Mr. Media Interviews by Bob Andelman

Today's Guest: Deborah Sharp, novelist, "Mama Does Time." Order 'Mama Does Time (A Mace Bauer Mystery)' by novelist Deborah Sharp, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! In Himmarshee, Florida. And Mama’s middle daughter, Mace, an animal trapper, is pissed. That’s all you need to know to get interested in the first novel by my old friend Deborah Sharp. Deborah Sharp, author of the "Mama" series of Mace Bauer Mysteries. It’s titled Mama Does Time, and boy, does she ever. Deborah was a long-time reporter for USA Today who recently gave it all up to pursue the dream of becoming a novelist. And damned if she didn’t beat the odds and not only sell her first novel, but a second, too: Mama Rides Shotgun, which will be the second Mace Bauer Mystery. There is even a surprise caller during this show: Deborah's husband, NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders. Deborah Sharp Website • Facebook • Bio on Midnight Ink • Order Mama Does Time from Amazon.com Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Joe Flanigan, actor, Ferocious Planet, Stargate. Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of space cowboys including Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida! Order 'Ferocious Planet' starring Joe Flanigan from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD cover above! (2011) The great thing about Syfy network TV movies is that the titles tell you everything you need to know to know that you want to watch ‘em. MegaPython vs. Gatoroid! Alien Apocalypse! Tiffany vs. Debbie Gibson! Dinocroc vs. Supergator! Who could say no to a Saturday night with those characters? JOE FLANIGAN audio excerpt: "Unfortunately the new show, 'Stargate Universe,' was not embraced by the audience. Consequently, the 'Stargate' franchise is dormant right now -- at least for the next year or two... I would like to come back to it."  As for Ferocious Planet, which debuts this Saturday, April 9 at 9 p.m. on Syfy and stars Joe Flanigan and John Rhys-Davis, how can you not love a movie with lines such as, “Don’t poke the alien”? Joining me today to talk about his role in Ferocious Planet is actor Joe Flanigan. He’s made a career in recent years of appearing in science fiction and genre fantasy productions, including five seasons starring on “Stargate Atlantis” and an episode of one of my favorite Syfy series, “Warehouse 13.” Joe Flanigan Twitter • Order Ferocious Planet from Amazon.com Order Will Eisner: A Spirited Life (2nd Edition) by Bob Andelman, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Mark Tatulli, daily cartoonist and creator of "LIO" and "Heart of the City." Order 'Lio: Happiness Is a Squishy Cephalopod' by Mark Tatulli from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! (EDITOR'S NOTE: This was the very first Mr. Media® Interviews podcast, recorded January 19, 2007. We've improved the sound a bit and hope you'll enjoy discovering it!) "LIO" is the creation of Mark Tatulli, and he’s a fresh brand of weird and wonderful now appearing in more than 250 newspapers, with more adding the strip daily. If Far Side creator Gary Larson and "Calvin" creator Bill Watterson had mated, LIO is the character they would have produced. Tatulli’s brainchild, LIO, and that’s spelled L-I-O, is a young boy who combines elements of mad scientist, comic strips, science fiction, and the Adams family, and get this, LIO never speaks. MARK TATULLI audio excerpt: "It’s really a basic concept. It’s just LIO who lives with his father, and that’s basically it, and whatever I come up with. I set no parameters because I didn’t want to lock myself in. I mean, having no dialogue means that there is going to be no dialogue-driven gags, so I have to leave myself as open as possible to any kind of thing, so anything basically can happen."  BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: Has LIO ever spoken in the strip? MARK TATULLI: No. ANDELMAN: Will he? TATULLI: He never will. ANDELMAN: And he never will. LIO by Mark Tatulli TATULLI: I mean, others around him may speak, and he may get visitations from other comic strip characters, but he will never actually talk. ANDELMAN: I was talking to a friend whose history of comics goes back even further than mine, and we both came to the same connection. We remembered a character called Henry. TATULLI: Sure. ANDELMAN: Is that close to "LIO"’s lineage in some way? TATULLI: Well, they are both pantomime strips, what’s called a pantomime strip, and those area basically strips that are driven by pictures in it instead of dialogue, so characters revealed by action rather than by words. I used to love pantomime strips when I was a kid. Henry is one, as you mentioned, and there was also Ferd’nand, which was, I believe that was not produced in the United States, but it did get circulation here. ANDELMAN: So Henry was certainly a strip that you were aware of. TATULLI: Oh yes. ANDELMAN: There really hasn’t been another one like that in some time. TATULLI: No, no, not since like the 1950s, and I just thought that with the space that they dial down to, that they actually allot to comic strips, I thought that it would be fun to do a comic strip that didn’t have any dialogue and any word balloons taking up any of that space, so I could utilize the entire space for illustration. It’s great fun on Sunday. ANDELMAN: Is LIO mute, or is it he just doesn’t speak in the strip? TATULLI: Yeah, he doesn’t speak, his father doesn’t speak, none of the characters really speak. Somebody might show up that you would expect to speak, like say Cathy from the "Cathy" comic strip or maybe Calvin and Hobbes or something like that, and you would expect them to speak because they speak within their world, but within LIO’s world, pretty much nobody speaks. There are sound effects, and there are billboards and so forth, but there is no actual dialogue. ANDELMAN: Have you ever in the time you have been doing this strip, have you had an idea, you woke up in the morning or in the middle of the night or you are in the shower, wherever you get your ideas, you had an idea for the strip that would have required him to say something, and then you went, oh, and you slap yourself on the head and go, ah, that’s right, he doesn’t talk, it’s not going to work? TATULLI: No, no, because I don’t think that way when I do these strips. It’s all visual, and so my brain is just switched in that mode. It’s odd, because I do have another comic strip called "Heart of the City," and it is dialogue-driven or script-driven, and I hear their voices. I put them in...

Today's Guest: Charlyne Yi, actress, "House, M.D." Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of deaf senior citizens who thought I said “Knock-knock” instead of Knocked Up and are not so quietly telling each other jokes to which they can no longer remember the punchlines… in the NEW new media capital of the world, St. Petersburg, Florida! Order 'Paper Heart' starring Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi by clicking the DVD above! Charlyne Yi is a young woman whose name you may have heard in the past year or two, maybe as an actress in Knocked Up or Paper Heart, which she wrote, executive produced, composed music for and starred in with her then boyfriend, Michael Cera. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, you may know her for her viral Saturday Night Live audition tape or her ongoing video exchanges with SNL star Fred Armisen—and I’ll play a sample of both later. CHARLENE YI podcast excerpt: “Everyone’s aware that there are things that need to be fixed but we’re immune to it. When I went to the Hunger Banquet, it’s hard to ignore how you’re affected when someone tells you 1 billion people are chronically hungry.” Order 'House, M.D.: Season Eight' starring Charlyne Yi and some smartass British guy, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD cover above! But the real reason Charlyne is joining me today is talk about her commitment to Oxfam America Hunger Banquet. She did a video for the nonprofit organization that is also viral. It’s a largely wordless demonstration of how she went from not knowing about hunger in America to taking an active stand against it. And, of course, we’ll also talk about movies. And maybe we can get her to sing a little bit, because among her many videos are those in which she sings and plays guitar, including a cover of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which, of course, was written by Prince. Charlene Yi Tumblr • MySpace • Twitter • Facebook • YouTube • Oxfam America • The Rangdangs   Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: CCH Pounder, actress, "Warehouse 13" Joanne Kelly, CCH Pounder and Eddie McClintock of Syfy's 'Warehouse 13' (2010) When we announced on Facebook that “Warehouse 13” star CCH Pounder would be my guest this morning, listener Craig Pittman made this observation: "If she married Louis C.K. she'd be CCH C.K." Order 'Warehouse 13: The Complete Series' featuring CCH Pounder as Mrs. Frederic, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the boxed set above! Hmm, a little off topic, but it does present a certain symmetry, doesn’t it? CCH POUNDER Podcast Excerpt: "Mr. Media, you know more about Warehouse 13 than I know the back of my hand. I am so impressed!"  Anyway, regular listeners know that SyFy’s “Warehouse 13” is required viewing in our household and, while this is Ms. Pounder’s first visit with us, her co-stars Saul Rubinek (Interview 1; Interview 2), Eddie McClintock (Interview 1; Interview 2; Interview 3), Sasha Roiz (Interview) and Paula Garces (Interview) have each been on the show and Eddie will be back for a third time next Monday. (You can catch up on any interviews you missed by going to MrMedia.com and searching “Warehouse 13.”) Season two of the series has been a wild ride as we met former Warehouse agents—including a female H.G. Wells—gained details of Pete’s alcohol addiction, Myka’s high school insecurities with men, Artie’s checkered past, Claudia’s raging hormones, discovered that Warehouse 13 and Eureka exist in the same timeline, learned more about the creepy and elusive “Regents” who rule America’s Warehouse system, and even met the always on-call Warehouse doc, former Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner. Which leads to this week’s episode, the first of a two-part season finale. Someone is going to die —does that have anything to do with Lindsay Wagner returning to aid Mrs. Frederic when she becomes ill with a strange, life threatening illness? (I wonder if that Louis C.K. rumor started earlier in this intro might have something to do with it?) Warehouse 13 airs exclusively on SyFy every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. If you’re not watching—well, what could possibly be more important? CCH Pounder Website • Facebook • Twitter • Warehouse 13 website Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Singer John Denver.   Order 'John Denver's Greatest Hits,' available from Amazon.com by clicking the CD cover above In the years that I was a pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune back in the mid-1980s, one of the best parts of the job was interviewing musicians by phone before they came to town. I always liked the conversation, the give-and-take, the challenge of engaging talented men and women who talked all day long with reporters—and no doubt hated most of it. At the end of almost every interview, the musician would invite the critic to come backstage after their upcoming show and say “Hello.” I almost never did that because I knew it was more a pleasantry than a sincere invitation. But when John Denver said to come around, I actually followed through. It was January 21, 1984, the weekend of Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa, and John was performing at the Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg as part of the festivities. My mother was in town visiting that week and I bought tickets to take her to see Denver, as well as Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti. I thought it would be a treat for her to go backstage and meet Denver, so that’s what we did. Denver greeted her by her first name: “Phyllis! It’s so nice to meet you!” And told her what a nice story her son wrote about him. He even posed for a photo. Of course, that was actually the second backstage visit I arranged for my Mom over the years. The first was in 1975, when I bought tickets for her and my dad to see “God’s Favorite” on Broadway, starring Charles Nelson Reilly, who went to high school with my father back in Hartford. But that’s a story for another day. I hope you’ll enjoy this never-before-heard Mr. Media “Lost Tapes” rare John Denver interview, recorded on January 13, 1984. John Denver Website • Twitter • MySpace • YouTube • Wikipedia • Facebook • Windstar Foundation • Order John Denver's Greatest Hits CD from Amazon.com Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Bo Diddley, legendary rock and blues guitarist. Bo Diddley at the Long Beach Blues Festival, photo via Wikipedia (AUTHOR'S NOTE: I found this 54-minute interview with Bo Diddley from May 10, 1985 by accident after digging up the print version of the interview. The audio isn't great, but if you spent an hour with  the man, you'd want to share it, too!) "I'm the dude that Elvis Presley copied. He copied me and combined Jackie Wilson," Diddley told me. That was a memorable day for two reasons: spending an hour with Bo in Ybor City, Florida (east of downtown Tampa), the afternoon of his show, of course, but also my memories of the photographer I worked with that day, Tom Howland, who was a long-time friend and who passed away suddenly a few years ago. Anyway, this interview is one of my all-time favorites. I hope you’ll enjoy this Mr. Media “Lost Tape.”) Bo Diddley Website • Facebook • YouTube • iTunes • Flickr • Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame • Wikipedia Hours before the public would swarm in, Bo Diddley sat tapping out simple melodies at an ages-old piano, ample belly hanging over his belt, black felt hat perched comfortably on his head. Later, as an interview began in his dressing room, he was tapping out the 30-year-old "Bo Beat" on the side of a wooden desk. But when the amplified roar of heavy metal electric guitars burst through the walls, he reeled. "They don't need to do all that noise to tell they got power." Order 'The Definitive Collection: Bo Diddley,' available from Amazon.com by clicking on the CD cover above! Diddley may be the man who created the dominant sound of rock 'n' roll - with songs like "Hey, Bo Diddley," "Say Man," "Mona," "Road Runner" and a cover of Willie Dixon's "Who Do You Love" - but he has been slighted by revisionist historians, record company accountants and lawyers. Life has never been simple for Ellas "Bo Diddley" McDaniel, born on Dec. 30, 1928 in Magnolia, Mississippi, presently a resident of Hawthorne, Florida (southeast of Gainesville). Even his born-again friend Little Richard has taken a pound of flesh, claiming he created rock. "You have to understand Richard," Diddley sighs. "Richard was a man that could get away with anything that had to do with music and talking. But try this on for size: I was number one. No fantasies, not trying to hog up publicity. (With "Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" in 1955.) I'm the dude that turned the stuff around. Later, Richard came up - 'Long Tall Sally', I believe it was that hit the charts. Shoot, I was already going. Richard opened the door for a lot of piano players like Jerry Lee Lewis, y'understand? He laid the groundwork. He's a kingpin. The man is a hellified entertainer. But he's not responsible for rock 'n' roll. "I'm the dude that Elvis Presley copied. He copied me and combined Jackie Wilson," Diddley insists. Assuring his place in history is the least of the guitar-slinger's on-going hassle~3, though. Two decades after the fact, he still works up quite a lather about being cheated out of record royalties for almost all his songs and recordings. "To know that something like this can happen in America is really sickening," Diddley says. He was only one of hundreds of rock pioneers - including Little Richard - to be denied the fruits of his labor. "They got everybody. We all were country boys, city kids off the streets that never had nothin' ... "I only went though sixth grade in school," he continues. "I wouldn't exactly say I was dumb about all the stuff that happened to me. My thing was, I trusted people. And I used to be a kid that didn't trust nobody. My sister said to me, 'Elias, you gotta trust somebody.' Why?" BO DIDDLEY AUDIO EXCERPT: "I'm the dude that Elvis Presley copied. He copied me and combined Jackie Wilson."  Diddley says the record company executives at Chess warned him to keep an eye on booking agents, not themselves. He realized something was wrong when they bragged of his great sales. Order 'Bo Diddley, Road...

Today's Guest: Alison Brie, actress, "Mad Men," "Community," "G.L.O.W." Alison Brie stars in Community Order 'Community: The Complete First Season' starring Alison Brie by clicking the DVD cover above! (2009) Alison Brie is a supporting actress on two hit series—“Community” on NBC and “Mad Men” on AMC. Not bad for a young woman whose previous acting resume is still thin enough as to include performances in community theatre shows at a Jewish Community Center in Southern California. And don’t get me wrong—I’m not knocking those credits—it’s a testament to how, when it’s your time in Hollywood, the knocks on the door can come fast and furious. ALISON BRIE Audio Excerpt: "Our producers on 'Community' are big fans of 'Mad Men' and were very gracious to let me continue to recur on that show and I hope it works out for season four." Her big break came in the first season of “Mad Men,” on which she plays “Trudy Campbell,” wife of ambitious silver spooner Pete Campbell. Pete hasn’t quite figured out married life yet—from making babies to staying away from women who are not his wife—but that hasn’t stopped Trudy from stealing most every scene she is in, including her final moment of season three. As for “Community,” Alison plays “Annie,” the baby-faced, sometimes raw community college student who is desperately trying to fit in with the show’s band of oddball, somewhat older and more experienced characters. The new NBC show took a few weeks to get its voice, but “Community” absolutely deserves the “Must See TV” tag and is funny from the first to the last minute of each new episode. It deserved a recent full-season pickup from the network and move to anchoring Thursdays night at 8 p.m. Alison Brie Twitter • Order "Community" Season 1 DVD Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Michael Cudlitz, actor, "Southland," "The Walking Dead." Actor Michael Cudlitz played Officer John Cooper on the entire run of 'Southland' on NBC and TNT. Order 'Southland: The Complete Second, Third and Fourth Seasons' starring Michael Cudlitz, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD above! I’ve always watched a good deal of TV cop shows. "Hill Street Blues" was must-see TV in our house; I even watched the "Dragnet" remake with Ed O’Neil, who played Al Bundy on "Married… With Children." But the whole "Law & Order" and "CSI" thing never much appealed to me. Seems like every time I tried to watch, the plots revolved around brutal things happening to kids. Once you become a parent, you have enough nightmares about your children. I didn’t need TV adding to it. This season, however, I’ve been drawn to three cop shows that are more in the pre-Law & Order mode: "Castle" and "The Unusuals" on ABC and "Southland" on NBC. Joining me is one of the stars of "Southland," Michael Cudlitz. Before The Walking Dead (which he joined in 2014), he played patrol officer John Cooper, a 20-year veteran and training officer. Michael Cudlitz Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • IMDB • Wikipedia • Order Southland on DVD from Amazon.com Actor Michael Cudlitz plays Abraham Ford on 'The Walking Dead.' Order 'Will Eisner: A Spirited Life' (2nd Edition) by Bob Andelman, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Today's Guest: Milo Ventimiglia, Adrian Pasdar, actors, "Heroes" [caption id="attachment_14315" align="aligncenter" width="600"] September 25, 2009: Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar (Fame Pictures, Inc - Santa Monica, CA, USA - +1 (310) 395-0500)[/caption] Heroes: The Complete Series starring Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar. Order your copy today by clicking on the DVD boxed set above! (2009) Tonight, the final episode of “Heroes” season 3 airs and I’ve got a special treat for you. Joining me today are not one but two stars of the show: the Petrelli brothers, Peter and Nathan, played by actors Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar. Wondering what’s going to happen? Listen to this preview of the action. SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know what happens ahead of time, better listen AFTER you watch the season finale because, for some reason, Adrian and Milo give it all away here! This is Milo’s second visit to Mr. Media. If you missed his first, or any of my other "Heroes" interviews, check out the links below! More Mr. Media interviews with the cast of "Heroes": Milo Ventimiglia (alone) David Lawrence XVII Cristine Rose Order Will Eisner: A Spirited Life (2nd Edition) by Bob Andelman, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!