Posted 9:00 AM by Gene

More on Johnny: Maybe I read too much into it, but look closely and you'll sense for all their mirthful badinage Johnny and Ed aren't speaking to each other. (I don't blame Johnny.) Also those last few seconds are eloquent testimony to the almost total recluse Johnny became after he left television. (I don't blame Johnny.)

Second, for all his supposed prowess, Johnny did not like women. If I were a woman I'd have been angry after watching this. Being a man I merely feel like taking a ninety-minute shower.

Third, I submit again this was not a blooper. If Richardson-Vicks had the stereotypical sales force of the time it was full of Tarzans. Also this was 1975, when being goofy first became a virtue. Johnny knew his audience -- and his audience paid his exorbitant bills. For what I trust is the only time in my life I say, thank GOD for PC.

Finally, much was made of how Johnny prospered most when his monologue veered toward disaster. (I said that too.) This was disaster, all right, but we only see a well-honed joke machine belching smoke and leaking oil. Perhaps it's just the passage of time, or perhaps Johnny was just the ultimate joke machine, a machine now so totally rusted away even the metal no longer exists.

Terry Teachout, you didn't need it in my eyes, but you are completely vindicated.