Scene - Blogs - Ill see you again Karl Ed and Johnny

I'll see you again Karl, Ed and Johnny
Published: 7/2/2009 8:26 AM
Last Modified: 7/2/2009 8:26 AM

I know it seems odd that I'd be talking to my 9-year-old daughter about the deaths of Karl Malden and Ed McMahon, but we were just talking about each of them last week.
It was the annual viewing of my 3-DVD collection of great clips, sketches and more from "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson," to which I've introduced my daughter and she has come to enjoy almost as much as I do.
She started out amused with all of Johnny animal antics ("Daddy, it's the one where the marmoset tinkles on his head!"), and has come to repeat comedy bits like Carnac the Magnificent. I couldn't be more proud.
So with that many hours of "The Tonight Show," you know why my daughter has seen McMahon, why she can tell you the significance of "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" But why Karl Malden, you ask?
Carson was a hoot in so many sketches, and one character he revived often was his parody of Malden, with his enormous schnozz and wearing a trench coat, from his 1970s American Express travelers checks commercials.
We'll always have great pictures like "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" and "Patton" to remember Malden by. Look for "Baby Doll" if one of the cable channels plays it this week.
But Johnny and Ed together, that who I really miss. Ed just left us last week, and Johnny only died a few years ago. But I've missed them greatly for 17 years, since that last show in 1992.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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