Bad 1958 TV Program Has Oddly Familar Trump Bad Guy

A character in a 1958 show "Trackdown" was named Walter Trump,
who was a con man trying to steal all the wealth from an Old West
town. The script has eerie similarities to the life of Donald
Trump, who some think is a con man. 

Some TV script writer in the 1950s seemed to be able to channel to 2018 when he wrote  an episode of a forgotten television show called "Trackdown."

The western ran on CBS from 1957 to 1959. An episode of "Trackdown" called "The End Of The World" aired on May 9, 1958.  It features a villain named Walter Trump. Video of this show is at the bottom of this post.

I'll let Quartz give you a thumbnail of the episode's story:

"Trump is a con man - we're talking about the show - who comes to ranger Gilman's town to warn people that the end of the world is nigh, and offering his services to prevent it. And how will 1958 TV con man Trump stop the end of the world? By building a wall, of course!"

The Trump in "Trackdown" also has a familiar cadence in his speech: "I am the only one....Trust me I can build a wall around your homes that nothing -nothing! will penetrate."

Townspeople in the show fell for the con hook, line and sinker.  The town judge tells Ranger Gilman "Trump sure is having his way."

The TV Trump also threatens to sue Texas Ranger Sheriff Hoby Gilman for daring to call Trump out on his con.

Despite most of the town falling for Trump's scam, Ranger Gilman eventually manages to arrest the 1958 TV Trump for what Gilman says is "grand theft, fraud - I think a jury would find it stealing."

I won't give away the ending. I don't like being a spoiler. You can watch the show.

No word yet if there will continue to be eerie parallels between the 1958 Trump and the current presidential version.

Here's the episode:

News Bloopers Of 2017 A Good Time Waster To Close Out The Year

As is always the case on live news programs, things go
wrong, like this uninvited furry guest on a news program. 

At the end of December, I always welcome the inevitable video, which is the Top News Bloopers Of the Year.

I'm a news junkie, so I watch and read up on current events a lot. Much of the news is presented on live TV, which can always be dangerous.

You have missed cues, unprepared reporters, unanticipated gliches and eyewitness interviews that go awry when the interviewees themselves go seriously awry.

Some bloopers get famous intantaneously, like when the Weather Channel was trying to film the implosion of a sports stadium in Atlanta and a bus got in the way at just the wrong moment.

Eyewitness interviews are the most dangerous. You'll see in the video the most obnoxious one is a little brat at a fireworks retailer. A local reporter, who is also the television station's meteorologist, tries to ask him, "What's the best fireworks to buy?" Innocuous question.

But the little shit replies angrily, "Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy."  Insulting, yes. But I think the reporter/meteorologist got the last laugh in that the kid is now exposed to the world as a real worthless jerk. Ha!

Here's the video. It's 15 minutes long, but worth it. Also NSFW, but why would you be watching a 15-minute time waster at work?

I'm A Sucker For America;s Got Talent Surprises: Re: Linkin Bridge

Linkin Bridge wowed 'em on "America's Got Talent"   

The 2016 summer season of "America's Got Talent" debuted last night, and right away I was suckered in as always.

The story lines are always cliched. They introduce you to an act, and try to set them up in a certain way, based on their looks, appearances, etc. and of course they are completely different in reality.

Such was the routine when they introduced a four-man group called Linkin Bridge. Four very tough-looking guys who sauntered out onto the stage, all cool, dressed in dark urban wear clothing, with tattoos and don't-mess-me-looks on their faces.

A rap act, is the expectation, of course. Which of course wasn't what Linkin Bridge was up to at all.

We ended up with a gorgeous acapella rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from these guys, the must-watch video is below.

Yeah, the set up before they actually opened their mouths to sing is a bit much. It's summer network TV after all.

Linkin Bridge, from the Louisville, Kentucky area, uses this schtick a lot. This video and this video, among others circulating from last Christmas, shows the group, wearing clothes people associated with street gangs, menacingly confront people in wealthy, largely white suburbs and then break into carols.

Which is wonderful because they're breaking apart racial stereotypes.

Here's Linkin Bridge's America's Got Talent performance in case you missed it:

Yet Another AWESOME Local TV News Interview

Floyd Briggs, pictured here, has given the best local
television interview so far this year. Image from KFOR.  

Floyd Briggs is going to join the pantheon of best local television interviews ever.

He'll join the ranks of the classic interviews, like the "apparently kid" at a Pennsylvania fair, the flair of Antoine Dodson, who foiled a creep who tried to sexually assault his sister, and the woman describing a destruction hailstorm at her house -- KABOOYA!!!

Floyd Briggs joins the list of these awesome interviews for describing for television station KFOR how he stopped a motorcyclist being chased by police in Chickasaw, Oklahoma.

Briggs is a camoflauge wearing big good ole' boy who stepped out into the street to make the motorcyclist crash, then chased him down.

Briggs admitted to the reporter that he got kind of winded chasing the guy down. "I was running out of steam very quick. I'm not very aerodynamic."

I also like how Briggs apologized to his neighbors during the interview for the salty language he used as he helped apprehended the perp, but I'm sure he's already forgiven.  He seems like the type of guy that everyone would like.

"I did use some language that just isn't how I talk....Some of the words I used, I was pretty worked up. I'm sorry for that."

There were no serious injuries in the incident, and the motorcycle driver faces several criminal charges. But, we have a new news hero in Briggs.

By the way, Briggs' Facebook page might be a little lowbrow, in a very good way, and it's also pretty funny.

Here's the awesome news clip from KFOR:

Eyewitness TV Interview Goes BOOM! Heads Up For Flying Manhole Cover

Look carefully: That's a manhole
cover rocketing skyward behind this
man who was being interviewed on TV.  

Sunday afternoon, an underground electrical fire in downtown Buffalo, New York set off a few explosions, local television station WGRZ reports. 

A couple buildings were evacuated as crews got the fire under control and the electric utility came to cut power as a precaution, then to restore power after the fire was out.

However, it turns out manhole covers can be very mobile in certain situations. I didn't know they could do this

WGRZ was interviewing a building manager who evacuated people because of the fire, when this happened:

More News Bloopers, Because We Can't Get Enough Of Them

A television reporter in Dallas finds himself
interviewing an interesting eyewitness
during a recent live report.  

Television news often involves live shots, and those can often go so wrong.

Which is why we bring you, from time to time, the latest batch of news bloopers from around the world.

As usual in this genre, weather reports are the most ripe for failures.

I love the Canadian blizzard coverage that begins around 3:22 into the video.

The dog that would rather play than listen to yet another weather forecast a bit later into the video is awesome, too.

See for yourself which ones you like the best:

Gong Show's Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine Dies; Mourning The Loss Of A Bit Of Tackiness

Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine, left, always
sent Gong Show host Chuck Barris (right) into
spasms of uncontrollable joy.  

Word spread over the weekend that Gene, Gene, The Dancing Machine has died, says the Hollywood Reporter. 

Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine was a fixture on that 1970s bit of televised drug-induced weirdness know as the "Gong Show."

I am maybe the world's biggest fan of tastelessness, crassness and kitsch, so the Gong Show was heaven to me.

Upsettingly, the loss of Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine, whose real name was Gene Patton, means the world is a slightly less goofy place, and that's sad.

Actually, Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine was the most normal person on the Gong Show, but that's not saying much.

For the uninitiated and the too-young-to-remember, The Gong Show was an early version of the current rash of talent shows.

It was sort of an Alice in Wonderland version of "America's Got Talent."

The Gong Show host, Chuck Barris, was clearly on some major pharmaceuticals. I'm guessing cocaine and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The three-member panel of judges, usually B-list celebrities, rated the contestants, many of whom were awful. The celebrity judges, always with Jaye P. Morgan at the helm, would bang a large gong when an act was particularly heinous. Hence the "Gong Show" name of the program.

Here's how the Hollywood Reporter describes the Gene, Gene sections of the show:

"At a random moment during the game show, Barris would introduce Patton, and the curtain would part, bringing the shuffling stagehand with the painter's cap onstage to the sounds of 'Jumpin at the Woodside,' a jazz tune made popular by Count Basie. His dance sent everyone on the set -- Barris, the judges, the cameramen, rthe audience -- into an uncontrollable boogie."

 Gene wasn't a particulary good dancer, but the extreme spasms of joy it brought to the drug-addled Chuck Barris was worth the performance.

The Gong Show was only on the air for two or three years in the late 1970s, but of course lived on for decades in syndication and on YouTube.

Everything about the show set new lows in tastelessness, which to me of course means it was the pinnacle of television genius.

Here's a mashup of Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine on the Gong Show:

Reporter Mugged While In Front Of TV Cameras

One of two muggers threatens South African television
reporter Vuyo Mvoko as he prepared for a live
shot in front of a Johannesburg hospital.  

I guess some criminals are so brazen they're willing to do tbeir deedsin front of television cameras.

A television reporter named Vuyo Mvoko was preparing to do a live report in front of a Johannesburg, South Africa hospital when two men approached.

Mvoko was about to do a report about Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who was at the hospital being treated for an illness.

According to Reuters, Mvoko was approached by two men, one armed with a gun.

Here's Reuters' description of the video, which you can see at the bottom of this post.

"The video....shows the men pacing around repoter Vuyo Mvoko while speaks to the camera outside the hospital, before a scuffle ensues, and then Mvoko is heard shouting, 'Hey, we're being mugged.'

'He was looking for the phone and when I wasn't giving him the phone, he calls the othe rone who has a gun to say 'shoot this dog' or something like that,' Mvoko, who works for hte national broadcaster, told radio station 702 on Wednesday.

'So I gave him the phone.'"

Reuters says South Africa, though it has Africa's most advanced economy, is among the most violent countries in the world outside a war zone. Violent crimes such as rape, robberies and murder are common.

Here's the video:

Idiotic Couple Mocks Eric Garner During News Report

Today's New York Daily News
Front Page was graphic, but much
more tasteful than an idiotic
couple mugging for the cameras
behind a journalist reporting on this.  

Gawker calls them America's Worst Couple and it's hard to disagree.

The couple in question were two of those types of idiots who make goofy gestures in the background as a television reporter gives a live update.

In this case, WPIX-TV reporter Allison Kaden was giving an update on demonstrators near the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, which had its lighting ceremony Wednesday evening.

That lighting ceremony happened as demonstrations continued across New York City and elsewhere against a grand jury decision in which a New York cop was not indicted despite fatally choking Eric Garner.

That move was caught on videotape as police tried to arrest Garner on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes.

Anyway, Kaden was giving her update on the demonstrations and the tree lighting, when a couple moved into position behind Kaden and on camera, the guy cartoonishly pretended to choke the woman, who cartoonishly reacted by waving her arms and faking a scream

What a classy couple. I'm sure they thought they were hilarious.

The Internet is pretty unforgiving, and I'm sure this couple will be identified soon, and all hell will break out. They'll get death threats, lots of flame, lots of harassment on line and elsewhere.

No, this couple doesn't deserve death threats or harassment. But shame on them!

The video of this moronic couple is below, but to soften this up, I also posted an image of the excellent New York Daily News front page today which uses Garner's last words "I can't breathe!" as he was being choked by the cop.

Here's the stupid couple video:

Crime Wave Hits Vermont: Broccoli Worth $300 Stolen From Farm

Add caption

Just like every other state in the nation, we here in Vermont have problems with crime, including drug related burglaries, domestic assault and assorted other violence. It's very sad.

But then, it's often not as bad as other states.

You know things are pretty calm when the largest television station in the state, WCAX, during its nightly newscast reports on a shocking crime in the town of Norwich, Vermont.

Somebody stole 70 pounds of broccoli from a farm in that town. It was worth about $300. The TV station notes it couldn't have been hungry deer because the broccoli was sheared off, not eaten off the plants.

If it was deer, I wouldn't be optimistic about their fate. The place from where the broccoli was stolen is called Killdeer Farm.

As it is, staffers at the farm said they hope that the broccoli at least went to a needy family.

Cannabis And F-Bomb Included In On-Air Reporter's Quitting Moment

Now former reporter Charlo Greene at the KTVA
studios in Alaska during happier times.  

You see a lot of churn in local television news personalities. They come, they go, you always see departures and new faces.  

Normally, this happens smoothly and in a friendly manner.

The last night on air for a reporter or anchor includes a brief, heartfelt goodbye, and the new guy or gal that comes in is welcomed with smiles.

Charlo Greene, a reporter at KTVA in Alaska broke that mold over the weekend, complete with NSFW language and very much of a surprise disclosure.

She left her job in epic fashion during the 10 p.m. Sunday newscast by declaring herself the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club and saying "Fuck it, I quit" during a live newscast. 

According to the Independent UK:

"Having grown weary of reporting the news, Greene told viewers she would instead be putting all her energy into the fight to legalize marijuana in the state, having previously reported on the Alaska Cannabis Club without mentioning her connection to it."

Of course, reporting on an organization without disclosing your ties to it is a huge journalistic no-no. In fact, a journalist should not report on anything at all if he or she has close ties to the subject at hand, disclosure or not. 

So Greene probably would have been fired or at least severely reprimanded had that come out before she quit.  

Still, she certainly had a dramatic flair with her departure from KTVA. Burned a few bridges, too, but she probably went out and burned a joint to celebrate afterward, so all is good.

I feel sorry for the main news anchor who was left sitting there after Greene's on air F-bomb.  The anchor understandably looked really mad, and stammered, "We apologize for that," tried to cut to a commercial break, but couldn't, so went on with the news. 

It was awkward, to say the least. 

A message on the KTVA web site this morning apologies for Greene's outburst. 

Heres the video:

News Anchor Learns Of Friend's Suicide While Reading TelePrompter On Air

My heart goes out to Lee Chingua, a television anchor for Next TV News in Taiwan, who quite possibly had the worst, saddest and most public bad day on the job.

This news anchor in Taiwan learned of her
friend's suicide as she read a TelePrompter
during a newscas. Add caption

She was reading the news off a TelePrompter for a television audience when the scrolling words revealed the breaking news that Taiwanese reporter Erich Shih of CtaTV was found dead of an apparent suicide. 

Chingua was a close friend of Shih. When we learn the news that somebody close to us has died, we want the moment to be private. We want to absorb the huge loss alone, or with a few loved ones near us.

Chingua had to absorb the news while reading the news to a national audience. And somehow she had to remain professional and composed.

Someho, she did it. I don't know how. The words are in Taiwanese, and you can't understand them, but you can see her heart breaking as she reads the news.  (You can click on "cc" at the bottom of the video to get subtitles in English. )

I hope she was taken off the air right after this broadcast, and given the privacy and love she needs.

Her professionalism, though, is incredible. Watch:

You Think The Shout Fest TV "News" Shows In The U.S. Are Obnoxious? Try Jordan

A television "news" show in Jordan  

I never watch those so-called news panel shows on the networks like Fox and CNN. It's just a bunch of (usually) middle aged and old white men shouting at each other so you don't know what they're saying.

You don't exactly learn anything about the news of the day on these shows, do you?

At least it's not as bad as it apparently is in Jordan, where there are TV shout fests similar to the ones in America. Except the Jordanians take it to a whole new level.

Watch the video below for proof. They're speaking in a foreign language, but believe me, you don't have to understand what is being said:

Bunnies Do What Bunnies Do: Why You Shouldn't Trust Them On Live TV

Thank Gawd Easter is over!  

The newscast at WBIR in Knoxville goes off
the rails due to bunny sex. 

Now we don't have to fear the sight of bunny sex.

Television station WBIR in Knoxville, Tennessee thought it would be cute to have bunnies on the news desk in the run up to Easter.

But, bunnies do what bunnies do, and things didn't go as planned.

And there was probably the inevitable little kid question somewhere in the Knoxville area asking, "Why are those bunnies fighting?"

Uh, they weren't fighting.

Here's the video of live TV gone awry:

A Surprise, Wonderful, Cinematic Firestone Tire Ad Makes Me Happy

As I always do in those rare instances when somebody manages to produce an advertisement that's actually compelling and well made, I must give props today to Firestone Tires and their ad agency Leo Burnett Chicago    

Add caption

Last night, while watching "The Voice" and trying to ignore the boring people in commercials yell at me to buy clothes and cars, Firestone got my attention right away.

I saw a young guy adding gasoline to the tank of a battered old pickup truck with really nice tires in the middle of nowhere in some dusty place in the American west.

A country singer on the radio warbles "True love will find you in the end." then the young guy cuts the music and the engine as he comes to an abrupt stop at a tired, weather beaten farm house.

We see a woman in a bride's dress, carrying a hound dog run out of the house and into the guy's truck as they make their escape to elope. This scene is interspersed with glimpses of a middle aged couple in their own battered vehicle (again with great tires!) leave a store that's seen better days to go home.

The two vehicles, with the eloping couple in one, and the parents, the middle aged couple, in the other then meet on a road.  (I won't give away the ending. You'll have to watch the video at the bottom of this post)

This commercial is so cinematic and tells a wonderful story with so few words, it does get your attention and is really a work of art.

There has been a welcome mini-trend in advertising in which agencies try to tell a compelling story to get your attention. I hope this trend expands.

It's almost enough to make me run out of the house now and buy some Firestone tires.

Here's the awesome ad.

How Did That Guy Pull Off That Wheel Of Fortune Miracle?

I'm frankly not a big fan of the game show "Wheel of Fortune" where contestants guess the letters in a phrase until they can identify the phrase.

OK, Guess. What's this phrase?  

When "Wheel of Fortune" comes on after "Jeopardy!" Jeff and I usually switch the TV channel and settle for a tired rerun of "Big Bang Theory" or something.

This week, though, there was quite a moment on "Wheel of Fortune." A guy really had heads scratching when he figured out a phrase with precious few letters.  Everybody is perplexed.

As you'll see in the video, below, it's not a phrase that necessarily immediately pops into your head.

It is a pretty funny clip, though. A suspicious host Pat Sajak even jokingly pats the guy down for contraband or something.

So watch:

TV Station Has Audio Meltdown. News Anchors Hilariously Make Do With Handwritten SIgns

Television station WGN in Chicago recently had probably one of the worst possible types of meltdowns during a morning newscast.

The audio failed, except for a lone feed from a reporter out on a frigid looking street.

This normally would have been cause for irritation for the TV viewer, except the deadpan news anchors in the studio got a bit creative and took us back the to Golden Age of silent films. Or something like that.

Watch and laugh:

Does Michael J. Fox Agree This Is A Fun Fact?

Hyping the Golden Globes today, E! News flashed a bunch of "fun facts" as the celebrities made their way along the red carpet.

This is quite a fun fact. Or not.

All Parents Must Watch French Anti-Bullying Ad

Bullying has been hugely in the news lately, what with the bullying case in the Miami Dolphins locker room that led one player to quit and the alleged bully to be suspended.

A still from the powerful French
anti-bulling ad.  

And, worse, we keep hearing of youths committing suicide because of incessant bullying. Makes me want to cry every time I hear about one of those cases.

Now, there's a brilliant television ad out of France that all parents, all adults really ought to see.

Bullying is often dismissed as a rite of passage for kids, a day of being picked on a bit. It toughens you up, supposedly. Adults do it to. "Toughening up" was the excuse used in the Miami Dolphins locker room, apparently.

Anyway, the French ad puts adults in the shoes of the kids being bullied. In the ad, a proper looking businessman tries to do his work, but co-workers relentlessly bully and assault the businessman with extreme cruelty, in much the same way kids bully some of their peers.

I'll translate from French the tag line at the end of the ad: "A day at work does not look like this. And a day at school?"

According to Huffington Post, the ad is a promo for a  documentary on school harassment airing on France 5.  Apparently, bullying is a severe problem in France, too.

Let's help put a stop to it. We can begin with watching this awesome but painful video:

Your Monday Morning At Work Bad? Not As Bad As This Guy's

The new anchor on some television station overseas tried to gamely go on as his coworkers shared an unpleasant day at the office.

A short clip from 2010 to remind you that your day at work can't possibly be as bad as at this unintentionally comical television station.