Bonus video! Batman vs Robin Hood
Added 2022-12-04 17:00:08 +0000 UTCHello there! Well, I've tracked down the story of the time Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) got into a physical fight with Brian Bedford (the voice of Disney's Robin Hood) live on stage during a production of the play Deathtrap... and you'll be happy to hear that the story is even wilder than we could have hoped. Also in this week's bonus video: Responding to your comments about Tiny Tim and Christopher Reeves (not together) and one more very nice tribute to the wonderful Leslie Jordan.
Also! This-week-only! If you want to get someone a copy of my upcoming book, Hi Honey, I'm Homo, as a holiday gift but you're feeling weird about it because it's only available for pre-order and doesn't come out until May ... I'll make a deal with you. If you pre-order the book this week, send me a copy of your receipt or proof of purchase, along with your mailing address, and I'll send you a card in the mail that you can give to the recipient to let them know that that book will be coming their way as soon as it comes out in the spring. Email me that proof of purchase at matt@mattbaume.com, and include your mailing address and who I should make the card out to. The deadline for this is Friday December 9, because there's no way I can get cards out in time any later than that! Happy holidays!
(And a few updates regarding the book: Yes, it will be available as an audiobook. Yes, it will be available internationally. And yes, we will have a way for you to get a signed copy, but we don't have that set up just yet.)
Backup link in case the video's not working:
https://youtu.be/5vOZEtfB5bs
Comments
That's exactly what's holding back the release of so many shows -- clearing the rights. Often it's connected to music, but yes every single speaking actor is entitled to payment when their work is rebroadcast, along with many other people involved in the production. Just figuring out who gets what is probably more expensive than any money they'd make on exhuming a lot of those old shows. A lot of them will just have to remain in vaults until copyright expires a century or so later, at which point MAYBE if we're lucky some of those collectors will be able to legally release the copies they've been sitting on.
Matt Baume
2022-12-12 06:31:42 +0000 UTCI find myself feeling an increasing sense of entitlement in my middle age. It just seems like in this day and age, with the exception of a film still theaters, if there is a movie or TV show I want to watch, I should be able to watch it without getting off my couch. There are many TV shows I remember liking as a kid in the 70s or 80s that I would like to watch again. At first I was surprised that studios haven't uploaded all their old TV shows to some streaming platform somewhere. After all, they aren't making any money for anyone locked up in their vaults. Some money is better than no money. I'd be willing to pay $10 or $20 dollars to watch a show like Dack Rambo's Sword of Justice (a 1 season show from 1978) that I liked as a 10-year-old. Unlike manufacturing DVDs, it couldn't cost much to upload a show to a streaming service or to make it available pay per view. But then I realized why they aren't making their entire back catalogs available. It would cost too much to track down and get contractual releases from everyone involved with older shows. TV contracts in the 1970s allowed the networks to broadcast a show in prime time and for the show to later be broadcast in syndication. Shows from the 1960s to the 1980s never even contemplated home video sales, much less video on demand streaming services. I am not sure how many people involved in creating a TV show or movie would need to provide a contractual release. Is it just the main cast? Or do guest actors need to give a release as well? What about extras? I know music needs to be cleared. Do writers and directors need to consent as well? However many it would be, it would be expensive for the studio's lawyers to track everyone down and then cost even more to compensate them for giving their consent. Unless a show had a significant fan base (which Sword of Justice apparently did not or it would have lasted more than 1 season) it just doesn't make financial sense to get the releases needed to offer the show to a streaming service. That's why I really appreciate people that upload old recordings as well as the studio executives that don't file complaints against those channels.
Michael McChesney
2022-12-12 04:46:45 +0000 UTCI wish I could share the source but I have to protect them unfortunately! Also, I can confidently say there are SO MANY better pieces of nostalgia to enjoy out there.
Matt Baume
2022-12-12 02:07:13 +0000 UTCI was just looking to see where I might be able to find and watch The People Next Door sitcom you talked about. Your descriptionthe plus the wikipedia page and the opening credits (I found on YouTube) left me wanting to check it out. As I get older and more nostalgic I find myself searching for many old TV shows. I started at the JustWatch website to see if it was available to stream, then looked on Amazon to see if it was available on DVD. I have found that there are a lot of old TV shows that aren't available anywhere else that people have uploaded to YouTube. But all I found were the opening credits. I may have also checked out a less than legal search engine. YouTube is really my last resort option because some people like to upload old VHS recordings (or I suppose Betamax as well). Most of the time, rights holders don't seem to complain. So my question is where were you able to obtain The People Next Door? If you feel free to reveal your source. If not, I blame the lawyers!!! I should know. I used to be one, but these days I describe myself as a recovering lawyer. BTW, I am really enjoying your videos.
Michael McChesney
2022-12-12 01:33:13 +0000 UTCI know I'm getting in a little late on this, but I just watched the Kevin Conroy video on YouTube and thought I should go ahead and watch this one, too. I was so excited to hear it confirmed that there _will_ be an audio version of your book. I think I might have said this in a comment on a previous video, but I strongly feel that _you_ should narrate the book if at all possible. You have a distinctive, pleasant way of speaking, so it would be a great listen. Plus, except for a very few exceptions, it's always enjoyable to have the author narrate their own book. They always know exactly where to put the stresses and breaks, and just how pronounce all of the names. It makes it feel like the author is reading it just for you. I really hope it ends up being you.
Irisarc
2022-12-11 22:57:50 +0000 UTCI think Tiny Tim was a secret genius even if many seemed to be laughing at him rather than with him. His music references were very old because he was singing stylized songs from the 1910s, 20s & 30s! He was born in 1942 though but didn't seem as old as he was. It was magical when Stephen Hillenburg featured his performance of Maurice Chevalier's "Living in the Sunlight" (Written by Al Sherman & Lewis for the movie "The Big Pond" from 1930) in the pilot episode of Spongebob Squarepants! You can tell how cultured it made the youth since his various performances on youtube have millions of views! Was a fan since I heard him on Dr Demento as well as all the other musicians in that bizarre audio-matic universe. I had somehow never seen the interview portion from Carson, Thanks for sharing!
Phil Sowers
2022-12-06 02:35:56 +0000 UTCI sent an audition tape so it’s up to the production team now!
Matt Baume
2022-12-05 03:19:21 +0000 UTCYou must read 📚 the audio version of your wonderful book. I don't think you could find anyone better
Leotha Boyd
2022-12-05 02:59:54 +0000 UTCI hope your Kevin Conroy video mentions his time on Another World. That was where I first saw him and lusted over him.
Scott Nesmith
2022-12-04 21:36:41 +0000 UTCMan, you sent me down the rabbit hole with Tiny Tim and he's fascinating company. While he identified as straight throughout his life, he did write about having romantic feelings for another boy in his diary (his father supposedly caught them laying in bed together, which did not go over well), his first paying gig was at a gay bar in Greenwich Village called Page 3 (6 hours a night 6 nights a week for $96 a month), and his third wife said she thought he was "half-gay" (make of that what you will). His life and career could easily merit its own video. Also, as famous as "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" was, I like his cover of "Earth Angel" because of how well it shows off his range: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ggw9FsUyMY
Jackie Schneider
2022-12-04 20:22:16 +0000 UTCI'm not sure but according to IMDB and Wikipedia (I know, take with a grain of salt) it was Time Magazine, and the incident might be in the book The Celluloid Closet. So the review wasn't "Karen's Pearl Clutching Corner" is some small town paper. It was a widely seen review.
TBoneSF
2022-12-04 19:56:36 +0000 UTCOhhh that makes sense too. Do you know who the critic was?
Matt Baume
2022-12-04 19:37:27 +0000 UTCI'm so excited for when I have the chance to get your book! I don't comment much here but I do just want to say thank you for being a continually entertaining and educational part of my week :)
Christopher Hester
2022-12-04 19:26:31 +0000 UTCThat’s so weird! My grandma’s nickname was Cricket too just like Leslie’s sister. Same area of TN too/age range. I wonder why.
Lee Mynatt
2022-12-04 18:58:08 +0000 UTCMinor point: Reeve didn't say it was the kiss that cost them box office, but rather a prominent reviewer (who was clearly upset about the kiss) who not only trashed the movie but spoiled every single twist in the movie- obviously out of spite. This was pre-internet, so audiences received almost all their info about a movie from a handful of print reviews. It was unheard of for a reviewer in a national publication to spoil a movie ("oh yeah, and Darth Vader is Luke's father!"). Reeve did not regret the kiss at all because he was desperate not to be typecast (into playing clean cut heroes). He loved that his character in Deathtrap exploited audiences preconceived notions about him and completely subverted them.
TBoneSF
2022-12-04 18:50:44 +0000 UTC
