her Mummy Was a Non-Stick Frying Pan”

John Barrowman—“The Doctor and I”

Chameleon Circuit—“Type 40”

The latter, Chameleon Circuit, provided the music to this book’s book trailer:

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQ also includes a comprehensive episode guide.

Gender Wars and Some Big Ideas from Howard Hughes

The following is an excerpt from Film Noir FAQ by David J. Hogan, as posted on Bookgasm. Visit Bookgasm to read this entire excerpt.

One of the most highly regarded films noir, RKO’s The Narrow Margin (1952), came perilously close to oblivion after being completed. During thirteen days in May–June 1950, studio contract director Richard Fleischer shot the suspenseful story of a Chicago police detective who risks his life to transport a hoodlum’s wife to Los Angeles, via train, so that she can be a witness in a mob trial.

Most of The Narrow Margin is restricted to the train’s passenger cars, a marvelous construction of claustrophobic sets (by Albert S. D’Agostino and Jack Okey) with breakaway sections that allowed full camera access. The narrative is tense, and although many interludes are violent, the tale isn’t contrived. After the shoot was complete, RKO owner Howard Hughes suggested, with great enthusiasm, that the male protagonist, Detective Sergeant Walt Brown (Charles McGraw) leave his charge (Marie Windsor) in order to conduct a (literally) running gun battle with murderous mobsterson top of the train, as in innumerable westerns. Though cinematic, the added sequence would have removed the story from the realm of the plausible and turned it into a comic book adventure. Richard Fleischer thought it was one of the worst ideas he’d ever heard.

Well, Hughes abandoned that notion. Then he came up with a bigger one. Because The Narrow Margin had turned out so well, Hughes wanted to scrap all footage with McGraw and Windsor. The editors would salvage as many other sequences as possible, and the leads would be recast with RKO’s two biggest assets, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. In a commercial sense, the idea wasn’t without merit, but it would obviously have meant the destruction of an exceptionally well-done B thriller. Fleischer, still typecast around the studio as a B-picture director, would probably have been cut out of the revamped project. He knew he could do Bs and ached to step up to the A-picture level. Hughes’s idea would be a setback to Fleischer’s career, particularly because rumors would spread that the McGraw-Windsor footage was deficient. Fortunately, the ceaseless activity of Howard Hughes’s mind brought with it some positive ramifications. Project ideas, endless memos with editorial revisions, a never-ending search for new starlets—all of that and more bubbled in his head like a stew. He eventually decided against—or simply forgot—the Mitchum-Russell idea, but time had passed. The Narrow Margin had been sitting on the shelf for nearly eighteen months.

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Film Noir FAQ celebrates and reappraises some 200 noir thrillers representing 20 years of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Noir pulls us close to brutal cops and scheming dames, desperate heist men and hardboiled private eyes, and the unlucky innocent citizens that get in their way. These are exciting movies with tough guys in trench coats and hot tomatoes in form-fitting gowns. The moon is a streetlamp and the narrow streets are prowled by squad cars and long black limousines. Lives are often small but people’s plans are big – sometimes too big. Robbery, murder, gambling; the gun and the fist; the grift and the con game; the hard kiss and the brutal brush-off.