Month: August 2006

So we tuned into the William Shatner roast on Comedy Central last night, except–although I didn’t keep a running tally–it sure felt like there were more jokes about George Takei than there were about Shatner. Comedians–and I use the term extremely loosely–simply couldn’t get enough of making jokes about George’s having come out. Even George’s entire speech was about the subject. I give it four HSGs, which is the number of times I said, “Holy šhìŧ, George!” throughout the course of it. At least George carried it off with gentlemanly archness that provided amusing contrast to what he was saying. But…geez. An hour of jokes about George’s genitalia?

I was just–I dunno. It’s just that I’m old enough to remember the Friars Club roasts. And maybe they were watered down for TV and there were all kinds of dirty bits that got edited out, but the lacerations in those days were filled with wit and style and didn’t require endless expletives that had to get bleeped out. I don’t give a dámņ about profanity if it’s funny. It’s when it’s used as a substitute for humor–when people laugh in shock or discomfort at word choice rather than because it’s funny. Umpteen comments about George Takei shoving his bleep up someone’s bleep…that’s the state of American humor? Ironically it was Shatner who mostly got just the right mix in his closing comments, wryly commenting to George, “The people here certainly tore you a new áššhølë,” waiting a beat, then dropping his voice to a gravely mumble and adding, “But I’m sure you’ll find a use for it” before losing the high ground by making loud bleeped comments about oral gratification.

It just says something to me that most comedians anyone would have heard of–people who might have raised the level of the humor–didn’t come within ten miles of the event. And so the humor level was instead dragged down. There were a lot of genuinely funny comments, but Shatner’s semi-bewildered “Who the hëll ARE you people?” in his closing really underscored the problem and the C-Level of comedians who were in attendance. Ironically, Andy Ðìçk–whom I usually can’t stand–was actually funny in his incarnation as a devoted fan nerd, and there was one guy who talked about George’s revelation without being foulmouthed: The one who asked George if, when he came out of the closet, the door made that “shwip shwip” air noise of Enterprise doors (it was funnier in the telling than the retelling). Mostly, though, it was unimaginative easy shots.

We had a Stan Lee roast at a Chicago Comicon years ago. I was the toastmaster. Not a single profanity was uttered and the audience laughed itself silly.

Whatever happened to style?

PAD

1) I’d like to see a James Bond movie where it’s revealed that his parents survived the ski accident in which they allegedly died and are running an evil spy organization, and his parents are played by Sean Connery and Diana Rigg.

2) I’d like to see a rumor started that Adrian Brody will be starring as “The Shadow,” just so we see if we can actually make it come about.

3) I’d like to see James Cameron’s “Aquaman.”

4) I’d like to see Weird Al Yankovic write a song called “Snakes on a Plane” set to the tune of “Band on the Run.” (Admit it: You’re already singing it to yourself to see how it sounds. Perfect, isn’t it.)

5) I’d like to see in the next “Pirates” movie that Jack Sparrow got his hat from his dad (Keith Richards.)

6) I’d like to see George W. Bush as a guest on “The Daily Show.”

7) I’d like to see Jack Black playing Blackjack.

8) I’d like to see Geoffrey Rush starring as Doctor Syn in a remake of Disney’s “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.”

PAD

Just finished the novelization for “Spider-Man 3.” I have to admit, there’s a certain sort of smug satisfaction seeing clips and trailers and knowing where all the scenes fit in to the overall story.

Will it be a great film? No idea. Anyone who knows anything about films will tell you that you can never judge what the final movie is going to be like based upon the script. I do know I like it better than the script for SM 2, and tons of people loved that film. So fingers crossed.

And don’t even bother asking for details: I signed a non disclosure agreement, so that’s that.

PAD

We here at PeterDavid.Net try to bring you as spam free a site as we can for your reading enjoyment.

Unfortuantly some of the recent comments have been caught in the filter while we were being “bombed” with exessive garbage. I have gone through the past two weeks and pulled out the legtimate comments from the spam pile. Sorry for the inconvience.

Kath

The moment I saw George Bush cozying up to Joe Lieberman, I had a feeling that Lieberman was toast.

Understand, I was never that wild about Lieberman. Whenever I heard him speak I always felt like I was being scolded by a dyspectic rabbi. It says something, though, that Bush gets himself reelected despite being the originator of his wildly unpopular policies (or at least the perpetrator of the policies he’s told to institute) but those who wind up supporting those policies get killed in elections. Remember the day that Kerry said he would have voted the same way in the Iraqi question even if he knew then what he knew now, and I said that right then, right there, he’d just lost the election even though it wasn’t for another three months? We’re seeing a fascinating example of a classic truth: That Americans are reluctant to switch Commanders in Chief during war (naturally one of the great benefits of Bush launching it) but apparently we’re now seeing they sure don’t mind dumping anyone else who was in favor of it.

It’s almost as if the current crop of Democrats have neither a chance nor a clue. To put it in Lieberman terms, it may be that the entire generation of Democrats have to die out (i.e., be voted out) and a new generation of young turks with little experience, but no ties to the misbegotten launching of the war before they’ll be allowed to enter the promised land.

PAD

Just returned from Wizard Con, which I thought went pretty well. I brought a bunch of my original scripts to sell, and wound up selling them all. Signed tons of autographs for many appreciative fans. Have a lovely chat with Kristen Bell in the green room. Went out to a Marvel-sponsred dinner a t Morton’s steak house. Did a seminar on Writing for Comics that was packed and SRO, and was very well received.

Now I’m working like crazy to catch up with my various assignments. Just banged out a “What If” story that keys off “Spider-Man: The Other” and the script for “FNSM #14.” Now I need to move on to “Fallen Angel,” all the time pounding away on the novelization of “Spider-Man 3.” Still, having too much work should be my biggest problem.

PAD