Namely Nostalgic: A Voice Worth Hearing

1984 was the year that Michael Winslow broke out on the scene as the character Larvell Jones in the movie Police Academy. Subsequently, he has become one of the most sought after and talented vocal impressionists in the world. His ability at recreating sounds is stunningly accurate.

His vocal effects vary from soaring airplanes, machine guns, closing doors and squeaky chairs to musical instruments such as dead on accurate drum effects, the violin and the harmonica to animals such as bees buzzing, horses galloping and dogs barking. His vocal range can reach deep bass levels all the way up to the piercingly high pitch.

He has a great ear for accents from countries all over the world and has a roster of celebrity impressions including Cheech and Chong and Jimi Hendrix. In fact his impression of Wolfman Jack is the best I've heard since Johnny Brown AKA Nathan Bookman did his own version on the talent show episode of Good Times where JJ stole the scene during a set of stand up.

It takes a certain accurately perceptive ear and mailable vocal cords to be able to pull off duplicating sounds of other things and other people with such realistic results. There are of course others with Winslow's abilities. Dee Bradley Baker comes to mind. But from what I can gather nobody has presented their talents in terms of quantity and caliber that has outweighed Winslow's. And that became evident recently when I came across a video from the official Michael Winslow channel on YouTube where he does the entire history of the

sounds that typewriters have made over the years.

Who else but Michael Winslow would even attempt such a feat? And who else could pull it off so entertainingly?

-Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic

Namely Nostalgic: Bud Bundy's Comeback

In 2009, "Married With Children" star David Faustino partnered with "Parker Lewis" star Corin Nemec for the web based series "Star-ving." The show chronicles the daily unfortunate downtrodden lifestyle of Faustino's self-titled character in his hopes for making both an entertainment and financial comeback. His days on "Married With Children" unfortunately didn't leave him with the kind of opportunity as he would have hoped for after such a successful run.

"Star-ving" is partly biographical and partly fictionalized. It's over-the-top ridiculous at times yet consistently, charmingly entertaining. During the eleven episodes such guest stars included former co-star Ed O'Neill (who can be seen on the great ABC show Modern Family) along with the rest of the main cast of "Married With Children", as well as Coolio, Gilbert Gottfried, Alan Thicke and the list continues.

If you've been wondering what Faustino has been up to these years and are disappointing he's not doing more, I think you'll get a real kick out of this series. Each episode is between five and eight minutes. It's enough time to get your laughs in without the risk of overstaying its welcome. A new season is certainly welcomed.

Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic

Namely Nostalgic: More Than A Humorist

I find it interesting when you come across those with talent and creativity exhibiting their gifts in multiple forms. For those with such abilities, it must be a relief to be able to express themselves in changing ways and find similar if not equal satisfaction in both. As rewarding as it is to obtain pleasure, recognition and praise in one field, to receive it in two is presumably more fulfilling. One of the best examples of this is with the actor/comedian Martin Mull.

I was first introduced to him, like many others, on the sitcom Roseanne. Mull played the title character's boss Leon Carp for six seasons. Before and since then he has provided his talents in an impressive number of sitcoms as well as voice over work in cartoons. His comedic talents on the stage go back even further in time; including his collaboration with fellow actor/comedian Fred Willard. However, it is also his talent as an artist that really casts him into a category reserved for those true interpreters of the scenic world.

After visiting the Hammer Gallery online, which showcases some of Mull's work, I think you'll come away with the understanding that Martin Mull has an incredibly gifted talent at portraying his own interpretations of the everyday in a blissfully skillful way that certainly owes its execution to the steady hand and eye of both the well trained and naturally blessed artist. But actually it wasn't until I sat down and watched a fantastic interview Mull did with my new favorite interviewer that I was able to get the whole story.

That interviewer is the talented Kevin Pollak. As a gifted vocal impressionist and actor, Pollak has had me fixated on his little slice of the entertainment world online in what he calls his Chat Show. If you have any interest in learning about the artistic career of Martin Mull, in all of its forms, and the careers of dozens and dozens of other talented and creative people, stop by his official web site. The link is for Martin Mull's interview, but you'll also find a drop down list of all of Pollak's chat shows. What you will come away with is the awareness that talented and creative people do often express their abilities in more than the one form you are probably most familiar with. And that is something that I think is an interesting and exciting realization.

Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic

Namely Nostalgic : From Rock To Record

Tommy Solomon was the youngest member in human form of the Solomon family. He was, however, the oldest in alien form. The show was 3rd Rock From The Sun and the actor who played Tommy was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The show lasted for six seasons and during its run, Gordon-Levitt picked up a number of award nominations and a couple victories. Before 3rd Rock, he kept busy on various sitcoms and movies as a child actor. In the nine years since 3rd Rock went off the air, he has continued to keep busy working mostly in film.

Not too long ago I came across a project that Gordon-Levitt has been working on for a number of years now. It's an online site called hitRECord (http://hitrecord.org) where he deals with joint ventures in creative productions of original content. It's a fully interactive, ongoing site with a community of regular, everyday people contributing short length video and animation, story ideas, pictures and music with the ambition to have other viewers watch and listen and then collaborate on everyone's ideas. It's an impressive, adventurous web site that Gordon-Levitt runs and what I like about it is that whenever a great idea comes to the surface and Gordon-Levitt sees real potential in it, he then personally gets involved with the project and begins the process of turning it into a money-making creation.

The most popular production so far is a series called "Morgan M. Morganson." Gordon-Levitt both narrates and acts in what has now become two different short films. The short titled "Morgan M. Morganson's Date With Destiny" was shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The finished, collaborative film is artistic both visually and verbally and I really enjoyed it. If it's any indication as to the quality of ideas and production of future projects, I can certainly say that I look forward to more and more of what Gordon-Levitt and his community can come up with.

Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic

Namely Nostalgic: True Star of 80's TV

Producer, writer and creator of such classic shows as Who's The Boss, Silver Spoons and Diff'rent Strokes, Martin Cohan, died on May 19th. He was 77. One has to wonder how the 1980's TV line up would've looked without these three gems. Of the three, Who's The Boss is the show I remember most specifically watching. One of those classic episodes written by Cohan was the one where Jonathan went to sleep away camp over the summer and Angela and Tony found out that as children, also at that sleep away camp, they had their first kiss together over at Kissing Rock where Tony carved their names in a tree.

Certainly all three shows had their cheesy, hokey moments, but there was something always entertaining and fun about them. Just like with every TV show, at the forefront of it all is the quality of the writing. Without well crafted scripts, even a strong ensemble won't last. Martin Cohan was just one of those strong, creative writers. Other examples of his talent for the pen can be seen on shows like All In The Family and The Odd Couple.

Very often TV writers don't get the recognition by the public that they deserve. Actors are the salesmen of entertainment. Writers are the inventors. Both play their roles and if they play them well, a show will find success. Success like Martin Cohan found during his long TV career.

Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic

Namely Nostalgic: Songs In Sitcoms

It’s always a treat when a sitcom is able to incorporate music into the subject of the episode. There is something about a good song that can take a moment of action and expand it to a more significant level. It certainly makes the scene stand out years later.

Some examples include The Eagles song "Desperado" on Seinfeld, Don Henley's "New York Minute" on Friends, one of the most iconic being George Thorogood's "Bad To The Bone" on Married With Children and even Uncle Jesse's cover of The Beach Boys song "Forever" on Full House. However, the best example of songs in sitcoms came from the show The Wonder Years.

No, it wasn’t essential for the show to do it, since the writing was so strong, but the music certainly added another layer of sentiment and relevance. The one song that stands out most vividly in my mind is “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes. It was played on the episode with guest actress Julie Condra during a pizza shop scene. She played the character Madeline Adams who had become a romantic interest for Kevin Arnold. As it turned out, she also became the romantic interest for the millions of adolescent male viewers who looked forward to the handful of episodes she graced the screen with.

Hearing that song being played really amplified the condition of the moment. But quite frankly, The Wonder Years had unraveled so many of those relatable growing up moments and made them even more poignant because of the songs that were tied to them.

With recent news that Winnie Cooper actress Danica McKeller is expecting a baby, you can’t help but feel happy for the quintessential girl-next-door.

It’s interesting how the element of music is the one thing that is halting the sale of the show on DVD. Hopefully one day we’ll have The Wonder Years in our collection. It'll once again give the fans that chance at reliving their own past through the lives of the characters that represented us all. That's what a good show can do for those watching. And when a song can be nestled in, it just makes it even more memorable. There are of course plenty of other examples of songs in sitcoms that I’m sure you the reader can think of that helped the episode along. Have at it.

Gabe is a contributor to Just My Show and a blogger at Down In The Attic