Copious Free Time

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I was reminded today of a Superman episode where a clown goes bad (yeah, yeah, I know) and falls off of a roof. Superman gets there a minute too late, and the police fill him in on it. I always wanted to rewrite the cop’s speech:

“Yes, Superman. He was a clown who went bad. But I want to tell you: I’ve been a cop in this town for twenty years, and I never saw anything like it. He stood up on that roof, four stories above the street, and when he felt his balance going, he met the challenge, faced it like a true clown.

“His back was to the street. First he leaned in as far as he could, with his arms whirling like two windmills in a hurricane. Then he leaned back and those arms went even faster. Then his butt stuck out what seemed like a mile, and we could see he was going down.

“He went feet first! He went head first! He went butt first! He tried flapping his arms! He mimed like he was praying, on his knees and everything. He reached up and grabbed his hat and planted that tiny little thing back on his head. And it stayed! He pulled an itty-bitty umbrella out of somewhere and held it over himself until it turned inside out, and then he threw it away.

“Then he gave a big sigh. It was just as if you could hear what he was thinkin’. He shrugged his shoulders and looked sad and waved bye-bye. And he put on a brave little smile.

“And when he hit that street, he made the loudest HONK any of us ever heard and bounced up about six feet with a big BOI-OI-OING. We were still clapping when you showed up.”

And where were you, anyway, Man of Steel? Getting popcorn?

also posted to NEW PALS and the Comics Curmudgeon
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With the media scrutiny Christine O'Donnell's dad is getting as the result of her claim that he was Bozo on a Philadelphia TV station (which was not included in the Wikipedia article on Bozo or Bozos, possibly because O'Donnell Senior was a fill-in Bozo when the regular clown was away), I've noticed an omission in the Wikipedia entry that should be fixed.

Based on information from the book Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Childrens TV Shows by Tim Hollis, the Bozo of Richmond, Virginia up until the show went off the air in 1974 was Jerry Harrell.

My friends back in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia should recognize Mr. Harrell more quickly as Dr. Madblood, beloved local horror movie host whose mad persona operates from Pungo, former home of illustrator Kelly Freas. Harrell started that gig in 1975, originally as a one-shot Halloween special (which means his 35th anniversary is coming right up).

I was lucky enough to view a museum show of Madblood props and memorabilia while living in Virginia. Oddly enough, you never see Madblood exhibitions in Massachusetts or New York. Some of his original props were made by Dave Merriman, a peerless crafter of miniatures for the movies.

But I'm wandering off the track. I have the book that mentions Harrell's Bozo stint, and as fortune would have it, the excerpt that mentions is is viewable at Google Books (see link above). So just now I went to Wikipedia and entered Harrell's name in their list of local Bozos, and inserted a mention of it in the entry for Dr. Madblood as well.

Of course, maybe the man is modest and didn't want this mentioned. But if I'd been a local TV Bozo, I would think I'd at least mention it. (As Harrell does on the bio at his own web page.)

Just doing my job. So to speak.
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