After the news came out that director Peter Jackson was splitting The Hobbit into three films, I was among those who were skeptical. Saturday Night Live this week perfectly captured that skepticism by imagining if the director were to split the film into even more parts. Check out the funny video. {June 2014 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available for embedding, but for now you may watch the SNL video for “More Hobbit” on Yahoo.}
As for me, after seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), I was glad that Jackson made the choice he did. Perhaps I will grow weary of the story by the end of the trilogy, which I did to some extent with Lord of the Rings. But those like me who enjoy the world he has created probably will not mind the fact you get to spend a little more time in Middle Earth. So if you have not yet seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you might want to check it out.
What did you think of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Leave your two cents in the comments.
If you have missed the first two episodes of the three-part PBS documentary The Abolitionists, you should check them out as well as the third and final part that airs this Tuesday on PBS (and is also available on DVD). The American Experience series — written, directed and produced by Rob Rapley — is an entertaining and informative look at some important people that you may not know much about.
The series focuses on some of the men and women who, leading up to the Civil War, fought for the cause of abolishing slavery. Through re-enactments by excellent actors and well-written narration, viewers learn about the hurdles, struggles, heartbreak, and victories of William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Of course, many other abolitionists worked for the cause and a three-part series has to simplify the complicated story. But the focus on the individuals was a wise choice, making the anti-slavery movement more personal to the viewer.
In the first two parts, you learn about how the death of a child helped lead Harriet Beecher Stowe to write one of the most important novels in American history. You watch how the leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison became friends with former slave Frederick Douglass and how the two had a falling out, resulting in personal attacks and the two men not speaking to each other.
Despite the focus on individuals, the series also provides a good understanding of the years leading up to the Civil War and the steps that further divided the United States. The episodes accomplish that task while paying deserved attention to some important women and men in U.S. history. As the New York Times notes, when William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of The Liberator in 1831, Abraham Lincoln was working as a store clerk. And while it is easy for us to watch today and believe that we would have been on the side of the abolitionists, the series helps show how difficult it is to be a hero too.
What did you think of the first episodes of The Abolitionists? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I was sad to hear that Jack Klugman passed away this week on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, we also lost the excellent actor Charles Durning, whose many accomplishments include a memorable role in O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000), on the same day too. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Klugman is his great work in The Odd Couple (1970-1975). Apparently the show was on the minds of other people too, as after news spread about Klugman’s death, fans began going to 1049 Park Avenue in New York, the location of the apartment of Felix and Oscar. I remember watching the show regularly as a kid, and although the impetus for the storyline was the adult problem of divorce for the two men at the center of the story, a kid could easily relate to the humor the show found in the challenges of friendship.
Of course, Klugman did a lot of other great work in shows like Quincy, M.E. But when I think of Klugman my next thought after The Odd Couple is his great work in The Twilight Zone episode “A Game of Pool” (1961), also starring Jonathan Winters. In the episode that originally aired October 13, 1961,both Klugman and Winters, largely known for their comedic skills, show they can pull off drama just as well. Klugman’s character aptly illustrates the dream of being the best, as his character dreams of playing the greatest pool player of all time. But in the end, we also learn that with accomplishment comes its own kind of responsibilities.
Klugman also appeared in three other episodes of The Twilight Zone, including another memorable starring role in an episode touching on the afterlife, “A Passage for Trumpet” (1960). His other two episodes were “Death Ship” (1963), and “In Praise of Pip” (1963). According to Wikipedia, Klugman’s four appearances in the original series tie him with Burgess Meredith for most appearances. In this video clip, Klugman discusses series creator Rod Serling and his work in the series. Here is hoping that Klugman and Durning both find more peace in the afterlife than Klugman’s character did in “A Game of Pool.” What is your favorite work featuring Jack Klugman or Charles Durning? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The song “The Little Drummer Boy,” written in 1941, led to a classic 1960s TV holiday special as well as some iconic versions of the song.
This post examines the TV special and the story behind the song, “The Little Drummer Boy.” The TV show The Little Drummer Boy (1968) was always one of my favorite Christmas specials. The holiday special was a Rankin/Bass production that featured two Hollywood legends, with actress Greer Garson narrating the special and actor Jose Ferrer providing the voice for one of the characters. Yet, unlike other TV specials, it is no longer shown on network TV and has been relegated to ABC Family since 2006.
A Darker Holiday Classic
Part of the reason The Little Drummer Boy may not be as beloved as other specials like A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is that except for the title song, the music is not as memorable as it is in some other shows. But the main reason the show is the poor step-brother of Christmas specials is that the story of the angry little boy Aaron was darker than many other annual Christmas specials.
The darkness is first found in the song “The Little Drummer Boy,” which has a melancholy sound around the rhythm of the drum. The title makes it sound like a happy song, and nothing sad really happens in the song, but there is a sad aspect of the story.
Unlike many other Christmas songs about the joy and miracle of Christ’s birth, “The Little Drummer Boy” humanizes the baby Jesus, connecting him to other smiling babies. This reminder of the human aspect of the baby foreshadows the human suffering he would find at Calgary.
The TV show further reminds us of the future suffering by featuring the boy’s lamb facing death before being “resurrected.” Few Christmas songs and specials capture the suffering and death aspect of the Christ story. They instead focus on the joy of birth along with other seasonal reminders like bells and elves. And as a kid, who wants to be taught a lesson at Christmas about hate and love?
When I started writing this post, the entire episode was available on YouTube but it has since been taken down. Instead, here is the end of the show:
The Creators of the TV Special
New Yorker Romeo Muller wrote the screenplay that Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass made into The Little Drummer Boy TV special. Muller also wrote the screenplays for such holiday TV classics as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1970), and Frosty the Snowman (1969).
Like The Little Drummer Boy, each of Muller’s specials have a sadness underlying the happy endings, giving each a depth and complexity. That depth may help explain why we still return to these shows even as adults. Heck, apparently, Libertarians love “The Little Drummer Boy” holiday special too.
The Song “The Little Drummer Boy”
Regarding the song, American composer and music teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis wrote the song we know as “The Little Drummer Boy” in 1941, although it was originally known as “Carol of the Drum.” There are a number of good versions. On YouTube you can find a variety of covers ranging from a version by Jimi Hendrix to one by Faith Hill to Grace Jones performing for Pee Wee Herman.
Surprisingly, though, there are not as many recent classic versions as there are for some other Christmas songs, perhaps because “The Little Drummer Boy” is more religious than some of the other holiday songs. Still, Bob Seger recorded a memorable version for the original A Very Special Christmas album, and below he performs the song in concert.
More recently, Justin Bieber and Busta Rhymes created a version of “Little Drummer Boy” that at least some think is one of the worst Christmas recordings of all time. But the kids seem to like it. You may judge for yourself.
The Crosby-Bowie Version of “The Little Drummer Boy”
But perhaps the most famous version is from another TV show, Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas (1977). When David Bowie, who was a fan of Bing Crosby was asked to sing ‘The Little Drummer Boy,” he was not happy because he did not think the song suited his voice. So, songwriters Buz Kohan, Larry Grossman, and Ian Frasier wrote “Peace on Earth” to go with the song as a counterpoint melody.
We are drawn to this Bowie-Crosby version because of the odd pairing of singers. Also, during a still tumultuous time following the divisions created by Watergate and the Vietnam War, the nation found a healing plea from two people of vastly different generations singing about “Peace on Earth.”
But we stay and return again and again to this version simply because it is a beautiful rendition of the song.
Crosby and Bowie recorded their version in a TV studio in September 1977, but Crosby never got to see the reaction to the duet. Between the recording and the first broadcast of the special on November 30, 1977, Crosby had died on October 14.
Finally, the Bowie-Crosby version is so iconic and well-loved, that when Will Ferrell (as David Bowie) and John C. Reilly (as Bing Crosby) tackled a reenactment for Funny or Die, they kept the humor subtle and played much of the segment straight. Thus, they created a humorous segment that also is a tribute to the classic duet, to the holiday, and to the meaning of Katherine Kennicott Davis’s song. Pa rum a-pum pum pum.
Perhaps the song and TV special will forever carry a melancholy aura of Christmas. With a song written during a time World War II was spreading, and with an American TV special that first aired the year Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were killed, our memories of the song and TV show will always tie it to a dark time. Yet, the song has always also provided some hope. Recognizing some of the challenges of faith and the depression many face at Christmas time, the song and special allow a child, and a smile, to give us a simple gift.
Happy holidays! What is your favorite version of “The Little Drummer Boy”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Last night on NBC’s The Voice, the show opened with the contestants backing up the coaches — Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Christina Aguilera — singing Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah” in a tribute to those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The coaches, contestants, host Carson Daily, and Social Media Correspondent Christina Milian held up signs with the names of the 26 children and adults killed at the school as well as a card for Nancy Lanza, the mother of the mentally ill shooter (although it appears they opted not to hold up a card for the young Adam Lanza who also killed himself).
I am usually not a fan of the way people pull out “Hallelujah” as a tribute to those who have died. For example, I have seen awards shows use the famous Jeff Buckley recording to accompany a video of artists who passed away. The beautiful song is often overused, and despite the title and biblical references in the lyrics, the meaning of the song is not really as religious as many think, touching on love, obsession, and sex. Leonard Cohen has stated that the song “explains that many kinds of hallelujahs do exist, and all the perfect and broken hallelujahs have equal value.”
That said, The Voice rendition and their selection of which verses to sing was appropriate and one of the few times the song has been used so effectively in tribute. So as much as I don’t want to admit it, it is a beautiful tribute on what has become one of my favorite music competition shows. Check it out.
). The American Experience series — written, directed and produced by Rob Rapley — is an entertaining and informative look at some important people that you may not know much about.
album, and below he performs the song in concert.
