The GET SMART comic books!

 On September 18 in 1965, TV comedy GET SMART created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and starring Don Adams as agent Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, and Edward Platt as The Chief premiered.Get Smart immediately won over audiences with its witty satire of the secret agent genre. Starring Don Adams as bumbling spy Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86, and Barbara Feldon as his brilliant partner Agent 99, Get Smart followed their laugh-out-loud misadventures as they battled the evil forces of KAOS. Created by comedy legends Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart was an instant hit thanks to its slapstick humor, clever spy parodies, catchphrases like “Missed it by that much!”, and gadgets like the famous shoe phone. For 5 seasons, Get Smart kept viewers in hysterics every week with Agent 86’s hilarious attempts at espionage, close calls with danger, and comical interactions with The Chief (Edward Platt). Now over 50 years later, Get Smart remains one of the most beloved and iconic sitcoms of all time. Its legacy lives on through syndicated reruns and an enduring comedic influence still felt today. 

In 1966, GET SMART was published as a comic book by Dell Publishing Co. 

These are the covers plus an ad for Aurora Model Motoring cars 

which appeared on the back cover of several other issues as well.

MY TOP TEN ALL-TIME BEST CROONERS LIST

With the passing of Tony Bennett, this past July 21, one of the last remaining male singers from the great Golden Era of Pop Crooners was gone. I've always had great admiration for singers, especially since I can't utter a single good note with my vocal chords. In honor of Tony Bennett and all of the rest, I've compiled my personal list of great crooners, starting with number one, the top of the line and personal favorite, Frank Sinatra!

                                                              1) FRANK SINATRA

2) NAT KING COLE

 

3) DEAN MARTIN

4) BING CROSBY

5) SAMMY DAVIS JR.

6) TONY BENNETT

7) ANDY WILLIAMS

8) MATT MONRO

9) HARRY BELAFONTE

10) JACK JONES

As of this time, Jack Jones is the only performer in this list who is still with us. 

May he long continue to be so!

THOSE GOLDEN DAYS OF YESTERYEAR!

What with Children's Day coming up this next Sunday 30th, I thought it would be somewhat relevant to review some of my old, old photos from way back when I was a little tyke, full of energy and mischief! 

THE COWBOY OUTFIT!

Yeah! Back in those days I loved anything pertaining to cowboys...like most any other

kid my age.

These are the same pair of boots I wore in the first picture above. Clearly, boots look much better when worn with long pants!   Here, I was walking around my old neighborhood when it was easy to find many vacant lots everywhere. Today, there are exactly zero.

My MOTHER AND ME.

 I seem to be just a few months old so I don't remember anything about this.

Me and my baby stroller. It may look rather archaic but it fulfilled its purpose which was to move me around and keep me from wandering about. (The wheel had already been invented, so it was a good thing!)

My mom, one of my sisters and I, posing in a park. Please bear in mind I didn't choose my outfit!

Every kid, from generation to generation, has had a big ball to play with and I was no exception.

THE BUNNY COSTUME

The less said about this image, the better.  Guess it must have been Easter.

I seem to be in some kind of prairie setting here, so this must be a Sunday picnic photo.

 

Playing Peter Pan with my sister Silvia. I didn't have a Captain Hook costume so I played in plain clothes.

(Sadly, Silvia passed on in 1998 due to a brain aneurysm two months before her 40th birthday.)

And that's all there is for now, so I'm closing this early chapter of my life.

Happy Children's Day!

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Way back in 1985, I was hired as a writer/actor for two new TV shows which premiered on Imevision Channel 7 before it became today's TV Azteca.  Both were weekly series, both were just a string of comedy sketches in the spirit of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live and both were cancelled after about 25 episodes, (along with three other shows which formed Channel 7's comedy schedule). Channel 7 and Imevision were sold to private investors and the entire staff and talent was dismissed and replaced.  And so...the world was saved! 

For those interested in such trivia, the 2 shows I did were EL HUMOR ES UNA COSA ESPLENDOROSA (”Humor Is A Many Splendored Thing") and MANDARINA MECÁNICA ("A Clockwork Tangerine").

The Mr. Magoo Cameos

 I love the cartoon character of Mister Magoo. I remember watching his antics at the movie theater and later on television. He's not the usual cartoon type of character. For one thing, he's a human. Not many human beings were featured as stars in those old classic animation shorts so it was kind of a departure.

WIKIPEDIA describes him like this: "Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical situations as a result of his extreme near-sightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem".

Mr. Magoo was also featured in a series of comic books throughout the 50s and 60s,

and for a while, was even published as a syndicated comic strip. The strips were then compiled into a paperback which has been the only source I have relied upon to read them. 

Quincy Magoo was also prominently displayed in several General Electric ads:

So for me, it was only natural to include him as a cameo figure in several of my newspaper cartoons:

Even his nephew Waldo made an appearance!

Oh, Magoo! You've done it again!