Dateline Jasoom

An “almost live report” from the 2007 ECOF convention in Binghamton, NY. Roving reporter Jim Thompson speaks to Elmo from the huckster room. Elmo also talks to fans D.J. Howell, James G Huckenpöhler, Dick Spargur, Doug Denby, Bill Morse, John Tyner, Elaine Casella (organizer of the convention), Mike Conran, Jonathan Hart, Laurence Dunn, and Fred Lucas. Discussions include the friendships of fans, organized fandom, collecting Burroughs, the best Burroughs artists, favorite ERB worlds, meeting Johnny Weissmuller, misunderstandings about the literary Tarzan – and much more. Fans at the convention do a collective shout-out to Henry Franke, who was stationed in Afghanistan at the time.

Opening song clip: “Tarzan, my Tarzan” from a Bollywood movie. Longtime ERB fan Jim Thompson is a guest on Dateline Jasoom. He talks about his father's love of Burroughs and how that was passed down to him. We talk about Gordon Scott, who had just died at the time of this 2007 interview. “Gordon Scott has always been my favorite movie Tarzan,” Jim says. And this: “Burroughs was not just a diversion, Burroughs was a moral compass.”

Opening Bit: Nu doesn't like Geico's “So easy a caveman can do it” commercials. As part of the 1999 Dum-Dum in Tarzana, the Disney screenwriters of “Tarzan,” Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, discuss the movie. “The passion for this project – I've never seen the like of it at this or any other studio” said Bob, who is married to Noni. The talk took place at Disney Studios, where fans were shown the film before it opened. There are also comments from background artist Phil Phillipson – a longtime Burroughs Bibliophile. “It's a handmade movie – every frame is slaved over,” he said.

Opening Bit: The Sari Sabertooths baseball team opens its season against the Caspak Bo-lus at Pellucidar Park. Chicago Muckers Jim Hadac, Greg Phillips, Ken Manson and Joan Bledig play “ERB Jeopardy.” Elmo Trebek hosts. (They “buzz in” with Tarzan yells.) One answer: “Who had brain transfers performed by Ras Thavas?”

Opening Bit: The BBC interviews Hazel Strong. (Laurence Dunn and Joan Bledig.) Jim Hadac and Elmo try to see “The 300” at Navy Pier, but it's sold out. Clip: Johnny Weissmuller appears with Groucho Marx on “You Bet Your Life.” Johnny says the crocodiles he wrestled were real, but Groucho isn't buying it: “How is it when the crocodile turned over, it said Goodrich on the bottom?”

Opens with the “George of the Jungle” cartoon song from the 1960s. Discussion of plans in 2007 for a new George of the Jungle cartoon. Clip from Filmation's “Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle” series from the 1970s. Bit: Phone calls from Dateline Jasoom listeners. Wayne James and Ted McKosky sent in a clip from the Stan Freeburg radio show. One panelist earned her degree in “Tarzan.” Others had degrees in Lil Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy.

Opening bit: The BBC reports that the orphaned son of Lord and Lady Greystoke has been found. (Laurence Dunn and Jerry Spannraft.) Della's favorite author is Otis Adelbert Kline, which causes Elmo to blow a circuit. A clip from the 1994 Dum-Dum features Sam Moskowitz  speaking about the alleged “feud” between ERB and Kline. Guillermo del Toro appears on Jimmy Kimmel to talk about a Tarzan movie project (which never happened.) A clip from Stiiv Ryan's Trek Tune, “Agonizer”

In February 2007, Dateline Jasoom celebrated its first anniversary. The opening featured a few clips. New material: Pete Ogden submitted a clip from the radio show “Monitor” that has audio of ERB dictating lines from a Tarzan novel and an interview with ERB's daughter, Joan Pierce. A clip of Joan and her husband, James, from their Tarzan radio show. Johnny Carson and Betty White parody Tarzan and Jane. Plug for Ted McKosky's “Say Tarzan” DVD. Ends with Jim Hadac, Mike Conran and Laurence Dunn reading the lines from “Tarzan and the Madman” that ERB dictated.

Opening bit: Edward Murrow reports from Poloda. Elmo's assistant, a computer named Della, introduces herself. A late-night panel discussion from Windy Con about “Damsels in Distress.”

Opens with a clip from the Disney cartoon series, “The Legend of Tarzan.” Editor: “You know what you need, Ed? Inspiration!” The Comic News Insider podcast allowed Datline Jasoom to play portions of an interview it did with Olivia d'Abo, who played Jane in the series. “She's sort of a wild and crazy girl,” Olivia says. Ted McKosky submitted an interview he found with Forest J. Ackerman, who talks about meeting Edgar Rice Burroughs.