There are a number of regional variations on the recipe for clam chowder, though the most commonly seen varieties in the U.S. are likely “New England” (or “Boston”), which has a white, milk- or cream-based broth, and “Manhattan” (or “Rhode Island”), which has a red, tomato-based broth.
An aging Dr. Manhattan will be played by Jeremy Irons in the upcoming HBO series Watchmen, which takes place some years after the movie. Robert Redford will reportedly be playing himself, elected President of the United States after Richard M. Nixon left office.
Celebrities in congress in real life include Sonny Bono, Fred Grandy from Love Boat, and Al Franken.
Carmine Caridi was Francis Ford Coppola’s first choice to play Sonny Corleone in The Godfather; however, he was considered too tall (at 6’4") to play opposite Al Pacino (5’7") James Caan played Sonny and was nominated for an Academy Award. Caridi became the first person publicly known to be expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, in 2004, for sharing promotional copies of films that were later pirated.
Eddie Mekka played Carmine “The Big Ragu” Ragusa on the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley”. Michael McKean and David Lander co-starred as their friends and neighbors Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman, respectively.
Lander and McKean had previously worked together on The Credibility Gap, a comedy team that also included Harry Shearer.
Harry Shearer is the voice for at least 14 characters in The Simpsons, which debuted in 1989 and is running today.
Shearer and McKean, along with Christopher Guest, are members of two fictional bands, Spinal Tap and The Folksmen.
Christopher Guest holds a hereditary peerage in Britain, Baron Haden-Guest.
ETA: Seriously.
:: headsmack ::
Irons will play an aging Adrian Veidt, not Dr. Manhattan.
In play:
Christopher Guest’s wife, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, has said the only time she uses his noble title is when she’s trying to get reservations in swanky restaurants.
Contrary to hateful conspiracy theories, neither Jamie Lee Curtis nor Lady Gaga were born with a penis.
Lady Gaga was born in New York City in 1986. Born to parents of Italian ancestry, her birth name was Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Her professional name was reportedly derived from the Queen song ‘Radio Ga Ga’.
The two major airports in New York City are located in the borough of Queens: JFK International and LaGuardia, 11 miles apart. Because these are two of the busiest airports in the world, the airfield over Queens is the most congested in the world.
The third airport serving New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport, is located in New Jersey.
The 1959 musical Fiorello! is about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, and tells the story of how he took on the Tammany Hall political machine. The music is by Jerry Bock and the lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick. It is one of only nine musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Fiorello! starred Tom Bosley in the title role. Other TV stars who were in stage musicals include Angela Lansbury and Bonnie Franklin.
Tom Bosley, who played Howard Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days, died in 2010. In 2011, Bosley’s estate and four of his Happy Days co-stars, Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross, and Anson Williams, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.
A judge rejected the group’s fraud claim, which if proved could have garnered them millions of dollars in punitive damages, above and beyond any actual damages proven. In 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.
$65,000 each? Hmph. That’s chicken feed for TV contracts.
In play:
Rights to the Star Trek franchise, created by the late Gene Roddenberry, have passed over the years from Desilu to Paramount to Viacom, and are now held by CBS.
Desilu, founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, unsurprisingly, produced ‘I Love Lucy’.
When Lucille/Lucy became pregnant, it was not clear how to best announce it to the viewers of the era without offending the morals and sensitivities of the day.
Ultimately, after consulting various clergymen, it was decided that saying that Lucy was “expecting” was a safe way to go and this was done in the “Lucy is Enceinte” episode.
Lucille Ball would sometimes, after hours and when everyone else was busy, help sweep and clean up around the Star Trek soundstage.
One of the most enduringly popular episodes of the original Star Trek, “The Trouble With Tribbles,” was written by a 23 year old science fiction fan and writer, David Gerrold. The script was Gerrold’s first professional sale.