Gecko gets extreme makeover

Been wondering why Geico's gecko's accent abruptly went cockney? AdFreak explains it all for you. (Actually, somebody in creative at the animation studio that Geico's ad agency worked with does most of the talking here:

“We used our CG experience to train the new gecko guy to act cheekier and show a lot more ‘sales savvy.’ Ultimately we honed an East End geezer type performance, and his cockney accent and mannerisms make for tons of fresh comedic possibilities.” So there it is: Cockney = humor.

[Via Tim Cain.]

A headline I should have expected

Again from the AP via MSNBC: "Psychics aid in search for missing dog." Yeesh.

Mom's favorite sitcom

Mark Evanier wonders why there's not a cable channel devoted to the sitcoms less famous and frequently rerun than the typical TV Land fare:

Dom DeLuise's Lotsa Luck is out on DVD. So is Good Morning, World. So is Nowhere Man and Have Gun, Will Travel and even Mister Peepers. None of these shows are currently rerun on TV channels as far as I know. If people are willing to shell out good money to own all of them, don't you think someone would watch them once a day for free?

Hey, if they're reviving obscure 40-year-old sitcoms, maybe there's some hope for a DVD release of He and She, featuring Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.

Benjamin played the creator of the superhero, Jetman; Prentiss was his wife; Hamilton Camp was a fireman who was stationed in the building next door to Benjamin's studio; and Jack Cassidy played the unbelievably vain actor who played Jetman on TV. (The character was clearly a model for Ted Knight's portrayal of Ted Baxter a few years later.)

The show was a big favorite of my mother's, and she was so annoyed when it was cancelled that she actually was moved to write CBS in protest. (She got a polite letter in response.)