The Kramer Collection

Saw these... odd-looking jackets for sale on a recent excursion to my nearby Target. They remind me of something, but I can't quite figure out what...

Ah, there it is. Apparently Target's now carrying selections from the Kramer Collection. They're loathsome and offensive garments, yet I can't look away.

"You're Livin' In The Past, Man!"

This is Jon Favreau, creator of The Mandalorian, savior of Star Wars and the MVP at Disney right now.

You should know that back in 1994 he guest starred on Seinfeld. He appeared in the Season 5 episode The Fire, in which George saw a small fire in his girlfriend Robin's kitchen and knocked kids and an old lady out of the way in order to flee to safety.

Favreau played "Eric The Clown," who'd been hired by Robin for her son's birthday party. Eric got into a fight with George because he'd never heard of Bozo The Clown.

(George approaches the clown Robin hired and asks if he's heard of Bozo).

George: "Bozo?"
Eric: "No."
George: "B-O-Z-O?"
Eric: "Sorry, I..."
George: "You've never heard of Bozo the Clown?"
Eric: "No!"
George: "How could you not know who Bozo the Clown is?"
Eric: "I don't know, I just don't."
George: "How can you call yourself a clown and not know who Bozo is?"
Eric: "Hey, man, what are you hassling me for? This is just a gig, it's not my life. I don't know who Bozo is, what... is he a clown?"
George: "Is he a clown? What, are you kidding me!?"
Eric: "Well, what is he?"
George: "Yes, he's a clown!"
Eric: "Alright, so what's the big deal! There's millions of clowns!"
George: "Alright, just forget it."
Eric: "Me forget it? You should forget it! You're livin' in the past, man! You're hung up on some clown from the SIXTIES, man!"

George: "Very good, very good. Alright, go fold your little balloon animals, Eric. 'Eric!' Ha, ha! What kind of name is that for a clown, huh?

R.I.P. Jerry Stiller

Darn. 

Actor/comedian Jerry Stiller died today, of natural causes (gotta put that in obits these days, so people don't think someone died of the 'rona). He was 92. Sad, but I guess that's a pretty good run.

In 1953, Stiller met fellow comedian Anne Meara. They were married in 1953, and in 1961 began performing together as "Stiller And Meara." Their act was incredibly popular, and they appeared in nightclubs and on every variety show on TV all through the 1960s and early 1970s.

Although their joint career eventually waned, their relationship never did. They were married for a whopping 62 years, until Anne Meara's death in 2015.

Stiller's career experienced a major resurgence when he was cast as Frank Costanza (father of George) on Seinfeld. He was paired with Estelle Harris (as George's shrill mother, also named Estelle) and together the two were comedy gold. Stiller's portrayal of the easily infuriated Frank was the highlight of the series, and he was nominated for an Emmy.

Amazingly, Stiller didn't join the series until its fifth season! His first appearance was in The Puffy Shirt, which was the second episode of Season 5.* That seems unbelievable to me, as it feels like he was there from the start.

Even more incredible, he was only in 29 of the show's 180 episodes! Again, that seems impossible. Such was the power of Stiller's portrayal, that it feels like he was in FAR more episodes than that.

After Seinfeld ended, Stiller planned on retiring but eventually joined the cast of The King Of Queens. Although it was nice to have Stiller back on TV, Queens' Arthur Spooner character couldn't hold a candle to Frank Costanza.

Stiller's survived by his two children, actor Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller.

SERENITY NOW!

*Frank Costanza first appeared in Season 4's The Handicap Spot. At that time he was played by actor John Randolph. After the episode aired, series creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David decided Randolph wasn't right for the part, and recast the role with Jerry Stiller. David then reshot all of Frank Costanza's scenes with Stiller, and edited them into The Handicap Spot episode when it was syndicated. So even though Stiller didn't join the cast until Season 5, technically his first appearance is in Season 4. Confused yet?

Was That Wrong?

In recent movie news, it was rumored that actor Jonah Hill had been cast as the Penguin in the upcoming new The Batman film (the one starring Robert Pattinson). Apparently negotiations must have fallen through though, as Hill announced he's no longer attached to the project.

Enter Jason Alexander, who tweeted that he's ready and willing to step into the role of the Penguin! Alexander's most likely joking here, but it would be an interesting casting choice.

Batman: "I'm gonna get right to the point. It's come to my attention that you blew up Gotham City and everyone in it. Is that correct?"
Penguin: "Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first became a supervillain here that that sort of thing was frowned upon... You know, ‘cause I've been a criminal in a lot of cities and I tell you villains do that all the time."

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...

Lately I've been seeing vehicles festooned with this logo tooling around town. From the name I'm assuming uCabbi is some kind of independent cab service that's a knockoff of Uber and Lyft. 

Whatever it is, it's always nice to see our old friend The Seinfeld Logo getting work!

He Has The Kevorka!

I was in Target last night and saw this:

Attention all Seinfeld cosplayers! Target is now selling Official Cosmo Kramer™ jackets, just like the one Michael Richards wore throughout the series' run!

Hurry on over to Target now and pick up your Kramer jacket for Halloween, or if you just want to be as successful with the ladies as Cosmo!

I'll be scanning Target in the coming months, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Puffy Shirt, the Beltless Raincoat, the Urban Sombrero and the Cashmere Sweater With A Dot on it!

Supergirl Update

As regular readers know, I haven't been reviewing The CW's Supergirl series here at Bob Canada's BlogWorld. Nothing against the show, mind you, it's just that there just aren't enough hours in the day to review everything. So no reviews for poor Kara and her gang.

I do watch the show though, and like it quite a bit (especially the much-improved Season 2). Here are a few things I've noticed the past few weeks.

In the episode We Can Be Heroes, Kara visits her friend Jimmy, er, I mean James Olsen at Catco Worldwide Media, to try and talk him out of secretly fighting crime as Guardian.

James has an entire wall of TV screens in his office, that are constantly displaying stories from various cable news networks. There's a screen right behind his head displaying breaking news from News 37 (?), with a caption that reads, "Retailers Shutting Down Hundreds Of Stores." There's also a subhead that reads, "In The Process Of Closing Its Stores In North America (which doesn't read right and feels like some words are missing).

Yikes! Looks like Earth-19 (where Supergirl lives) is having the same economic woes that we're having here on our world! 

Note that the story remains on the monitor all during Supergirl's conversation with James, which lasts at least five minutes.

Later in the episode we see James in his office again, and that same story's still on the screen behind him. Either that monitor's busted and is frozen on the same screen, or this network's been reporting on this story for five hours straight.

Maybe Supergirl should stop screwing around trying to catch Live Wire and try to do something to fix her world's retail economy!

Luthors, the most recent episode, was not surprisingly all about the infamous Luthor clan. Actress Brenda Strong played Lillian Luthor, the matriarch of the powerful and evil family.

Ever time I see Brenda Strong, I can't help but think of Sue Ellen Mischke. She was Elaine's friend on Seinfeld— the one who wore her bra as a top, causing numerous auto accidents as she sashayed down the street!

You may also recognize Strong as Captain Deladier in Starship Troopers. 

Brenda Strong was also de-aged a bit for a few brief scenes in Luthors. Here's Lillian Luthor in the present day on the episode.

And here she is in a flashback to twenty years ago. They did a pretty good job of de-aging her two decades (for a TV budget, at least). Well done, effects guys!

Lastly, at the very end of Luthors, a dimensional breach forms in Kara's apartment. Out of it jumps Mr. Mxyzptlk, who tells Supergirl he's in love with her and wants to marry her.

As all comic fans worth their collections know, this is what Mr. Mxyzptlk is supposed to look like. A middle-aged, balding four foot tall interdimentional imp with the power to alter reality and do just about anything.

Believe it or not, this is what he looks like on Supergirl— a young, normal-sized handsome human male with a full head of hair.Why, he looks exactly like the comic version (that was, I say, that was sarcasm, son!).

Based on his appearance and his actions from the preview, it looks like they're going the Star Trek: The Next Generation route and turning Mr. Mxyzptlk into an ersatz version of "Q."

Jesus, even the lame Superboy series from the 1980s got the look of the character right. So what's The CW's excuse?

According to actor Peter Gadiot, who plays Mxyzptlk:

"They very much keep the essence true in that he’s a devious, playful imp and he still has that cheeky, naughty quality of creating havoc but not in an evil way. He has the ability to morph and change. But the main difference is in the physical appearance. Traditionally he’s like four-foot-tall, balding old man type. I have a full head of hair. So he’s different that way. Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew very much wanted to have a look that wasn’t funny. They wanted him to appear normal and almost like a legitimate potential suitor for Kara as opposed to a wacky appearance. The essence is the same but the appearance is a new take."

Translation: "Our audience consists primarily of teens, and they'll think it's gross if an icky old man is lusting after Supergirl, so we're ignoring seventy three years of comic book history and are gonna make him hot."

Happy Festivus To You And Yours!

It's Festivus!

During this hectic time of the year, I hope you'll all pause for a moment and think about the true reason for the season. Festivus is a time for quiet contemplation and reflection as you gaze in awe at the bare aluminum pole in the living room, free of distracting tinsel. 

It's also for sharing a nice meatloaf with friends and family and telling them how much they've disappointed you over the past year during the Airing of Grievances. And it's about wrestling the head of the household and pinning them down during the Feats Of Strength. It's about togetherness and sharing a nice meatloaf with friends and family. But most of all it's about togetherness.

Happy Festivus, everyone! Hope you have a true Festivus Miracle this year!

DVD Doppelgängers: Seinfeld Vs. Blast From The Past

I was browsing Amazon today and noticed this.

Glad to see the Seinfeld logo's still getting work. He's settled down a bit since the early 1990s— he's a lot more balanced and grounded than he was in his wild & wacky younger days. He's a bit paler than he used to be too, but that's fine. Good for him!

This Week In Odd Supermarket Sightings

A couple of years ago I went on one of my patented, crowd-pleasing rants about Big Cereal's insidious new practice of surreptitiously shrinking their product boxes while keeping the price the same.

I specifically called out Kellogg's for aiming their Shrink-O-Tron ray at their Crunchy Nut cereal, reducing it by almost a full ounce while leaving the price at an inflated $3.99 or whatever it cost.

Wiseacre that I am, I quipped that if left unchecked, we'd eventually see ridiculously thin boxes of cereal like the one on the right here.

Looks like my little joke was frighteningly prescient. Take a look at this suspiciously narrow box of cereal I spotted in the wild on my latest expedition to the grocery. It's a good two inches narrower than its neighbors on either side. If it gets any narrower it's gonna be hard for it to stand upright without assistance.

I have no doubt that this svelte new box holds significantly less than the previous version did, while costing exactly the same (if not more).

I was right about the boxes getting thinner in the future— I was just wrong about the direction.

———————————————————————————————

I also recently spotted this at my local grocery— yes, we now live in a world in which it's possible to buy muffin tops, sans the boring, less delicious and disposable bottoms. Just like in the 1997 The Muffin Tops episode of Seinfeld.

All will hail and pay homage to our new prophet and seer, Elaine Benes!

Happy Festivus, Everyone!

It's Festivus!

During this busy time of the year, I hope you'll all pause for a moment and think about the true reason for the season. Festivus is a time for quiet contemplation and reflection as you gaze in awe at the bare aluminum pole in the living room, free of distracting tinsel. 

It's also sharing a nice meatloaf with friends and family and telling them how much they've disappointed you over the past year during the Airing of Grievances. And it's about wrestling the head of the household and pinning them down during the Feats Of Strength. It's about togetherness and sharing a nice meatloaf with friends and family. But most of all it's about togetherness.

Happy Festivus, everyone! Hope you have a true Festivus Miracle this year!

Architectural Oddities: Seinfeld

Oh, the things you see when you watch a series on a hi-def TV. 

I was recently re-watching Seinfeld and noticed something I'd never seen before. Jerry's apartment building had a name!

As you can see here, his building was called The Shelley. I've been watching the show since it premiered in 1989 and I never noticed that before! For someone who's supposed to be an artist, sometimes I can be shockingly unobservant.

They used the same handful of establishing shots of the building exterior for the first seven seasons.

But then something changed. Starting with Season 8 The Shelley on the awning was painted out. And quite crudely blacked out too I might add, much like the way the cities try to clumsily cover up graffiti on bridges and overpasses.

So what prompted the change?

Was it a squabble over rights? Did the owners of The Shelley, sensing money to be made, start demanding the series pay them a weekly fee to use the name? And then when the Seinfeld staff told them to get lost, they painted out the name in spite?

Eh, maybe, but I would think if it was a rights issue, the owners wouldn't have let the show use the building at all.

I'm betting it had to do with privacy. Seinfeld was extremely popular back then, and it would not surprise me if dedicated fans discovered the real-life location of Jerry's apartment and overran the building, banging on doors in hopes of catching a glimpse of Jerry, Kramer or even Newman.

This actually happened to the owners of the Beverly Hillbillies mansion. Clueless fans barged right in, looking for Jed and Granny. The same thing happened to the owner of The Mary Tyler Moore Show house– people knocked on the door day and night, wanting to talk to Mare and Rhoda.

My theory is that the tenants of The Shelley complained about these unwanted visits, forcing the owners of the building to black out the name on the awning in a desperate attempt to disguise the location.

According to this recent GoogleMaps image, the name's apparently been restored on the awning. No doubt all the hoopla's died down by this point.

By the way, Jerry's fictional New York City address was 129 W. 81st street. Despite that, the address on the awning reads "757." Whoops!

The real building is actually located in Los Angeles, at 757 S. New Hampshire Ave.