Tag: Sammy David Jr.

Sgt. Bilko, Lucy and the Greats Still Reign Supreme on Laughter Scale

Starting off the new year with a laugh is important. It sets the tone for the entire year. Sort of a barometer for the chuckle degree of the upcoming 365 days.

Humor has undoubtedly changed in this new world yet some things are and will always be funny.

They survive the ages and remain relatable.

Old sitcoms that relied on the tried-and-true formulas that guaranteed laughter succeeded best. And still do.

To this day there are certain moments I recall and can’t help breaking into laughter. No matter how many times I’ve watched them.

There are many legendary laugh sequences in the old shows that hold up, no matter how many years pass.

One of the tops on my list would be the Harry Speakup episode of Sgt. Bilko. Phil Silvers’ character remains one the most unique and brilliant comedy inventions of the era.

All the episodes delivered laughs, but the one that has stayed with me the longest is when they drafted a monkey into the army. Even now it’s a bright spark of comedy genius in the humor solar system.

Zippy the monkey being hurried along the draft assembly line brought a constant barrage of laughter. From the interview with the psychiatrist to the foot inspection, it was pure hilarity. The episode combined the brilliance of a great storyline, a universal theme and expertly written comedy that quite simply defies gravity and time.

The Dick Van Dyke Show episode when Rob was convinced he’d brought the wrong baby home from the hospital is pure comedy gold. Van Dyke opened the door to find the suspected father of their son Ritchie to be Greg Morris, a popular African American actor standing there. That moment elicits one of the longest laughs in sit com history. They had to edit the laugh because it went on so long. Carl Reiner was a master at leading us down the comedy garden path and surprising us at the end of the trail.  The show delivered great lines like Laura’s constant, “Oh, Rob” or Alan Brady’s “Shut up, Mel.”

I don’t believe anyone on Planet Earth could argue that I Love Lucy has withstood the test of time.

From the Vitametavegimen episode when Lucy gets drunk while shooting the advertisement, to the candy factory when she and Ethel are shoving chocolates into their mouths. The show has continued to bring laughter to every generation around the world, despite its age.

There are so many moments that still bring a smile it would be almost impossible to list them all. Yet three that still remain etched in my memory are Lucy setting William Holden’s nose on fire, stealing John Wayne’s footprints and dressing up a salami as a baby to carry on the plane.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention Milton Berle, AKA Uncle Miltie dressed up as a woman. I guess you could say he was the first drag queen on television. His ability to laugh at himself and carry off a Carman Miranda bowl of fruit on his head was hilarious, and definitely holds up.

Watching Barney Fyfe trying to unholster a gun, Sammy Davis Jr. kissing Archie Bunker, Betty White’s Great Herring War story on Golden Girls or any St. Olaf story. How can we ever forget Carol Burnett dressed in the green velvet curtains in the Gone with the Wind sketch, or Tim Conway breaking Harvey Korman up playing a dentist? Or breaking him up in every bit?

Another great TV moment was in WKRP in Cincinnati. Station owner Arthur Carlson had turkeys dropped out of a helicopter for publicity and discovered the hard way turkeys can’t fly. His iconic confession after the turkey disaster, “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly,”

Chuckles funeral on Mary Tyler Moore when Mary loses it completely. Sue Ann Nivens or Ted Knight, two characters that never failed to elicit laughter. Mary definitely delivered the laughs. Ed Asner as Lou Grant bragging about how fair a boss he was, “If I don’t like you, I’ll fire you. If you don’t like me, I’ll fire you.”

Seinfeld always delivered the goods, sometimes simply by Kramer entering the room. George Costanza saving the whale or Soup Nazi and who could forget the astronaut pen, the manbro or Festivus?  “Yada Yada Yada, “No Soup For, You,” “Serenity Now,” “Hello, Newman,” or “Master of My Domain.” Truthfully, pretty much every moment on Seinfeld was hysterical and it would be almost impossible to list them all.

Friends also delivered shows and lines that have become part of the culture. Phoebe singing Smelly Cat, Ross yelling “We were on a Break,” or mistakenly saying Rachel’s name at his wedding. Joey and Monica with a turkey on their heads or Joey just eating. Chandler advising Joey, “You have to stop the Q-tip when there’s resistance.” Joey’s “How You Doin,” Monica yelling, “I KNOW!” or Janice’s laugh.

Comedy icon Garry Shandling demonstrating the Garden Weasel or Hank Kingston’s “Hey Now” on HBO’s groundbreaking The Larry Sanders Show.

The duck falling down from the ceiling dressed as Groucho? Or Groucho Marx just being Groucho on You Bet Your Life.

No, I didn’t forget Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners threatening to send Alice to the moon. Or Art Carney attempting golf and addressing the ball. “Hello Ball.” Jackie, AKA the Great Gleason, knew how to do comedy.

The wonderful part of recalling all these exceptional comedy moments is the assurance they can be watched again on reruns or, in a pinch, YouTube.

I know there are many more you thought of while reading and feel free to remind us all by commenting on my blog. I’m sure the more comedy moments the better for us all.

Yes, there is much to be concerned about entering 2026, but there is also much to celebrate.

What better way to escape the craziness than to watch a favorite sitcom and keep the hilarity coming?

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope it’s your best and most laugh-filled year ever.

  Sinatra Gave Us “Cool”

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Sinatra Gave Us “Cool”

So we’ve all had lots of time to watch Netflix and all the rest of the streaming services that have little by little replaced network television in our hearts.

One of the things I love so much about this new entertainment chapter is the seemingly endless supply of new and interesting programming available any time night or day.

Last night at 9:30 as I crawled into bed, plumped my pillows and pulled the comfy quilt up underneath my chin, I began the flipping process hoping to land on something new and wonderful to capture my attention and escape the unpleasant reality of our COVID-covered world.

And there it was, right up front on Netflix, Sinatra, All or Nothing at all.

If there are two things my generation never seems to tire of it’s waxing nostalgic and Frank Sinatra.

So of course I began the journey of his life from birth to the end and although I had heard most of it thousands of times, I was transfixed once again.

After I’d finished watching the two-part series in tears of course, I wondered what it was about this man that so captivates and sustains our interest.

Oh yes of course we’ve had numerous superstar singers in our lifetimes, Elvis, John Lennon, Barbra, Mathis, Sammy Davis Jr. and they’ve all managed to attain legendary status.

But they just weren’t Sinatra, he was truly an original.

So why was he different? There are many reasons he’s been set apart, but one I think stands out for me…he bridges the gap between our childhoods, our rebellious teen years and our coming-of-age adulthood. His highly publicized ups and downs were out there to see and learn from.

Frank followed us through every stage of Baby Boomer life. It’s as if he arrived first to set the stage and then set the bar for cool.

Sinatra created cool. He was the very embodiment of the word and everything he touched absorbed the “coolness” from him. He and the Rat Pack even made a tacky place like Las Vegas cool. So much so that as a comedian playing Vegas for the first time I cried when I looked up and saw my name under Dean Martin’s on the marquis on the Strip.

Despite the fact he was our parents’ age, we still liked him, watched his movies and bought his records. Of course at the time we didn’t realize that one of the reasons we would not only embrace him as an artist and come to respect him as a person was that he had conquered life on his own terms.

He’d been repelled by racism and done something about it, he’d shown unbelievable loyalty to his friends, many of whom didn’t show up for him during the bad times, he’d been flawed and filled with faults, but compensated by possessing an incredible human side too endearing to ignore. He was simply his own man and no one owned or controlled him.

He didn’t worry about social norms, other’s insecurities or allowing anyone to set his limitations. He was in a word, Sinatra, and that word became a verb for our generation.

Despite mistakes he fought his way back to the top achieving even greater success and sang about high hopes and that little ant that could move a rubber tree plant. We believed him because why wouldn’t we, he was Sinatra? The man was a legend and yet just a regular Joe from Hoboken.

An ordinary guy who now hung with the 400 Newport set. He’d been at the forefront of Jack Kennedy’s election, a president we idolized. He could walk the streets of Harlem and relate to the people struggling to make it out and his humanity always shown through.

He was a strong force and didn’t need Facebook or Twitter to broadcast his message or retain fame. We didn’t have social media to point out all the shortcomings of our heroes and I’m thinking we were much the better for that.

He showed us another side of entertainers we loved like Sammy, Dean or Peter. If you hung with Sinatra and had his blessing, you had ours.

He lived the way so many wished they could. While most of us got up, went to work, raised our families, clipped coupons and wondered how actresses stayed so thin, he was Sinatraing his way through life. Dating beautiful women, hopping on planes to exciting destinations at a moment’s notice, hobnobbing with the most interesting and glamorous people in the world while doing the work he loved. He was living the Hefner dream, and men salivated while women found a strange, dreamy escape just hearing his voice.

Sinatra made no apologies, yet he acknowledged his mistakes and regrets, and like all of us he was incredibly human while creating the impression he wasn’t at all.

In the age of Superman who disguised as Clark Kent could leap tall buildings in a single bound, Sinatra leapt over convention and life’s obstacles to “do it his way.”

We never had any illusions about being Superman and those who attempted flying wound up in hospital emergency rooms with broken limbs. Yet somewhere deep inside we all believed we could be Sinatra. Cool, persistent, and able to leap over life’s insurmountable hurdles, while remaining hip and happening no matter what life threw our way. He wasn’t politically correct and shamelessly adored women and called them “dolls,” but that was a different era and he was a man of his times.

I was never lucky or perhaps unlucky enough to meet him, (that whole taboo about meeting our idols) but when I was the editor of the newspaper in Beverly Hills I attended a party after he was gone that Barbara Sinatra threw at his home in Palm Springs. I stood in the billiard room scanning the photos of the Rat Pack and others who’d held one of the pool cues lined up on the wall, glazed over like someone in a room filled with famous ghosts.

A final point, I was with friends in Miami when I was twenty-one years old. One night we went to Jilly’s hoping to catch a glimpse of Frank and his friends at one of their favorite haunts.

No we didn’t see The Voice or any members of the Rat Pack that night, but I had the best Egg Foo Young I’ve ever eaten. Yes, for those who know me, and how much I love food I reiterate, best anywhere anytime!

All I can say is leave it to Frank Sinatra to know where to get the best Egg Foo Young. But of course when you’re that cool, you would, right?

Crispy Chocolate Egg Foo Young

 

6 eggs

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1 cup almonds

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips (may use semi sweet, milk, dark or white as you prefer)

Beat eggs and add all ingredients. Pour into ¼ inch canola oil mixed with 1 tablespoon butter. Fry until crispy on both sides.

Serve with melted chocolate sauce.

Melted chocolate sauce

1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

½ cup milk chocolate morsels or block form

1 cup cream

1 teaspoon of rum flavoring or champagne whatever you choose. This is optional if you want it family friendly.

Heat cream until hot, but not boiling and pour over chocolate then mix until melted. Add liquor of your choice, and mix.

Pour over chocolate Egg Foo Young or any dessert you wish.