Author Archives: dcaligari

The May 19, 1945 – The Looney Tunes short, Ain’t That Ducky, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Daffy Duck, debuted on this date. When the angry duckling calls Daffy “Mister Anthony,” he’s referring to John J. Anthony, who hosted the radio show Good Will Hour for 20 years and gave relationship advice.

May 19, 1934 – The Merrie Melodies short, Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule , directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date. This cartoon no longer appears on American television because of racial stereotyping of African-Americans Nickelodeon had the cartoon in its library back when it had the rights to air Looney Tunes cartoonsContinue reading “Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule premiered”

May 19, 1977 – Hal Needham’s directorial debut, the sleeper hit comedy, Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry, opened in NYC, on this date. A majority of the lines and quotes spoken by Jackie Gleason character, Sheriff Buford T. Justice wereContinue reading “Smokey and the Bandit premiered”

May 19, 1934 – The very truly perverse pre-code horror film from Universal, The Black Cat, opened in NYC on this date. This film was made just before the Hays code went into effect. It is chockablock filled with Satanism, black mass orgies, necrophilia, pedophilia, sadistic revenge, murder and incest. Oh, I forgot to mentionContinue reading “Joan seemed so curiously affected when you killed the cat”

May 19, 1951 – The first in the series of the transvestite Bugs Bunny, the ever clueless Daffy Duck and bestiality minded Elmer Fudd’s “Hunting Trilogy“, Rabbit Fire was released on this date. Hank Azaria has cited the scene where Bugs and Daffy imitate each other as Mel Blanc’s greatest achievement in voice acting.

May 19, 1986 –Peter Gabriel’s fifth solo album So was released, on this date. Many of its songs reflect conventional pop-writing style and became Gabriel’s first radio hits, including Sledgehammer, In Your Eyes, and Big Time. So was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1987 but lost to Paul Simon’sContinue reading “Red rain is coming down”

Today is No Dirty Dishes Day again. Some feel this day was established to have a day free of dirty dishes. There are two options for this day: You can eat all meals out (which given the current situation, is probably not an option,) or, you can use disposable paper plates, cups and silverware. InContinue reading “Let ’em soak”

May 18, 1990 –For a reason few people really understand, CBS TV aired the TV film, Return to Green Acres, on this date. It was reported that Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor were extremely close friends during the run of the show and the chemistry between them often showed in scenes where they were inContinue reading “We all traveled back to Hooterville”

May 18, 1955 – The classic film noir that introduced Mike Hammer to cinema, Kiss Me Deadly, opened in Los Angeles on this date. Although Victor Saville is credited as Executive Producer and Director Robert Aldrich is credited only as Producer, in reality, Aldrich had it written into his contract that he had complete controlContinue reading “Kiss Me Deadly premiered”

May 15, 1940 – The Looney Tunes short, You Ought to Be in Pictures, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, debuted on this date. Friz Freleng’s first cartoon featuring Daffy Duck. It was a milestone in the character’s development, introducing him as a vain, devious rival of the lead character (PorkyContinue reading “You Ought to Be in Pictures premiered”