#Doug e Bob McKenzie

[geekpopnews]

Por que Rick Moranis, ator de 'Os Caça-Fantasmas', parou de fazer filmes?

O ator e comediante #RickMoranis chegou a ser um dos mais bem pagos de Hollywood e tinha tudo para uma carreira de sucesso. Veja a matéria completa no portal.

Se falarmos da cultura pop dos anos 80 e 90, principalmente quando o assunto é filme, um rosto que com certeza é memorável é o do ator e comediante canadense Rick Moranis. Não tem como uma pessoa que cresceu nesse período não se lembrar da presença de Moranis nos filmes: Os Caça-Fantasmas (1984), Querida, Encolhi as Crianças (1989), Os Flintstones – O Filme (1994). O ator e comediante canadense…

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

TROUBLE WITH THE CARVE

Opening this week:

Thanksgiving--Slasher movies of the '70s and early '80s were often holiday-themed. Black Christmas, Halloween, My Bloody Valentine, Silent Night, Deadly Night, New Year's Evil and April Fool's Day are all examples, while Friday the 13th and Happy Birthday to Me, while not strictly about holidays, are still tied to special dates and the convenient unity of time they provide. But Thanksgiving was somehow the major holiday the genre seemed to miss.

There actually were a couple of little-remembered attempts--Home Sweet Home in 1981 and Blood Rage in 1987. But neither seemed to count, perhaps because they didn't use the holiday in the title, or perhaps because they didn't sufficiently exploit the gruesome possibilities offered by the day's rituals. Whatever else may be said about it, the newly-made but self-consciously old-school slasher picture Thanksgiving works hard to include every classic Turkey Day trope.

A shoppers' riot and stampede at a store that shouldn't be open on Thanksgiving leads to bedlam and grisly death in a small Massachusetts town. "One Year Later"--as a subtitle traditionally informs us--a figure in the mask and garb of a Pilgrim skulks around exacting vengeance on those deemed responsible for the disaster. Everything eventually converges in a ghastly sit-down dinner.

The film traces its inception back to 2007, when two movies, the Robert Rodriguez shocker Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantino's stunt thriller Death Proof, were released as a double feature under the joint title Grindhouse. In and around the two features, the show included several "fake trailers" for fictitious grindhouse-style movies. Two of these have already wagged the dog as the basis for real features, Machete (2010) and Hobo With a Shotgun (2011); Thanksgiving marks the third.

Directed by Eli Roth, the Thanksgiving trailer in Grindhouse captured the nastiest, most low-rent atmosphere of a vintage gore movie, complete with scratched, faded footage, some really sleazo shocks, and the smarmy, glottal tones of the narrator (Roth himself?). You could almost believe it wasn't a put-on.

The new feature, directed by Roth from a script by Jeff Rendell, doesn't try for this level of faux-authenticity. The setting is contemporary, the budget clearly comfortable, and cell phones and social media figure prominently in the plot. But the movie still has a nice old-fashioned pace and structure and flavor, and the nostalgia of this is much of what makes it unsavory fun.

I'll admit that in recent years I've largely lost my stomach for slasher flicks. Moreover, I thought Roth's 2002 debut feature Cabin Fever was an interesting misfire at best, and I took a pass on his 2005 torture flick Hostel. But he strikes an affectionate tone here, and he employs techniques that distance us from compassion for the victims. Most simply and effectively, he makes many of them, especially the early ones, deeply and amusingly unsympathetic.

The cast is livened up by some veterans, like Patrick Dempsey, Rick Hoffman and Gina Gershon, and the "final girl" (Nell Verlaque) has a lovely presence, and unlike so many heroines back in the day, she fights back, resourcefully and successfully. It was also great to see Lynne Griffin, the first victim from 1974's Black Christmas--and the Hamlet figure in the Bob and Doug McKenzie movie Strange Brew--in a bit here.

Most notably, the film keeps it light. As with two other movies from earlier this year, Cocaine Bear and Renfield, Thanksgiving goes in for extreme, over-the-top splatter effects, and they aren't scary, nor do they seem meant to be. They aren't even all that gross. There's no visceral substance to them; the bodies of the victims go to pieces like gingerbread men, and the effect, seemingly deliberate, is cartoonish slapstick. We're about as likely to take their suffering seriously as that of Wile E. Coyote.

Maybe it's how entertainment like this works best: as a sort of anarchic Punch and Judy show, using humans instead of puppets. Like Thanksgiving dinner, it wouldn't be healthy to consume this sort of thing every day, but about once a year, it can hit the spot.

[the-firebird69]

Bob & Doug McKenzie with Geddy Lee - Take Off

we are here and amazedw e want it and to do the adds be the chair people.  and do the commercials.  and we want it all and to have it made yes. our product and we are proud.  and a decent brew they say and it is hoppy and barley taste and rich. and about the molson golden level but miller or less p rice  and yeh we get it less then Hulk Hogan by a dollar and ahhaah our routine mb more eh. yeh three ahahahmeans somitng but we ship ini bulk too theys say we see it.  and want it.  

the Mckenzie brothers.  

we do this and hahaha a huge brewery near the wells fargo HQ no but fun idea and in keeping with our criteria.  and good might.  they are all smilinig.  you and kathy did the sounds. and it was fom back east...no.  it was from being cold she said to sing and move around ahahahah lol.  and he wants to o hte commerical and use the decent getty lee parts and yeh code for the ships. and they like it getty lee would be paid and proabllly do a series and have flowing cool clear mountain water.  and from non irradiated areas. they love it and wells there too. this is it we rule andneed it they say.hahah snow shoe to the cabin and with fresh food and two cases of Elsinore Beer and they laugh and a few folks there with the knit wool sweaters on and a fire and yeh fun ok this is fun.

we do it this my brew and i shall do the commercials ok and we have fun.  together. ok ok fun.  the smith adams guy and big ben me and i show an they are there drinking and partying said they rented it and others knew i was out usually. for mnths at at ime.  welcome me in for food beer and they pay me rent...good.  and im sorry to see them go and inquire, when will you come back with the beer and they all laugh annd hhahaha what we say. llol and fun. ok but adams looks like him not me good.

Thor Freya

and fun rich and decent. we do it now ok all this is great. shows they do drink it and are woodsmen an lumberjacks and that is why they leave and return. this rles ok

bg and co no and me crissy we want it badly we join up do it and have them brew it now.

good

Zues Hera

wonderful boy and yes e mwean Thor no you Zues Thor a man and God and you have to grow may have we show you off lo ahahah lol comeon Mother its like wrangler jeans and ok

Olympus

andyeh stupid ads for Doeffe come tom mind and fun ones parties and real ones. this rules

Jenna  gimme a brew no way only havve Deoffe a fine brew and ok gime two will do....and mre we like it and big ones two letre and wow fun our stuff and him good

[mondoradiowmse]

12/20/23 Mondo Radio Playlist

Here's the playlist for this week's special edition of Mondo Radio, which you can download or stream here. This episode: "Too Fat for the Chimney" - A Very Mondo Xmas 2023! If you dig these seasonal sounds, don't forget to also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter!

Artist - Song - Album

Ramma Lamma - Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme - Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme (Single)

Tyler Chicorel Feat. Ashley Smith - Give It All Away - Give It All Away (Single)

Space Raft - Another Holiday Is Here - Another Holiday Is Here (Single)

The Midwest Beat - That's What Christmas Means To Me - That's What Christmas Means To Me (Single)

The Fireflies - Pretty Christmas - The Fireflies Tackle Your Christmas Tree

The Flaming Lips - Little Drummer Boy (Live) - Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994-1997

Wooden Shjips - O Tannenbaum - Holiday Cassingle (Single)

Imagene Peise - White Christmas (Binson Echorec Sleigh Ride) - Atlas Eets Christmas

Heidecker & Wood - Christmas Suite - Starting From Nowhere

Jack Black - Oh Hanukkah - Hanukkah +

Amil Byleckie - Whats In The Bag (Old Man)? - Good Angels Guard Thee

Dungeon Broads Feat. Jacob Berendes - O Christmas Tree - A Very Messy Holiday

Alvaro Cordova E Coro Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnato Dal Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia - Bianco Natale (White Christmas) - Christmas In Italy

Capitol Records With Margaret Whiting - Season's Greetings From Capitol 1949 - Season's Greetings From Capitol 1949 (Single)

Kay Starr With Orchestra Conducted By Frank DeVol - (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag - (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag (Single)

Liberace With George Liberace And His Orchestra - The Toy Piano - Christmas At Liberace's

The Singing Dogs - Jingle Bells - Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD Of All Time

Roger LaVern & The Microns - Christmas Stocking - Vampires, Cowboys, Spacemen & Spooks: The Very Best Of Joe Meek's Instrumentals

Bobby Helms - Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol) - Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol) (Single)

Sunshine Ruby - Too Fat For The Chimney - Too Fat For The Chimney (Single)

Sugar "Chile" Robinson - Christmas Boogie - Christmas Boogie (Single)

Fat Daddy - Fat Daddy - A John Waters Christmas

Detroit Junior - Christmas Day - Blue Yule: Christmas Blues And R&B Classics

Darlene Love - White Christmas - A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Solomon Burke - Presents For Christmas - The Original Soul Christmas

James Brown - Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To Stay (Vocal) - The Singles, Vol. 7: 1970-1972

Edd 'Kookie' Byrnes - Yulesville - Yulesville!: 33 Rockin' Rollin' Christmas Blasters For The Cool Season

Bob Seger & The Last Heard - Sock It To Me Santa - Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967

Bob & Doug McKenzie - Twelve Days Of Christmas - Great White North

Heather Noel - Santa Came On A Nuclear Missile - The American Song-Poem Christmas: Daddy, Is Santa Really Six Foot Four?

Monty Python - Christmas In Heaven - Monty Python Sings

James White And The Blacks - Christmas With Satan - Off White

Henry Rollins - 'Twas The Night Before Christmas - O Come All Ye Faithful: Rock For Choice

Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band With The Rootettes - Xmas At K-Mart - Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Xmas

Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - Brain Drain

Sparks - Thank God It's Not Christmas - Kimono My House

Nilsson - Remember (Christmas) - Son Of Schmilsson

Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Wizzard Brew

Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody - Get Yer Boots On: The Best Of Slade

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Gimme Some Truth

[thelastspeecher]

eregyrn-falls replied to your post “eregyrn-falls replied to your post “I did some more work on the next...”

Oh man, that IS criminal! And wrong! (I can sort of understand some criticisms of it, including some tonal disparities, but for me what's good about the movie far outweighs all of that.) The art direction in that movie is just above and beyond. So many Disney movies are set in fantasy settings (which is fine!), and their landscapes are fantasy landscapes (which is fine!),

but the FIDELITY in BB to a very detailed depiction of a REAL landscape is just breathtaking. (And the char design is good and the moose are hiliarious, although I suppose I get that they are not for everyone. But I love them.)

And I mean, not JUST Rick Moranis! Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis! Is... is everybody else too young to remember Bob and Doug Mckenzie? Damn, I gotta go find "Take Off (To the Great White North)" on YouTube...

see, in regards to like, the criticisms of Brother Bear, I...don’t really get them?  I mean, Wikipedia claims the majority of the criticisms are directed towards the plot.  which doesn’t make sense to me.  yeah, the plot treads some familiar beats and follows a general trajectory that isn’t too surprising, but like.  it’s a Disney movie?  it has a Disney movie-type plot!  and, tbh, the premise seems unique enough to me!

I watched it a lot as a kid, which might make me a bit biased, but looking back on it as an adult, I still don’t really...see what the problem is?  especially because, like you said, holy SHIT is the movie BEAUTIFUL, and a representation of the natural wonders present in America.  like, this is a good movie to make you an environmentalist, just off the scenery alone.

and re: the character design - something I noticed when I rewatched it a while ago...they don’t give the Native characters white noses.  which...feels like something I should have to give props for, but...

if you like the moose, you would LOVE the commentary.  see, the commentary on Brother Bear’s DVD release isn’t from the cast or director or w/e, they had the voice actors who voiced the moose be the people commentating.  and had them be in character as the moose.  at one point, they order pizza.  I just.  it’s so good.

I managed to find the commentary for the transformation scene, here.  seriously.  it’s hilarious.

and.....sorry, I don’t recognize Dave Thomas :/  I only know Rick Moranis bc he was in Ghostbusters.  it might not be an age thing, tho, it might just be that I watched like three movies as a kid - Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Brother Bear, and The Blues Brothers

[deejaybearclaw]

Ursine Waves Episode 059: Pre-April Foolishness

Listen on Mixcloud

A special show taking a nostalgic look back at comedy songs of the late '70s through the '80s, when your host was a cub:

Cheech & Chong - Earache My Eye - Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album Martin Mull - The Humming Song - I'm Everyone I've Ever Loved Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons - King Tut Bob & Doug McKenzie with Geddy Lee - Take Off - Great White North Eddie Murphy - Boogie in Your Butt - Boogie in Your Butt Rodney Dangerfield - Rappin' Rodney - Rappin' Rodney The Wrestlers - Land Of 1.000 Dances ?!!? - The Wrestling Album Billy Crystal (with Paul Shaffer) - You Look Marvelous - Mahvelous! Emo Philips - Downtown Downers Grove - E=MO² Dana Carvey - Choppin' Broccoli Joe Piscopo - White Boy Rap Julie Brown - The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun - Trapped in the Body of a White Girl Sam Kinison - Wild Thing - Have You Seen Me Lately? Kids in the Hall - Daves I Know Tracey Ullman - Breakaway - You Broke My Heart In 17 Places Tracey Ullman - They Don't Know - You Broke My Heart In 17 Places

Originally broadcast 3/31/21 on Hollow Earth Radio, KHUH-LP Seattle, 104.9 FM & http://hollowearthradio.org.

[deathcupcake]

Cupcake’s Random 20, New Year’s Day 2018

Lark - Au Revoir Simone Sells Like Teens Hear It - Public Enemy Birdstar (A1558 Nov 92B.1) - Underworld The Cellar - The Blair Witch Project soundtrack A.H.B. - S U R V I V E History Repeating - Propellerheads Home Of The Brave - Spiritualized Exo-Politics - Muse Ernie's Mom - Bob & Doug McKenzie I'll Be Your Chauffeur (original version) - David J The Scarlet Thing In You - Peter Murphy From Creation - Thievery Corporation Gold (Hipoptimist Alchemy mix) - Lamb Dead Nature - Savages Pop The Trunk - Thunderball Poplar St. - Glass Animals Lagartija Nick - Bauhaus Anarchy - David J Seven Veils - Peter Murphy Roses Today - Johnny Scott

I'm not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign to see so much Bauhaus Greater Family(tm) on this first list of the year, but I'll take it!

[dannyreviews]

Cinema Legends Between 95-105 + Years Old Still Alive (as of 10/10/2017)

Here’s yet another update

Marguerite Allan - actress (b. 1909)?

Mario Sequi - director, screenwriter (b. 1910 or 1913)?

Ruthie Tompson - animator (b. 1910 or 1912)

Yuaka Sada - actor (b. 1911)

Rene Siminot - dubbing actress (b. 1911)

Urho Harkola - actor (b. 1911)

Mary Carlisle  - actress (b. 1912 or 1914)

Connie Sawyer - actress (b. 1912) † 1/22/2018

Katsumi Tezuka - actor (b. 1912)

Viola Smith -  musician, actress (b. 1912)

Don Lusk - animator, director (b. 1913)

Milton Quon - animator (b. 1913)

Julie Gibson - actress (b. 1913)

Pappukutty Bhagavathar - actor, singer (b. 1913)

Aldo Rossi - screenwriter, director (b. 1913)

Norman Lloyd - actor, producer, director (b. 1914)

Gertrude Jeannette - actress, screenwriter (b. 1914)

Fred Fox - soundtrack musician (b. 1914)

Alfredo Varelli - actor (b. 1914)

Norman Spencer - producer (b. 1914)

Maciej Maciejewski - actor (b. 1914)

Ralph Woolsey - cinematographer (b. 1914)

Mary Ward - actress (b. 1915)

Patricia Morison - actress (b. 1915)

Herman Wouk - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1915)

Nini Theilade - dancer, actress (b. 1915)

Mag Bodard - producer (b. 1916)

Olivia De Havilland - actress (b. 1916)

Kirk Douglas - actor (b. 1916)

Eric Bentley - screenwriter, playwright (b. 1916)

Elisa Stella - actress (b. 1916)

Beverly Cleary - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1916)

Jean Erdman - choreographer (b. 1916)

Sumiko Mizukubo - actress (b. 1916)?

Harriet Frank Jr. - screenwriter (b. 1917)

Danielle Darrieux -  actress (b. 1917) † 10/18/2017

Vera Lynn - singer, actress (b. 1917)

Earl Cameron - actor (b. 1917)

Marsha Hunt - actress (b. 1917)

Suzy Delair - actress (b. 1917)

Lee Miller - actor (b. 1917)

Lise Nørgaard - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1917)

Hilde Zadek - opera singer, actress (b. 1917)

Anne Hegira - actress (b. 1917)

Helen Burns - actress (b. 1917)

Anna Campori - actress (b. 1917) † 1/19/2018

Don Marion Davis - actor (b. 1917)

Gerald Schnitzler - screenwriter (b. 1917)

Fay McKenzie - actress (b. 1918)

Shinobu Hasimoto - screenwriter (b. 1918)

Alice Provensen - animator (b. 1918)

Artur Brauner - producer (b. 1918)

Baby Peggy - actress (b. 1918)

Bob Givens - animator (b. 1918) † 12/14/2017

Murray Westgate - actor (b. 1918)

Ivy Bethune - actress (b. 1918)

Helen Hughes - actress (b. 1918)

Dusty Anderson - actress (b. 1918)

Guje Lagerwall - actress (b. 1918)

Eloise Hardt - actress (b. 1918)

Doreen Turner - actress (b. 1918)

Jeanne Manet - actress (b. 1918)

Jean Moussette - director, editor, cameraman (b. 1918)

Sid Ramin - composer (b. 1919)

Lester James Peries - director, screenwriter (b. 1919)

Nehemiah Persoff - actor (b. 1919)

Walter Bernstein - screenwriter (b. 1919)

Marge Champion - actress, dancer (b. 1919)

Joachim Tomaschewsky - actor (b. 1919)

Joe Masteroff - playwright (b.1919)

Dorothy Morrison - actress (b. 1919)

Louise Watson - actress (b. 1919)

Caren Marsh - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Grace Albertson - actress (b. 1919)

Betty Brodel - singer, actress (b. 1919)

Sono Osato - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Sheila Mercier - actress (b. 1919)

Jack Costanzo - musician, actor (b. 1919 or 1922)

Norma Miller - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Alfie Scopp - actor (b. 1919)

Helen Shingler - actress (b. 1919)

Doris Merrick - actress (b. 1919)

William O. Harbach - producer, director, actor (b. 1919) † 12/18/2017

Doug Young - actor (b. 1919) † 1/7/2018

Michael Anderson - director (b. 1920)

Lewis Gilbert  - director (b. 1920)

Jerry Maren - actor (b. 1920)

Doris Merrick - actress (b. 1920)

Kathryn Adams - actress (b. 1920)

Don Kennedy - actor (b. 1920)

Lassie Lou Ahern - actress (b. 1920)

Noah Keen - actor (b. 1920)

Victor Platt - actor (b. 1920)

Nanette Fabray - actress (b. 1920)

Kate Murtagh - actress (b. 1920)

Franca Valeri - actress (b. 1920)

Jack Edwards - actor (b. 1920)

Anita Kert Ellis - actress, singer (b. 1920)

Norma Barzman - screenwriter (b. 1920)

Sergio Mendizábal - actor (b. 1920)

A. E. Hotchner - novelist, screenwriter, playwright (b. 1920)

Gudrun Parker - producer (b. 1920)

Doudou Babet - actress (b. 1920)

Bill Gold - film poster creator (b. 1921)

Carol Channing - actress (b. 1921)

Herbert Ellis - actor (b. 1921)

Josip Elic - actor (b. 1921)

Ruth de Souza - actress (b. 1921)

Jack Rader - actor (b. 1921)

Geoffrey Copleston - actor (b. 1921)

Geoffrey Chater - actor (b. 1921)

Bill Butler - cinematographer (b. 1921)

Muriel Pavlow - actress (b. 1921)

Harry Landers - actor (b. 1921) † 1/4/2018

Walter Mirisch - producer (b. 1921)

Tom Felleghy - actor (b. 1921)

Teddi Sherman - screenwriter (b. 1921)

Patricia Marmont - actress (b. 1921)

Carlo Lastricati - assistant director (b. 1921)

Betty White - actress (b. 1922)

Ray Anthony - musician, actor (b. 1922)

Denis Norden - screenwriter (b. 1922)

Carl Reiner - actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1922)

Marty Allen - actor, comedian (b. 1922)

Doris Day - actress, singer (b. 1922)

Mundell Lowe - composer (b. 1922) † 12/2/2017

William Phipps - actor (b. 1922)

Margia Dea - actress (b. 1922)

Helen Mowery - actress (b. 1922)

Bill Macy - actor (b. 1922)

Joan Copeland - actress (b. 1922)

Bibi Ferreira - actress (b. 1922) 

Tony Charmoli - dancer, choreographer, director (b. 1922)

Charles Csuri - animator (b. 1922)

Norman Lear - producer (b. 1922)

Micheline Presle - actress (b. 1922)

Ivry Gitlis - violinist, actor (b. 1922)

Janis Paige - actress (b. 1922)

Louise Latham - actress (b. 1922)

Bert I. Gordon - director (b. 1922)

Theodore Lehmann - actor (b. 1922)

Miriam Nelson - choreographer, actress (b. 1922)

Paul Barselou - actor (b. 1922)

Peter Hughes - actor (b. 1922)

Fred Crippen - animator (b. 1922)

Françoise Javet - editor (b. 1922)

Ebrahim Golestan - director (b. 1922)

Ethmer Roten - film score musician (b. 1922)

[trentteti]

What Happened to All the Cool Lawyers on TV?

On television, not very long ago, there was Ally McBeal. On that show, Calista Flockhart captured the 90s zeitgest by navigating her 20s in a zany Boston law firm with a unisex bathroom, all while wearing high-hemmed business suits and dating Robert Downey, Jr. Before her, there was Arnie Becker and Michael Kuzak and Doug Brackman of L.A. Law’s elite firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney, and Kuzak, who slept with clients after having them sign legal documents, discussed an apparently mythical sexual position called the “Venus Flytrap,” and gallivanted around a sunny Los Angeles with Reagan-era excess. Before them, there was Perry Mason, where Raymond Burr played a immaculately-coifed criminal defense attorney with the remarkable fortuity to not only represent exclusively innocent clients, but to be able to use logic, evidence, and a steely courtroom demeanor to break down the actual perpetrator on the stand.

The “cool” lawyer—whip smart, relatively young, attractive, and improbably successful in winning cases—used to be practically a stock character on television. Nearly every network had a legal show, and nearly every legal show had the character that made being an attorney look like one of the coolest things you could do. There was the follicly-gifted Peter Gallagher as Sandy Cohen on The O.C. There was Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing. James Spader as Alan Shore on Boston Legal. A veritable army of prosecutors on the Law & Order franchise. These shows may have taken a few liberties in depicting a work of a lawyer, but the characters made the job look fun and aspirational.

But now, these lawyers have all but vanished from television. It’s not exactly a surprising development; TV cycles come and go. But this time, the disappearance of the “cool” lawyer character type has corresponded with an era when young graduates don’t necessarily consider legal careers with the same starry-eyed reverence they once did. So it’s worth asking why that is, and if the disappearance of this once ubiquitous character had anything to do with that.

When you look to attorneys currently on television, you have to start with Better Call Saul, currently airing its third season on AMC. On that show, Bob Odenkirk depicts the slow moral degradation of Jimmy McGill, a former two-bit con man trying to straighten his act and make it in the legal world. Of course, everyone watching this show knows where this story ends. Better Call Saul is a prequel to the massively-popular Breaking Bad, where Odenkirk played the beloved character Saul Goodman, the alias McGill adopts to take an “unscrupulous” approach to the law.

The way Saul depicts the legal profession is actually fairly realistic. A season two episode features a lengthy (and, for what it’s worth, beautifully shot) montage of a character methodically working through a Rolodex to find a new client for her law firm. No one will accuse Saul of taking the poetic license with the legal profession its predecessors did. But this accurate depiction of legal work, along with a protagonist who, at his very best, takes a very shady approach to his work, isn’t exactly making the legal profession look cool the same way these older shows did. In other words, it’s hard to imagine Saul inspiring recent grads to take the leap into the life of an attorney.

The closest things currently on the air to “cool” attorney characters are probably Harvey Specter and Mike Ross on USA’s Suits. On that show, Specter—an attorney who’s the best “closer” in New York (which is a thing, apparently)—brings on Ross to help him at his firm, despite the fact that Ross never attended law school, and is therefore not, strictly speaking, an attorney. These guys have all the hallmarks of the “cool” lawyer stock character. Easy wit, glamorous offices, romantic entanglements. But the very premise of the show seems to undermine its place within the lineage of “cool” lawyer shows. In order to make lawyers seem cool again, they had to bring in a non-lawyer, who didn’t have time for the business of actually earning a degree and getting admitted to practice law.

It’s telling that when David E. Kelley—who, through his work on L.A. Law, The Practice, Boston Legal, and Ally McBeal, practically invented and codified the “cool” lawyer look—returned to make TV this year, he didn’t really bother with any attorney characters. Kelley’s Big Little Lies on HBO featured but one attorney character: Nicole Kidman’s retired attorney Celeste Wright. Kidman managed to get one semi-“cool” lawyer moment in—making the legal case that the mayor of the city had no right to cancel her friend’s production of Avenue Q—but her main story had almost nothing to do with her former life of attorney. If David E. Kelley were to depict the moneyed elite of Monterey, CA in the 80s or 90s, surely he would have made them all partners at prestigious law firms. Now, they’re all tech CEOs.

And that seems to be the death knell for the “cool” lawyer trope. Once upon a time, if a TV writer wanted to make a character seem smart, witty, and iconoclastic, making them an attorney was an obvious move. Now, making them a tech visionary is an even more obvious move. Obviously, the stagnation in law school applications is due to a multitude of factors. But it’s no secret that pop culture influences people’s, especially young people’s, attitudes and perceptions. And with the disappearance of the charismatic attorneys from the television screen has to play at least some small role in the legal profession’s relative loss of cachet.

What Happened to All the Cool Lawyers on TV? was originally published on LSAT Blog

[dannyreviews]

Cinema Legends Between 95-105 + Years Old Still Alive (as of 5/3/2017)

Marguerite Allan - actress (b. 1909)?

Mario Sequi - director, screenwriter (b. 1910 or 1913)?

Ruthie Tompson - animator (b. 1910 or 1912)

Yuaka Sada - actor (b. 1911)

Rene Siminot - dubbing actress (b. 1911)

Urho Harkola - actor (b. 1911)

Mary Carlisle  - actress (b. 1912 or 1914)

Connie Sawyer - actress (b. 1912)

Katsumi Tezuka - actor (b. 1912)

Viola Smith -  musician, actress (b. 1912)

Robert Goodier - actor (b. 1912)?

Don Lusk - animator, director (b. 1913)

Milton Quon - animator (b. 1913)

Julie Gibson - actress (b. 1913)

Pappukutty Bhagavathar - actor, singer (b. 1913)

Gisele Casadesus - actress (b. 1914) † 9/25/2017

Norman Lloyd - actor, producer, director (b. 1914)

Gertrude Jeannette - actress, screenwriter (b. 1914)

Fred Fox - soundtrack musician (b. 1914)

Alfredo Varelli - actor (b. 1914)

Norman Spencer - producer (b. 1914)

Maciej Maciejewski - actor (b. 1914)

Mary Ward - actress (b. 1915)

Patricia Morison - actress (b. 1915)

Herman Wouk - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1915)

Nini Theilade - dancer, actress (b. 1915)

Ramananda Sengupta - cinematographer (b. 1915) † 8/23/2017

Mag Bodard - producer (b. 1916)

Olivia De Havilland - actress (b. 1916)

Kirk Douglas - actor (b. 1916)

Sam Beazley - actor (b. 1916) † 6/12/2017

Eric Bentley - screenwriter, playwright (b. 1916)

Elisa Stella - actress (b. 1916)

Beverly Cleary - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1916)

Jean Erdman - choreographer (b. 1916)

Sumiko Mizukubo - actress (b. 1916)?

Harriet Frank Jr. - screenwriter (b. 1917)

Danielle Darrieux -  actress (b. 1917)

Vera Lynn - singer, actress (b. 1917)

Earl Cameron - actor (b. 1917)

June Foray - actress (b. 1917) † 7/26/2017

Marsha Hunt - actress (b. 1917)

Suzy Delair - actress (b. 1917)

Lee Miller - actor (b. 1917)

Lise Nørgaard - novelist, screenwriter (b. 1917)

Bea Wain - singer (b. 1917) † 8/19/2017

Hilde Zadek - opera singer, actress (b. 1917)

Anne Hegira - actress (b. 1917)

Helen Burns - actress (b. 1917)

Anna Campori - actress (b. 1917)

Fay McKenzie - actress (b. 1918)

Shinobu Hasimoto - screenwriter (b. 1918)

Alice Provensen - animator (b. 1918)

Artur Brauner - producer (b. 1918)

Baby Peggy - actress (b. 1918)

Bob Schiller - screenwriter (b. 1918) † 10/10/2017

Bob Givens - animator (b. 1918)

Murray Westgate - actor (b. 1918)

Ivy Bethune - actress (b. 1918)

Helen Hughes - actress (b. 1918)

Anneliese Uhlig - actress (b. 1918) † 6/17/2017

Dusty Anderson - actress (b. 1918)

Guje Lagerwall - actress (b. 1918)

Eloise Hardt - actress (b. 1918)

Doreen Turner - actress (b. 1918)

Jeanne Manet - actress (b. 1918)

Sid Ramin - composer (b. 1919)

Xavier Atencio - animator (b. 1919) † 9/10/2017

Lester James Peries - director, screenwriter (b. 1919)

Nehemiah Persoff - actor (b. 1919)

Walter Bernstein - screenwriter (b. 1919)

Margot Hielscher - actress (b. 1919) † 8/20/2017

Marge Champion - actress, dancer (b. 1919)

Joachim Tomaschewsky - actor (b. 1919)

Joe Masteroff - playwright (b.1919)

Dorothy Morrison - actress (b. 1919)

Louise Watson - actress (b. 1919)

Caren Marsh - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Grace Albertson - actress (b. 1919)

Betty Brodel - singer, actress (b. 1919)

Sono Osato - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Sheila Mercier - actress (b. 1919)

Jack Costanzo - musician, actor (b. 1919 or 1922)

Norma Miller - dancer, actress (b. 1919)

Alfie Scopp - actor (b. 1919)

Helen Shingler - actress (b. 1919)

Doris Merrick - actress (b. 1919)

William O. Harbach - producer, director, actor (b. 1919)

Doug Young - actor (b. 1919)

Julian Zimet - screenwriter (b. 1919)

Michael Anderson - director (b. 1920)

Lewis Gilbert  - director (b. 1920)

Jerry Maren - actor (b. 1920)

Doris Merrick - actress (b. 1920)

Kathryn Adams - actress (b. 1920)

Don Kennedy - actor (b. 1920)

Lassie Lou Ahern - actress (b. 1920)

Noah Keen - actor (b. 1920)

Victor Platt - actor (b. 1920)

Nanette Fabray - actress (b. 1920)

Kate Murtagh - actress (b. 1920)

Franca Valeri - actress (b. 1920)

Jack Edwards - actor (b. 1920)

Anita Kert Ellis - actress, singer (b. 1920)

Norma Barzman - screenwriter (b. 1920)

Sergio Mendizábal - actor (b. 1920)

A. E. Hotchner - novelist, screenwriter, playwright (b. 1920)

Bill Gold - film poster creator (b. 1921)

Carol Channing - actress (b. 1921)

Peter Sallis - actor (b. 1921) † 6/2/2017

Herbert Ellis - actor (b. 1921)

Josip Elic - actor (b. 1921)

Ruth de Souza - actress (b. 1921)

Jack Rader - actor (b. 1921)

Geoffrey Copleston - actor (b. 1921)

Geoffrey Chater - actor (b. 1921)

Bill Butler - cinematographer (b. 1921)

Muriel Pavlow - actress (b. 1921)

Monty Hall - game show host (b. 1921) † 9/30/2017

Harry Landers - actor (b. 1921)

Walter Mirisch - producer (b. 1921)

Tom Felleghy - actor (b. 1921)

Teddi Sherman - screenwriter (b. 1921)

Betty White - actress (b. 1922)

Ray Anthony - musician, actor (b. 1922)

Denis Norden - screenwriter (b. 1922)

Carl Reiner - actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1922)

Marty Allen - actor, comedian (b. 1922)

Doris Day - actress, singer (b. 1922)

Mundell Lowe - composer (b. 1922)

William Phipps - actor (b. 1922)

Margia Dea - actress (b. 1922)

Helen Mowery - actress (b. 1922)