Further signs of my advanced age

[mmcirvin]

Have few people under 40 heard of Rich Little, as this article claims? I mean, I'm under 40, though admittedly just barely. And, yeah, Rich Little is and always was kind of lame, but I remember him being all over TV not just in the 70s but well into the 80s, though toward the end of that period I think he was mostly doing Little Debbie snack cake commercials.

Comments

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

I remember him and I'm 31. Although he's one of those people whose names has to pass through the research department in my brain that goes something like, "Wait, is that the guy who did impressions that someone at NBC wanted to host Saturday Night Live before it even premiered, or is it the guy who did Sniglets for Not Necessarily the News?"

Not that I know him well, but I've heard of him.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, in case this line of thought has left you wondering where Rich Hall disappeared to, the answer is: Britain. He occasionally appears on the silly-yet-clever BBC quiz show QI, hosted by Stephen Fry.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

Two things: I'm 31 like Schwa, and I recall Rich Little; I think Sniglets was a little before my time but I heard of them because of my humor interest, but when he did Little Debbie ads, it was always "Rich Little for Little Debbie Snack Cakes." Hmm, only as I typed that do I get why they said that. His name is Little, and their name is Little. hunh! At the time he was still doing his political stuff, the impressions were, I thought, funny, but the politics over my head.

Anyway, I've only seen 3 episodes of QI-- the TV release "scene" doesn't produce them consistently (though I'm sure the UK "scene" does) but when they feature a panelist from another consistent release, i.e. Top Gear co-host Jeremy Clarkson, they get capped. But it's an amazingly brilliant show; really funny and occasionally informative.

But I wanted to tell you the second thing: that BBC Radio4 has a novel show called "Chain Reaction:" it's a one-to-one interview show, but the interviewee of one show selects and interviews the interviewee of the following week's show. This week, Clive Anderson interviews QI producer John Lloyd (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/radio4/aod.shtml?radio4/chainreaction). (30 minutes, embedded realplayer with stand-alone realplay option.) John Lloyd (Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_(writer))) also produced Blackadder, wrote with Douglas Adams, and so on. It's interesting as all heck. That audio link will be good until midday Wednesday 1/24, after which, it'll be John Lloyd interviewing someone.

I think I've told this story before

[spatch]

Rich Little hosted the remake of a lesser-known write-in show You Asked For It! where they'd go do stuff that viewers wrote in to request. Rich, being the host, would always find time once or twice in the show to do one of his impressions -- like his Ronald Reagan ("Well, there you go again...") or Richard Nixon or ma'am, just one more question, his Columbo. I must've been about six, maybe seven when this was on the air. And watching Rich Little do his thing made me want to become a voice impersonator myself, so I became one.

Thing was, the only impersonation I could do was, in fact, Rich Little. "Hi, I'm Rich Little... and welcome to You Asked For It!" It got kinda tiresome after a while to my family, actually. Much like the time I kept telling them the Boy Scout jokes in the back of Boys' Life without much context. "So these three Webelos scouts were at Philmont when one forgot his neckerchief, see, and -- no, wait, I got that one wrong, you weren't supposed to know he forgot his neckerchief until the end..."

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Ahh, You Asked For It! I was trying to remember the name of the TV show in my childhood that exposed me to enough Rich Little to last me a lifetime... and it was dubbed in Spanish, too. Freakish.

Re: I think I've told this story before

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

So does being able to impersonate Rich Little unlock the ability to do impressions of sundry easily impersonatable celebrities in the style of Rich Little, or was it without the -r flag?

[aderack.livejournal.com]

The name rings a bell; that's about it, though.

Man, Colbert. I guess the court jester effect is still viable. The thing is, his material wasn't even new; it was mostly recycled from The Daily Show and his own gig. This is all so interesting.

[bottlroktt.livejournal.com]

25, and i wouldn't be able to pick his face out from a lineup. i know he's known for his impressions though, and i knew this after hearing him mentioned on the haden church/shaloub show 'wings' once.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking 30 might be a more reasonable Rich Little Event Horizon than 40.

[bottlroktt.livejournal.com]

i think that sounds about right.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm 32 and I know too much about Rich Little for my own liking, but that's mostly down to geography. Like me, Rich Little is from Ottawa. He even went to the same high school as my father (ten years earlier). I have vague but indelible memories of Rich Little doing Grouch Marx doing Robin Hood (HKINOK!) on a TV special back in the early eighties.

Andrew "don't make me bring out the Paul Anka story" Jeanes

[paraleipsis.livejournal.com]

24 and vaguely aware of his existence.

[spasmsproject.livejournal.com]

I'm 35, and I remember him vividly.

Is this really just a ploy to get people to reveal their age? ;)

[ice-hesitant.livejournal.com]

Oh, not Little Richard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard), pioneer of rockabilly. Okay. My excuse was that I was in the Soviet Union at the time.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

WHOOOOOOOO TUTTI FRUTTI

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Since you say he was "all over TV" in the 70s and 80s, right away that means I don't know who he is, since that is when I grew up, and since my parents severely limited my TV watching. Being 37, I am someone who didn't get a chance to watch TV unfettered until college, in 1988, and even then, I couldn't afford to have a TV until around 1991. So there you go.

[mezdeathhead.livejournal.com]

Hmm. He looks familiar, but the name or context doesn't really ring a bell.

That article kind of lols me, however. Sounds like they're trying to create the biggest possible gap between Colbert and this guy.

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

Well, since Bob Hope's dead and all...

I saw the one Drew Carey did in 2002 which was all light-hearted good fun, and while this was when the president had a touch more support than he does now, I don't think he'd make his act any harsher today.

Other entertainers from the past are listed here, for the curious.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I'd say Bob Hope actually had more of an edge.

I have to confess

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

At 43, I have to push aside Paul Lynde's face in order to picture him. Of course, I'm also the one who infamously asked when Shelley Duvall became Shelley Long.