Does anyone else find "bikini bottom" the strangest framing ever to come out of Washington? Personally, I think it's hilarious.

Ahem.

jbl_inAZ -

Some other tags work, some don't. But more advanced tags are more open to hacking, so I don't like to advertise exactly which ones work and which don't. Try one out, if you like, and see what it looks like. I've been investigating adding a "preview" feature to the comments, so you can see your comments before they post, but haven't gotten very far with it yet, sorry.

akadjian -

You're right about Williams, he has seemed to lose his edge a bit recently. But, as you said, he still does have his moments.

Didn't see Baio replacing Winkler on AD, but you're right that's a situation ripe for "inside jokes." I did like the ensemble case (with Winkler, I believe, although I could be wrong) for the short-lived cartoon "Sit Down, Shut Up." Which, I have to admit, I watch because I think Kirsten Chenowith is cute as a button, even when you can't actually see her. Heh.

nypoet22 -

The funniest bit I remember from Robin Williams was off his first comedy album (forget what it is called), his imitation of a "New York City echo"

[said as a tourist would say it at an echo point]: "Helloo-oo-oo-oo..."

"Shut the fuck up!!"

Heh. That one still gets me.

-CW

"Baseball players go in front of a grand jury and say yeah, i did cocaine, but can you blame me, it's a slow g'ddamn game! i'm standing out there in left field and there's a long white line going all the way down to home plate!"
~live at the met

A more recent "Happy Days" moment I thought was truly hysterical was when Henry Winkler's character on "Arrested Development" was replaced by Bob Loblaw (say this fast for greatest effect) who was played by Scott Baio.

Baio's character, Chachi, originally was brought onto Happy Days to appeal to younger audiences. They play this up in AD with Baio saying things like he skews better with younger juries.

*sigh*

It's still hard to believe the network canceled such a great show.

-David

And he was simply outstanding in LIVE AT THE MET. His most recent stand-up WEAPONS OF SELF DESTRUCTION was not so funny. He seemed to use profanity, just for the sake of profanity. His whole routine seemed forced and he wasn't really into it.

His "voice" acting gigs have all been great. I loved him in ALADDIN and HAPPY FEET. He is also going to do HAPPY FEET 2. :D

Michale.....

I'm guessing around the time of Hook or perhaps when he went off the cocaine.

He still has moments. But is it just me or is it getting more and more painful watching him try to his same routine?

-CW

All I remember was it was a cheap way to try to get the "surfer craze" into the storyline. I actually thought the series "jumped the shark" when Richie went off to college (which is why American Graffiti ended with that, a wise move).

Whoops! I knew I was going to get in trouble with initials...
but I guess it should have been "L,AS" rather than "LAS" so I guess I'm OK.

Michale -

I never in a million years would have guessed Archie. Not TV, but an asterisk on that list should be the group "The Archies" who sang "Sugar, Sugar" which beat the Beatles out for #1 the year it came out, if memory serves.

Elizabeth -

Looks good! Don't know what happened with the underline problem...

Hey, is it just me, or did I screw something up with the ads on the site? They seem to be at the absolute bottom here, instead of over on the right where they belong. I'll look into it later...

-CW

:(

And, the check is in the mail ... or, should I say, the bill! :)

Seriously, it's nice to know that being the most computer-illiterate commenter here is good for something. But, that dubious distinction won't last for long as I intend to make very good use of the Commenting Tips.

As you can see, with any semblance of luck on my part, the advice that you have presented here to improve the aesthetic component of our ... okay, of my comments is so clear and concise that even I can follow it.

P.S. The comment numbers look pretty good, too!

One of the funniest lines from a sitcom that *I* remember came from that episode.. :D

Greg:"Stay close behind me!"
Peter:"If I was any closer behind you, I would be in front of you!"

Yea, I know, it's silly.. But it was funny as hell at the time.. :D

Michale.....

I cheated and went to the IMDB. There was a three-part "Hollywood" episode from Sept. 1977 which includes the shark-jumping incident, or perhaps to be more accurate, or at least cautions, it includes a shark jumping incident.

I'll get to the rest in a bit, but I wanted to address this...

Yer not going to believe it, but the king of spinoffs is actually the ARCHIE Show...

17 Spinoffs from ARCHIE, which is a "spinoff" itself from the Archie Comics..

From The Archie Show (1968)
* The Archie Comedy Hour (1969)
o Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies (1970)
+ Groovie Goolies (1971)
# Groovie Goolies and Friends (1978)
+ Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1971–1974)
# The New Archie and Sabrina Hour (1977)
* Archie's Bang-ShanLalapalooza Show (1978)
# Sabrina, Superwitch (1977)
# Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996–2003)
* Sabrina, the Animated Series (1999–2000)
o Sabrina's Secret Life (2003–2004)
o Archie's TV Funnies (1971)
o U.S. of Archie (1974–1976)
o The New Archies (1987–1988)
o Archie's Weird Mysteries (1999–2000)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_spin-offs

Forgive the formatting of the listing.. :D

Michale.....

Then I looked again. "Love American Style". Oh.

OK, back to TV trivia. When I wrote the Happy Days stuff in this article, I did so from memory (I had plenty of other facts to check, so didn't bother). What I couldn't remember (so I just left it out) was whether the shark 2-part episode (which was a cliff-hanger, part 1 ended with Fonzie literally in midair, as I recall...) was split between two seasons (as Dallas later did with "Who Shot JR?") so we had to wait all summer to find out whether Fonzie got chomped or not, or whether it just aired sequentially. Anyone?

-CW

-CW

The Brady Bunch/Hawaii/tarantula episode gave me nightmares, so, yes, I do remember that one...

:-(

I've never seen the LAS sketch that spun off HD, but I was vaguely aware of it. You'll notice I said "ripoff" not "spinoff" re: AG, which HD definitely was.

I never saw the cartoon series, but it sounds downright hideous. But then, nothing can top the "Star Wars Christmas Special" for televised hideousness, in my opinion....

Um, at a guess, I'd say "All In The Family" was king of the spinoffs? Probably wrong, but I bet it's at least in the top 10. Did you know that (like "The Office") AITF was an Americanized version of a British series? Didn't learn that until a few years ago, myself.

Everyone have fun with the Commenting Tips page!

:-)

-CW

michale: there does exist a way to change things here in florida. have you heard about this november's anti-gerrymandering initiatives?

http://cliqueypizza.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/mork-and-mindy-laverne-and-shirley-fonz-show.jpg

Michale.....

Did you know that Happy Days itself was actually a spinoff of LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE and NOT American Graffiti??

And, despite the disaster that was the JOANIE LOVES CHACHI spin-off (1982-1983), there was another grotesque spin-off.

The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz Show Cartoon Series.. Also from 1982-1983

Speaking of spin-offs, do you know the show that had the most spin-offs, 17??

No fair GOOGLE'ing... :D

Michale.....

"I was wrong."

"I was wr..... I was waaa....."

Howz that? :D

Yea, I remember now.. The Shark Jump episode was when everyone went out to California..

By the by, that's another indication that a hit show is on the down turn. When they move the entire cast to an "exotic" new location. The Brady Bunch in Hawaii is another example.

Michale.....

Williams' priceless line, after befriending "Richie Cunningham" in the HD episode, of course, after watching Ron Howard on the TV screen in "the 1950s" was: "I like that boy Opie!"

There were plenty of funny lines on "Happy Days," but none (in my humble opinion) funnier than that one. Which, as it turned out, gave the world the comic genius of Robin Williams.

Just had to say that.

-CW

As Fonzie himself couldn't ever bring himself to say... the phrase you're looking for is...

"I was wrong."

Heh heh.

:-)

-CW

We hereby introduce our new "LizM" link -- suggested by none other than commneter Elizabeth Miller here -- we have worked diligently all week, and are now ready to unveil our new "Commenting Tips" page to all and sundry. The link in question should now appear over everyone's comment entry box, in the introductory comments.

We've put together all our advice on commenting into one page, and encourage everyone to take a look, and try some new tricks in your comment text.

Let me know if you have any problems with the advice on this page, and again, we'd like to honor LizM for making the suggestion in the first place. This also has led us to a general notion of upgrading and modernizing all the static page links on this site, which will happen in the next few weeks.

Anyway, let us know if any of the "Commenting Tips" advice works, doesn't work, or is downright confusing, because we're itching to hear some feedback on it.

We return you now to your previously-interrupted Fonzie debate...

:-)

-CW

But seeing Henry Winkler in a 1950s "speedo" really gave me a chill.. You need to put out a warning before ya link to pictures like that! :D

Michale.....

I beg to differ. Fonzie was in swim trunks, and his signature leather jacket, when he "jumped the shark." He jumped something else with his motorcycle (a school bus?) in a different episode, I believe in response to whatever Evel Knievel was doing at the time.

Here you go.

And if that isn't enough, here's the action figure.

[Full-on Bronx cheer mode]: THBBBPPPBBBTTT!!!!

(Couldn't resist, truth be told...)

:-)

-CW

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that Fonzie jumped over the penned up shark on his motorcycle, not skis..

As for the nuke issue, I have to admit I also find it "ho hum"...

I mean, honestly.. Before "NEW" START, the US and Russia had enough nukes to destroy the planet 20 times over.

After "NEW" START, the US & Russia have enough nukes to "destroy" the planet only 15 times over.

Forgive me, but that (to me) belongs in the "BFD" file... :D

Sometimes, politicians say things which are so monumentally stupid that they leave even us utterly speechless and at a loss for words. This, sadly, is one of those times.

However, this must be filed under the "WHEN YER RIGHT, YER RIGHT" file...

That was a monumentally boneheaded statement..

NYPoet,

My lovely wife has an ECE Degree and has been involved with the Head Start program since our oldest son was in Head Start. (He is 28 now)

She left a $23 p/h job to come to Florida in 1997. The best she could find in the county school district was a teacher's assistant position in a classroom of 33 kids for $7.50 p/h.

She left the schools in 2000 to work for a family as a nanny and a home schooler. 3 kids @ $14 p/h.

And government wonders why we can't keep good teachers... :^/

Michale......

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/accountability/lets-look-at-some-of.html