The Dunce Cap Award: James Dolan

On Monday, I wrote about how Dolan, demonstrating a total lack of understanding of NBA rules & regulations, had hired former Knicks Coach-President Isiah Thomas as a "consultant". The NBA was ready to shoot that idea down, as I had suspected they would, and on Wednesday, Thomas opted to rescind his new deal, the better to protect Dolan & the Knicks from any possible penalties that NBA Commissioner David Stern might've wanted to impose. While Thomas, wisely, chose to take the high road, Dolan insisted on going in the opposite direction, publicly stating that he'd still call on Thomas for advice on an unofficial basis. All that says to me is that Dolan, constantly ripped by NYC sports writers as the worst of the city's sports owners, just doesn't care about the league's by-laws. It's all about what he wants for his team, putting himself ahead of the interests of the team and its fanbase. In that regard, Dolan falls into line with WWE Chairman-CEO Vince McMahon, who also doesn't have clue one about putting the best interests of the company and its fans ahead of his own selfish interests. Dolan clearly deserves a dunce cap, not just for now, but perhaps permanently, given his rap sheet.

Running a close second would be Dina Lohan, mother of actress-singer Lindsay Lohan. Appearing Friday on NBC's Today, Dina seemed to "misremember" the number of times her eldest daughter has been in rehab (currently on her 4th stint), and told Matt Lauer it'd been twice. Given all of Lindsay's legal troubles over the last few years, you'd think that Mama would get off the high horse, send the media away, and let Lindsay settle her issues in private. But, no. She had to bring a camera crew from Entertainment Tonight to one rehab center, feeding the beast, if you will, knowing that there are millions of people with some remote interest in her daughter's well-being. Problem is, going into rehab is supposed to mean being away from the public eye. Instead, Dina is the prototypical, stereotypical stage parent, living vicariously through her famous offspring and, in her case, sharing the spotlight to the point of obsession, but at the same time oblivious to the daunting prospect of killing Lindsay's career for good.

Back in the day on Match Game, Gene Rayburn would have questions about "Dumb Dora" or "Dumb Donald". Today, "Dumb Dina" sounds more appropriate, don't you think?

An idiot with power is a dangerous thing

James Dolan, chairman of Cablevision, the 2nd largest cable provider in New York, also owns the New York Rangers (NHL) & Knicks (NBA) and their home arena, Madison Square Garden. However, if you believe the press in New York, Dolan has also inherited some of the late George Steinbrenner's old, bad habits.

Consider the plight of Knicks President Don Walsh, for example. Walsh, who built the Indiana Pacers into a playoff contender during the 90's, was hired in 2008 to replace Isaiah Thomas after the former All-Star resigned in disgrace over accusations of sexual harassment, now has to look over his shoulder now that Thomas, while still head coach at Florida International, has been brought back by Dolan to serve as a consultant. What? Has Dolan been watching Friday Night Smackdown lately?

For those who don't follow the WWE's secondary show, former GM Vickie Guerrero was rehired by Chairman/CEO Vince McMahon last fall to act as a "consultant" to GM Theodore Long, knowing that if anything were to happen to Long, Mrs. Guerrero would take over. Even the slightest amount of power is abused. As the old saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Dolan being the big kahuna with both the Knicks & the Rangers illustrates this point to a tee.

While the Rangers have been a playoff contender every season, though not always advancing to the playoffs, the Knicks have been on the outside looking in. During Thomas' disastrous run as GM & Coach, he & Dolan overspent on veteran free agents, leaving the Knicks unable to sign more quality players that could've helped the team. Thomas was, in every respect, the public face of the team while Dolan tried to forge a second career as a musician, playing in a garage band that few might actually have heard of. His dismissal in 2008 stained the reputation of a once-proud superstar who helped Detroit to 2 NBA titles in the early 90's. As was discussed earlier today on ESPN's Around the Horn, Thomas might actually be in violation of NBA guidelines just by keeping his college job. Dolan doesn't seem to care, much less understand. He wanted Walsh to hire Thomas as a GM. Walsh refused, but settled on making Thomas a consultant instead. Hmmmmm. Wasn't Brutus a consultant to Julius Caesar before the Ides of March?

Bottom line is, Dolan is setting Walsh up to fail, so he can elevate Thomas into the President's office and rubber stamp everything Dolan wants done. The Knicks are better off if someone comes along with a megabucks deal to buy the team, along with the Garden and the Rangers, away from the clueless martinet currently signing their paychecks. You know that if/when Dolan does pull the trigger to fire Walsh, he'll use the failure to bring LeBron James to New York as one of his many excuses. You know it, I know it, and you better believe Walsh and the New York press knows it. Making Dolan a Weasel of the Week would be too easy. Giving him a lifetime membership at the Jabroni Athletic Club makes more sense. If he actually spends time in a gym and gets to know his players and understands exactly what the team really needs, he might actually get somewhere. Like, sometime next decade.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Super President (1967)

In the wake of Batman's runaway success, it seemed just about anyone could become a superhero in the mid-60's. DePatie-Freleng, after creating the comedy super-team The Super 6 a year earlier, went to another extreme with Super President in 1967.

In the real world, Lyndon B. Johnson was our President at that time, but no one could envision him in spandex for obvious reasons. Hence, our fictional President in this series was James Norcross, who, according to the narrative at the start of the show, was given super powers in a cosmic storm, enabling him to shift his molecular structure into steel, rubber, "or whatever the need requires". The prolific Paul Frees, the voice behind Boris Badenov (Rocky & His Friends) and numerous other characters, voiced Norcross, and also read the narrative. The stories were short, about 5-7 minutes each, which was normal back in those days.

And, as with most cartoons of the period, there was a back-up feature, Spy Shadow, in support of Super President. Shadow's protagonist, secret agent Richard Vance, was given the ability to summon his own shadow as a separate entity. Yeah, it sounds pretty lame now, but in 1967, logic didn't figure into a lot of television programs. It was all about letting your imagination run wild. Ted Cassidy (ex-The Addams Family), who, like Frees, was also doing voice work for Hanna-Barbera at the same time, voiced Vance and his Shadow, using his more natural speaking voice for Vance, the same voice that would later recite the opening narration to the live-action Incredible Hulk (1978-82).

Like Super 6, Super President was a ratings failure for NBC, and there are those that will claim that President is one of the worst cartoons ever because of its flimsy premise. Believe me, there have been worse to come down the pike in the 43 years since. Could it be redone today? Under the right circumstances, and with a creative team that has a better understanding of how to convey the story, maybe, but realistically it probably is well served remaining in the vaults, never to return. I pitched an idea on a message board on http://www.toonzone.org/ a while back that would solve the problem of a Presidential superhero in this day & age, but that's all it is right now, an idea. Which is how they all get started, for better or worse.

Super President merits a grade of C-.

Edit, 4/21/20: Here's a sample episode:

The Dunce Cap Award: Caroline Giuliani

A politician's daughter would be the last person, you'd think, to resort to a petty crime like shoplifting. However, that's exactly what Caroline Giuliani, daughter of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, did the other day. She may have decided a five finger discount would be easier than spending beaucoup bucks on expensive items that she deemed needed to be had ASAP, but she should've known better than to pull the job in NYC, where her father is still revered as a hero, rallying the city after 9/11. Of course, it was big news when she got pinched. What was she thinking?

Unsurprisingly, psychologists contacted by the city's tabloid newspapers claimed that Ms. Giuliani was desperate for attention. Oh? Seems to me she left her brains at home when she decided to take up petty thievery. Worse, her brother, Andrew, when interviewed by the New York Daily News, sided with his sis, as if he was condoning her actions. Andrew'd been in a bit of hot water himself while in college (he went to Duke and was kicked off their golf team), demonstrating that the apples did fall far from the tree in the Giuliani family.

Well, just for kicks, we'll give Andrew a Dunce Cap as well.

Mitch Miller (1911-2010)

I read this morning of the passing of music icon Mitch Miller at 99. Remembered largely for his 1961-64 NBC series, Sing Along With Mitch, spun off from a series of albums under the same name, Miller was also an influential record producer at first Mercury, and later, Columbia. His distaste for rock music, however, prevented Columbia from signing some of the bigger stars of the early years of rock, including Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.

Miller and his chorale are perhaps best known for their renditions of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and the theme from "Bridge Over the River Kwai". However, Miller alienated artists like Rosemary Clooney & Frank Sinatra by insisting on them recording "novelty" songs, which prompted both singers to leave Columbia. Miller discovered Aretha Franklin, only to lose her when she signed with Atlantic, which offered the "Queen of Soul" greater artistic freedom. Miller's last known television appearances came in the mid-90's in a pair of specials for PBS, which probably will bring those shows back during the next pledge drive.

One of the hallmarks of Sing Along With Mitch was the use of a bouncing ball accompanying the lyrics so the audience could follow the song. This practice had previously been used in cartoons, among other places, and it can be said that Miller may have been one of the fathers of karaoke, which challenges barroom singers to try to sing without looking back at the screen to read the lyrics.

Rest in peace, Mitch.

Has "American Idol" jumped the shark?

2 months after American Idol ended its 9th season, after Simon Cowell had bade farewell to the Fox franchise (he'll bring his British series, X Factor, to the US next year), 2 more judges have decided to follow Cowell out the door.

Kara DioGuardi, who joined the series in 2009, is leaving after 2 seasons, according to published reports. This news comes on the heels of talk show hostess Ellen DeGeneres announcing that she was stepping down after just 1 season. Ellen, you'll recall, was brought in to fill the chair vacated by Paula Abdul. Apparently, Ellen didn't feel quite as comfortable as she (and Idol fans & producers) had originally thought, offering constructive criticism to the contestants. Part of her deal with Idol enabled Ellen to obtain exclusive interviews with ousted contestants on her talk show, and while she might still get to do interviews with Idol contestants, she won't have any inside information next season.

Now, there are 2, possibly 3, chairs to fill alongside Randy Jackson for Idol's 10th anniversary season in 2011. Ticket sales on the annual Idol concert tour have dropped dramatically, leading to cancellations in some cities, though the show did go on as planned in Albany a couple of weeks back. This is part of the backlash over the critical perception that the 2010 season was, in some people's minds, the weakest, as they apparently don't see long-term success for this year's winner, Lee DeWyse. Of course, part of the problem with the concert tour is that the tickets have been overpriced. Always have been, but that's a story for another day.

So the question remains. Has American Idol jumped the shark? If it did, it was probably when Paula Abdul left after 8 seasons, and not after this season. Now, the speculation will start anew as to who will not only fill Simon's chair, but Ellen's and maybe Kara's, because there's no guarantee they'll stay with 4 judges. They may go back to 3, as they had for the first 7 seasons. By January, we'll know for sure.

Weasels of the Week: Next Era Wrestling & Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

You had to know that, inevitably, the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore would have a case where their sudden fame had gone to their heads. The New York Daily News reports today that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi unleashed a profane tirade against the police after she'd been arrested on disorderly conduct charges on Friday in Seaside Heights, NJ. Ms. Polizzi was already three sheets to the wind from boozing all morning, and there was a photo showing her lying face down on the beach. While being fingerprinted and booked, Little Ms. Snookums thought that being a TV star might let her off the hook. Sorry, missy, that's not the way the game is played. The way the story's been told in the papers, "Snooki" is making Lindsay Lohan look like a Girl Scout by comparison with her diva behavior. There was a report that certain of the cast members, presumably including "Snooki", were asking $100 for people to have their pictures taken with them. Success, then, has spoiled these kids.

Add to that the recent revelation that most of the Jersey Shore kids are actually from New York, creating tension between NJ Governor Christie and NY's embattled Governor Paterson, and it creates the perception that the 2nd year "reality" show isn't quite as real, an accusation leveled at another MTV series, The Hills, which just ended its run, as it's supposed to be.

Meanwhile, while "Snooki" was getting her card punched into the Hall of Shame, the honchos at Next Era Wrestling in Rochester demonstrated a blatant lack of class and professionalism, leading to the cancellation of a house show in Troy that was supposed to take place last night.

I reported before how the show was originally booked for July 10, then moved back for unknown reasons. On Friday, I walked into the Boys & Girls Club, looking to buy a ticket for the show. I was then informed that Next Era never sent any tickets to the Club to be sold, nor did they pay a deposit on renting the building for the show! The promotional poster had been taken down, and the Club, which was going to be short-staffed if they went ahead with the show, reached the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen at all. Next Era never did any follow-up work, not even calling the Club to confirm the date, not buying air time on local radio or televsion. The poster didn't advertise anyone that the casual local fan might know from either WWE or TNA, though Colin Delaney, who spent six months with WWE in 2008-9, is listed on their talent roster according to the Next Era website. Someone dropped the ball, and it wasn't the Boys & Girls Club!

Suffice it to say, by comparison, In Your Face Wrestling, out of Ballston Spa, has been able to buy air time on Friday Night Smackdown to promote their shows, but they know they aren't quite ready to take their talent on the road just yet. Just the same, they're letting people know they're out there, something Next Era just couldn't do.

A pseudo-reality TV star goes on a drunken rampage and demands the police release her because she's a celebrity. A small-time wrestling promotion books a show at a upstate Boys & Girls Club, then seemingly forgets about it, leaving potential customers----and the Club---in the lurch. Equally offensive enough to merit both getting the weasel ears.