When I have talked to D.L. (sometimes DL) Hughley over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. Hughley is a comedian who thinks, and talks, a lot about social issues; who looks for different ways to make his points, and whose humor is often the gloss on top of some considerable anger.

All of that is evident in DL Hughley: The Endangered List, a special airing at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central; an uncensored version will also be available on Amazon Instant Video and other online services beginning Oct. 28. In the program, Hughley attempts to have African-American men added to the federal list of endangered species in order to protect them from extinction.

The special starts with some grim statistics about declining wealth for African-American families, the murder rate among young black men, the likelihood of those young men going to jail and other issues.

Then Hughley, having crossed paths with an endangered lizard, begins to consider the protections an endangered status might provide. For example, after learning that killing a spotted owl could lead to a fine and jail time, Hughley wonders, “What if the spotted owl was just carrying Skittles and wearing a hoodie?”

Hughley also looks at the finances of privately run prisons, and whether young African-American men are helpful with the bottom line. But do not think for a moment that Hughley thinks the problem only involves conflicts between blacks and whites. He talks about black-on-black crime in some detail.

Hughley interviews the African-American minister Jesse Lee Peterson, who has been outspoken about the importance of marriage and family in the black community, and says “right on” when told about a man who has adopted four children. Until, that is, Peterson learns the man is gay; Peterson is against gay couples having children.

There’s more, including a chat with a neo-Nazi, a meeting with lobbyists and the launching of petitions to save the endangered black man (which people are unwilling to sign even as they will sign in support of saving black rhinos). The longer it goes, the more evident is Hughley’s anger — and the less crazy his Swiftian notion seems.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

When I have talked to D.L. (sometimes DL) Hughley over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. Hughley is a comedian who thinks, and talks, a lot about social issues; who looks for different ways to make his points, and whose humor is often the gloss on top of some considerable anger.

All of that is evident in DL Hughley: The Endangered List, a special airing at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central; an uncensored version will also be available on Amazon Instant Video and other online services beginning Oct. 28. In the program, Hughley attempts to have African-American men added to the federal list of endangered species in order to protect them from extinction.

The special starts with some grim statistics about declining wealth for African-American families, the murder rate among young black men, the likelihood of those young men going to jail and other issues.

Then Hughley, having crossed paths with an endangered lizard, begins to consider the protections an endangered status might provide. For example, after learning that killing a spotted owl could lead to a fine and jail time, Hughley wonders, “What if the spotted owl was just carrying Skittles and wearing a hoodie?”

Hughley also looks at the finances of privately run prisons, and whether young African-American men are helpful with the bottom line. But do not think for a moment that Hughley thinks the problem only involves conflicts between blacks and whites. He talks about black-on-black crime in some detail.

Hughley interviews the African-American minister Jesse Lee Peterson, who has been outspoken about the importance of marriage and family in the black community, and says “right on” when told about a man who has adopted four children. Until, that is, Peterson learns the man is gay; Peterson is against gay couples having children.

There’s more, including a chat with a neo-Nazi, a meeting with lobbyists and the launching of petitions to save the endangered black man (which people are unwilling to sign even as they will sign in support of saving black rhinos). The longer it goes, the more evident is Hughley’s anger — and the less crazy his Swiftian notion seems.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

When I have talked to D.L. (sometimes DL) Hughley over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. Hughley is a comedian who thinks, and talks, a lot about social issues; who looks for different ways to make his points, and whose humor is often the gloss on top of some considerable anger.

All of that is evident in DL Hughley: The Endangered List, a special airing at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central; an uncensored version will also be available on Amazon Instant Video and other online services beginning Oct. 28. In the program, Hughley attempts to have African-American men added to the federal list of endangered species in order to protect them from extinction.

The special starts with some grim statistics about declining wealth for African-American families, the murder rate among young black men, the likelihood of those young men going to jail and other issues.

Then Hughley, having crossed paths with an endangered lizard, begins to consider the protections an endangered status might provide. For example, after learning that killing a spotted owl could lead to a fine and jail time, Hughley wonders, “What if the spotted owl was just carrying Skittles and wearing a hoodie?”

Hughley also looks at the finances of privately run prisons, and whether young African-American men are helpful with the bottom line. But do not think for a moment that Hughley thinks the problem only involves conflicts between blacks and whites. He talks about black-on-black crime in some detail.

Hughley interviews the African-American minister Jesse Lee Peterson, who has been outspoken about the importance of marriage and family in the black community, and says “right on” when told about a man who has adopted four children. Until, that is, Peterson learns the man is gay; Peterson is against gay couples having children.

There’s more, including a chat with a neo-Nazi, a meeting with lobbyists and the launching of petitions to save the endangered black man (which people are unwilling to sign even as they will sign in support of saving black rhinos). The longer it goes, the more evident is Hughley’s anger — and the less crazy his Swiftian notion seems.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

When I have talked to D.L. (sometimes DL) Hughley over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. Hughley is a comedian who thinks, and talks, a lot about social issues; who looks for different ways to make his points, and whose humor is often the gloss on top of some considerable anger.

All of that is evident in DL Hughley: The Endangered List, a special airing at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central; an uncensored version will also be available on Amazon Instant Video and other online services beginning Oct. 28. In the program, Hughley attempts to have African-American men added to the federal list of endangered species in order to protect them from extinction.

The special starts with some grim statistics about declining wealth for African-American families, the murder rate among young black men, the likelihood of those young men going to jail and other issues.

Then Hughley, having crossed paths with an endangered lizard, begins to consider the protections an endangered status might provide. For example, after learning that killing a spotted owl could lead to a fine and jail time, Hughley wonders, “What if the spotted owl was just carrying Skittles and wearing a hoodie?”

Hughley also looks at the finances of privately run prisons, and whether young African-American men are helpful with the bottom line. But do not think for a moment that Hughley thinks the problem only involves conflicts between blacks and whites. He talks about black-on-black crime in some detail.

Hughley interviews the African-American minister Jesse Lee Peterson, who has been outspoken about the importance of marriage and family in the black community, and says “right on” when told about a man who has adopted four children. Until, that is, Peterson learns the man is gay; Peterson is against gay couples having children.

There’s more, including a chat with a neo-Nazi, a meeting with lobbyists and the launching of petitions to save the endangered black man (which people are unwilling to sign even as they will sign in support of saving black rhinos). The longer it goes, the more evident is Hughley’s anger — and the less crazy his Swiftian notion seems.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

When I have talked to D.L. (sometimes DL) Hughley over the years, the conversation has always been enjoyable. Hughley is a comedian who thinks, and talks, a lot about social issues; who looks for different ways to make his points, and whose humor is often the gloss on top of some considerable anger.

All of that is evident in DL Hughley: The Endangered List, a special airing at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central; an uncensored version will also be available on Amazon Instant Video and other online services beginning Oct. 28. In the program, Hughley attempts to have African-American men added to the federal list of endangered species in order to protect them from extinction.

The special starts with some grim statistics about declining wealth for African-American families, the murder rate among young black men, the likelihood of those young men going to jail and other issues.

Then Hughley, having crossed paths with an endangered lizard, begins to consider the protections an endangered status might provide. For example, after learning that killing a spotted owl could lead to a fine and jail time, Hughley wonders, “What if the spotted owl was just carrying Skittles and wearing a hoodie?”

Hughley also looks at the finances of privately run prisons, and whether young African-American men are helpful with the bottom line. But do not think for a moment that Hughley thinks the problem only involves conflicts between blacks and whites. He talks about black-on-black crime in some detail.

Hughley interviews the African-American minister Jesse Lee Peterson, who has been outspoken about the importance of marriage and family in the black community, and says “right on” when told about a man who has adopted four children. Until, that is, Peterson learns the man is gay; Peterson is against gay couples having children.

There’s more, including a chat with a neo-Nazi, a meeting with lobbyists and the launching of petitions to save the endangered black man (which people are unwilling to sign even as they will sign in support of saving black rhinos). The longer it goes, the more evident is Hughley’s anger — and the less crazy his Swiftian notion seems.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

If it’s Thursday, this must be the mailbag.

Q: Who is the African-American announcer with the deep voice who does the Allstate TV commercials?

A: That would be the veteran actor Dennis Haysbert. His air of authority in the commercials has also been evident in some of his other work, for example when he played the president of the United States on 24 and when he was the leader of a Special Forces team on the CBS series The Unit. But his best-known role, especially in Northeast Ohio, may be the power-hitting Pedro Cerrano of the Cleveland Indians in the Major League movies. He was so convincing in the role that he said it limited his getting other kinds of work for a while. He once told me, “Everybody thought I was that guy.” But other roles and those commercials have changed that image.

Q: Thank you in advance for telling me where I can find Martha Stewart’s show.

A: You’re welcome in advance. If you are referring to her show for the Hallmark Channel, it is done. But she has a show for public television, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, which airs at various times on PBS stations. For example, it will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday on WNEO/WEAO (Channels 45/49). And, if you watch programming online, Stewart has an extensive library posted on Hulu.com.

Q: Can you please tell me who does the voice for that Lizard in the Geico commercial?

A: The Geico gecko has long been given voice by Jake Wood, an English actor whose other credits include a long run as Max Branning on the British drama EastEnders. But during commercial appearances dating back more than a decade, more than one actor has played the role; the most famous is Kelsey Grammer.

Q: Many years ago there was a series about the White House. I think it was called “Backstairs at the White House” and was about the servants. I did not get to see all the series. Are there any tapes or DVDs?

A: Backstairs at the White House was a 1979 miniseries for CBS based on a book called My 30 Years Backstairs at the White House. It starred Olivia Cole, Leslie Uggams and Louis Gossett Jr., among others. It is available on DVD; if your local retailer cannot get it (or your library does not have it), the DVD is for sale from online vendors like Amazon.com and Moviesunlimited.com.

Q: Mark Harmon starred in a TV film “Certain Prey” based on a novel by John Sandford. Is it likely that he will star in any more of the Prey series stories? Will “Certain Prey” film be released on a DVD?

A: Sandford’s website notes that “reviews were decidedly mixed with fans and non-fans alike polarized” over the movie, but that the ratings were strong enough that there probably will be more movies. But nothing official has been announced at this writing.

Mailbag updates

A reader asked not long ago when the Fox series Cops would be back. The network had set it for midseason, which now means Dec. 15. This will be the premiere episode of the show’s 25th season, and will include segments from Sacramento, Calif.; Portland, Ore., and Toledo.

Another recent question involved the fate of Mockingbird Lane, the planned new series revisiting the TV characters the Munsters (who, fans will recall, lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane). NBC will air the series pilot as a Halloween special on Oct. 26. Still, there are no announced plans for a full series, and some have speculated that pilot’s telecast is just a way to get back some of the considerable cost of the project. I prefer to hope that, if the pilot gets a big audience, it will breathe new life into the venture.

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Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Please mark the email or envelope with “mailbag.” Letters may be edited for publication. Please do not phone in questions. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook.

Associated Press

NEW YORK: Televised dating might not be the right fit for Emily Maynard.

The single mom’s second turn on ABC’s “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” series has ended in a broken engagement.

After weeks of rumors, Maynard and Jef Holm confirmed their split to People.com on Tuesday. Maynard described it as “a very difficult and heartbreaking decision.”

Maynard competed on the 15th season of “The Bachelor” where she accepted Brad Womack’s proposal in the season finale. They, too, broke up a few months later.

Earlier this month, former “Bachelor” Ben Flajnik (FLAN’-ihk) and fiancee, model Courtney Robertson, also broke up.

Two “Bachelor”-related couples are celebrating some good news, though. Ashley Hebert (AY’-behr) and J.P. Rosenbaum’s televised wedding special will air on ABC in December, while Jason and Molly Mesnick are expecting their first child together.

Berry Saying Bye-Bye? Cleveland’s own Halle Berry recently told InStyle magazine that she’s pondering a move to France.

Not only is Berry engaged to a Frenchman, Olivier Martinez, but she also would like more privacy for Nahla, her daughter with former beau Gabriel Aubry.

“I don’t want her to grow up around the tabloids,” Berry said, according to People.com. “Because we are followed all the time, she is starting to feel like she is somehow special, and of course she is, but I want her to understand that she’s special because of who she is, not because she was born into this celebrity blender.”

Berry and Aubry have battled over custody of Nahla but she told the mag that such turbulence will pass. As for wedding plans, Berry says those will have to wait until she figures out where she is going to live. And after two previous marriages — to Eric Benet and former Cleveland Indian David Justice — she plans to keep things simple.

“I haven’t been to many weddings,” she said, “but I went to one … with 250 guests [and] I thought, Wow — so this is a wedding, huh? I’ve never had that, nor have I wanted that. I wasn’t even trying to catch the bouquet!”

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More Than a Loaf. The Oct. 24 Bat Out of Hell concert at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theatre in Cleveland has added Sammy Hagar as a special guest. The Meat Loaf concert marks the 35th anniversary of the classic collaboration between the singer and producer-writer Jim Steinman. According to concert promoter Live Nation, Bat Out of Hell has sold more than 43 million copies and still moves about 200,000 copies annually; it also led to two sequels.

And, lest we forget, it was first released on Cleveland International Records, the label founded by the late Steve Popovich.

Tickets are $39.50 to $75, and available from Livenation.com, the theater box office and charge by phone at 216-241-6000.

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In Case You Missed It … Friends and frequent collaborators Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the next Golden Globe Awards ceremony in January. Considering how much they bring the funny, Time magazine’s James Poniewozik rightly wondered why it took so long to get them a gig co-hosting an awards show.

He doesn’t answer the why-so-long question but endorses the idea. Says Poniewozik: “There’s been a bit of a tendency of awards shows lately to go edgy to get attention.” (Witness the Oscars’ hiring Seth MacFarlane as a host, and Ricky Gervais generally.) But, he adds, “Fey and Poehler seem like the kind of hosts not just well-suited to each other … but to the idea of keeping the boozy, lighthearted Globes a good time without fighting against the format.”

“NBC clearly loves Fey and Poehler,” he said, “but it’s having some trouble right now figuring out a version of NBC that keeps their comedy on the air in prime time.” (Fey’s 30 Rock is in its last season, and Poehler’s Parks and Recreation has never been a ratings smash.) Poniewozik’s idea: “Maybe they could just host an awards show once a week?”

There sure seem to be enough.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer

One of the great delights of television is Mad Men, and its latest release on DVD and Blu-ray also sets a high bar in terms of extras.

Mad Men: Season Five (Lionsgate, 13 episodes, $49.98 on DVD and a penny more for the Blu-ray) offered a weird, grim and somehow exhilarating series of stories of ad man Don Draper (Jon Hamm), his colleagues and loved ones as they faced a world that was changing both in their business and in the culture at large in 1966. It was a season with death, rock music, LSD — and all the characters trying to figure out their place in life. Don, for example, had to play a different role in his advertising agency, and recognize that younger people with new ideas were coming along — and that one of those younger people was his new wife, Megan (Jessica Pare).

Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) and Don Draper (Jon Hamm) – Mad Men – Season 5 – Gallery – Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels/AMC

The DVD and Blu-ray sets, due out on Tuesday, are loaded with supplemental information, including commentary tracks on each episode, and in many cases more than one with an episode. Nor are these just idle chats. One of the commentaries on the season premiere has Hamm and Pare conversing about everything from their own characters, to the importance of costuming in a scene where old and young characters intersect, to technical challenges. Hamm points out an especially awkward cut between two camera shots of a scene, as well as noting how much work went into Pare’s singing in the season premiere.

Other extras include a piece called Mad Men Say the Darndest Things, an assembling of memorable lines from the show, with accompanying discussion by show writers. As with past Mad Men sets, there are segments providing historical context, such as a gallery of Newsweek magazine covers from the period. And, in a strange piece of cross-promotion, the set is sponsored by Canadian Club whisky, so there is not only a printed sheet with a couple of cocktail recipes but a video segment offering instruction in the drinks’ preparation.

Mad Men, by the way, will begin a new season in spring 2013.

Also from TV, a couple of series that did not last nearly as long as Mad Men will be available on video on Tuesday. Alcatraz: The Complete Series (Warner, 13 episodes, $39.98 DVD, $49.98 Blu-ray) presents the Fox thriller’s single season along with extras like a blooper reel and a closer look at the real-life prison. The Firm: The Complete Series (Entertainment One, 22 episodes, $39.99 DVD) offers the only season of that drama revisiting the characters from the John Grisham novel and Tom Cruise movie; extras include cast and crew interviews.

On the movie side, new offerings include the acclaimed Moonrise Kingdom (Universal, $29.98 DVD, $34.98 in a DVD/Blu-ray/digital combo). The film was not hugely successful at the box office but was still writer-director Wes Anderson’s most lucrative effort since The Royal Tenenbaums more than a decade ago, and an improvement on The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.

The cast includes Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. And the quirky tale of two 12-year-olds (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) and their romantic pact had an enthusiastic critical following, with a 94 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Among the video extras are a making-of segment and a set tour conducted by Murray.

Where Moonrise Kingdom was a rebound of sorts for Anderson, the usually box-office-generating Adam Sandler had one of his low points with That’s My Boy (Sony, $30.99 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray), a comedy with Sandler as a ne’er-do-well trying to repair his relationship with his son (Andy Samberg). According to Rotten Tomatoes, it had more positive reviews than some other recent Sandler efforts, but moviegoers were still unenthusiastic — or just decided to wait for the video, available Tuesday.

Extras on DVD and Blu-ray include deleted scenes and bloopers; the Blu-ray adds several featurettes.

Also new among movies is 2016: Obama’s America (Lionsgate, $19.99 DVD), the documentary sharply critical of President Obama, and based on the book by Dinesh D’Souza. Its $33.3 million in box-office revenues make it the second-highest-grossing political documentary of all time, according to Box Office Mojo, and fourth most successful documentary of any kind, behind top-ranked Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119 million), March of the Penguins ($77.4 million) and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($73 million). The DVD has no extras.

Down video road: The Emmy-winning Game Change, which dramatized the 2008 presidential campaign and Sarah Palin’s place in it, will be on DVD and Blu-ray on Jan. 8, The Expendables 2 arrives in all formats on Nov. 20. My Big Fat Greek Wedding: 10th Anniversary Special Edition is due on Nov. 13.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Ashley Wagner
Ohio.com correspondent

KENT: Academy Award-winning actress, author, and deaf advocate Marlee Matlin spoke of abilities — rather than disabilities Tuesday at Kent State University during event, which marked the month of October as Disability Awareness Month.

A sea of hands waved through the air in applause as Matlin took the stage accompanied by cheers and claps from the packed ballroom inside the Kent State Student Center. Matlin immediately pushed the microphone away and proclaimed, “I don’t need this.”

She posed the question “Who are we to determine what is normal?” and spoke of her challenges growing up deaf.

Actress and author Marlee Matlin speaks in American Sign Language as Jack Jason, her personal interpreter, conveys her message to the crowd. (Ashley Wagner/Ohio.com)

“I am proud of who I am, of the beautiful language and culture of American sign and proud to be able to speak as well,” Matlin said. “Despite what people view as a handicap, I would ask people to look at our abilities rather than dwell on our perceived disabilities.”

Her parents had been devastated when they first found out, but raised her to be proud of whom she was and told her that nothing would stand in her way.   When her mother posted a sign that read “Caution Deaf Child Crossing” she had initially disliked the idea, but felt better about it after her parents pointed out no other child has a sign.

That message made Matlin feel so empowered that she used it as the title for her first novel for children, “Deaf Child Crossing”.

Matlin spoke fondly of her mentor, Henry Winkler, who is most famous for his role as “The Fonz” in the sitcom Happy Days. The two met in Illinois when she was young told her to always follow her dreams and to never let anyone stand in her way. The two kept in touch through phone calls and letters throughout the years.

Matlin’s childhood challenges proved to be no threat to her future, but the challenges did not stop there.

After winning the 1987 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Children of a Lesser God, she was criticized for her award and her deafness. Rex Reed, a critic, said the award had been a pity vote and asked his readers if a deaf person in a deaf role was really acting.

Feeling crushed, Matlin had looked to her mentor Winkler once again. After showing up at Winkler’s doorstep, Oscar in hand and feeling defeated, he once again encouraged her by telling her that she wasn’t finished – not by a long shot.

Matlin closed the evening by once again encouraging the crowd to embrace abilities, not disabilities, and to always follow their dreams.

“For me, though some may say I live in a world of silence, silence is the last thing you will ever hear from me,” she said.

The following titles are coming to DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday.

Blu-ray — A League of Their Own, Ella Enchanted, The Funhouse, The Santa Clause (also Santa Clause 2 and 3), Terror Train, That ’70s Show: Season 2. Titles below with an asterisk are also on Blu-ray.

Movies — 2016: Obama’s America; Chernobyl Diaries*; The Forgiveness of Blood*; Moonrise Kingdom*; Rites of Passage; That’s My Boy*.

TV Shows — Alcatraz: The Complete Series*; Chappelle’s Show: The Complete Series; Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule: Seasons 1 and 2; Columbo: The Complete Series; The Firm: The Complete Series; Mad Men: Season Five*; Mr. Lucky: The Complete Series; Psych: Season 6; Touch: The Complete First Season.

Kids/Family — Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 (50 cartoons), Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted*.

Sources include www.tvshowsondvd.com and www.joblo.com. Consult those sites for more information.

Don’t miss:

The Walking Dead — The monster hit returns for its third season and those gruesome ghouls are still in attack mode. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), now hardened and weary, continues to seek refuge with his fellow survivors in a desolate world, but the struggle to survive has never been more perilous. The season also introduces new characters, including the maniacal Governor (David Morrissey) and the sword-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira). 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC.

Other bets

Sunday: Ever wonder what Scott Baio is up to? Wonder no more. The Happy Days star returns to prime time in See Dad Run, a comedy in which he plays a former TV dad adjusting to actual fatherhood. 8 p.m., Nickelodeon.

Monday: Turns out that Steve McGarrett’s (Alex O’Loughlin) mother (Christine Lahti) isn’t going away quietly on Hawaii Five-0. She pays her son a surprise visit as the team investigates the death of a polo player. 10 p.m., CBS.

Tuesday: It’s Round 2 of the presidential debates as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney square off in a town-hall format. We can only hope that CNN’s Candy Crowley makes for a competent moderator. 9 p.m., broadcast networks and cable news channels.

Tuesday: Emily Owens, M.D. is basically Grey’s Anatomy-lite. Mamie Gummer stars in the title role as a love-starved young doctor — and former nerd — who discovers that hospitals are a lot like high school. 9 p.m., The CW.

Tuesday: The Men Who Built America is a series that explores how five powerful men — Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford — transformed the country into a global superpower. 9 p.m., History Channel.

Wednesday: Mama drama on Suburgatory? In the second season opener, Tessa (Jane Levy) begins to express an interest in her mom, who abandoned her when she was a baby, and George (Jeremy Sisto) suddenly feels threatened. 9:31 p.m., ABC.

Wednesday: Brace yourself for another twisted, crazy and scary ride. American Horror Story: Asylum returns with an entirely different saga set inside a New England facility for the criminally insane. Jessica Lange is back — this time as a sadistic nun. 10 p.m., FX.

Thursday: Ethel is a compelling profile of Ethel Kennedy that spans the life she shared with husband Robert Kennedy and the years following his death. The film is directed and narrated by her daughter, Rory Kennedy. 9 p.m., HBO.

Friday: Ding-dong, Percy is dead, but Nikita is still roiling with danger. Now in charge of Division, Nikita and Michael (Maggie Q, Shane West) are out to capture a group of rogue agents called the Dirty 30. 9 p.m., The CW.

Saturday: The Girl is a new film that delves into Alfred Hitchcock’s dark side. It follows the famed director (Toby Jones) as he develops an creepy obsession for Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller), his leading lady in The Birds and Marnie. 9 p.m., HBO. Rich Heldenfels says the movie is unsettling in his review in Sunday’s Channels.

The television season has had its first prime-time cancellation, and its demise will affect your viewing tonight.

It took only two little-watched telecasts for CBS to drop Made in Jersey, the drama starring Janet Montgomery as a New Jersey woman working in a Manhattan law firm. The series’ New York City connection was thought to make it a good fit with two other CBS Friday-night shows, CSI:NY and Blue Bloods, and was scheduled in between them.

But effective immediately, CBS is moving CSI:NY to 9 p.m. (with Blue Bloods still at 10) and will temporarily fill the 8 p.m. hour with drama reruns, such as tonight’s NCIS replay. Then, on Nov. 2, Undercover Boss will return and replace the reruns.

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Mark Your Calendar. The Big Chuck and Lil’ John Ghoulardifest is set for Nov. 2-4 in the UAW Hall in — of course — Parma.

The festival celebrates classic Cleveland TV and is named for Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson, the local TV host and nationally known voice, who died in 1997. (Consumer advisory: With Tom Feran, I co-wrote the book Ghoulardi: Inside Cleveland TV’s Wildest Ride.)

The fest will include the annual pizza-eating contest, a Saturday-morning Cartoon Carnival and appearances by Big Chuck Schodowski, Lil’ John Rinaldi, Bob “Hoolihan” Wells, Dick Goddard, Son of Ghoul, Mike Olszewski and others. I’ve posted still more info in the HeldenFiles Online, and you can keep up at www.theghoulardifest.com.

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Much Mockingbird. This is the 50th-anniversary year for the screen version of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that has led to a lot of revisiting of the screen classic.

On Nov. 9, Mary Badham, who played Atticus Finch’s daughter Scout in the movie, will appear at a screening of Mockingbird in the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, and answer audience questions.

Tickets cost $20, but Cinematheque members and those with Cleveland Institute of Art identification pay $15. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/284785. If any seats remain on Nov. 9, $10 tickets for people 25 and under will go on sale at the Cinematheque box office starting at 6 p.m. Those tickets have to be bought with cash or check; the online address allows for credit-card purchases.

In addition, Mockingbird will be shown in select theaters on Nov. 15 as part of an ongoing celebration of Universal Pictures’ 100th anniversary. Those screenings, presented by NCM Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies, are set to include a TCM-produced introduction, interviews and commentary from TCM Weekend Daytime Host Ben Mankiewicz. Tickets are $12.50 for adults.

Local theaters showing the film include Cinemark Valley View (at 2 and 7 p.m. on Nov. 15), Montrose Movies 12 (7 p.m.), Regal Hudson Cinema 10 (7 p.m.) and Cinemark Tinseltown USA in Jackson Township (2 and 7 p.m.),

Based on the novel by Harper Lee, the film about a small Southern town, growing up and civil rights won three Academy Awards, for adapted screenplay (by Horton Foote), art direction in a black-and-white movie and best actor (Gregory Peck). It was nominated for five more Oscars, including best picture, best director (Robert Mulligan) and best supporting actress (Badham).

TCM, by the way, will air the movie on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.. And it is available on DVD and Blu-ray.

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Psych Set. USA Network will begin the seventh season of Psych on Feb. 27, and the season will include both its 100th episode and a two-hour musical telecast. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, who solves crimes with his considerable powers of observation, and Dulé Hill stars as Shawn’s best friend and reluctant sidekick Gus.

But local fans may be more interested in knowing that the new-season announcement still lists honorary Akronite Corbin Bernsen, who was part of a cliffhanger at the end of the sixth season, as a cast member. Akronite-by-marriage Timothy Omundson, who is scene-stealingly funny in the online announcement of the new season, is also on board.

Adds USA: “Season seven will explore Gus’ personal life, feature the wedding of one of the main characters and deliver new ‘Psych-isms’ crafted for the series’ legions of devoted fans, … Parminder Nagra will recur as Gus’ girlfriend, exposing his romantic side and creating jealousy with Shawn.”

The 100th episode will also be a mini-reunion of cast members from the big-screen movie Clue (among them Northeast Ohio’s own Martin Mull, just in case you thought the show had run out of local connections).

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can reach him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer

If it’s Thursday, this must be the mailbag.

Schindler’s List, German industrialist Oskar Schindler (LIAM NEESON, left) and Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (BEN KINGSLEY, right) assemble the list of more than 1,100 Jewish workers to be placed under Schindler’s protection. MCA/Universal Home Video. Photo by David James.

Q: What determined which movies in the ’40s and ’50s were made in color or black-and-white, other than budget factors?

A: In brief, it depended on what the filmmakers and the studio thought best for that production. But let’s look at the history. While color movies date back to the 19th century, The Film Encyclopedia notes that color became increasingly common after the introduction of the Technicolor process in the 1930s; in the ’40s, color boomed even more after a simplified Technicolor process “made it possible to shoot Technicolor films with ordinary motion picture cameras.” In fact, the Motion Picture Academy split both the cinematography and art-direction Oscars into color and black-and-white categories in the early 1940s.

Cost was still a consideration, with color film stock costing more to buy, develop and print than black-and-white, so you still find plenty of low-budget films in the cheaper format. But, as the movies battled television for audience in the ’50s, color was one more weapon, since both color TV sets and programming in color were relatively rare. Still, aesthetic considerations fueled some film choices. The Oxford Companion to Film says that color was so often used to excess in scenery and costumes that some cinematographers preferred not to use it and color “came to be regarded as inappropriate to serious or realistic subjects.”

Only in the ’60s – after color had become common in TV, magazines and amateur photography — “did (color) become acceptable on the screen as naturalism,” the Oxford Companion says. It was so typical — and black-and-white so rare — that by 1968 the Oscars were back to giving just a single Oscar each in cinematography and art direction. But some filmmakers still rely on black-and-white; there have been notable efforts by Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List) and Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull), and the most recent winner of the best-picture Oscar was the black-and-white (and mostly silent) The Artist.

Q: Is there any chance of “Harry’s Law,” starring Kathy Bates, ever returning to the air? I miss it and would love to hear that it will return.

A: This is a question still getting asked months after the series ended its run, so a recap is in order. NBC canceled the drama in May. It had a relatively large audience, especially for NBC, but many of those viewers were well over 50 years old, and so not as desirable to NBC (or other networks) as younger adults. Now, you may want to argue that older adults have plenty of disposable income to spend on advertisers’ products. But older people are also seen as having long since established brand loyalty, whether to a toothpaste or a make of car, while younger viewers might be more disposed to trying out something new they see in a commercial. As I have said before, I don’t entirely buy that argument, but that’s how the TV business thinks.

Bates, by the way, is recuperating from a double mastectomy after a breast-cancer diagnosis over the summer. “My doctors have assured me I’m going to be around for a long time,” she told People.com in September. And she tweeted: “I don’t miss my breasts as much as I miss Harry’s Law.”

Q: Many years ago (probably at least 40), I saw a movie with Richard Crenna and I think Zero Mostel called “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home.” It was very funny but not politically correct. What happened with it, why is it never shown and can it be purchased?

A: I do not know of an authorized video release of John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, but I can see why it is not shown. The 1965 comedy starred Richard Crenna, Shirley MacLaine and Peter Ustinov — not Zero Mostel. It was written by William Peter Blatty, later far more famous for The Exorcist. Crenna played Goldfarb, a former football star who under complicated circumstances becomes the coach of the football team of a fictional Middle Eastern country where Ustinov was king. (MacLaine is a journalist investigating the king by sneaking into his harem.) The team plays Notre Dame, and the real-life Notre Dame was reportedly so unhappy with the movie that it sued to delay its release — and did stall it for some time. When finally released, the movie was not a hit, and clips from it on YouTube indicate both ethnic insensitivity and a lack of humor.

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Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Please mark the email or envelope with “mailbag.” Letters may be edited for publication. Please do not phone in questions. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Twitter and Facebook.

Larry Lage
AP Sports Writer

DETROIT: Alex Karras was one of the NFL’s most feared defensive tackles throughout the 1960s, a player who hounded quarterbacks and bulled past opposing linemen.

And yet, to many people he will always be the lovable dad from the 1980s sitcom “Webster” or the big cowboy who famously punched out a horse in “Blazing Saddles.”

This is a 1971 file photo showing Detroit Lions football player Alex Karras. Karras, who gained fame in the NFL as a fearsome defensive lineman and later as an actor, has died. He was 77. Craig Mitnick, Karras’ attorney, said Karras died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012, surrounded by family. (AP Photo/File)

Karras had recently suffered kidney failure and been diagnosed with dementia. The Lions also said he had suffered from heart disease and, for the last two years, stomach cancer. He died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members, said Craig Mitnick, Karras’ attorney.

“Perhaps no player in Lions history attained as much success and notoriety for what he did after his playing days as did Alex,” Lions president Tom Lewand said.

His death also will be tied to the NFL’s conflict with former players over concussions. Karras in April joined the more than 3,500 football veterans suing the league for not protecting them better from head injuries, immediately becoming one of the best-known names in the legal fight. Mitnick said the family had not yet decided whether to donate Karras’ brain for study, as other families have done.

Born in Gary, Ind., Karras starred for four years at Iowa. Detroit drafted Karras with the 10th overall pick in 1958 and he was a four-time All-Pro defensive tackle over 12 seasons with the franchise.

He was the heart of the Lions’ defensive line, terrorizing quarterbacks for years. The Lions handed the powerful 1962 Green Bay Packers their only defeat that season, a 26-14 upset on Thanksgiving during which they harassed quarterback Bart Starr constantly.

Packers guard Jerry Kramer wrote in his diary of the 1967 season about his trepidation over having to play Karras.

“I’m thinking about him every minute,” Kramer wrote.

For all his prowess on the field, Karras may have gained more fame when he turned to acting in the movies and on television.

Playing a not-so-bright bruiser in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles,” he not only slugged a horse but also delivered the classic line: “Mongo only pawn in game of life.”

Several years before that, Karras had already become a bit of a celebrity through George Plimpton’s behind-the-scenes book about what it was like to be an NFL player in the Motor City, “Paper Lion: Confessions of a Second-string Quarterback.”

That led to Karras playing himself alongside Alan Alda in the successful movie adaption — Karras and Plimpton remained friends for life and one of Karras’ sons is named after Plimpton — and it opened doors for Karras to be an analyst alongside Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford on “Monday Night Football.”

In the 1980s, he played a sheriff in the comedy “Porky’s” and became a hit on the small screen as Emmanuel Lewis’ adoptive father, George Papadapolis, in the sitcom “Webster.”

He also had roles in “Against All Odds” and “Victor/Victoria.” He portrayed the husband of famed female athlete “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias in the TV movie that starred Susan Clark, who later became his wife. The two formed their own production company and it was Clark who played the role of his wife on “Webster.”

Recently, his wife said Karras’ quality of life has deteriorated because of head injuries sustained during his playing career.

Susan Clark said her husband couldn’t drive after loving to get behind the wheel and couldn’t remember recipes for some of the favorite Italian and Greek dishes he used to cook.

“This physical beating that he took as a football player has impacted his life, and therefore it has impacted his family life,” Clark told The Associated Press earlier this year. “He is interested in making the game of football safer and hoping that other families of retired players will have a healthier and happier retirement.”

Clark has said he was formally diagnosed with dementia several years ago and has had symptoms for more than a dozen years. He joined hundreds of other former players suing the league.

“It’s the same thing as back in the gladiator days when the gladiators fought to death,” Mitnick, who represents Karras and hundreds of others in the suit, has said. “Fans care about these guys when they’re playing and they are heroes. But as soon as you’re not a hero and not playing the fan doesn’t really care what happens to them.”

The NFL has said it did not intentionally seek to mislead players and has taken action to better protect players and to advance the science of concussion management and treatment.

Karras played his entire NFL career with the Lions before retiring in 1970 at age 35. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1960, 1961 and 1965, and he made the Pro Bowl four times. He missed the 1963 season when he was suspended by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in a gambling probe. Karras was recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a defensive tackle on the All-Decade Team of the 1960s.

Karras later wrote an autobiography, “Even Big Guys Cry,” and two other books, “Alex Karras’ and “Tuesday Night Football.” Lewand said Karras also loved to garden and cook.

“We know Alex first and foremost as one of the cornerstones to our ‘Fearsome Foursome’ defensive line of the 1960s and also as one of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,” Lewand said. “Many others across the country came to know Alex as an accomplished actor and as an announcer during the early years of ‘Monday Night Football.’”

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AP Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg and AP Pro Football Writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.