OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK

Here we go. If I missed anything or made a mistake, please add on.

Opening

• “I’m a cultural icon, bigger than that Ray Jay Johnson guy at his prime.”
* Ray Jay Johnson was a character created by comedian Bill Saluga. The character’s bit was to grow annoyed at being called Mr. Johnson and snap that “You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay,” etc. The popularity of said character was short-lived, although it has achieved a certain level of immortality thanks to some deprecating mentions on “The Simpsons.”
• “Where’s the beef?”
* “Where’s the beef?” was a catch phrase used by Wendy’s restaurants in the 1980’s, originating in advertisements where a gruff little old lady (Clara Peller), frowning over the competition’s massive burger bun (but little meat), sneered “Where’s the beef?” It proved to be a very popular phrase and is still used as a general question over substance.

Host Segment One

• “That clip you just saw was, of course, ‘Are You Being Served?’.”
*“Are You Being Served?” (1972-85) was a popular British sitcom. Very long-running (especially for a Britcom), the show explored the lives of the employees at the department store Grace Brothers. Like most Britcoms, it is a staple of public television stations, hence the joke.
• “I love that show. Jeremy Brett is one of the best.”
* Jeremy Brett was a famous British actor, best known for probably two roles—that of the goofy Freddy Ensford-Hill in My Fair Lady (1964), and as the great Sherlock Holmes in a series of forty-two television films (1984-94). Brett’s very faithful characterization of Holmes was widely praised as one of the best ever on film. Like all British programs, the Holmes films were frequently aired on public television.
• “If you’ll contribute, you’ll see fine shows like Mike Nelson’s Lord of the Dance.”
* This, of course, is from the episode Jack Frost (813).
• “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, starring the late Raul Julia…”
*Raul Julia was a fine dramatic and comedic actor. At the time, he made Memory Bank, he was best known for his stage work (with four Tony Award nominations). He later achieved stardom in a series of interesting films: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985, as a political prisoner), Romero (1989, as Archbishop Romero), The Addams Family (1991, as Gomez), and The Burning Season (1994, as Chico Mendes), before passing away after suffering a stroke in 1994. Most of his films are referenced in this episode.
• “Go watch your ‘Webster’’s, your ‘Facts of Life’’s, and your ‘Who’s the Boss?’s…”
*A series of generally reviled sitcoms are mentioned. “Webster,” (1983-87) frequently confused by modern audiences with “Diff’rent Strokes” due to the same basic premise, was about a black orphan (Emmanuel Lewis) adopted by one of his father’s friends (Alex Karras). “The Facts of Life” (1979-88), a spin-off of “Diff’rent Strokes,” featured the adventures of a group of young girls at Eastland Academy in New York and is still widely remembered today as an example of pleasantly goofy ‘80s sitcomery. “Who’s the Boss?” (1984-92) was about an ex-baseball player (Tony Danza as…Tony!) becoming a domestic for an ad exec (Judith Light) and the on-again, off-again love affair they have (another ‘80s sitcomery staple).

Movie Act One

• “Aram Fingal.” “A.K.A. Gomez.”
*Raul Julia (Fingal) played the dapper patriarch Gomez Addams in the movie The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993). A gleefully odd man, Gomez was well played by Julia, but for me, the definitive Gomez was John Astin on “The Addams Family” sitcom (1964-66).
• “Corpsespotting.”
*This is a parody of the phrase “trainspotting,” an English phrase for a hobby in which people try to spot every train for a particular company, taking note of trains “spotted” in a logbook. The phrase was popularized in America by the movie Trainspotting (1996), which actually has nothing to do with the hobby.
• “Oh, if only she spoke French…”
*On the sitcom and film versions of The Addams Family (see above), Gomez would always become aroused whenever his wife, Morticia (Carolyn Jones on the show, Anjelica Huston in the movies), used a French expression and would generally begin kissing her all over her body.
• “It’s a Raul-biks Cube.”
*We all know what a Rubik’s Cube is, right? It’s a cube divided into twenty-seven section of multiple colors, and the object is to rotate the cube’s sections in order to make all the sides one distinct color. It was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik and is a time-honored time-waster. I could never solve one, by the way.
• “Raul, you come right back and be in this bad movie, young man!“ “But I’m signed to play Archbishop Romero!”
*As previously said, Raul Julia played Archbishop Oscar Romero in the movie Romero (1989). Romero was a Catholic priest in El Salvador who became famous for speaking out against the human rights violations perpetrated by the El Salvadoran government, a cause frowned upon by his Catholic superiors. Romero was assassinated in 1980, most likely by an agent of the government.
• “Did Pearl accidentally send us the ‘MacNeil/Lehrer Report?’”
*The “MacNeil/Lehrer Report” (1975-) began as a half-hour news program on public television station WNET, hosted by reporters Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer. The program was a success and soon was being broadcast nationwide. The name was changed to the “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” in 1983. MacNeil left the program in 1995 and it became just “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.” The program examines the news in a deliberate, slower pace, than say, cable news programs, preferring long segments and calm interviews. While I like the show (and my mom is a fan), it’s not really my cup of tea. The 2006 changing of the program’s famous trumpety theme song was a sad moment, though.
• “Oh know, you think Mark Russell’s going to be in this?”
*Mark Russell is a comedian and political satirist. He appears on public television for a special a few times a year. His shtick is telling politically oriented jokes (but generally safe ones that hit at both parties with no real malice) and playing the piano to make up humorous songs every so often. Russell is pretty polarizing; I think some of his one-liners are funny, but he gets kind of tiresome after a while.
• “Hey, TV’s Frank!”
*In case you didn’t see the early episodes of the show, TV’s Frank (Frank Conniff) was the sidekick to Dr. Clayton Forrester, the mad scientist that originally imprisoned Joel and later Mike on the Satellite of Love. Frank would appear from seasons two to six and would later make a guest appearance in season ten.
• “He’s kind of a Dickensian character in the future.”
*Charles Dickens was one of the great British writers—you know, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, blah, blah, blah. A lot of his books featured overbearing eccentric blowhards, such as Jaggers in Great Expectations, similar to the kind of character that the Chairman is in this movie.
• “Still, this is easier than reading Wired magazine.”
*Wired magazine is a publication that since, 1993, examines modern technology and its effect on the world. The magazine’s distinctive style is its experimental layout, with short, flashily designed articles (similar to the credits) that while cool to some, annoyed those expecting a traditional, user-friendly magazine.
• “And its effect on Bugs Bunny!”
*This is a reference to the popular Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons produced from the 1930’s to the 1960’s, which, of course, had wisecracking wabbit Bugs Bunny as a regular character. Since the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Studios, they would open with the Warner Brothers “shield” logo, just like Casablanca (1942) here.
• “Man, never show a good movie in the middle of your crappy movie.”
*Casablanca (1942) is frequently a contender for best movie of all time. The plot features cynical Casablanca club owner Rick (Humphrey Bogart), who is thrust into action when Resistance leader Victor (Paul Henreid, the movie takes place during WWII) shows up with his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), who is Rick’s old flame. Rick has to decide whether or not to help the couple escape Casablanca and then figure out how they can escape Nazi capture. Due to the numerous references in this episode, I’ll hold off from saying more until we can come up to the various points.
• “We now return to Billy Madison.”
*Billy Madison (1995) is a movie starring Adam Sandler as a rich man’s son, who, in order to prove he can take over the company, goes back to school for an accelerated two-week program. I think you can fill in the blanks here (notice: the star is Adam Sandler). This is not frequently a contender for best movie of all time.
• “Wow, Really, Really Big Brother.”
*The term “Big Brother” was created by George Orwell for his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which Big Brother is the all-powerful dictator of “Oceania,” although he is so vague and enigmatic (and never seen) that it is possible he is just an imaginary figure created by the Party. The term has gone down in history as a way of referring to too-powerful, intrusive governments (and as a CBS reality program).
• “Merv Griffin!”
*Merv Griffin is a talk show host, singer, and producer. In the latter capacity, he produced the mega-popular game shows “Wheel of Fortune” (1975--) and “Jeopardy!” (1964--). As a talk show host, he had a popular daytime program (which also was on late night for three years) which ran from 1965 to 1986. Griffin’s kind of rotund face resembles the woman in this shot.
• “The password is Fingal.”
*“Password” was an extremely durable game show (running from 1961 to 1967 on CBS, 1971-75 on ABC, 1979-82 as “Password Plus,” and 1984-89 as “Super Password”). In all its forms, the basic idea was the same: two-person teams squared off, with one person giving one-word clues to his or her partner, trying to get the partner to say the “password.” For example, if the password was “dog,” I might say “wag.” Before each match began, a mellow, off-screen voice would say “The password is______,” letting viewers at home know.
• “Imagine me and you, and you and me, no matter how they toss the dice, we’ll always be…”
*These are lyrics from the 1967 song “Happy Together” by the band The Turtles. The number one single on March 25, 1967, the song is still widely heard today. The lilting beginning to the song is extremely similar to the music heard here.
• “Never saw a cinema in their lives.” “Never saw a Chris Farley movie. Philistines!”
*Chris Farley was a rotund comedian who rose to fame after his five years as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1990-5). Farley appeared in several films, but starred in four: Tommy Boy (1995, by far the best), Black Sheep (1996), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Almost Heroes (1998). Farley died in 1997 of an accidental overdose of drugs. His comedy, like most of his “SNL” cohorts, is something of an acquired taste.
• “He’s staying at Bill Gates’ house.”
*We know Bill Gates, right? Mr. Gates was one of the leaders of the computer revolution in the late ‘70s and ‘80s after co-founding a little company called Microsoft. The world’s richest person by several standards, the bespectacled Mr. Gates, despite criticism and talk of “monopoly,” has formed a computerized empire.
• “I hear the trans-bot a’comin, it’s rolling round the bend…”
*This is a parody of lyrics from the very popular song “Folsom Prison Blues,” recorded by Johnny Cash in 1956. The song, telling the tale of a prisoner at Folsom Prison, begins with the famous opening “I hear the train a’comin, it’s rolling ‘round the bend…” The most famous recording of the song is when Cash sang the song at the actual Folsom Prison in 1968 in front of an audience of prisoners.
• “Come as you are, to my mall, to my atrium, yeah, yeah…”
*This is a parody of lyrics from the song “Come as You Are,” recorded by the band Nirvana in 1991. The song, one of the more upbeat songs by the grunge band (at least melodically), features the original lyrics of “Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be, as a friend…” as the opening.
• “Oh look, must be a Jack in the Box in the food court.”
*Jack in the Box, a fast-food chain mostly located in the western half of the country (I’ve never seen one), achieved controversy in 1993 when four people died and hundreds became sick after eating restaurant burgers infected with E. coli. Jack in the Box, suffering a major public relations disaster, attempted to crack down on food safety in the wake of the deaths.
• “Luuucy!”
*This is a reference to the eternally popular sitcom “I Love Lucy” (1951-57), telling the adventures of housewife Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) and her husband, Cuban bandleader Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz). Whenever Ricky became frustrated with Lucy, as was quite often, he would frequently say “Luuucy!” in his Cuban accent.
• “Reconst D, man!”
*This is a parody of the drink SunnyD (Sunny Delight), an orange-flavored drink that has been produced since 1964. A venerable drink staple, it has tried to sell itself as apparently being a cooler version of orange juice or some other such nonsense. It sells well enough to support its own independent company, Sunny Delight Beverages Company.
• “Beauty school dropout…”
*This is a song from the musical/movie Grease (1978), the very popular story of teenagers in the 1950’s (who are almost always played in any version by performers who are definitely not teenagers). “Beauty School Dropout” is performed by the character “Teen Angel” (played in the movie by Frankie Avalon), who advises the character Frenchie, a beauty school dropout, to go back to high school.
• “The Right Tots.”
*A parody of the title The Right Stuff, which was a book by Tom Wolfe and a 1983 film, which tells the story of the first seven astronauts, the famous “Mercury Seven,” as well as the men who were not selected, such as the great Chuck Yeager. A respectful if not reverent book/film, it has become something of a modern classic.
• “Is it Children of the Damned Day at the Brain Institute?”
*The “Children of the Damned” appeared in the films Village of the Damned (1960) and Children of the Damned (1963), which were based on a story by John Wyndham. In the original, after an English village has all of its women become pregnant mysteriously at once, the children born are extremely intelligent, look a little odd, can read minds, and have psychic powers. Oh, yeah, they’re also willing to murder those that get in their way. The film ends with the main character (George Sanders) sacrificing his life to blow them up. In Children, there’s a group of similar children, but they’re peaceful types. They’re still persecuted and are ultimately destroyed.
• “There’s your precious Canadian health care system at work.”
*In Canada, the health care system is primarily public funded, with the government paying for about 70% of health care costs, including almost all hospital and physician bills. Despite problems such as inflation, the Canadian health care system is generally seen as one of the world’s best quality systems. Others, such as those opposed to universal coverage, regard it a tad more suspiciously.
• “Dr. Marcia Clark.”
*Marcia Clark was one of the prosecutors in a little trial of a man named O.J. Simpson in 1995 for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend. Clark, a respected member of the Los Angeles D.A.’s office since 1981, was unable to earn a victory in that infamous trial. She is currently a legal correspondent for of all things, “Entertainment Tonight.”
• “Dr. Who-the-hell-cares?”
*The BBC-produced “Doctor Who” (1963-89) was one of the most popular science fiction programs of all time, telling the adventures of the mysterious “Doctor,” a Time Lord who travels through time and space to fight evil. Ten different actors played the good doctor, including David Tennant in a 2005 revival of the show.
• “Whistler’s Baboon in Repose.”
*“Whistler’s Mother,” the colloquial term for an 1871 painting by James Whistler entitled “Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother,” is one of the most famous paintings of all time. A classic symbol of family and motherhood, the painting shows the artist’s mother sitting placidly, with her left profile visible to the audience.

Host Segment Two

• “We named him Henry Kissinger because of his scalp.”
*Henry Kissinger was a key American statesman, a flamboyant, controversial figure during his tenure as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State for Presidents Nixon and Ford. Kissinger was the major figure in foreign relations during the period, which earned him controversy for both his détente policies and his involvement with various dictatorial regimes. Kissinger has a distinctively groomed hairstyle, hence the joke, I guess.

Movie Act Two

• “The monkey’s been in and out of Hazelwood so many times.”
*There is a Hazelwood Drug Rehab Center in both Hazelwood, Missouri, and Hazelwood, Minnesota. I assume that they’re referring to the latter, but I’m not sure. Anyone else know more?
• “So, they doppled up Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole?”
*Both of these actors are known for packing away the liquor. Oliver Reed was a macho British actor, best known for playing such roles as Sikes in Oliver! (1968) and Athos in The Three Musketeers film series. There are numerous anecdotes about Reed’s drinking and his death due to a heart attack while filming Gladiator (2000) in 1999 reportedly occurred after drinking three bottles of rum. Peter O’Toole is a superb British actor, best known for playing the title role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but also created such memorable characters as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968), the crazy movie director in The Stunt Man (1980), and the washed-up actor in My Favorite Year (1982). O’Toole almost died in 1976 due to his heavy drinking and had to have his pancreas removed.
• “Daisy still managing?” “Sort of.” “How about Gatsby?”
*The Great Gatsby, a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby and the people around his luxurious Long Island life. In the book, Gatsby’s unrequited love is Daisy Buchanan, a woman he has adored since before he became rich. For the record, this is my favorite book and my pick for the Great American Novel.
• “Days of Moruba Fruit and Roses.”
*This is a parody of the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962), which was adapted from a television version that aired in 1958 on “Playhouse 90.” The story is that of a couple (Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in the film, Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie on TV) that has descended into alcoholism. The film version is well known for the Oscar-winning title song.
• “Fresh air.” “Times Square.”
*These are lyrics from the television sitcom “Green Acres” (1965-71), which was the story of the Douglases, a wealthy couple from New York who moved out to the rural farm Green Acres. The memorable theme song to the show featured Mr. and Mrs. Douglas (Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor) singing about, respectively, the virtues of rural and city living. One of the points sung about was “fresh air” and “Times Square.”
• “Babar, cut it out!”
*Babar the Elephant is a beloved children’s literature character. Created by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931, Babar is the son of the King of the Elephants who is raised in France and returns to rule the Elephants and bring modern culture to them. There were 17 Babar books, the last being published in 1966, as well as several animated movies.
• “Ralph Malph here!”
*Ralph Malph was a character on “Happy Days” (he appeared from 1974 to 1980), played by Donny Most. Ralph was one of Richie Cunningham’s best friends and to casual observers of the show was the one that was Not Potsie. Ralph left the show in 1980, along with Richie, to join the Army. Slavin kind of looks like him.
• “She is so Pat Benatar.”
*Pat Benatar is a rock singer, known for her tough persona and “hard” songs that she has parlayed into immense success and four Grammy Awards. Benatar is best known for such songs as “Heartbreaker,” “Love is a Battlefield,” and yes, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” one of the definitive ‘80s songs. Benatar does look a lot like Djamilla.
• “Yes, the Flying Wallenda, yes.”
*The Flying Wallendas are a group of circus daredevils that began in 1922, when Karl Wallenda, his brother, a friend, and his future wife got together to kick off a career of derring-do. Known for their impressive stunts (and for not using a safety net), the Wallendas performed for many years with various family members getting involved—unfortunately, four of the troupe members were killed over the years, and Karl himself fell to his death in 1978. Some of his grandchildren have formed their own groups that perform today.
• “Embassy Suites is having a free brunch!”
*Embassy Suites is a swank series of all-suite hotels, known for their atrium layout in which the hotel interior resembles a rain forest, as well as their free buffets—a breakfast buffet in the morning and a snack/drink spread in the evening. This is one of those places that are out of my price range for the time being.
• When the Chairman appears, Tom (I think) makes the goofy sounds that TV’s Frank would make on the show. See above.
• “Elizabeth Clare Prophet and David Duchovny look on!”
*Elizabeth Clare Prophet is the leader of the New Age religious movement The Summit Lighthouse, which contains such branches as Church Universal and Triumphant and Summit University. She succeeded to this post after her husband, Mark Prophet, died in 1973. Prophet, derided as a cultist (her philosophies are a hybrid of New Age stuff like karma and Puritanism), is best remembered for proclaiming impending nuclear war in the late 1980’s and ordering her followers to head to a bomb shelter in Montana.
*David Duchnovy is, of course, a dry actor best known for playing Agent Fox Mulder on “The X-Files” (1993-2002). Like his co-star on that show, Gillian Anderson, Duchnovy has chosen his later projects carefully, appearing in very few films since the end of that show. These include Connie and Carla (2004) and House of D (2004).
• “We just lost Watson.” “He came here. We wanted him.”
*Thomas Watson was the assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. The first words Bell used while testing his invention were reportedly “Watson! Come here, I need you,” although the word “need” is frequently replaced with the word “want,” as Watson himself said he thought Bell said “want.” Watson also founded a major shipyard in 1883 that would later play a major role in World War II.
• “David Bowie in a brilliant cameo.”
*The multi-talented Mr. Bowie is a singer, actor, and producer. Known for his flamboyant persona, Bowie has produced such songs as “Fame” and “Ashes to Ashes,” as well as adopting various characters over the years such as the trippy Ziggy Stardust and the soulful Thin White Duke. Bowie has performed in a few films over the years, including as Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
• “There was some kind of negative energy surge.” “Energy SURGE!”
*I think this is a parody of commercials for the drink Surge, a Norwegian drink first introduced in the United States in 1997. A highly caffeinated citrus drink, it was basically Coke’s version of Mountain Dew and was advertised in the same extreme manner. While it went away in 2001, the idea of Surge lives on in the drink Vault.
• “Initiate Harpo hair.”
*Comedian Harpo Marx, one of the Marx Brothers, was known for his frizzy, very curly hair (which was actually a wig), similar to Appolonia’s. Harpo was also known for his harp-playing skills, his muteness on screen, and his wacky persona.
• “Must be Christmas on the Borg ship.”
*The Borg are an extraterrestrial race introduced on the television show “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the episode “Q Who?”, a 1989 episode. The Borg are a collective that function as a hive—their goal is to implacably assimilate all life forms and their technologies into their collective. The Borg caught on with fans and appeared occasionally on the various “Star Trek” programs and in the film First Contact (1996). The ship the Borg use resembles a floating cube, hence the joke.
• “See you on the dark side of Raul!”
*This is a parody of lyrics from the Pink Floyd song “Brain Damage,” which is commonly called “Dark Side of the Moon” because of the refrain “I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon” and the fact the song was included on the seminal album of the same name. Released in 1973, both the song and album are considered to be some of the best music produced by Pink Floyd.
• “Is that you, Fester?”
*Fester was one of the characters on the aforementioned sitcom and film series The Addams Family. The brother of Gomez (on the show, he was Morticia’s uncle), Fester was a bald, hunched-over man with a slightly deranged persona. He was played by Jackie Coogan on the show and Christopher Lloyd in the films.
• “It’s a Viv Savage Christmas ornament.”
*Viv Savage (David Kaff) is a character in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984) about the fictional hard rock band Spinal Tap. Savage was the band’s keyboardist from 1975 to some time in the 1980’s, when he was killed by a natural gas explosion. The long-haired, frizzy Savage resembles the image of Appollonia.
• “Contact!” “No wait, Yahtzee.”
*Yahtzee is a dice game produced by Milton Bradley. The object of the game is to score points by rolling certain combinations with five dice, such as, for example, various poker hands (full house or straight, etc.). A “Yahtzee!” is when five of a kind (five “two’s) are rolled, earning the maximum 50 points.
• “I will simulate a presence to threaten them.” “Carol Channing.”
*Carol Channing is one of the great Broadway actresses, known for her distinctive voice and mannerisms. Her most famous performances were as Lorelei Lee in Gentleman Prefer Blondes and as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! Channing has rarely appeared in films, but was Oscar-nominated for Thoroughly Modern Millie (1968).
• “Who loves you, baby?”
*This was the catch phrase of Lieutenant Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas), the hero of the eponymous cop show “Kojak” (1973-78), about a clever detective with a number of idiosyncrasies. Not only was Kojak bald and had a fondness for lollipops, but he also had the catch phrase, “Who loves you, baby?” The show was revived briefly in 2005 with Ving Rhames as Kojak.
• “Somebody beat up George Will!” “Yes!”
*George Will is a conservative author and journalist whose editorials are frequently seen in various newspapers. The bespectacled Mr. Will has a fondness for a fancy vocabulary, references to philosophers and other historical figures, and baseball, of which he takes an intellectual fanboyish approach to. Will sometimes comes off as a prick and was hilariously lampooned on “Saturday Night Live” and in the comic strip “Doonesbury.”
• “Clara Barton’s getaway car.”
*Clara Barton was a nurse and teacher who founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Previously, she had been one of the top U.S. nurses during the American Civil War and had launched a successful program to find missing soldiers after the war. She was also an advocate for civil rights for blacks and suffrage for women.
• “Look, it’s the Asian Pee-wee.”
*Pee-wee Herman was a character created by comedian Paul Reubens, an eccentric man-child that he first used in his comedy act and would later use on the popular kids’ show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” (1986-91) and in the films Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) and Big Top Pee-wee (1988). Pee-wee disappeared after an incident in which Reubens was caught fondling himself at an adult movie theater (insert your own joke here).
• “Who’s he trying to do? Jimmy Stewart? James Cagney? No wait, John Kenneth Gailbraith! Ram Dass! Terry ‘Hulk’ Hogan?”
*This character is, of course, an impression of Peter Lorre, one of the most familiar of Hollywood actors. Lorre was usually playing a creepy, sinister type and had an incredibly distinctive voice. He appeared in Casablanca, playing the brief but important role of Ugarte, an associate, sort of, of Rick’s. His best known role is probably that of Joel Cairo, one of the bad guys in The Maltese Falcon (1941).
*Jimmy Stewart is a great Hollywood actor with an impressive filmography—Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and Rear Window (1954), just to name a few. Best known for playing a good-natured “Everyman,” Stewart is an easy impression to do: just sort of stutter in his distinctive voice.
*James Cagney was another Hollywood legend, best known for playing gangsters in films like The Public Enemy (1931) and White Heat (1949), although he won an Oscar playing the musical star George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Cagney, at least the gangster Cagney, is easy to impersonate too—just sneer “You dirty rat.”
*John Kenneth Galbraith was a top economist, who preached progressive liberalism in policy throughout the mid to late 20th century. He is most famous for his book, The Affluent Society (1958), which called America to invest in things like highways and education. Galbraith recently died in April of 2006.
*Ram Dass (a.k.a. Dr. Richard Alpert) was a Harvard psychology professor, who was dismissed for an experiment he worked on with Timothy Leary in which psilocybin was given to students. In 1967, Alpert got involved in yoga and was given his new name (which means “Servant of Rama”) and began writing about spirituality.
*Hulk Hogan (born Terrance Bollea) is one of the most successful pro wrestlers of all time. Beginning his career in 1977, Terry adopted the Hulk Hogan persona in 1979 when he joined the WWF. Hogan, with several interludes in between, eventually became the most popular WWF wrestler ever, with numerous “Hulkamaniacs” flocking to see him. Hogan would later become the somewhat villainous “Hollywood Hogan,” but would eventually return to his Hulk persona for various wrestling contests.
• “Appearing tonight: Slayer!”
*Slayer is a “thrash” metal band, formed in 1982. While never really becoming a major mainstream band, it attracted a devoted cult following. Known for their rather grisly and controversial songs (which touch on the Holocaust and serial killers), Slayer was a major influence on the death metal movement with such albums as Reign in Blood and Show No Mercy.

Host Segment Three

• “And now you find yourself in ’82…”
*Bobo is singing the Asia song “Heat of the Moment,” which contains the full lyrics “And now you find yourself in ’82, the disco hot spots hold no charm for you.” Asia was a progressive rock band, formed in 1981 and consisting of various members of other bands like The Buggles and King Crimson. “Heat of the Moment” was probably its most successful American song and still has a place in American pop culture, as seen by its skewering in The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005).

Movie Act Three

• “You must remember this, this movie really sucks…”
*The song heard here is “As Time Goes By,” a song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931 for the long-forgotten musical Everybody’s Welcome. It was made famous by its usage in Casablanca, when it is the song associated with the romance of Rick and Ilsa and sung by Rick’s assistant, Sam (Dooley Wilson). The real lyrics are “You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh…”
• “Hey, the maitre’d’s Ted Baxter.”
*Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) was a character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970-77). A self-absorbed buffoon, the silver-haired Ted was the anchorman on the fictional WJM-TV news produced by the main characters. Despite his flaws, Ted was the only character to keep his job in the famous last episode of the show.
• “Falling in love agaaaaain…”
*The woman here appears to be a caricature of Marlene Dietrich, a German actress and singer who became famous playing temptresses and floozies in films like The Blue Angel (1930) and Shanghai Express (1932). “Falling in Love Again” was the song she sang in the former film and it became commonly associated with her. In terms of Casablanca, in which Dietrich does not appear, she is apparently Yvonne (Madeleine LeBeau), Rick’s current girl-of-the-moment at the beginning of the film.
• “Is this Ishtar?”
*Ishtar (1987) is a legendarily disastrous comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty and directed by Elaine May, of which the movie hurt her reputation the most. The film deals with two inept lounge singers who end up in the African country of Ishtar where comedy ensues; running way over budget, the film went $13 million in the hole when all was said and done. Despite the poor results, the film is generally considered not that bad. The reference is because Appollonia is wearing a turban, like the stars of the movie do.
• “All right, Fingal…” “You once said I was a warped, frustrated…”
*This is a quote (actually a misquote) from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). The perennial Christmas favorite features the villainous Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), the head of the bank. In one scene, he confronts the hero, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), who’s in a bad way. Potter sneers, “You once called me a warped, frustrated old man. What are you but a warped, frustrated young man?” Potter, who is a cripple, resembles the Chairman.
• “Tom Wolfe with a thyroid problem.”
*Tom Wolfe is an author who writes biting, satirical, as well as reflective books and stories like The Right Stuff (see above), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), and the recent I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004). Wolfe is known for his famous white suit, like the Fat Man’s, and is not the same author as Thomas Wolfe.
• For the record, the Fat Man character is an amalgam of two Sydney Greenstreet characters. The portly Greenstreet played Kaspar Gutman, the villainous “Fat Man,” in The Maltese Falcon (1941), as well as Signor Ferrari, a sleazy but not really villainous bar owner, in Casablanca (1942). The persona of the Fat Man is thus more similar to Falcon, but the look of the character and the Casablanca elements match him to Ferrari.
• “David Brenner!”
*David Brenner is a comedian, successful enough to author four books and be a frequent guest (and guest host) on “The Tonight Show,” appearing over 150 times. Brenner, engaged to Olympic figure skater Tai Babilonia (go figure), is noted for his wry political observations. Possessing a long face and curly hair, he somewhat resembles the guy here.
• “These are all the people who are writing scripts for Parker Posey.”
*Parker Posey is a fine dramatic/comedic actress, who usually plays neurotically cold characters (or neurotically perky). To most folks, she is best known for being one of Christopher Guest’s stable of actors in Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), and A Mighty Wind (2003), or for playing annoying types on “Will and Grace” and “Boston Legal.” The reference is due to Posey’s large number of starring roles in independent films in the 1990’s; Time named her “Queen of the Indies” and cited 32 such lead roles, including Clockwatchers (1997) and The House of Yes (1997).
• (talking backwards) “What’s that? Kill myself? Not a problem!”
*The reference is to “backmasking,” the idea that there is a hidden message heard when a normal piece of audio is played backwards. The most common accusation is that various rock songs, such as “Stairway to Heaven” and “Snowblind,” contain Satanic messages when played backwards. In 1985, Judas Priest was sued after parents accused one of their songs of promoting suicide (which the teens did do). It’s not always paranoia: In 1985, the album Hell Awaits by Slayer features a demonic voice that urges “Join us” when played backwards.
• “Kids are tuning in to watch ‘Barney’ right now.”
*The ubiquitous Barney the Purple Dinosaur first appeared in a series of videos in 1987 and hit the big time with his TV show “Barney and Friends” (1992-) that has aired on PBS ever since. Barney, a purple, incredibly cheerful dinosaur, plays with his various kid friends and dispenses the usual gooey charm. The Barney phenomenon caused an intense “hatred” of Barney from those who found the dinosaur puke-inducing.
• “That’s why you kept saying William Hurt’s name!”
*This is a reference to the Raul Julia film Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), in which he and Hurt play prisoners in an Argentinean jail. Hurt, a gay man, tells Julia, a political prisoner, stories based on a movie he saw, the eponymous Kiss of the Spider Woman, a 1940’s pulp drama. The men have a bonding experience. Despite the rather esoteric plot, the film did reasonably well and Hurt won an Oscar for Best Actor.
• “You had me fooled! “You replaced my coffee with Folgers Crystals!”
*During the 1980’s, there were a series of commercials that advertised Folgers Crystals via a “taste test.” A voice-over would tell us as we examined a gourmet restaurant that “We’ve secretly replaced the fine coffee they usually serve with Folgers Crystals. Let’s see if they can tell the difference!” Of course, they couldn’t. A hilarious “Saturday Night Live” sketch showed Chris Farley as an un-amused victim of such a test.
• “We’ll return to ‘Days of Our Fingal.’”
*This is a parody of “Days of Our Lives” (1965--), a very long-running soap opera. Set in the fictional town of Salem, the soap follows the lives of the various families there. The soap begins with the classic image of a hourglass and the narration by the late Macdonald Carey: “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”
• “Of all the public television stations in the world…”
*This is a parody of a famous line from Casablanca. Piqued that his old flame Ilsa has improbably shown up in Casablanca, Rick quips “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
• “Hey, don’t bogart that, man.”
*This is a dual reference (albeit a simplistic one). Humphrey Bogart, the great tough guy actor, played Rick Blaine in Casablanca. Known for his hard but sympathetic parts, Bogart’s other iconic role was Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941), but he won his Oscar in a comedic role in The African Queen (1951). The term “bogart,” in slang means greedy or excessive; it is frequently used to point out how someone is dallying when a bong or joint is being passed around, a reference to how Bogart would always talk with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth instead of just smoking or talking.
• “Get lost, Cat Stevens.”
*Cat Stevens is a singer-songwriter, whose popular songs have included “Wild World” and “Peace Train.” His heyday occurred in the 1970’s, but he apparently has a new album in the works for this year. A Greek-Swedish man, Stevens converted to Islam in 1977 and became known as Yusuf Islam. In 2004, he appeared on a no-fly list for the United States, which denied him reentry into the country.
• “Angus Young!”
*Angus Young is a musician, the lead guitarist of the hard rock band AC/DC. Well known for his trademark schoolboy uniform and his wild antics onstage (such as jumping and going into spasms), Young also has (or had) long, curly hair, like Appollonia’s. I haven’t followed AC/DC in a while, but it seems in pictures Young has shorter hair now.
• “Oh, now she’s Joan Blondell again.”
*The brassy Joan Blondell was a character actress who was in numerous films beginning in the 1930’s, earning the name “Warner’s workhorse” for her long tour of duty with Warner Brothers. In the ‘30s, Blondell was well known for appearing in the Golddiggers series, creating a likeable schemer (and frequently singing). She later broadened her range and was Oscar-nominated for the film The Blue Veil (1951).
• “Where do you want to go today?” “All over this movie!”
*In 1994, computer giant Microsoft unveiled a new slogan, “Where do you want to go today?” It was a $100 million ad campaign designed to appeal to the non-technical computer owner who wanted to take advantage of a computer’s amazing features. Critics sneered, but the slogan endured for a while. I’m not sure when it was phased out.
• “Quit or retry?” “I’ll take quit for 25, Alex!”
*This is an obvious parody of the long-running game show “Jeopardy!” (1964-75, 1978-79, 1984--), which has run in various forms. Originally hosted by Art Fleming and then most famously by Alex Trebek, the game has kept its same basic formula. In the first two rounds, contestants can choose from six categories and five different price amounts. For example, you could say “Birds for 500, Alex.” As an amount, $25 was only in the brief ’78-79 revival.
• “The fiends! They’re bombing rattan shops!”
*Rattan is a kind of palm that grows in Asia and Africa. Similar to a more solid version of bamboo, rattan is easy to harvest and is frequently used in furniture making. It is also sold in basket form and as a cane, which is used for martial arts contests or just for caning people as punishment.
• “Oh, she’s trying to impersonate Ingmar Bergman, isn’t she?”
*Appollonia is actually impersonating, of course, Ingrid Bergman, the star of the film Casablanca. Bergman, a great screen actress, won three Oscars: Gaslight (1944), Anastasia (1956), and Murder on the Orient Express (1975, a Supporting one). However, Casablanca’s Ilsa Lazlo is her definitive role. Ingmar Bergman is a Swedish film director, known for his striking if esoteric films like The Seventh Seal (1957) and Wild Strawberries (1957). The two Bergmans worked together on the movie Autumn Sonata (1978), Ingrid’s final film.
• “He’s a Village People.”
*One of the most definitive ‘70s bands was the Village People. A novelty group, it consisted of six people dressed in archetypal “male” costumes, such as a cowboy, a police officer, and a construction worker. While the band used a lot of gay themes in songs like “Macho Man” and “YMCA,” some of the members were straight. The construction worker was played by David “Scar” Hodo and briefly Mark Lee.
• “He cracked the code to Scrubbing Bubbles.” “Scrubbing Bubbles!”
*Scrubbing Bubbles is a bathroom cleaner. It was originally named Dow Bathroom Cleaner, but the name was changed after its mascots, a series of bubbles with brushes on their undersides. A popular cleaning supply, for a time, the mascots were voiced in commercials by Paul Winchell, who provided a similar voice to them as his Tigger voice in “Winnie the Pooh” (a deeper version, like the one Tom uses here).
• “It’s a-raining men! Hallelujah!”
*The camp classic and gay anthem, “It’s Raining Men,” was first sung by the Weather Girls in 1983, after being written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer. A number one song on the disco harts, the song was later dusted off by Geri Halliwell in 2001, becoming the most successful song of her solo tenure so far. On “The Simpsons,” it was Homer’s favorite song, at least in the episode “Fear of Flying.”
• “Ready for our game of Battleship, sir.”
*The screen behind the Chairman resembles the setup for the board game Battleship. A famous Milton Bradley game, Battleship consists of two players sitting across from each other with their own gameboards that open like a briefcase. On the surface of the board, players place ships on a grid, while the side is where they can “track” the enemy ships (they call out grid numbers to the other player to see if they have “hit” anything). You know what I’m talking about, so I don’t even know why I’m explaining.
• “See, these guys were rejected for Men Without Hats.”
*Men Without Hats is a 1980’s Canadian pop group; it has been theorized that the band was originally going to be named “Men Without Hate.” Consisting of Stefan and Ivan Doroschuk and a third, rotating member, the group’s biggest hit was “Safety Dance.” The band broke up in the early ‘90s, but Stefan and Ivan recorded an album together in 2003.
• “Gonna relax with my Game Boy for a minute.”
*The Game Boy was released in 1989 by Nintendo as a hand-held video game system—you know, portable gaming? The original black-and-white Game Boy, a battery-powered beast best known for the game Tetris, was eventually phased out by the Game Boy Color in 1998 and the Game Boy Advance in 2001, both of which eliminate several problems with the original system (lack of color and lack of technically advanced games).
• “It’s a hologram of the effectiveness of Liquid-Plumr.”
*Liquid-Plumr is a drain opener produced by Clorox (which purchased it in 1969). It remains one of the more well known clog-stoppers. Not much else to say, really.
• “So this is public television, huh? Suddenly I feel like beating the •••• out of Fred Rogers.”
*Fred Rogers, eternally known as “Mister Rogers,” hosted the public television program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (1968-2001). A beloved figure, Rogers was concerned about teaching kids good values and self confidence; his show, compared to almost every other kids show, was a quietly paced venture in which Mister Rogers would patiently (not patronizingly) explain whatever was going on. Instead of cartoons, there was a trip to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, a world of puppets.
• “Love is a battlefield?”
*A Pat Benatar reference. See above.
• “Ah yes, Mr. Geffen is expecting you.”
*This is referring to David Geffen, a music and film executive, best known for creating Geffen Records and Dreamworks studio. Geffen has released such bands as Aerosmith, Guns N’Roses, and Nirvana. He is openly gay, which may be where the reference is going. Anybody else know?
• “You can’t always get what you want…”
*The boys are singing the Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” recorded in 1969 for the album Let It Bleed. The song was accompanied on the album by the London Bach Choir, a boys choir like the one (rather bizarrely) seen in the film.

Host Segment Four

No references.

Movie Act Four

• “Keep me posted, will you Tooby?” “Or not to be.”
*“To be, or not to be” is arguably the most famous Shakespeare line of all time, coming from the play Hamlet. Ostensibly Hamlet’s pondering over suicide (i.e., to be—having life), it begins an extremely memorable and poetic examination of life as a whole.
• “Could Woody Allen bring a lawsuit against these people?” “I don’t think Woody’s going to bring too many lawsuits against anyone.”
*Woody Allen made his own tribute to Casablanca with the play and movie Play It Again, Sam (1972). In the movie, Woody plays a recent divorcee that’s struggling to get back in the dating game. A fictional Humphrey Bogart offers him advice, but he can’t get the girl of his dreams (Diane Keaton). The ending is a complete parody of the end of Casablanca, in which the two main characters must remain separated. The reference also jokes about Woody’s own legal troubles; in 1992, Woody and his wife, Mia Farrow, separated after it was revealed that Woody was having a relationship with Farrow’s adopted daughter, Soon-Yi (who Woody never adopted). Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter, but this was never brought to trial.
• “Fasten your seatbelts, Fingal, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” “Now it’s All About Eve. Why don’t they just have the Bowery Boys come through this movie?”
*All About Eve (1950) is a classic drama, starring Bette Davis as a fading Broadway star who is plotted against by an ambitious up-and-comer (Anne Baxter). In one of the movie’s most famous scenes, Davis attends a party and sneers “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night,” insinuating that she will get pretty plastered.
*The Bowery Boys are a comedy troupe that in various forms (the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, the Little Tough Guys, and the Bowery Boys) appeared in an endless series of comedy (originally some drama) films from 1937 to 1958. The group, a series of pugnacious but good-hearted kids, mainly consisted of Leo Gorcey, Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, and Bernard Punsly.
• “Now Sinatra shows up?”
*Frank Sinatra was one of the most famous singers and actors in screen history. Noted for his dashing, swaggering persona, Sinatra won an Oscar for his supporting role in the film From Here to Eternity (1953) and popularized such songs as “My Way” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” Sinatra’s hip, dapper look (especially coming out of a dark night) resembles how Rick look in this scene.
• “Ah, Hitler!”
*I think we know who Adolf Hitler is, don’t we? Adolf, the leader of Nazi Germany? Yeah. Guy with the little moustache? Evil loony? Yeah?
• “Wipe your windshield clean with Windex!”
*Windex is a famous brand of glass and surface cleaner, although the name is frequently used to generically refer to any number of glass cleaners. Invented in 1933, it has been marketed by S.C. Johnson since 1992. The film My Big Fat Green Wedding (2002) used Windex as a running joke that was funny once.
• “Thank you, Floyd the pervert.”
*Floyd the barber (Howard McNear) was a character on “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-68). His appearances towards the end of the show were more sparse due to McNear’s bad health; frequently, he would just have a small scene sitting in the barber’s chair. Floyd was something of a doddering busybody and would speak in a distinctive lilting tone that is somewhat similar to how Pierre talks.
• “Watchtower, dammit!”
*The Watchtower is a magazine published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses since 1879. Distributed by the Witnesses as part of their evangelical duties (including door to door), the magazine contains various Scripture studies. As opposed to other religious magazines, the Witnesses take the Watchtower very seriously and have regular meetings where the studies are run.
• “Bring out your dead!”
*This is a reference to a famous scene in the comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). In the classically surrealistic film, there is one scene in which a dour man (Eric Idle) pushes a cart up a street, shouting “Bring out your dead!” as the plague-ridden people deposit their recently deceased. John Cleese plays a villager who infamously tries to persuade Idle to take his “not quite dead” relative.
• “Finally. I killed my virtual pet.”
*The virtual pet craze, which started in Japan, hit America in the late 1990’s. While they come in various forms, the reference is a nod to the gadget based virtual pet like the Tamagotchi. Resembling a small, hand-sized computer, the virtual pets were taken care of by the user, who pushed buttons to perform various chores like feeding and playtime. A mishandled virtual pet would “die.”
• “Ha-ha, Thing!”
*Thing was a character on the “Addams Family” TV show and movie series. A disembodied hand, Thing was like the family helper, always popping around to do what he could for the family. He was played by Ted Cassidy’s hand on the show and Christopher Hart’s in the films.
• “I’m farting Monopoly cards!”
*Monopoly is a famous Parker Brothers board game, possibly the most played board game in the world. The object is famous: go around the board, buying up properties, trying to get monopolies to squeeze other players who land on your properties. The cards are the red Chance cards and the yellow Community Chest cards, which would give a random fortune to the person who was forced to draw the card.
• “Sounds like Barney.” “I love you!”
*Barney the Purple Dinosaur (see above) had an infamous song that he would sing on his television show. Called “I Love You, You Love Me,” it would go to the tune of “This Old Man”: “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too?” The song would be a major contributing factor in some people’s nausea about the show.
• “And George said he’d tell me about the rabbits!”
*This is a reference to the book Of Mice and Men (1937) by John Steinbeck, which tells the tale of two farm workers: George and Lennie. Lennie is a hulking, mentally challenged man, who relies on George. The men’s dream is to get their own farm, with Lennie desiring to “take care of the rabbits.” The Lennie character is a frequently parodied one in cartoons and other media.
• “They’re juicing Jerry Garcia.”
*Jerry Garcia was the lead guitarist in the band the Grateful Dead. One of the most famous electric guitarists ever, Garcia was also known as a peaceful “guru” type, who frequently used hard, psychedelic drugs. Garcia also painted wild and bright-colored designs, many of which pop up on shirts and neckties today.
• “She looks like a Grey with a wig on.”
*The Greys are the most common form of extraterrestrial life talked about by those that study and believe in alien life. A short, slender, grey-skinned being with a big head (almost like a walking fetus), the Greys have appeared in various media portrayals of aliens, most famously the book Communion and the TV show “The X-Files.”
• “Winston Churchill’s mobbed-up brother, Vito.”
*Winston Churchill is a famous British Prime Minister. A squat, distinctively voiced man, Churchill confidently led England through the Second World War (you know, “We shall fight on the beaches, we will never surrender…”). His brother was named John, by the way, and was apparently not mobbed up.
• “I’ll put on a robe and pretend I’m Frangelico.”
*Frangelico is a kind of liqueur produced in Italy—it is hazelnut and herb-flavored. The reference is a nod to Frangelico’s famous bottle, which is shaped, Aunt Jemima style, like a person, in this case a monk in his habit (the cap).
• “Heck, Pier 1 promised that would work.”
*Pier 1 is a retailer that sells fancy home furnishings, like furniture and diningwear. Founded in 1962, there are now over 1,000 Pier 1’s across North America. My mom was once a frequent buyer at Pier 1, but she hasn’t been there in a while.
• “I wish my brother George was here…”
*This is a reference to the effeminate entertainer Liberace, a pianist known for his flamboyant costumes and always-present candelabra. During his television appearances, his brother, George, who was also his business partner, conducted the band. In impressions of Liberace, especially in cartoons, it was common to include the line “I wish my brother George was here,” but I have no idea how frequently Liberace actually used the phrase himself.
• “He died protecting the Cointreau.”
*Cointreau is a liqueur brand, a type of Triple Sec liqueur produced in France. First distilled in 1849, Cointreau is frequently used in cooking as well as for drinking. The family still produces the brand and the recipe remains a family secret.
• “You know, Eraserhead was easier to follow than this movie.”
*Eraserhead (1977) is an infamous film, directed by David Lynch. A surrealistic, nonlinear film, it takes place in a strange, industrial world and follows Henry Spencer (Jack Nance). The plot, such as it is, deals with Henry’s reaction to having to get married when his girlfriend becomes pregnant and gives birth to a reptile baby. Yes, it is weird.
• “Is that James Joyce back there?”
*James Joyce is a famous Irish poet and writer, known for his surreal, stream-of-consciousness works like Dubliners (1914), Ulysses (1922), and Finnegans Wake (1939). Many of these books do not follow and in fact, flagrantly break with conventions such as having your reader be easily able to understand the piece. Joyce was a tall, thin, mustachioed man with glasses that resembles the Nazi officer. For the record, I regard Joyce as more pretentious than interesting, but then again, I’m not an author.
• “You know what, it’s Taz!”
*The Tasmanian Devil (also known as “Taz”) was first introduced in the Warner Brothers cartoon “Devil May Hare” (1954), where he menaced Bugs Bunny. Voiced by Mel Blanc, Taz bears little resemblance to the actual Australian animal; the cartoon character spins around like a miniature tornado (like the image here), speaks in guttural tones, and eats anything it can find.
• “Moliere looks on.”
*Moliere was a French playwright, known for his witty satires that poked fun at life in France during the 17th century. His best known work today is probably the 1666 piece Le Misanthrope. In person, Moliere was a thin man with long, curly hair, and a pencil-thin moustache, making him resemble the image of Appollonia.
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) theme plays as the Fat Man walks through the door. A classic Sergio Leone “spaghetti western,” the movie features three men (the title characters—Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, respectively) trying to find a spectacular fortune. The theme to the film, by Ennio Morricone, is a western classic, instantly recognizable as “duel” music.
• “Fingal!” “Der Bingle!” “Kris Kringle!” “Pat Hingle!”
*“Der Bingle” is a nickname for Bing Crosby, the famous singer and actor. Known for his laidback persona (at odds with his stern, disciplinarian real-life image), Crosby was probably the first great radio superstar and introduced such songs as “White Christmas” and “Swinging on a Star.” He won an Oscar for Going My Way (1944).
*Kris Kringle is a name for Santa Claus, the jolly red-headed chap who brings presents on Christmas, perhaps most famously used as a name by the Santa in Miracle on 34th Street (1947) as his real name.
*Pat Hingle is a veteran character actor, known for playing authority figures, bad guys, and nervous second bananas. His filmography includes such movies as Norma Rae (1979), The Gaunlet (1977), and the Batman series (as Commissioner Gordon).
• “Oooh, it’s the big one!”
*This is a reference to the TV show “Sanford and Son” (1972-77), a comedy program about an angry junkyard dealer (Redd Foxx) and his son (Demond Wilson). Sanford pere would frequently pretend to have a heart attack, usually while mad at his son, and shout “This is the big one!” and say he was going to join his late wife, Elizabeth.
• “One less cake to bake him, twelve less eggs to fry…”
*Can somebody tell me what song this is parodying?
• “Verti-go-to-hell!”
*This is a reference to the movie Vertigo (1958), a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie deals with a detective (Jimmy Stewart) getting mixed up with a mysterious woman (Kim Novak) and developing obsession, among other things. A highly praised if a touch dull (in my opinion) movie, the famous poster shows a man spinning around as if falling, like what’s happening on the film.
• “Hey, hey, HAL, why don’t you go on break?”
*HAL is the name of the computer (HAL 9000) in the book and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Voiced by Douglas Rain in the film, HAL is the supercomputer in charge of the spaceship Discovery that eventually goes out of control. The implacable HAL then calmly tries to kill the two astronauts on board.
• “Ave Mariaaaaaa!”
*The song is “Ave Maria,” a musical version of the Hail Mary prayer used frequently as a hymn. While Charles Gounod in 1859 added a melody and words to J.S. Bach’s musical version, the piece most commonly thought of as “Ave Maria” today is Franz Schubert’s Ellen’s Third Song (1825), which opens with the words “Ave Maria,” even though the other lyrics have nothing to do with the prayer. Even when the original “Ave Maria” is played, a lot of times they will use Schubert’s melody now.
• “Mike, I think she really is Billy Squier.”
*Billy Squier (1950--) is a ‘80s rock musician who, after years of toiling as a solo and group artist, finally clicked with such hit songs as “The Stroke,” “My Kinda Lover,” “Everybody Wants You,” and the infamously silly “Rock Me Tonite.” Like most ‘80s musicians, his career petered out as the decade ended.
• “Eating Raul.”
*Eating Raoul (1982) was a black comedy, directed by Paul Bartel. The film deals with a couple, the Blands (Bartel and Mary Woronov) who make money by killing rich perverts. The two eventually acquire a reluctant partner, Raoul (Robert Beltran of “Voyager” fame), who works for them and disposes of the bodies. When Raoul proves to be trouble, the Blands end up killing him and serving him as dinner to an investor.
• “You if Raul was Scott Radul, he’d be on the floor right now.”
*Anybody help?
• “Let me show you this really hot FreeCell game.
*FreeCell is a card game, a variant almost on solitaire (the same basic rules apply) except there are more columns (and all cards are face up) and there are four “free cells,” in which cards can be stored until further use. The game is a computer staple that is perpetually included on Microsoft’s Windows program.
• “But I hate this movie! It’s on AMC every week!”
*AMC is American Movie Classics, a cable channel begun in 1984 to show classic films that weren’t getting air time on the regular channels. Recently, the network has become far tackier; it shows a lot of commercials and prefers to show more recent movies (and generally not very good ones too). The true classic movie channel is now Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
• “You know if I was going to scroll up a cinema, I’d think I’d scroll up Dirty Dingus Magee.”
*Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) is a comic western film starring Frank Sinatra and directed by Burt Kennedy. The film deals with Dingus’ roguish attempts to get rich and get into trouble. Like most of Kennedy’s western comedies, it features a lot of famous western character actors, such as Jack Elam, John Dehner, and Henry Jones.

Host Segment Five

No references.

Mike, great job!

A few corrections...

“I hear the trans-bot a’comin, it’s rolling round the bend…”

I believe it's transpod.

“The monkey’s been in and out of Hazelwood so many times.”

Hazelden is one of the nation's largest rehab centers.

“One less cake to bake him, twelve less eggs to fry…”

This is the song "One Less Bell to Answer", written by Burt Bacharach and popularized by The Fifth Dimension.

“Let me show you this really hot FreeCell game.

I think it's 'hard', but it's hard to tell over the Raulian accent. :-)

Thanks for the corrections.