Yeah, I know, just what the planet needs, yet another Blog. But this one is the OFFICIAL Blog of Illustration-ist, cartoonist, humor- mongerist, greasy Stooge-Shemp Howard-enthusiast, Danny Thomas glass coffee table ponderist Drew Friedman! Happier now?
Britney Spears, Cheesey Puffs lover. The restored version.
A variation of this illustration of Britney Spears appeared in Entertainment Weekly back when the "pop princess" was at the height of her fame and paparazzi harassment. I was asked to depict her as the simple, nutty, white-trash girl she only yearned to be, enjoying her favorite snack treat "Cheesey Puffs" in a 711 store, oblivious to the media attention. Much to my surprise, When the illustration appeared in print, the editors chose to omit the orange "cheesey" substance from her teeth & around her lips.
Now, on this exciting dawn of Britney's "Summer comeback tour", she's been restored to her full "cheesey" glory.
The Rock Pile was a beautiful, amazingly detailed, 34 inch high pull-out poster insert created in watercolor by the great illustrator/caricaturist Robert Grossman for EYE magazine in 1968. The poster proudly hung in my boyhood bedroom for years:
The Rock Pile by Robert Grossman (self portrait, lower right) Click to enlarge
All the obvious 1968 R&R/R&B contenders are included, From the Beatles to the The Mother's of Invention, along with some interesting choices, among them, Tim Buckley, Janis Ian, Bobbie Gentry, Ravi Shankar, Leonard Cohen & The Fugs. EYE was the Hearst corporation's short-lived attempt (15 issues) in 1968-69, to cash in on the "youth market" and/or "counter culture" as the media had dubbed it, marketing it mainly to college students, but mostly young women, based on the abundance of ads and articles geared towards them, (Helen Gurley Brown was a senior editor). It was oversized, formatted like LIFE magazine, with a Peter Max inspired logo, and included "hip" fold out posters, flexi records and comic book inserts, (including Spiderman), in almost every issue to (hopefully) lure the kids. It didn't work, but this poster is fabulous.
this isssue featured the Grossman poster and also a short story ("The Liberal"), by my father,
Bruce Jay Friedman
An EYE exclusive
Some of EYE's covers:
Cover subject John Lennon photographed by Linda Eastman
Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys
Literally, the Stones
EYE was attempting to cover every base. This issue featured a Spider-Man insert, and
a feature on R. Crumb
Two of television's legendary sitcoms, You'll Never Get Rich, a.k.a. The Phil Silvers Show, a.k.a. Sgt. Bilko (1955-59, CBS), and Car 54, Where Are You? (1961-63 NBC) were both the brainchildren of Nat Hiken, without a doubt the most fertile comic mind in TV history. In the 1940's, Hiken was acerbic comedian Fred Allen's head writer on his radio show--a job that proved frustrating for him, as it was largely assumed that Allen wrote all of his own material. He then moved on to create and write Milton Berle's (excellent) 1947 pre-TV radio show, before moving over to television, writing and producing "big mouth" comic actress Martha Raye's weekly comedy/variety show, to much acclaim
Phil Silvers, Nat Hiken
My tribute to kiken, originally published in the NY Observer in 2005. (Click to enlarge)
Nat Hiken and his Bilko writers sweep the Emmy awards in 1958
In 1955, Nat Hiken became television's first comedic auteur, creating, writing, producing, song-writing and directing You'll Never Get Rich, a vehicle for the inspired comic dynamo Phil Silvers. Silvers portrayed master Sgt. Ernest T. Bilko, an ingenious, money-hungry yet always charming con man, a role well tailored to Silvers' real life personality.
The weekly plots (many would be written by Hiken discoveries such as the young Neil Simon) revolved around the world of Bilko's Machiavellian money-making schemes. The regular group inhabiting the motley motor pool (company B, 3rd platoon) was always ethnically diverse--a Hiken trademark. and a rarity in the white-bread world of late 50's TV.
The members of the motley motor pool at leisure.
The show of course featured the incredibly lovable & incredibly homely "actor" Maurice Gosfield as Sad Sack private Duane Doberman, Bilko's ultimate patsy, who women inexplicably found sexy and irresistible.
"Mondo Doberman" Originally appeared in The Village Voice. Click to enlarge.
Hiken always had a great "eye" for interesting faces (casting many ex-boxers in his shows), and was always on the look out. Gosfiled filled the bill. He could barely deliver his lines, but became possibly the most popular character on the show, finally recieving more fan mail than Phil Silvers himself.
Duane Doberman, late 50's DC Comic book Hero
Sgt. Bilko and Diane Doberman from the classic episode "Doberman's Sister"
"Sgt. Bilko" remains one of the great classics of the golden Age of television, and continues to grow in stature as more & more people continue to discover it's comedic riches. /www.philsilversshow.com/Nathiken.html
The Bilko Game
Phil Silvers conferring with Nat Hiken on the Bilko set
Nat Hiken making his point to Alan Melvin, Phil Silvers and Harvey Lembeck
the Bilko cast shill for Camels..
and pose for the cover of Colliers
Car-54, Where Are You?, filmed on location in the Bronx, depicted the sometimes Kafkaesque goings-on and inhabitants of the fictional 53rd Precinct. The seemingly deceptive simple plots would frequently spiral into sometimes surrealistic, nightmarish extremes. The two stars were actor, sometimes-cartoonist Fred Gwynne, long of body and sad of face, as the cultured officer Francis Muldoon, and former low-brow night club comic, Hiken discovery, neanderthal-like Joe E. Ross (who had appeared as a regular cast member on "Bilko") as his beloved partner Gunther Toody, short, squat and loveably dumb ("Do you Mind... Do... You... MIND!?").
Phil Silvers visits the set of Car 54, nat Hiken on the right
Car 54 opening theme
Nat Hiken posed with his two stars, Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne
Car 54 counted among it's fans, Literary Great William Faulkner.
"Toody-Mania" swept the USA in the early sixties
The two Mutt & Jeff stars had perfect chemistry, something Nat Hiken had a brilliant knack for getting right--Toody with his pointless, endless ramblings ("OHH OHH... Nobody swears vengeance like John Wayne!") as Muldoon drove the squad car in a dreamlike stupor.
Fred Gwynne & Joe E. Ross. Perfect Chemistry.
Just as Bilko had before, Car 54 utilized an ethnically diverse cast, Jews, Italians, Irish, hispanics and blacks (including Nipsy Russell & Ozzie Davis), and many of Hiken's beloved trademarked New York, Runyonesque characters, including Jewish Bronx characters like Molly Picon as "Mrs. Bronson"...
Joe E. Ross, Molly Picon, Fred Gwynne
ex- boxer Jake Lamotta, various blonde floozies and ex-strippers, and a who's who of great and in some cases still unknown comedic guest stars, among them Jan Murray, Mickey Deems, Maureen Stapelton, Carl Ballantine, Tom Bosley, Wally Cox, Gene Baylos, B. S. Pulley, Larry Storch, Alice Ghostly, Jules Munshin, Shari Lewis, Godfrey Cambridge, Charles Nelson Reilly, Jack Gilford, Margaret Hamilton, Hal Linden, etc. The supporting cast was unforgettable, notably Paul Reed as the perpetually exasperated Captain Block; Beatrice Pons as Toody's shrewish wife Lucille; and Al Lewis as combustible patrolman Leo Schnauser.
Al Lewis as Officer Leo Schnauser and Paul Reed as Captain Block
The show was a hilarious masterpiece. It ran for only two seasons yet has become a beloved cult favorite, fondly remembered for it's hilariously clever, funny, insane and ultimately warm-hearted plots, dialog, acting, and for a glimpse at the lost Bronx of the early sixties. It's by far my favorite TV show.
Joe E. Ross (Gunther Toody) with one of his beloved hookers
Joe E Ross on the set of Mrs. Bronson's kitchen, Nat Hiken on the right
the two Car 54 stars between takes in the Bronx
After several years of largely creative inactivity, Nat Hiken reluctantly moved to Los Angeles and wrote & directed his one and only film, the 1968 Don Knotts flop and future cult favorite The Love God?
Trailers From Hell on The Love God?
Nat Hiken died in Dec, 1968 at he age of 54. Once the most celebrated creator of television comedy and winner of eight Emmy awards, today he's largely forgotten. Which is why it's now time to rejoice...
OOH! OOH! To celebrate the 50th anniversary of it's debut, Season One of "Car 54, Where Are You?" has finally arrived on DVD! 30 beautifully restored episodes mastered from the original 35 mm film, from Shanachie Entertainment. Order today! Season two is now also available, featuring back cover art by yours truly:
Awhile back I was contacted by Field & Steam magazine to do an illustration for them. The art director was someone I liked, and had worked with at Entertainment Weekly, so I asked them to clarify what exactly Field & Stream magazine was... "A magazine about... Fields & Steams?". Of course I knew it was a magazine about hunting & fishing, so naturally, being a Jewish, anti-hunting, vegetarian, I welcomed the challenge. I wound up doing a few illustrations for F&S, until the editors finally caught on that I was drawing the animals heroically, and the hunters as stupid looking as possible. They finally stopped calling.
This illustration appears in my latest anthology "TOO SOON?" from Fantagraphics books.
In 1991, CBS VIDEO hired 20 illustrators (including myself) to create the VHS cover box art for the "Classic 39" TV episodes of "The Honeymooners", starring Jackie Gleason, "with the stars Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph", released on 20 cassettes, each containing two shows. The illustrations were art directed by Lou Dorfsman, who years earlier had created the CBS logo. (I'm proud that I suggested to the series coordinator at CBS video that Al Hirschfeld, who had already committed to the project, should illustrate "The Golfer")
Famed art director Lou Dorfsman, creator of the EYE-conic CBS logo
This was the single photo, sent out to each artist, to use as reference (no Google back then)
Mort Drucker was the original choice of CBS video to create all 20 images for the boxes, an interesting choice as he had illustrated the Honeymooners comic book back in the fifties before he joined MAD. But for some reason that fell though.
The Honeymooners cassettes have since been relegated to the VHS dust-bin of history, which is why I wanted to revive them here. These are some of my favorites:
"TV OR NOT TV" Illustrated by C. F. Payne
"FUNNY MONEY" Illustrated by Robert Grossman
"ALICE AND THE BLONDE" Illustrated by Stephen Kroninger
"UNCONVENTIONAL BEHAVIOR" Illustrated by Seymour Chwast
"A DOG'S LIFE" Illustrated by Jack Davis
"SOMETHING FISHY" Illustrated by Philip Burke
"MAMA LOVES MAMBO" Illustrated by Robert Risko
"A MAN'S PRIDE" Illustrated by Victor Juhasz
"RALPH KRAMDEN, INC." Illustrated by Bill Seinkiewicz
"THE MAN FROM SPACE" by the Will Vinton studios
"The Sleepwalker" art by Richard Thompson
"Twas the Night before Christmas" by the Hanna-Barbera studios
A limited edition poster was made available to video purchasing customers showing all 20 illustrations. Mine is top, second from right.
