The Night Whitney Houston Sang The National Anthem

An icon has passed on, and Whitney Houston was more than what that already lofty status means; she was music royalty, the legend of the legends. Simply, she was the voice that a higher power loans to a mortal maybe once every couple of centuries.

Untold numbers of people, from every generation, every genetic make-up, every country and every town in the world, were impacted by the music of Houston; it was hard not to be. Her talents were celestial, and regardless of her own inner turmoil, her gift to our lifetime will forever be held as sacred.

And for an entire nation, there was no bigger contribution to our American psyche than what took place on the evening of January 27, 1991. We were ten days into the Persian Gulf War, a country unnerved and weary. The field at Tampa Stadium was electric because it was the Super Bowl, and if anything could ease our nation’s heavy hearts for a few hours, football’s finest hour was surely it. But no one wanted to cheer too loudly, no one wanted to breach human etiquette by smiling too broadly. It was the time of the great unknown, and our dominant generation did not know when it was appropriate to resume normalcy. A leader was needed, a conductor to steer the train down the tracks.

With over 79 million people tuning in to the ABC broadcast, Whitney stepped onto the field to a mild crowd. Draped in a red, white and blue tracksuit and her standard effervescent smile, the songstress strolled up to the podium and grabbed the mic. The announcer asked the audience to join in the “Honoring of America" and "Especially the brave men and women serving our nation in the Persian Gulf and throughout the world." The turf was athlete-free, replaced by military personnel dressed in their various uniforms to signify the solidarity amongst the different branches of service.

The rendition for what was to come was different than previous incarnations of the Star Spangled Banner. Longtime collaborator Rickey Minor was charged with orchestrating a version with jazz chords and a soulful, gospel rhythm. He took the song out of its standard waltz tempo and added an additional beat per measure, which would enable Houston to open up her lungs and 'breathe'. NFL brass initially feared that the rendition would be too flamboyant for wartime. Minor recalled that "They thought the harmonies were too different, that it was sacrilegious."

But in the face of doubt and uneasiness, fate stepped in.

As Whitney pulled the mic towards her angelic lips, magic happened. From the moment the words exited her mouth, triumphant and bold and pitch perfect, the audience mesmerized, trapped in a moment in time that seemed to linger forever. It was an explosion, a jaw dropping exhibition of a supernatural talent.

Even the casual Atheist saw God that night.

As the song came to a conclusion, Whitney thrusted her arms victoriously skyward as four F-16 fighter jets from the 56th Tactical Training Wing at MacDill Air Force Base soared above. And that leader, that train conductor we were all searching for had just told us that everything was going to be okay.

No one remembers who won that Super Bowl. Most cannot recall who played in the game three years ago. But everyone remembers the heaven sent performance of Whitney Houston. We will always remember. It was, as she once crooned so elegantly, one moment in time.

Don Cornelius, 1936-2012

Legendary conductor of one of the most celebrated dance & music television shows in history, Don Cornelius, is at the center of global reportage regarding his death — an apparent instigator of his own demise in the form of suicide.

As the influential host of Soul Train, Cornelius had created a franchise that encouraged and enabled anyone to celebrate the power of music, especially the younger generations. With his silky, deep, baritone stylings Cornelius gave rise to the resounding black voices that changed the landscape of popular music culture. Timeless musical wonders like the King of Pop — Michael Jackson — were beneficiaries of Cornelius’ greatest creation.

Despite Cornelius’ own soul train passing under the heavy shadow of suicide, his words will continue to inspire, “…and you can bet your last money, it’s all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I’m Don Cornelius and I’m always parting — we wish you Love, Peace, and Soul!”

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a late fifties to early sixties sitcom, spanned the coming of age of a cohort of baby boomers, and laid the foundations of sitcom storytelling to be followed and imitated decades later. Gillis’ (Dwayne Hickman) trials and tribulations as he aspired to the worldly trappings coveted by a typical American teenager, made for a weekly ongoing storyline, rife with comedic situations, foibles, and shortfalls mirroring life.

The show included a narrative aside, with Gillis facing the camera, next to a statue of Rodin’s The Thinker, as he would make the audience privy to his inner thoughts and musings with an endearing familiarity. Those recurring, somewhat confessional asides endemic to Dobie Gillis were later rekindled in the pantheon of American television with shows such as The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Malcolm in the Middle, and The Bernie Mac Show.

The show also featured beatnik “wacky neighbor” Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver) whose laid back, inherently lazy demeanor, provided contrast to Gillis’ high strung entanglements, and paved the way for the laid back Shaggy in the seminal cartoon, Scooby Doo. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, in many ways, articulated the ineffable, yet chasmic cultural transition from the sock hop era of the fifties, to the hippie movement of the mid to late sixties.

Stephen J. Cannell: A Voluminous American Legend

His iconic peeling of a sheet from the platen of his IBM Selectric typewriter – the paper twirling and wafting into a letter “C” in a logo for Stephen J. Cannell Productions – bookended hour long cop shows in the seventies and eighties and even nineties. For many audience members, he was simply the bearded guy who appeared to be typing, perhaps in the act of writing the episodes of such shows as The Rockford Files, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street and The Commish. The recognizable trademark gimmick crept its way into the immortalization of The Simpsons satire, as a 1994 riff of “Itchy and Scratchy Productions.”

Born in Los Angeles, and raised in Pasedena, Cannell was no stranger to the Hollywood iconography he was to someday navigate within. His early days involved football; and, oddly, as one of the most prolific television writer cum novelists of this era: dyslexia. Dyslexia caused Cannell to be held back several grades while growing up, but did not deter him from listing projected career as “author” in his high school year book, and majoring in journalism while attending the University of Oregon on a football scholarship.

After college, he worked for his father’s company, and wrote with persistent determination every night after work. After five years, his dogged work ethic paid off – he got his first break selling a script to the show It Takes a Thief, and from that initial success landed a full time writing slot on the show Adam-12. He pitched Rockford Files, whose relatable and somewhat crotchety protagonist Jim Rockford defied the ideal of the hardboiled detective – bent rules when needed – and often found himself distracted by those appealing things of the worldly realm, and generally easier softer ways. The grumpy ex-con Rockford lived tenuously in his office trailer on a Malibu beach parking lot, and the stark cold open featured clients leaving messages on his answering machine as to why they couldn’t pay for his fees.

Stephen Cannell far left Rockford Files set

In many ways, the show paved the way for a paradigmatic shift in the detective, cop, and mystery genres of hour long television fare. Networks he pitched the pilot to saw things in terms of normality, and advertisement space sold, and categorically hated the risky premise. Fortunately NBC picked up the show in 1974, and the show became a television staple until its cancellation in 1980. He parlayed his television success and reconfiguration of the detective genre into the Shane Scully series, including titles such as: The Tin Collectors, Hollywood Tough, White Sister, and his posthumously published; The Prostitutes’ Ball, and Vigilante.

The somewhat down to earth approach of his works in many ways reflected the approachable and affable character of Cannell himself, who was known to greet audiences at book signings, answer questions fairly and politely, and with kindness. He was often found sitting at the signing table, and patiently talking with whomever was still left, seemingly never struck by prima donna urges to rudely harry over a fan’s awestruck discussions, and dart off to an awaiting Town Car.

Cannell’s lifelong struggle with dyslexia imbued his work and his public persona with a tone of empathy and understanding. He remained an ardent spokesman for dyslexia and learning disabilities until his death from melanoma complications in September of 2010. His voluminous body of work stands for itself.

Napoleon Dynamite TV Show

Napoleon Dynamite, the 2004 film about a socially inept teenager; Kip, his live at home, cyber relationship pursuing thirty two year old brother; Pedro, his newly immigrated Mexican friend; and his van dwelling uncle Rico, who is seemingly frozen in a nostalgic gaze toward the year 1982, is now debuting on Fox, at 8:30 EST Sunday.

This animated half hour show will feature familiar voices from the film, and extrapolate the innocent, albeit absurd adventures of the Dynamite family, et al. In 2004 the limited release film waggled to a staggering cult presence in the national psyche, spawning a line of “Vote for Pedro” T-shirts, utterances of catchphrases like: “Gosh!,” and “You idiot!,” arguably leading to a mimicry of Napoleon’s moon boot by way of a surge in Ugg Boot wearing, and even led to a now defunct Napoleon Dynamite Festival (ala Lebowskifest) held annually in Preston, Idaho.

Footage of Past Sporting Events

The phenomenon of recalling, with narration, a sporting event from the past is something endemic to American Culture. These clips of former glories and failures are dredged up, as sort a universal “hoary old chestnut” and are to be discussed in wistful terms. The footage becomes nostalgic conversation pieces: central referents to culture and current events, and audience members distributed across all demographics stop, and listen and watch.

They are shown in slow motion, buttressed by a musical score of some epic origin, and voiced over by commentary in a deep and confident timbre. This commentator is not merely giving us a play by play; he is recounting an intrinsically historical event.

Whether the footage is from two decades ago, or ten minutes ago, it is, without a doubt, tinged in a grainy sepia, and distressed to a scattered patina to make it appear as if it had been holed up in a vault since at least the Eisenhower administration. The affectation shall remain unquestioned. This ceremonious presentation and doctoring of footage speaks to the hallowedness of the events portrayed. It validates the spectator’s investment. Yes, spending twelve hours on the couch that one Sunday was, in fact, important. See! - this contest was historical.

We cover the Roller Derby

Ready, Steady, Go!

I present a short list, followed with a trivia question. The Beatles, The Who, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, The Zombies, Marvin Gaye, The Dave Clark 5, Dusty Springfield, Manfred Mann, The Surfaris, and Jimi Hendrix. Now, which national televised program featured the aforementioned artists, amongst numerous others, from 1963 to 1966?

Rolling Stones

Dave Clark Five & The Supremes

It is quite correct to answer “The Ed Sullivan Show” or “American Bandstand” if you bleed Red White and Blue, but in an era that pre-dates satellite and cable, throngs of Brit teens knew where the party was every Friday night. Ready Steady Go! was THE locale to view chart toppers and matinee idols early each weekend. Shaped from a different mold than its Yankee counterparts, RSG! was innovative from A to Z, with both its unique blend of camera use and talent deployment. Where else would someone witness unedited, full length studio versions of their favorite performers, or Mick Jagger miming the lyrics to the Sonny and Cher ‘tween pleaser “I Got You Babe”?

The Who

The Byrds

The Yardbirds

Dave Clark purchased the rights to the program, though for millions the music that served as the soundtrack to their lives still lives on through their RSG! memories. Ready Steady Go! carries forth as a time capsule of an era when society and music were in the throngs of revolution, a movement so immense that an ocean could not block its path. If a road trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proves too costly in these belt tightening times, simply view an episode or two of the UK’s early foray into the 60’s golden era of sound, and enjoy the rock and roll fantasy on your La-Z Boy.

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Exclusive Mary Wilson Interview

Exclusive Eric Burdon Interview

PBS Artist Bob Ross

Bob Ross has graced the small screen for decades. Mid afternoons on PBS channels could find Bob Ross, with his trademark afro, rolled sleeves and blue jeans that look as if they belong on a stock character bad guy from Simon and Simon or the A-Team – him clasping his oblong, semi- translucent palette, smeared with rich gobs of oil paints. Bob and palette hovering before an easel and a canvas – background a mysterious black. Floating, perhaps. It was as if the show were cast as a 1980’s Sears photo portrait.

But this photograph moved. With satisfying hisses and slaps, Ross would mingle and stir and blend those paints on his palette with a knife or a brush, narrating each step. “Thalo blue,” and “titanium white,” and “burnt umber,” and “yellow ochre,” became terms to be understood. Ross’ dulcet voice was perhaps the most memorable. A down home southern accent tinged with a patina of smoker’s huskiness. He would calmly guide viewers through the painting process, as “happy trees” would “live over there” – padding thick brushes in bristled hisses an entire grove of oaks would emerge along a near impossible hillside. A brush flattened to a fan shape culled a stand of pines. And another, crowned mountaintops with a daunting band of snow.

If a mistake were made, Ross called it a “happy accident,” would rattle a brush in a jar of turpentine at the base of the easel, and organically unfold the painting. An errant line became the wall of a small cabin clinging defiantly to the edge of a stream. A smudge: a small bush. He did all of this in under a half hour, pioneering the “wet on wet” method of oil painting, which drastically reduces production time, as only one drying period is required. Bob Ross made it look all too easy. Ross passed away in 1995, but his show remains syndicated on PBS stations across the country. A line of paints, painting supplies, and even a “Bob Ross” artist certification have emerged since his death. A generation or two of school aged kids have been soothed, home sick from school, by Bob Ross’ gentle demeanor.

SNL Alum Jimmy Fallon Hosts Christmas Special

In a trend tending toward normality, an alum of Saturday Night Live returns as a host, to zing it home, and breathe some new life into the show. Fallon's reprisal of "Sully and Denise" (Denise played by SNL alum Rachel Dratch) a slice of life VHS recording of the bawdy, and undeniably colloquial young Boston couple staged the cold open of the episode. Fallon also appeared in his old digs, the desk of Weekend Update, alongside current host Seth Meyers, and was quickly joined by fellow Weekend Update veterans Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey, culminating the sketch with a "joke off". The show ended with the almost trademark SNL pan of the cast skating live on Rockefeller Center's rink.

American Chopper: Senior vs Junior

In a dramatic twist, the Discovery Channel show: American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior is now embroiled in a three way battle between Paul Teutul Sr., Paul Teutul Jr., and famed west coast motorcycle designer Jesse James. James, who has been heading tabloid headlines with failed and unfaithful relationships with the likes of Actress Sandra Bullock, and celebrity tattoo artist, Kat Von D, tosses his hat in the ring, in a live build-off on Discovery, ultimately adding a new flavor to the long running show. The three entrants in the contest have put their best foot forward, pushing envelopes of design and pragmatic implications of motorcycle building. The contest airs live, 9pm EST, December 6 on Discovery Channel.