King Kamala

Let's see some clips of The Honker in action Where It All Began (Honky Tonk Man wins the title from Ricky Steamboat 6-13-87) Honky Tonk Man Vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (MSG 8-22-87) Honky Tonk Man Vs Bruno Sammartino (Philadelphia Spectrum 7-18-87) This had to be one of Bruno's last matches. IIRC, he was replacing Jake Roberts at the last minute. Honky Tonk Man Vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage (Saturday Night Main Event 10-3-87) Honky Tonk Man Vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (WrestleFest 7-31-88) Honky Tonk Man Vs The Ultimate Warrior (SummerSlam '88)

I can see why some would consider Bobby Heenan to be overrated as a color commentator (honestly, his managerial heyday was a tad bit before my time). He seemed more concerned with cracking jokes sometimes than putting the matches or workers over. Of course, people either don't notice this or mind it that much is because unlike Rob Bartlett, Heenan is generally funny. Over the years, I've grown to realize that Ventura was the better color commentator. 'Cause he was able to be funny while putting what was happening in the ring over.

Alright I've been threatening to make this thread for some time but I figure we're overdue for a Beach Boys thread. I know they're not the most popular band on here (I know at least one of this board's stalwarts doesn't like them) but for my money, they had a decade-long streak ('65-'74) of good albums. I also have a lot of fondness for The Beach Boys Love You. I like to think they just stopped existing after that one. And I think listening to the local oldies station too much and my general disdain of Mike Love has ruined my enjoyment of their early cars and surfing oriented material. Weirdly enough, I think my favorite album of theirs is Wild Honey, their "return" to straight pop music after the aborted SMiLE sessions and the band's return to playing their own instruments. I don't think anybody shares my enthusiasm for this one except Robert Christgau. For some reason, I just really enjoy the charmingly disjointed combination of R&B flavored rockers and gentle psychadelic pop. The latter nicely foreshadows the next album, Friends, another one of my favorites and allegedly Brian Wilson's favorite. It's one of those records for me where even the misfires (Really- whose idea was it to cover Stevie Wonder?) are somewhat enjoyable. For the hell of it, here are some videos. Here they are on French television circa 1970 singing "Country Air" (from the aforementioned Wild Honey), "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and their cover of "Riot in Cell Block Nine" Part Two of the appearence on French television. They do their cover of "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring", "Cottonfields", "It's About Time" The Beach Boys first appearance on UK TV doing "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)"

I'm going to have nightmares about that picture, Brody.

Wanda Sykes comes out of the closet Well I must say I am shocked....SHOCKED by this revelation!

Can you get more WrestleCrap than The Godwinns tusseling with T.L. Hopper and Who with Mr. Bob Backlund going nuts on commentary?

Come on, there really isn't such a thing as Uecker seats at the Civic Center. The place is too damn small. I dream some day Portland will wake up and build something similar to what Manchester has, since they get TV all the time, not to mention concerts and other shows real arena receive. I'll probably just drive to NH for Raw. Aw come on, The Civic Center is a real arena. Motley Crue is coming! But yeah, all kidding aside... I hear ya. It seems like we've been waiting for a new arena for the past ten years... Me and my wrestling show going buddy were considering going to Manchester for RAW but we'd just save the time and money and go see the show in Portland and use the money we save on gas and parking to see an indy show in Sanford featuring The Honky Tonk Man on the 28th. Though now that I think of it, it's technically possible that I could go to all three!

Grampa: Goodnight, Mrs. Bouvier. Wherever you are... Blue Haired Lawyer: Sir, I represent the estate of Jimmy Durante. I have a court order demanding an immediate halt to this unauthorized imitation. Boys? (Goons yank the fedora off Grampa's head and stomp on it) Grampa: Would it be alright with you if I just laid down in the street and died? Blue Haired Lawyer:...Yes. That would be acceptable.

WWE is coming back to Portland for the first time in a year and a half on December 30th. A house show of course. We haven't gotten a WWE TV taping since '97 (Monday Night Raw the night after IYH: De-Generation X, a show it seems like every male in my third grade class went to EXCEPT me...stupid parents!). There is a bit of interest in the fact that it's a RAW house show. For some reason, we've gotten Smackdown shows since '04 and usually ones with terrible lineups. Cena, Batista, CM Punk Randy Orton, and HBK are the big names they're advertising. I'll probably be picking up the $20 Uecker seats and I'll be sure to provide a scintellating report of the evening's events.

The Fabulous Rougeaus and The Quebecers (We're not the Mounties!) themes are easily my all time favorites.

I don't think so. This guy had short hair and a couple years older. Dude on here's name was Cactus. Now we've got Wiggers Vs Fat Samoans for the tag team titles! It's Falls Count Anywhere baby! Pandemonium in the elementary school gymnaisum! Oh indy wrestling, how I missed thee!

I can see both sides of the argument. I don't think anybody would call HTM a great worker or even a a decent one. But he could bump fairly well and he was good to great on the stick. It was a one-note gimmick, which is probably why he was relegated to curtain jerking after losing the title but he played that one note very well for a period of time.

I'm getting to watch the local NWA affliate's TV show for the first time. Right now, there's a match between a woefully unathletic balding dude who looks to be in his mid to late '20s against a guy with an evil baby gimmick named Baby Huey managed by a Mick Foley impersonator (who doesn't really look all that much like Mick Foley....) Woah boy---next week, they're doing two shows featuring such titans of the squared circle as Baby Huey, The Scufflin' Hillbillies, and The Giant Pharoh! The Logan Brothers (who?) are headlining.

Worst NFL music videos Oh lord, look what "The Super Bowl Shuffle" begat.

Saw the new Michael Moore movie, Slacker Uprising. Awful, just awful. And this is coming from someone who's a pretty big fan. If a conservative ever needs any more ammunition against him, just watch five minutes of Slacker Uprising. It's essentially ninety minutes of people fawning over Michael Moore. No wonder why he gave it away for free.

Well, it's that time again. This week's edition, we'll talk about the shining moment in the career of a highly divisive figure in the IWC...the 14 month Intercontinental title reign of The Honky Tonk Man. Now I've always had a soft spot for The Honky Tonk Man. Maybe it's the fact that he was on the first wrestling tape I ever watched (Hulkamania 4) and the gimmick of an in-denial Elvis impersonator appealed to me. Maybe it's because his shoot interviews are so wildly entertaining (despite or maybe because of the blatant amounts of BS in them). So obviously, I enjoyed his IC title run. Now I wouldn't call him the greatest of all time. Hell, I'm not sure if I'd put him in my Top 5 but I'm not sure if there was ever more interest in the title than when he had it. Now many might argue that the success of his run is attributable to his opponents and it is a compelling argument. "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Brutus Beefcake and Jake Roberts were all at or near their peaks popularity wise. However, a babyface is only as good as the heel he's facing and HTM was a masterful bad guy. There aren't many more guys who can rile up fans as much by doing as little as HTM. He was as blatantly unlikeable as a guy like Ricky Steamboat was likeable. Somehow I think that character has blurred over into HTM's semi-retirement. Listening to his shoot interviews, he's clearly bought into the Greatest Intercontinental Champ of All Time hype, which seemed initially to be a claim he used to drum up heel heat. I find it somewhat amusing that some of the marks of yesteryear have grown into the grizzled, somewhat wisened smart marks of today and have hated Honky Tonk Man all the while for virtually the same reason. So what are your thoughts on "The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time"? Was he one of the great heels of his time? Or did he merely just buy into his own hype?

Yeah, Comedy Central is a possibility. The syndication rights to air reruns expires next year so they're thinking they might pick up the whole shebang. Boy, that network counteracts every good show it has with a downright terrible one. Anyways- the Hollywood Reporter article. Fox cancels "MadTV" after 14 seasons by: James Hibberd – Thu Nov 13, 2:13 am ET LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Fox has canceled late-night sketch comedy veteran "MadTV," one of its longest-running shows. The Saturday-night mainstay's current 14th season will be its last on the network, Fox sources said. However, the show's co-creator, David Salzman, said he plans to shop "MadTV" to cable networks and other outlets. "There's a long list of parties that have called us, including a few very recently, and we're going to start conversations with them very shortly," Salzman said. Fox told Salzman the show had become too expensive considering its time period and ratings. Unlike dramas and comedies that suffer the broadcast ax, however, Salzman believes his show's budget can be scaled back to suit a cable network. "I think we can change it without it really being noticeable," he said. "We've learned over the years how to do things on an efficient basis." Salzman called his show "the only success in the 21-year history of Fox's late night," and he gave credit to the network for giving him enough notice to look for another distributor without interrupting production. In one respect, the timing of the cancellation is fortuitous -- the show's licensing deal with Comedy Central, which airs the show's first 11 seasons in repeats, is set to expire at year's end. Salzman can offer buyers the exclusive rights to air the show's library of content if they pick up the show, or sell the show and its library separately. Salzman also praised competitor "Saturday Night Live," calling the show "the greatest of its type of all time." Still, Salzman noted his show -- which embraces a hip-hop sensibility compared to the NBC program's 1970s rock 'n' roll roots -- has faced an uphill battle for attention. "SNL" is a heavily promoted and a legendary member of the NBC family. On Fox, "MadTV" has been like a distant cousin of the network's other programing, a holdover from the network's mid-1990s brand that, somehow, kept managing to draw an audience and survive despite several management turnovers. Notable cast alumni include Artie Lange, Orlando Jones and Nicole Sullivan. "MadTV" is averaging a 2.6 million viewers this season, while "SNL" pulled 9.8 million during its first six episodes. Of Fox's programing, only "The Simpsons," "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted" have been on the network longer. The show's final Fox episode -- No. 326 -- is scheduled to air in May. "We're proud of what we've accomplished, we're appreciative of what Fox has done and we don't think it should be over yet," Salz

So MAD TV is officially canceled but unfortuantely, I read an article which said they're still trying to shop it to cable networks. Sad thing is I wouldn't be surprised if somebody picked it up. The Comedy Gods can be cruel sometimes.

Jacksons 5 overrated? Perhaps. A substitute teacher of mine in high school even presented a somewhat compelling argument that the ascension of The Jackson 5 is when Motown jumped the shark. But rubbish? Pus-shaw indeed. The first Greatest Hits album was the soundtrack to my childhood. And The Epic label era stuff is a nice precursor to Off The Wall. And for my money, there's no music video more enjoyably bombastic and overblown than the one for "Can You Feel It?"!

Yeah, even as a mark and a huge fan of these old school Survivor Series, this one left me feeling very underwhelmed. I just remember hating the fact that it was one big ad for This Tuesday In Texas (a show I've still never seen). I was so frustrated because I could never find This Tuesday In Texas at any of the video stores (little did I know that the event, or at least most of it, was on a random Coliseum tape...Supertape 4, maybe?). I was hella confused at The Big Bossman and LOD Vs IRS and The Nasty Boys going on last too.

Blind Willie: I've been playing jazz for thirty years and just can't seem to make a go at it. I want you to have my saxophone Bleeding Gums: This isn't a saxophone! This is an umbrella! Blind Willie: So I've been playing an umbrella for thirty years? Why didn't anybody tell me? Bleeding Gums: We all thought it was funny! Blind Willie: That ain't funny.

This really is the best year ever. Too bad it's 13 years too late. That out of the way, I always wanted to bang Nicole Sullivan. Yeah the first season or two with Artie Lange and Orlando Jones had its moments but yeah it's an event that's long, long overdue. Has there ever been a less memorable show that's ran that long? Though I must say I'm kind of glad that they're keeping Talkshow With Spike Ferestein...surprisingly decent. Gives me something to watch during SNL reruns and commercial breaks.

"Hi kids- you might remember me as Sgt. Fatso Judson in From Here To Eternity!" *kids cheer wildly*

MAD TV cancelled? This could be a great day for comedy fans everywhere.

There was a guy named Robert Billcliff or something that had a very similar number to mine. There was a period of about a month or two where I'd get a call for him almost every day. From what I gathered, he owed a lot of money to somebody. Hope he's alright...