Garry Marshall, ‘Pretty Woman’ Director and Creator of ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 81

Marshall with Julia Roberts, from source, Variety

Awwww. Damn you, 2016! I've been a fan of Garry Marshall since before I knew who he was. Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy were pop culture touchstones of my childhood. I loved his acting appearances (he could seemingly turn up anywhere), particulrly in Soapdish, and his sister Penny's Jumpin' Jack Flash. Garry Marshall just knew FUNNY. RIP, Mr. Marshall. Maybe Chachi jumping the shark at the RNC is what did it?

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Garry Marshall, ‘Pretty Woman’ Director and Creator of ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 81

Garry Marshall, who created some of the 1970s’ most iconic sitcoms including “Happy Days,” “The Odd Couple,” “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy” and went on to direct hit movies including “Pretty Woman” and “The Princess Diaries,” died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia. He was 81. The news was first reported by Access Hollywood. . .

Read more at: Variety

Will John Boehner Keep His Speakership?

Will Boner clear the shark?

Speaker of the House of Representatives is a lofty position, second in the line of succession to the Presidency, just after the Vice President. So it is puzzling that a fake-tanned, seemingly perpetually drunken, teary-eyed, clownish man like John Boner Boehner is the best the GOP House can elect to the position.When you throw in the fact that he's also spectacularly bad at his job, and that he's fought (and often lost) endless embarrassing political battles, it's especially odd that he's apparently going to keep his position. If I were Boehner, I'd withdraw my name, and just go back to being an ordinary Congressman. He'd get a lot more tavern time, and wouldn't have to work so hard to obscure the slurring.

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John Boehner is battered but likely to retain speakership

When Republicans chose John A. Boehner as House speaker two years ago, the former plastics salesman who had served two decades in Congress finally had the job he wanted.
Trouble was, he couldn't have picked a worse time. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

Fonzie Jumps the Shark

Coming up a little dry for blog ideas at the moment. Truly, bone dry. Nothing I've found is blogworthy. I've jumped the shark.

OK, that's just a reach for the phrase. "Jumping the Shark" is the moment when a TV show hits a point of no return, and begins to die. Usually very, very slowly. You've probably heard it used out of context, since it has sort of become part of the lexicon. But if you're not in the know, you probably have scratched your head wondering what it means.

The phrase was born from an episode of Happy Days, at the height of Evel Knievel motorcycle jumping stunts (and Jaws). Fonzie had already jumped a few different things as an homage (rip-off) of Knievel's stunts. But in one special "whole cast goes on vacation to the beach" episode, The Fonz actually jumped a shark while on water skis! It was a supremely stupid stunt, ranking right up there with Batman and his "Bat Shark Repellent." And all of this is just a way for me to post the actual video from the episode. So here you go.



The website that made the phrase famous had a fantastic catalog of most major shows' "Jump the Shark" moments that was a lot of fun to read. You could lose a lot of time there like you can now at IMDB.com or at Wikipedia. But alas, the site has jumped the shark too. It was acquired by TV Guide, and is now a shadow of its former self. Still there may be some fun to be had at: JumpTheShark.com

Richie Cunningham, Fonzie, Opie and Andy Taylor for Obama!

Ron Howard has a great video appeal for Barack Obama on Funny or Die, and I couldn't resist sharing it. Not only is it fun to see Opie and Andy, and Richie and Fonzie again, but they make a pretty good argument! And who is more American than Opie Cunningham? Yeah, that's a callback to an old Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live bit for you pop culture fans.

It might have been good to see Andy Griffith reprise his Matlock character here too. After all, Matlock's (surviving) target audience are the ones we really need to convince! Enjoy..

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die