The story of “Chuck” revolves around computer service technician Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who inadvertently becomes a CIA/NSA asset when his former Stanford roommate turned CIA operative downloads the only copy of a secret government database, the Intersect, directly into Chuck’s brain. The government assigns two agents to protect and work with Chuck, CIA Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and NSA Major John Casey (Big Hollywood’s own Adam Baldwin).

The supporting cast includes Chuck’s best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez), sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), brother-in-law Devon (Ryan McPartlin) and fellow computer technicians and lackeys Jeff and Lester (played to comedic brilliance by Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay). Guest stars over the years have included Chevy Chase, Scott Bakula, Linda Hamilton, Timothy Dalton and Carrie-Anne Moss.

The cast worked incredibly well together which, when combined with good writing and interesting storylines, produced a series that was extremely entertaining and kept me watching from the first episode. For whatever reason, the show was never able to draw in a large audience and slipped in the ratings in each subsequent season.

Chuck was able to stave off cancellation numerous times thanks to a very vocal and loyal, but unfortunately small, fan base who mounted multiple “Save Chuck” campaigns. If not for a unique sponsorship deal with the Subway restaurant chain, the series would have never even seen a third season. A deal between production company Warner Brothers and NBC for a 13-episode fifth season was only struck to get to the minimum syndication threshold of 88 episodes, which brought the series to a total of 91 episodes.

I recently spoke with Big Hollywood contributor Adam Baldwin about the series, its finale airing at 8 p.m. EST tonight and being a conservative in Hollywood.

How did you get involved with “Chuck?”

It was an audition, typical pilot season, and I went in for the producers for the first and then they called me back for the studio, which was Warner Brothers, and that went well. So they called me back for the network audition and that went well and they gave me the job.

When I was auditioning for the network I saw Zach Levi there and another guy they had. It was really between the two of them, and the other guy was not tall. Zach is six-four and I thought “Good. I hope the tall guy gets it” ’cause then I got a shot.

This might have been one of the tallest casts ever with you, Zach and Ryan, and even Yvonne and Sara. Did you ever feel bad for Joshua Gomez?

No, because we needed a troll. Once you’re over six-foot, you’re in the tall man’s club, and it’s a little easier when you’re working with tall people. “Firefly” was like that too. Nathan Fillion is like six-one, or six-two, six-three, whatever, and most everyone else was tall on that show, so it made it a lot easier.

It’s kind of unique, I think, to have a show that’s been on the brink of being axed so many times come back. You were so close to syndication after season 4. Why wouldn’t the network at least get to that point where you can start getting some guaranteed money back off of it? John Nolte has posted recently about “30 Rock.” They pump it as this great show, this high rated show, and last season “Chuck” beat it. You guys were ranked 101 and it was 106.

Hold on, follow the money. Is “30 Rock” an in-house, all the way along, NBC production? I think it is, and ours, I know, is a Warner Brother’s licensing fee to NBC. Anytime you’ve got a show that’s an outside producer licensing it back to the network, there’s extra costs involved, so as people working on the show, you have to consider, well “what’s the licensing fee?” Is it a million per episode? Is it a dollar per episode? The business stuff is beyond my pay grade. Business is business. Robert Greenblatt, the head of NBC now, said that for the 13 episode half-season, Warner Brothers, the production company that was licensing it to NBC said “hey, they made us a deal we couldn’t refuse” because Warner Brothers wanted to get to beyond the magic number of 88, which is 22 episodes times four seasons. I think that’s the magic number these days. It used to be 100, but now it’s 88, and Warner Brothers wanted to get to that number so they were able to make a deal to get there. And, I think the bottom line is: follow the money.

It’s a show that wasn’t highly rated in the demographic, or as highly rated as certainly they wanted it to be. But they were close enough to a syndication number that they could get that. I don’t know what any syndication deals are. It’s certainly not a number that I could retire on. I’m not looking for that. Bottom line is, I’m happy that we got five seasons, 91 episodes was the total, I believe. Ninety-one episodes out of a show that was a bubble show from the get go. So, we’re very happy with that. It was a good run. Five years these days, in this market, is a good run. And that’s the bottom line of the message I want to express is that these days, to get that far along is an exception to the rule. And we had a fan base that was a huge part of that. They were very loyal.

There were a lot of factors for “Chuck” behind the scenes that kept it going, whereas other shows would not have kept going. “Heroes” cost a lot more than we did, we were able to keep our budgets pretty low, and it’s a big benefit that the powers that be, the heads of Warner Brothers, they liked the show. And NBC, they really liked the show. They liked the characters and the producers and the story lines, so they wanted to keep it going but, five years, hey, let’s wrap it up. And that’s fine. I’ve got no problem with that. I’m not as heartbroken by this as I was by “Firefly” with only thirteen episodes, like, dude, there’s so much more to give.

You seem to do a lot of military-type roles. How much of John Casey is really Adam Baldwin?

I have been blessed, through those military roles, to meet military men and women. My father was in the United Stated Naval Air Corps in World War II. My grandfather was in the army in World War I. So, I have a legacy. I did not serve, but I respect and admire those that do. I always will. And anyone that is a technical advisor, who’s had military training, on our show I try to glean as much authenticity as I can and add that to the character that I’m playing. And I recognize the fact that I’m just an actor trying to play a role. It’s an action comedy, so I try to balance the funny with the action and the seriousness in that.

I do take the responsibility of portraying a guy who’s serious about protecting the nation and I am a serious patriot, an American Patriot. I believe that without our military, fighting men and women, that our country would have fallen long ago. But they didn’t allow that to happen so I support and defend that in my civilian capacity as much as I can. And I try to portray that as well as I can. So, I love the military. I love weapons as tools of defending liberty, individual liberty, and freedom. I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the American founding documents, or as Madison or Adams called them, America’s political scriptures, which are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

You’ve been working pretty much constantly since 1980 with “My Bodyguard.” Did you ever fear that having political views like yours would hurt your career?

No. I’m fearless for several reasons. One is because, I think, the truth is not something that people can hold against you. And I have a Twitter stream where I consistently ask folks to tell me where I’ve been factually incorrect. And if someone can point that out I’m happy to say “hey, you’re right. I missed that point, I missed that fact” and I’ll correct it. But that’s a rare exception.

Casey defends, protects, serves America, which is what America’s scriptures say, which is protect, secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, that’s what Casey, he is. You know, the folks (on “Chuck”) were accommodating to the fact that I brought a perspective that they necessarily didn’t have in their life, or their creative writing, that could make John Casey more authentic. So I tried to do that as much as I can. I was a supporting character, I’m not Chuck. The show is called “Chuck,” I’m John Casey, but I tried to be a supporting role, a pivotal role but a supporting role and be a team player. You want to be a team player. So the key is, for conservatives on a show, is don’t be an asshole. Like, Wil Wheaton has “don’t be a dick.” It’s Wil Wheaton’s rule or law or whatever the hell it’s called. Yeah, don’t be a dick.

But here’s the dirty little secret about Hollywood that I’ve talked about and people don’t talk about enough is that, most people in Hollywood are on the right side of the political spectrum. They just are. Because they live their lives like normal American people do. And the majority of normal Americans are center-right, because they want the government out of their lives, as John Casey does. He wants to protect people’s lives, keep government out of it. But, there’s political correctness that infects Hollywood. Our main enemy, while in the background may be Russia and China, our virulent enemy right now is radical Islam and those people that would support radical Islam to blow up our buildings and kill our people and all that stuff. It’s unfortunate that we aren’t able to address that on a TV show that bows to political correctness. What’s the Jack Bauer show, “24?” I mean, they did it. I wish we’d done more of it.

Since there are so many to the right of center in Hollywood, why do you think it’s so rare to have someone who actually admits it?

Well, there are few people who can.

But why is that?

It’s a combination of reasons. I’ll just speak for myself. I grew up with parents who were teachers. And in my youth and twenties, thirties, before I had kids, when I was still focusing on myself, I bought into what my friends, who I thought were my smart friends, taught me or told me to believe. And that’s very common in Hollywood. The leftist ideology is extremely common in the intellectual circles. And it’s very attractive, it’s seductive, it’s sexy to be smarter than you really are. Now, I didn’t go to college, I didn’t graduate college. So I admired those who did. And I admired those who had information that either seemed collegiate, seemed intellectual, high intellectual purpose, whatever, and I aspired to that. So I succumbed to “this is true. The leftist argument is true” because it was really the only argument I’m hearing. It was the echo chamber effect. The Pauline Kael “I never met anyone who voted for Nixon” in ’72, when he won in a landslide. The Pauline Kael effect. I ran in circles of people who, it didn’t even come up. Hell, I didn’t vote for a Republican president until the second term of Clinton.

What changed?

Well, Clinton. And, I’ve written about this on Big Hollywood, the information that became available in the new media. I’ve written about Rush Limbaugh’s effect, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. You know, Limbaugh had a broad outreach. Most people in America, most people in Hollywood who are working are center-right. It’s just they’re not vocal about it. The problem is, if you become vocal in a workplace there are people who will defend you and there are people who will not defend you.

So the conservatives, center-right, libertarians, whatever you want tocall it, they’ve just decided to remain silent and work, get their money go home and raise their families, which I admire and I respect. And I’ve talked to lots of guys over the years who just live their lives that way. It’s not arguable.There are people who will bring the argument to work. And I think that’s wrong, left or right. Although, you’re going to get a pass, for the most part, because the bosses, the creative people who are sitting in the chairs hiring you, are going to say “I disagree with you so I don’t want to have to deal with this tension.” But, I don’t argue with these people on the set in any way.

I certainly never would instigate an argument about politics on a TV or movie set. It’s stupid. Unless you can take it off to the side and talk to people and say “yeah, does this make sense or does this not make sense?” Because, why would you want to piss off your boss? But there are people in the business who want to piss off their boss because they’re pissed off. And that’s stupid, in any business. Why would you want to piss off the boss? I’ve met guys in Hollywood, actors and actresses, who have a legitimate point of view, but who push it too hard in the workplace. And that’s a mistake.

That’s my take with these leftists who speak out. Sixty percent of the country is right leaning. Why would you want to risk alienating sixty percent of your potential audience?

Well, that’s a whole other argument. That’s your product, what you’re delivering to the market. John Nolte wrote that great article the Top 10 Ways Hollywood Can Win Its Audience Back. It’s spot on why movies and TV are alienating the audience. John’s article is one of the most profound and true articles about Hollywood that I’ve ever read. I don’t know how much of a student of Hollywood you are, but when I first got here in the early ’80s they told me to read Goldman’s book “Adventures in the Screen Trade.” That’s the deal.

Who was your favorite “Chuck” guest star?

Scott Bakula. He and Chevy Chase were my favorite male guest stars. My favorite female guest stars would be Carrie-Anne Moss and Rebecca Romijn because she is just stunningly beautiful. She is just amazingly, stunningly beautiful.

Were you satisfied with the ending they came up with?

Yeah, it was nice. It turned out OK. I can’t complain. It’s hard to comment because I haven’t seen it. Having shot it, I would say that I think the characters were served. And their relationships were served.

What were your feelings when filming came to an end? Was it bittersweet that you actually got to have a definite ending and you weren’t cut off during the summer when it had just been another cliff-hanger ending?

Yeah, that was a big advantage for us. We were given the blessing of that. It was hard, but at least we had a chance to close it out, to shoot on film “goodbye.” It was a good run. Five years is a good run in anybody’s book, in any TV show. You get five years, for cryin’ out loud, that’s two more years than “Star Trek” got. That’s good.

Did you keep the picture of Ronald Reagan that was in Casey’s apartment?

Well, that was mine. That was a copy I have, so I have the original. Yes.

What’s next for you?

It’s just coming out of holiday season. There’s nothing on the table. I’ll never work again. The perennial actor’s lament, “I will never work again.” I don’t know. I don’t have anything on paper yet.

Would you prefer to stay in TV or go back to movies?

TV’s great. It’s consistent work. We’ll see. The answer is, I don’t know. But, I’m happy to have been a part of a show where young actors, who really are nice people, got a chance to show themselves for who they are, and what they are talent wise. And they will continue. That’s my goal as an elder statesman of the show. These guys, they’re going to be around for a while. So, I’m blessed in that regard.

The final episode of “Chuck” airs at 8 p.m. EST tonight on NBC.

–’ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK’ REMAKE DEAD … FOR NOW–

A draft I read of this intended remake was extremely well written but also an environmental allegory and warning. If memory serves, Manhattan had become a prison due to the flooding caused by *prepare for eyeroll*  man-made Global Warming. After director John Carpenter’s own disastrous return to his 1981 classic with “Escape From L.A.,” it wasn’t as though we really needed another reason to wish doom upon a remake.

Man, I remember sitting through the dreadful “Escape from L.A.,” which I had dragged my dad to, all excited in the knowledge that Pam Grier was going to show up onscreen. Just the vision of her beautiful-ness would lift these awful two hours into something worthwhile … only to discover Carpenter cast her as a man, or something.

Regardless, you can’t replace Kurt Russell.

You can’t.

No one working today comes close to his mixture of menace, masculinity, unspoken intelligence and charm. He’s a one-of-a-kind who created an iconic role for the ages and you might as well have someone else try to play Cool Hand Luke or Bullitt.

–”BREAKING BAD’S” FIFTH SEASON WILL BE THE LAST SEASON–

The only thing worse than having a show you love go off the air is having a show you love hang on for too long. There are always exceptions, but if you think about it, five or six seasons is about it for any classic show. After that, you can sense the writers running out of ideas and as a viewer the formula starts to become more and more apparent as the same old plot beats unfurl.

If I could ask creator Vince Gilligan one question, though, it would be if he knows and has always known how the show will end (I don’t want to know), but I do want to know if he knows and has always known where he will ultimately leave his characters.

For a series creator, I would think that knowing how things will wrap up is vital to creating an open-to-close enduring classic. As we’ve seen with shows like “The X-Files,” if you hang on too long and don’t have a clear point on the storytelling map you’re writing towards, the finale fails to satisfy those of us who hung on for all those years waiting for the answers. Though I personally didn’t, many “Lost” fans felt that way, as well.

Regardless, I cannot sing the praises of this show enough. Movies might suck, but Hollywood is shining on television right now and “Breaking Bad” is not only the crown jewel of them all, but one of the greatest pieces of television in the history of the medium.

–SON OF  “NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION” IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING–

Who knew there were Hollywood ideas out there exponentially dumber than remaking that which cannot be remade:

For one thing, the film (called “Vacation,” sans National Lampoon) centers on the grown-up character of Rusty Griswold, Anthony Michael Hall’s sandy-haired boy from the 1983 original who was in the backseat while parents Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) piloted the Wagon Queen Family Truckster.

Awful, awful, awful idea.

You can’t even replace Christie Brinkley, much less Chase, D’Angelo, and John Candy.

Furthermore, something that made the original so memorable is a politically incorrect, R-rated edge Hollywood’s terrified to go near today. There was a danger to Clark Griswold only a talent like Chevy Chase could bring to the role, it’s what lifted the story ahead of others in that same genre.

Everyone needs to go back and revisit Chevy Chase’s work from “Foul Play” through “Christmas Vacation” and recognize his genius.

—–

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TODAY’S QUICK HITS

KLAVAN ON OLIVIA WILDE’S AUNT SARAH

VIC HOLTREMAN, OWNER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF SCREEN RANT AND A BH CONTRIBUTOR WILL BE ON A COMIC-CON MASTERS OF THE WEB PANEL THIS AFTERNOON AT 4PM IN ROOM 5AB. DON’T MISS IT!

COMIC-CON PREVIEW

TOP TEN LIST OF WORST EXCUSES MADE FOR ‘BAD’ MOVIES

FOOTAGE FROM THE NEW ‘CONAN’ FILM NO ONE ASKED FOR

AGREED: FIVE SHOWS NETFLIX NEEDS TO STREAM ALREADY

‘BUCK’ IS A BIG HIT (PLACE ASTERISK HERE)

TRYING TO CARE. FAILING.

YOU CAN’T SAY THE “LONE RANGER” CAST ISN’T INTERESTING

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CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY JULY 22, 2011

TCM:

10:30 AM  EST: Born To Dance (1936) — A sailor on leave helps a young dancer make it to the top on Broadway. Dir: Roy Del Ruth Cast:  Eleanor Powell , James Stewart , Virginia Bruce. BW-106 mins.

The gorgeous and uniquely gifted Eleanor Powell quit Hollywood at the age of 31 to concentrate on being a mother to her son with actor Glenn Ford, and what a shame that is — at least for us musical fans. Powell made a few memorable films, today’s pick being one of them, but too often she was (far and away) the best thing in marginal movies that would be completely forgotten if not for her presence.

It would’ve been something to see her hang on for a few more years as MGM retooled to make some of the grandest, most spectacle musicals the world will ever see. Not that there was a single thing wrong with the  actresses who originated the roles, but seeing Powell in a “On the Town,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “Easter Parade,” and the like would’ve been a real treat.

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Please send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com

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It’s like Chevy Chase doing an impersonation of Chevy Chase doing an impersonation of Gerald Ford (which I loved, by the way).

The best Chase could summon in defense of He Who Hit 41% Today, was an excuse that sounds an awful lot like what the Right was warning us about in 2008:

“It’s too early to tell. He’s young. Maybe he has not anticipated or hadn’t yet anticipated, with perspective, a way to gauge what’s going to be most important to the electorate and to people as he came in because he’s young. Perhaps he came in with all sorts of great thoughts and found out that in fact, in order to make things happen he had to deal with upper most issues as it were that were political[.]”

Shorter Chase: Obama has no idea what the hell he’s doing but we expect him to do better next time.

Wars, tax cuts for the rich, Gitmo open, military tribunals on, gas prices spiking, jobless claims up, a health care bill growing less popular by the day, and everyday citizens organizing and taking it to the streets for the first time in generations.

Quick question, Mr. Chase:

—–

The day before Halloween? I’m sure it’ll be a solemn occasion, where people intend to reflect upon the real problems that face our nation, dressed up in costumes mocking conservative movers and shakers like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. In fact, I can just imagine the oh-so-clever people who will be dressed up like Christine O’Donnell as a witch. (Funny, isn’t it, how when a conservative admits to “dabbling” in something like witchcraft as a teenager it’s a big scandal, but progressive, leftist PC dictates that we should be sensitive to the beliefs of those who declare themselves pagans and Wiccans.)

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert – your hosts

Oh, but I’m being cynical. The Comedy Central guys don’t really “mean” anything by the whole thing. It’s just a big joke, doncha know:

“We’re not provocateurs, we’re not activists; we are reacting for our own catharsis,” Stewart tells [New York magazine's Chris] Smith. “There is a line into demagoguery, and we try very hard to express ourselves but not move into, ‘So follow me! And I will lead you to the land of answers, my people!’ You can fall in love with your own idea of common sense. Maybe the nice thing about being a comedian is never having a full belief in yourself to know the answer. So you can say all this stuff, but underneath, you’re going, ‘But of course, I’m f*cking idiotic.’ It’s why we don’t lead a lot of marches.” (emphasis mine)

Perhaps that’s why the Comedy Central overlords have asked Craig Minassian, former Clinton administration press aide who is now a consultant to Comedy Central, and Chris Wayne, a former Clinton White House event organizer who works on large-scale media events and promotions, to help them file their permit for the October 30th event. But I’m sure they won’t be helping them actually run the event…

Still, we know that Stewart, Colbert and Comedy Central aren’t activists. How do we know? Jon Stewart told us so! Why would he lie?

Remember when comedians used to speak “truth to power” (I hate that phrase, but there it is) to the rich and powerful? Back in the ’70s, Chevy Chase enjoyed portraying Gerald Ford (an accomplished athlete in his youth) as a perpetual klutz. Even Johnny Carson wasn’t averse to making the occasional funny reference to politicians.

During the 2008 campaign, politicians running for president were the butt of many jokes (some more than others – guess who?, but we’ll put that aside for now). More recently, Will Ferrell loved to bash George W. Bush so much that he even expanded his SNL impressions of W to a one-man Broadway show. And Tina Fey milked her impression of Sarah Palin until the cow ran dry.

Tired schtick.

Then there are the really vulgar offerings of David Letterman and Kathy “I’ll say anything to get press” Griffin.

That’s to be expected, of course. Public figures are ripe for ridicule, deserved or not. It goes with the territory.

But now, Colbert and Stewart (real last name Leibowitz) are, to bastardize a quote from Emeril Lagasse, kicking it down a notch. Because instead of going after the rich and powerful – or those who would like to be rich and powerful – and those associated with them, they’re going after YOU.

That’s right. If you:

• Went to Glenn Beck’s recent (and massively attended) Restoring Honor rally in August or wished you could have;
• are an official Tea Partier or a Tea Party supporter;
• are one of the people whose values are closer to Sarah Palin than Barack “The Won” Obama’s;
• agree with 68% of Pennsylvanians that cutting taxes, not increasing spending, will lead to more jobs
• and read Big Hollywood…

…then the Wonder Twins at Comedy Central have a bone to pick with you.

You see, Colbert and Stewart and their ilk (the big cahunas in the entertainment industry) have risen above such petty concerns as which bills will have to go unpaid this month or what to do when you’ve been informed that your job will shortly be eliminated. Paid much, much more than the average schlub and surrounded by yes men and other adoring admirers, they live in a bubble world where unicorns and sugar-coated raindrops really do exist.

In other words, they are part of the self-anointed elite. As such, the people lovingly described by accomplished actress and American icon Megan Fox as “white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America” who are becoming more politically aware and not liking what they see, have become a threat who must be eliminated. Not literally, of course.

And it doesn’t matter if you watch their shows or not. Hollywoodites have proven again and again that they really don’t care if they insult their loyal fans as long as they can suck up to one another and to their liberal overlords in the government. How else would they get chances to schmooze with the prez? (Another reason why I think they despised W – he wasn’t as impressed with vapid celebrity as his predecessor and successor.)

This is not a rally to restore “sanity;” it’s a rally to show the Democrats that they still haven’t lost Hollywood – and to show middle America the finger.

Question: Am I the only one who thinks Stephen Colbert is a dead ringer for the nerdy, upper crust Cecil Vyse (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) in one of my favorite films, 1985’s A Room With a View?

Stephen Colbert and Cecil Vyse: Separated at birth?

Seriously, one more question: Will this event be reported as an in-kind donation to the DNC?

Castro undoubtedly knew plenty about Mss’ Campbell and Moss–but probably not from reading Vogue, Elle or Cosmo.  

“My job was to bug their hotel rooms,” disclosed high-ranking Cuban intelligence defector Delfin Fernandez, “with both cameras and listening devices.

“When word came down that models Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were coming to Cuba the order was a routine one: 24-hour-a-day vigilance. Then we got a PRIORITY alert, recalls Fernandez, “because there was a rumor that they would be sharing a room with Leonardo DiCaprio. The rumor set off a flurry of activity and we set up the most sophisticated devices we had.” 

“Delfin Fernandez has not only met some of the most famous men in the world,” says a story in the London Daily Mirror about the Cuban intelligence defector, “he’s also spied on them and been witness to some of their most innermost secrets.”

“Fidel Castro is a source of inspiration for me!” gushed Campbell while concluding her “press conference.”It is a great pleasure to be in Cuba. I’ve really enjoyed myself, and I plan to come back!” 

“Fidel Castro is a genius!” said Jack Nicholson after a visit with El Lider Maximo that same year. “We spoke about everything,” the actor rhapsodized. “Castro is a humanist. Cuba is simply a paradise!” 

“The American actor Jack Nicholson was another celebrity who was bugged and taped thoroughly during his stay in Havana’s Hotel Meliá Cohiba,” revealed Fernandez, the man in charge of the bugging. “We bugged his room thoroughly. Most people have no idea they are being watched while they are in Cuba. But their personal activities are filmed under orders from Castro himself.” 

Interestingly (and tragically) The ECPAT Network – (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism) in a study titled Child Prostitution and Sex Tourism in Cuba,” reports that:  ”In Cuba, the link between tourism and prostitution is perhaps more direct than in any other country that hosts sex tourists.”  Such is the desperation of the brutalized and impoverished residents of a nation that prior to the glorious Castro/Che revolution enjoyed a higher per capita income than Japan and half the nations of Europe and who welcomed more immigrants (primarily from Europe) per-capita than the U.S. Prior to the glorious Communist liberation people were as desperate to enter Cuba as they are now to escape. 

“Famous Americans are the priority objectives of Castro’s intelligence,” reports Fernandez. “When the celebrity visitors arrived at the Hotels Nacional, Meliá Habana and Meliá Cohiba, we already had their rooms completely bugged with sophisticated taping equipment. But not just the rooms, we’d also follow the visitors around, sometimes we covered them 24 hours a day. They had no idea we were tailing them.” 

“Socialism works. I think Cuba might prove that” (Chevy Chase). 

“Castro is very selfless and moral, one of the world’s wisest men” (Oliver Stone). 

“If you believe in freedom, if you believe in justice, if you believe in democracy, you have no choice but to support Fidel Castro!” (Harry Belafonte). 

“It was an experience of a lifetime to sit only a few feet away from him (Castro)” Kevin Costner. 

“The eight most important hours of my life,” (Stephen Spielberg describing his dinner with Castro, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.) 

Famous Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar was a special target for this bugging but nothing of value came of it for Castro. “Everybody already knows I’m a maricon!” Almodovar laughed at Castro’s blackmailers. “So go right ahead! Knock yourselves out!” 

“Fidel Castro is a special connoisseur of these tapings and videos,” says Fernandez, “especially of the really famous.” And not even his closest “friends” are safe from this bugging. The best example is his longtime Castro “friend” Nobel Prize novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In what appeared as a touching act of generosity and friendship, Castro gave his friend “Gabo” his very own (stolen) mansion in Havana. 

“We had remodeled it right before,” recalls Fernandez, “and we installed more cables for bugging devices than for the normal electrical appliances. We taped everything. Fidel doesn’t trust anyone.” 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Castro’s top intelligence people would gather for the screenings of these tapes almost like Hollywood types for an upcoming movie, reports Fernandez. “Hummmm, these scenes are more scandalous than anything in any of her movies!” Fernandez recalls a top intelligence officer chortling while watching the nighttime cavortings of a famous Spanish actress. “Now, it really seems to me, compañeros,” the Castro intimate snickered as he looked around the room, “that this señorita should be making more respectful comments about our regime, right?” 

Turns out, however, that at least one visiting dignitary foiled Castro’s intelligence. On his visit to Cuba in 1998, Pope John Paul’s assistants discovered and removed several bugging devices from his Holiness’ hotel room. Perhaps Castro had a grudge against the Papacy?

Most don’t recall, but on January 3rd, 1962, Pope John XXIII ex-communicated Fidel Castro from the Catholic Church. 

An estimated 65,000 Castroite Cubans infest Venezuela. Essentially they run that nation’s entire Ministry of the Interior (secret police/intelligence, etc.) along with many top military commands along with Chavez’ entire retinue of bodyguards (Hugo trusts Castro’s “specialists” more than he trusts his own countrymen for such a vital function.) So overbearing has become the Castroite occupation of Venezuela that Chavez’ longtime crony, Ramón Carrizalez, who served as Venezuelan Vice president and Minister of Defense, resigned in protest two weeks ago.   

Just last year, by the way, GQ magazine commissioned their new ace reporter, Naomi Campbell, to interview Hugo Chavez, probably Fidel Castro’s closest foreign “friend” nowadays. According to some sources the interview escalated to matters not purely professional.

Makes you wonder what film screenings Fidel and his Stalinist cronies might be chortling and snickering over lately.

Once again screenwriter/producer John Hughes delivers the Christmas goods, this time with  Christmas Vacation, a masterpiece of a family holiday comedy (and the third of four “Vacation” films) with so many iconic scenes and pieces of quotable dialogue that it would take less time for you to watch the movie than for me to try and list them here. It’s the simplest of stories: Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase), a Chicago family man whose enthusiasm forces him to overdo everything, wants to throw his kith and kin a fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. But from the moment his parents and in-laws arrive all kinds of hell breaks loose including house fires, electrocuted cats, SWAT raids, and sewer gas explosions. 

What makes Christmas Vacation a must-see perennial (I’ve already watched it twice this season and the season’s not over) is that Hughes’s script expertly wrings every possible situation out of his concept, and first-time feature director Jeremiah Chechik does a beautiful job wrapping the whole production, even the more slapsticky and cruder moments, into an old-fashioned package that never loses the winning sincerity so crucial to the film’s success.  Not only is the look of the film much warmer than most comedies, but most impressively, Chechik controls the overall tone like a seasoned pro. 

Chevy Chase is absolutely brilliant as the Griswold patriarch whose selfless, well-intentioned plans never fail to completely unravel into mayhem and worse. Chase’s comedic timing is impeccable but he’s also a marvelous actor able to make us sympathize and take Clark’s side every step of the way. Even while we’re laughing at him and gleefully anticipating his reaction to the chaos, in the end we really do want Clark to pull it off.

Beverly D’Angelo returns as Ellen, Clark’s sexy, supportive put upon wife, and in keeping with the four-film “Vacation” tradition, the kids, Rusty and Audrey, are replaced, this time most ably by Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis. The supporting cast may not have a whole lot to do but with old pros like E.G. Marshall, Diane Ladd, John Randolph, William Hickey, Doris Roberts, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brian Doyle-Murray and Mae Questel (the original Betty Boop and Olive Oyl), their presence alone elevates every scene they’re in.

The scene stealer, however is Randy Quaid as Ellen’s chronically unemployed, mooching, blissfully un-self aware Cousin Eddie. Granted, Hughes scripted the lines, but Quaid’s performance is one for the ages. Every Cousin Eddie line is made forever quotable, and the way Quaid carries himself physically is just as hilarious. The film’s best scenes are the conversations between Clark and Eddie, and it’s a tribute to Chase’s genius as a comedian that when playing off Quaid he so easily slips into the role of straight man without ever losing a character beat.

My favorite scene, though, doesn’t involves full shitters, wild squirrels or rocket-sledding. Set to Ray Charles’ The Spirit of Christmas is that perfect John Hughes’ moment where the story takes a breath at precisely the right time to reset the film’s theme. Everyone’s gone, Clark’s alone and locked in the freezing attic dressed like his Aunt as he watches a black and white home movie of a Christmas from when he was a boy. The song, the images from the past, the wistful look on Chevy Chase’s face … they all fit together beautifully for that perfect moment when, well, it comes to an end.

A big hit when released, like any true classic, Christmas Vacation now broadcasts every year on television and is in its third or fourth DVD release. It’s also entered the popular culture whereas any overlit holiday house is immediately labelled a “Griswold Home.” If you catch me on the right day, I could rank Clark and family as high as number two on this list.

But not number one. Never number one. No number two could ever come close to my all-time numero uno pick.

Not that I have a log.

Read the full countdown here.

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To paraphrase Groucho Marx, a child of five could improve on this immensely.  Anyone could make these parodies of Obama funnier.  Obama’s mannerisms, speech patterns, physical oddities (ears) etc. are ripe for satire. Add Michelle Obama and Joe Biden to the mix and it only gets better.  The audience would be rolling in the aisles. Obama presents a comedy writer with the potential for endless comedic situations.  Obama is a unique character who offers a buffet of satire, pregnant with possibilities.

But the folks at SNL know they can’t appear partisan by NOT parodying Obama, so they have to do something.  They present a bland milquetoast version that gently mocks Obama.  And they do it in the show’s opening segment, typically the strongest segment of the program, the attention-getter that sets the tone and hits you hard with the punch line “Live!  From New York! It’s Saturday Night!”

Now they’re busted.  Chevy Chase’s interview only serves to bolster Marlow’s case.  In that CNN interview, Chevy Chase says his lampooning of President Gerald Ford was driven by his support for Jimmy Carter.  And he makes no secret of the fact that SNL does this as standard operating procedure.

Chase: … And I certainly, obviously my leanings were Democratic and I wanted Carter in and I wanted [Ford] out and I figured look, we’re reaching millions of people every weekend, why not do it.

CNN: You mean to tell me in the back of your mind you were thinking, hey I want Carter …

Chase: Oh, yeah.

CNN: And I’m going to make him look bad.

Chase: Oh yeah. What do you think they’re doing now, you think they’re just doing this because Sarah’s funny? No, I think that the show is very much more Democratic and liberal-oriented, that they are obviously more for Barack Obama. [In the '70s], out of the Nixon era, and it was not unlikely that I might go that direction.

CNN: I talked to one political pundit who said, I think Chevy Chase cost Ford the presidency.

Chase: When you have that kind of a venue and power where you can reach so many millions of people and you’ve become a show that people watch, you know, you can affect a lot of people, and humor does it beautifully, because humor is perspective and has a way of making judgment calls. … So I think there was no question that it had major effect and in fact, in speaking with his family and then later him, and even reading some of his books … he felt so, too.”

This makes the case that SNL is manipulating their interpretation of Obama.  They’re not doing it to be funny.  They’re doing it to be able to say they’ve lampooned Obama.  It’s political cover.  It’s NBC.

2008 marked a departure from the memorable, more cordial years of Chevy Chase as a clumsy Gerald Ford or Dana Carvey’s hilarious H.W. Bush: “wouldn’t be prudent.”  Fey was downright mean.

For her part, Palin was an easy target — a conservative woman and mother. And seemingly abhorrent to Fey and friends, Palin had small town values, a small town family and — as Fey chafed on Palin’s world view — “I can see Alaska from my house.”  The impersonations were sometimes funny, but more often foul.  ”I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers…,” Fey roasted during one of the skits… an innuendo on Palin’s pregnant, unwed daughter.  Her satire strayed from the issues into catty, sexist territory — intellect, pregnancy, family attacks and even sexual riffs.

Lucky for Fey, she runs with a highly elitist, bi-coastal posse — the NY-LA intellectuals who are free from the burdens of conservatism.  They’re free thinkers who celebrate their contribution to the world as they scream at the doorman for not having their Town Car ready.  Palin was an unknown from a far away place, she didn’t stand a chance with this crowd.

Conveniently, this cadre of smarty pants run NBC.  When the Palin impersonation generated some water cooler buzz, NBC gave her a whole SNL special, and then another and another — right before the election.  By then, Palin and Fey had become fused (at least on TV).  She was good at playing Palin.  Too good.  If you turned down the volume, it was impossible to tell the two apart.  The result was, at the very least, chinks in the Alaska governor’s armor.

Fey’s Emmy is just icing on the cake; Saturday Night Live ought to be crying “Thank You!” to Ms. Fey for making the expiring show relevant again.  The irony has not been lost on most observers: it was another woman who utterly ripped apart one of the first women on a Presidential ticket.  Can one imagine Eddie Murphy returning to SNL to lambast Obama night after night weeks before the campaign?  And NBC clearing blocks in their prime time schedule in order to promote more time to bash Barack?  Of course not.

Ironically, Fey’s years of appearances on SNL were never as remarkable as her return to play Palin. When Fey starred in the forgettable “Baby Mama,” some critics noticed a lack of big screen pizzazz.  Funny how a feisty governor from Wasilla can move blockbuster-sized crowds, riveting American TV viewers overnight during the 2008 Convention, but Fey couldn’t turn years of training on SNL and stand up comedy into any great cinematic effect.  Okay, now I’m being cruel — apologies.

This is one backbiting impersonation that has had its 15 minutes.  In a nation that craves to sort its entertainers and politicians into nice, neat bins, please file Fey’s Sarah Palin ’satire’ in the heap of tiresome fads like Flash Mobs, Snoop Dogg Ring Tones and Napolean Dynamite.  Are these things the world might have been better off without?  You Betcha.

Morgan, who became a pop culture sensation by playing Lacey Underall in “Caddyshack,” started her career in broadcasting. “I ran camera, I ran sound,” Morgan tells Big Hollywood. “But they wouldn’t let me on camera. ’You’ll never get a job,’ they said.

A few years later, she was sharing the screen with Chevy Chase in the 1980 comedy classic.

Morgan’s “Caddyshack” role gave her an early lesson in how Hollywood works, and it wasn’t pretty. The day before her nude scene, a producer called to say a Playboy photographer would be on set to snap pictures which would run in the nudie magazine.

Morgan balked. She was the Irish Spring girl at the time, and she didn’t want to be forced into something she hadn’t signed on to do.

Her agent offered little support.

“Honey, you’re not a doe-eyed girl from the Midwest. Handle it,” she recalls him saying. “I fired him.”

Morgan held her ground on the fateful day, even though a producer told her in an expletive-packed diatribe that she’d never work in the business again if she didn’t toe the company line.

“I don’t have a problem with nudity. I have a problem with bullying,” she says.

She had other on-set fireworks, too. She became one of many actors who had trouble working alongside Chase.

“We were fighting at one point and not speaking to each other,” she says. “He refused to work with me until I apologized, and I said ‘no.’”

She doesn’t harbor ill will towards the “Fletch” star.

“In any work situation or even in a sport, you work to the level of your opponent,” she says. “He did me a favor.”

Working with the late Rodney Dangerfield offered the opposite experience. She recalls having lunch with the pop-eyed funny man, during which he tugged at his collar as if he were on stage.

“Am I OK? Am I OK?“ he asked her. “Yeah, you’re stealing the movie,“ she said.

“Caddyshack” 1980

Morgan relives her “Caddyshack” experiences by participating in regular golf tournaments, often with some of the film’s co-stars.

Morgan, whose father fought in World War II, is passionate about supporting the US military. Her father, a Polish immigrant, lied about his age to join the army and was proud to be an American.

She uses her “Caddyshack” fame to appear at corporate events as well as help as many soldiers as she can.

She served as director of the Caddyshack Reunion Golf Tournament in 2006 in Oak Brook, Illinois, which reunited some of the “Caddyshack“ cast along with other celebrities. The event raised money for the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, an organization which helps the families of National Guard members and reservists on active duty.

Morgan also starred in another cult favorite, the Disney film “Tron.” But you won’t find her in “Tron Legacy,” the new film coming to theaters next year, even though original stars Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner appear in the new movie.

At the recent Comic-Con, young women routinely approached Morgan to ask why won’t be co-starring in the new film.

She still gets a kick out of the reaction she receives at various public events.

“Men think they already know me,” she says. “But as they get closer and closer they become that 14 year old again. A lot of men do stammer and blush a little bit.”

But her fan base isn’t just older men who grew up ogling Lacey. Some autograph hounds are men in their 20s, while many others are women who connect with her famous character.

Morgan promises to share much more about her movie fame in her forthcoming book, “From Catholic School to ‘Caddyshack,’” set for release next year – 2010 marks the film‘s 30th anniversary.

It will be an interesting academic exercise to see how many late night jokes there will be regarding Obama hitting his head while leaving Marine One. Obama is essentially the same height as George H.W. Bush (6′ 1″ to 6′ 2″) and Ronald Reagan (6′ 1″).

Speaking of Chevy Chase, his recent comments about using humor on “Saturday Night Live” to destroy a candidate’s credibility might be relevant here. When commenting on Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin he said:

I want her to decimate this woman. This woman is, I can’t believe there hasn’t been more about it. … It’s just unbelievable to me this woman is actually running for vice president.

Chase also claimed, that unlike other guests, Lorne Michaels had nothing written for Palin when she appeared on SNL: “What was brilliant about (‘SNL’ chief) Lorne (Michaels) was that he had nothing written for Sarah . . .” So you provide professional script writing help for the guests who you agree with politically and want to make look good?