Imagine that, another feature! Shocked you are, I'm sure, that I would try to foist yet another gimmick on you, my tired yet tolerant readers. But it had to be done.
Art Clokey passed away on Friday at the age of 88. This is the man who brought us decades of joy with Gumby and Pokey, and taught us morality on Sunday mornings with Davey and Goliath. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Mr. Clokey was the recipient of many, many compliments. From Eddie Murphy to the folks at Adult Swim, and the scores of claymation artists that appeared in the decades following Gumby, Mr. Clokey's work was highly influential.
Growing up when I did, my first encounter with 'Gumby' was the SNL sketch, and it was a while longer before I knew that Davey and Goliath came from the same mind. But that really didn't matter to me as an eight-year-old looking for anything with entertainment value on Sunday morning television, which usually landed me on the church channel, amazingly the only channel that WASN'T broadcasting a church service. "I dunno, Davey, seems suspect."
On a slightly sadder note, Miep Gies passed away last night. Miep, aged 100, was one of the brave people (along with her husband and several employees) who helped to hide Anne Frank and her family during WWII. She continued to crusade against naysayers, those who claimed the young girl's diary, as well as the holocaust as a whole, were myths, right up to her death. Right on, Miep. And really, what kind of post would this be if I didn't segue to another Dead Wrestler Trading Card?
Bam Bam Bigelow, we hardly knew ye. 
Bam Bam (formerly known as Scott) passed away in 2007 and the ripe young age of 45, only three years after his second retirement. Sadly, a man with myriad health problems who survived dumping a Harley at speed, who survived a house fire where he rescued three children, died with toxic levels of cocaine and sedatives in his system.
Stay off the drugs, kids. Really.
*Some People I Thought Were Already Dead.
7 comments:
I love this feature! Definitely keep it a regular one! Also, I was so saddened that the creator of Gumby died. I used to friggin' obsess over Gumby when I was a kid. I even took the summer after my freshman year of college off to make a stop-motion clay short film as a semi-tribute.
Also, the acronym for the feature totally cracked me up.
I don't think I've ever seen a "real" Gumby show and I think that's pretty sad.
Wow, Bam Bam...were you trying out for a spot on the Fantastic Four?
Good ole Moral Orel.
Nice new feature! Love the acronym, too.
RIP to all of these fine folks.
I actually got a Gumby and Pokey in my stocking this year.
Now I wish I hadn't given it to the cats. Whoops.
I used to love "DAvey and Goliath." Mostly because, in my strict household, it was one of the few TV shows I was allowed to watch. And thanks for mentioning Miep. Heroes are all around us, but very few get the recognition they deserve.
Between his eye blinding outfit and male pattern baldness head tattoo, I'm not sure where to look. :-) :-)
I can't say that I've ever seen a Gumby episode. Sad, I know.
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