Clea's Cave

Lillian Ellison, The Fabulous Moolah R.I.P.

Sad news that Lillian Ellison, better known as The Fabulous Moolah, died on November 2 in her home on Moolah Drive in Columbia, S. C., probably due to complications following recent eye and shoulder surgery. She was 84, and had spent over 50 years in and around the squared circle, not only as a wrestler and performer, but as a trainer and sponsor of new talent, including Wendi Richter, who famously challenged her with manager Cyndi Lauper during the WWF "Rock 'n Wrestling" golden era.  Born in South Carolina, she was the youngest and only girl of 13 kids.  Her mother died when she was 8, and she and her father bonded over pro wrestling matches they attended in Columbia.  She leaves behind her partner, Mae Young, one daughter (born when Lillian was only 14), six grandchildren and six great grandchildren, as well as an extended family of wrestlers who became daughters and sisters.

Moolah was trained by Mildred Burke, the most famous wrestler of her day, and then went on to become the biggest women's wrestling star of all time.  She held the championship for 28 years, from 1956 to 1984, then reclaimed the title a year later for two years, and came back yet again at the age of 76 for a final championship year in 1999! WWE hype is that she has the longest continuous championship in pro sports but this actually discounts 'temporary' transfers of belts in minor bouts during a season, a common feature of pro wrestling drama. Still, it's difficult to see how any womn will ever approach her record.

Most of the time Moolah played a heel, but coming up in the 50's, she was old school and believed strongly in standards and decorum, of a sort.  i'm sure her chosen persona enhanced and developed her poise - she liked to say she was called "Moolah" because she was "in it for the moolah!".  She was always well turned out, with a taste for bling in and out of showbiz. She was a friend of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, a clean liver yet a risk taker, and is the only big name female wrestler to successfully span wrestling's move from sport to entertainment.

Anyone as successful as Lillian Ellison is bound to meet with a little controversy, and Moolah's detractors usually point to her long association with the McMahon family, Vince Sr. and Vince Jr.. There is no question that she owed a great deal to the McMahon wrestling empire, which encompasses the WWF/WWE, and absorbed the WCW, and ECW, eventually making the WWE the only major wrestling group in North America.  Vince McMahon Sr. worked with Moolah to reinstate women's  professional wrestling in New York after it had been banned, and she was at the center of the women's drama which was the catalyst for Vince Jr.'s first WrestleMania in 1985, which changed wrestling, and sports entertainment forever.  Women's pro wrestling has always been a precarious career at best, and due to her close personal relationship with the McMahon's and her loyalty, she was rewarded with a seat at the table for events or at least a few camera shots, even when women's bouts were out of style. It's valid to point out that Ellison cultivated and exploited a special relationship to advance herself and her protoges, what's less clear is what alternate path to success existed for women - or men - in pro wrestling.

The wonderful 2005 documentary Lipstick and Dynamite - The First Ladies of Wrestling touches on the tensions between Moolah and other gals who knew her back in the day, when there were lots of small promotions and everyone's horizons seemed limitless.  In her delightful 2002 autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah:First Goddess of the Squared Circle, there is a great deal of gushing about Daddy Vince, and more about Vince Jr..  To this reader her love seems genuine, in spite of the fact that without the WWE, the book would never have been published. There is no question that Moolah put her own interests and those of the McMahon's first, as demonstrated by her collusion to take Wendi Richter's title without advance notice (and you naysayers believe it's all set up) at Madison Square Garden in 1985.  The WWF had a contract dispute with Richter, and this infamous bout was hence known as the "original screwjob", followed by the "Montreal Screwjob" of  Bret Hart by McMahon and Shawn Michaels in 1997, and subsequent real and faux "screwjobs".  Moolah and Vince Jr. have both exploited their image as heavies to stir up the fans and the money. But as she's remembered today by those of us who saw her perform, as a heel with a touch of class, and most definitely one of a kind.

"TV's Frank" and Cartoon Dump!

Okay, this is one of those things found from looking for other things... most immediate excitement first. i love crappy old cartoons almost as much as i love Frank Conniff, AKA Mystery Science Theater 3000's "TV's Frank".

While researching other MST3K related developments, this interview at Quick Stop Entertainment with Conniff got my attention. From there i found his new show, Cartoon Dump, written by Frank and co-produced with Jerry Beck, drawing upon Beck's vast collection of 'vintage' cartoons. Viewable as podcasts, on YouTube, and monthly live performances in Hollywood and N.Y.C., the five episodes so far have Frank as "Moodsy the Clinically Depressed Owl", Erica Doering, Kathleen Roll, and Joel Hodgson as "Dumpster Diver Dan".

The cartoons are pretty scary, but what is reeeaally scary is that i recognized all five of the 'toons from my childhood. About now you should be clicking off to Cartoon Dump for more, and to sign up for updates.

But wait - there's more. You're probably aware of RiffTrax, the Michael J. Nelson post MST3K project with Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. But just this week Joel Hodgson announced a brand new movie riffing project, Cinematic Titanic, combining his talents with those of Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, and Josh Weinstein. A film has already been licensed for the first show, and a release is expected by the end of the year. The Cinematic Titanic site has been Slashdotted, so if it's down, keep trying until you can get on the mailing list.

And one more thing. according to The Satellite News, Best Brains is launching a weekly animated web show in November starring our favorite 'bots. Keep watching MST3K.com in about a week's time for the show produced and written by Jim Mallon and Paul Chaplin. Does that cover pretty much everyone we know from every season of the old show?

Keep circulating the URLs...

Minotaur Vs. Centaur - You Decide!

Actually, you can decide and vote on who would win a battle between a minotaur armed with a trident and a centaur armed with a crossbow on UGO.com.  But it's more fun to watch the responses of 24 celebrity judges.  i'm inclined to agree with Malcolm McDowell and Marc Singer myself.  Thanks, Pop Candy Blog!

Our Counter - AFI 100 List

Last June, the American Film Institute released their 100 Greatest American Movies Of All Time.  Updated after ten years, got a lot of press, was the subject of their annual AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies television special, and it's pretty good.  But we just can't help kibbitzing.  By 'we' i mean my friends and family.  So Labor Day week, during our trip to DragonCon, we hacked out our 'improved' version.

Our list has more science fiction, horror, westerns - more genre pictures.  What it doesn't have are redundant films by directors, because we assembled our list by negotiation and consensus.  One example of this would be Frank Capra films.  Clearly AFI members differed on which Capra films were the best, so in our opinion he was over represented by movies of the same type.  When we got stuck, we resorted to what we would show Martians if we were educating them about American cinema. 

Our list isn't ranked, but random, because it best reflects how we assembled our list.  we polled all the time, but desperate argument, dogged championing, and virulent hatred also swung votes.

We used the AFI list as a springboard, then lobbied the rest of the group for our additions and subtractions.  This was really FUN! Thanks to Paco, Ramon, Shane, Don, Kevin and Matt for the hard work and good times.

Our list after the jump...

Eat Them Up, Yum!

In case you don't read Boing Boing, or dig around on YouTube, here is the original video for Barnes & Barnes' Fish Heads, with Bill Paxton!  i'm tripping because i found this right after watching tonight's wonderful episode of Big Love.

This is one of my all time favorite videos.  There is one particular memory of this screened one night before an incredible Flipper show in Ann Arbor.  Good times!

Ranting At Sopranos "Fans"

Everybody seems to have something to say about Sunday's final Sopranos episode, and a lot of it has me pretty pissed off.  Last night i decided to faggeddaboutit, but as the whining and kvetching continues on Tuesday, i have to say-

SHUT UP, BITCHES!

Did you even watch the previous 85 episodes? Is there any possibility that an unambiguous 'closure' (i thought i hated that expression, but had no idea how much until yesterday morning) could have satisfied one person, not to mention everyone?
 
If you had been paying attention, how could you expect that David Chase was going to hand you Tony whacked/Tony indicted/Tony victorious/Tony loses children/Tony goes into witness protection and becomes Kevin Finnerty/yaddayaddayadda, all wrapped up in a tidy package?  Has he EVER tidied up the loose ends before? 

If you have enjoyed the show over the years, why was that exactly?  Because i always thought the show was special in the way it challenges you - entertains, sure, but makes you work for it, and never lets the characters or the viewers off the hook.  Since the overriding theme is that everyone is more or less guilty, and that change is hard won to the point of being practically nonexistent, why is a final event necessary? But, if you insist, for your pleasure, Chase has provided you with a choose-your-own-Sopranos-ending finale.  This is, in fact, more than i expected, and while today it might please me to think Tony got whacked along with the viewers, tomorrow i might think he'll sidestep a hit man and prison time, only to have his depression mount as his family continues to disappoint... see?  The pleasure is the speculation, not the resolution. 

And do not whimper about being mind fucked... what, you hated Fight Club?  Don't like surprises or dashed expectations?  But you love The Sopranos.... riiiight.  What does Livia say - "It's all a big nothing!".  The "big nothing" is the theme of the show.  Nobody and nothing changes.  There have been fabulous and not-so-great episodes, but every episode had been consistent with the premise of the show.  After eight years the final show was faithful to that idea, and The Sopranos never jumped the shark. The worst crime was after years of spectacular music, making a Journey song stick in my head.  And even that was true to the needs of the show.

Okay, i got that off my chest.  In the past week i've looked at hundreds of blog posts about the show, and many 'best' lists.  Sean Collins' list is the hands-down winner.
130 Things I Loved About The Sopranos

 

Drinky Crow Show!

Adult Swim has posted the pilot for Drinky Crow Show, which premieres tomorrow night on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.  It's absolutely divine, close in quality to the Maakies cartoon by Tony Millionaire where the characters originated.  Check it out here, along with pilots of the other new shows like Fat Guy Stuck In Internet, rate your faves, and cruise through classic episodes of Robot Chicken.  Many smiles to be had.

Sir Graves Ghastly

            Lawson J. Deming 1913-2007


If you watched TV in Detroit from the late 60's through the mid-80's, you've likely seen Lawson J. Deming, as his character Sir Graves Ghastly.  Primarily a Saturday afternoon horror host, Sir Graves was less edgy than the late night Ghoul. His beat was the corny, the silly, and the kid friendly.  In the 70's (well, actually even NOW) i would watch pretty much any monster or science fiction movie, discovering each 'new' oldie as though it had been made just for me.  i saw many Val Lewton films for the first time on Sir Graves, as well as iconic cult films like Track of the Vampire and Prince of Space.

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Deming entered TV production in 1949 at an NBC affiliate in Cleveland.  He had lots of voice character experience from radio, which served him well on the tube.  By the 60's he was a regular on Woodrow the Woodsman, a very successful kid's TV show.  When the Cleveland station was sold in 1967, the new management dropped all children's programming, and the show and cast was wooed to WJBK TV2 in Detroit.  TV2 had lost their syndicated late night horror host, the legendary Morgus the Magnificent of New Orleans, and they were searching for someone to churn those reels of trash and classics.

Just weeks after Woodrow has resumed in the Motor City, Deming was called upon to invent a new character, an extremely non threatening and courtly vampire named Sir Graves Ghastly.  Deming's theatrical background and kindly demeanor made for a devoted following of children and adults alike.  Lawson played several other characters in skits on the show, including "Reel McCoy", "Tillie", "Walter", and my favorite The Glob. This guy was basically Deming's chin, shot upside down with eyes and nose painted underneath his lower lip.  Blob would lip-synch songs from Gene Moss' Dracula's Greatest Hits and other goofy stuff.  i was not a small child in the late 60's, but this still never failed to slay me. 

At the height of his (and horror hosts in general) popularity in the 70's, Sir Graves  was also seen in Washington D.C. and Cleveland, where he still made his home.  For a few years he taped a Saturday night show for the D.C. market, and a the afternoon show for Detroit.  In 1982 the show was cancelled after 16 to make way for afternoon sports, but Lawson continued to work in broadcasting in Ohio until retiring with his wife Mary Rita.  Last Tuesday he died of congestive heart failure at a Cleveland nursing home.  He was 94 years young, and i know i'm not the only Detroiter who feels a bit of their youthful memories slip away with him.

Saying Farewell To Zinks

TV Guide reports that All My Children is concluding the Zoe/Bianca storyline on April 26.  The controversial MTF transgender/lesbian romantic storyline has been collecting viewers, but both actors have other commitments and were signed to short term contracts.  Since late 2006, Eden Riegel has reprised her role as Bianca (Binks or Binx) Montgomery, and Jeffrey Carlson was cast as the rock star Zarf, who came out as the female Zoe.  Riegel was working on the N.Y. based show while living in California, and Carlson is beginning Hamlet in Washington D.C. in June.  Still, it's sad to say goodbye to the brightest stars in an increasingly dull show.

Though daytime drama fans may have a reputation for conservatism, horror at the idea of a man who is a woman inside isn't all the rumpus surrounding Zinks.  AMC has always been socially progressive, and used lesbianism in a story in 1983, an AIDS story in 1987, and Bianca coming out in 2000.  AMC has received GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Daily Drama in 2002 and 2004, and again for 2007 just last week.

One of the issues for some Riegel fans is that the love story could have been between Binks and Maggie, played by Elizabeth Hendrickson. Back in 2001 the actresses were so hot that Hendrickson's Frankie character, who was basically a plot device created to be killed off, had to be recreated as a twin sister, Maggie.  Fan response was unexpectedly warm to both actors and their characters, and an enduring fandom for BAM.  Some (but not all) of these fans have a real hate-on for Zoe.  It's partly because the show has been so poorly written in recent years.

Zarf's arrival in Pine Valley coincided with one of those idiotic serial killer sweeps plots soap writers resort to when cast salaries rise and imaginations fail.  By the time the dust settled this year and Zarf was Zoe, a beloved character Dixie, who had returned after years was callously dispatched, along with 6 cast members great and small.  Also Babe was supposed to be killed, but then actually turned out to be a survivor in hiding, another sweeps stunt i've seen trickle up to prime time this year. The killer was revealed to be a supposedly dead, tiresome character with completely baffling motivation, even for daytime drama.  But there was an upside.  You can see Zoe singing at Dixie and Babe's funeral here. 

During Zarf's development as a character, but just before Zoe told us her name, a friend asked me if "he" could be the Satin Slayer.  That, of course, would have been impossible, because no matter how craven the writers become, they will never portray their first trans character as a villain.  In fact, when the writing is superficial and silly, Jeffrey Carlson's acting chops round it out and sell it.  And in the time honored Agnes Nixon tradition, research is done, communities are consulted, and millions are educated and enlightened.  Here's an unscripted scene at a transgender support group. 

This level of intensity, propelled by powerful acting, generates a lot of passion.  For the past several hours i've been lost on YouTube, going over fan videos asembled from AMC footage.  The soundtracks may be Dixie Chicks, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park or Muse, but they all recognize the universal need to find ourselves and where we belong.  Below is one of my favorites is below - by Heather, using "Answer" by Sarah McLachlan. If it leaves you frustrated, here is one where they kiss!