Pop culture from the great beyond

Finally, Blogger is back up and running -- what was up with that. I've been meaning to blog about The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm for quite a while. Like most of the best things on the internet, I'm not even sure how I stumbled across it. Anyway, it's a one man podcast done by this guy named BillyBoy. The show is hosted by one "Roger Darling" and Judy Garland (Frances Gumm being her actual name.) BillyBoy apparently does all the voices. Judy is frequently joined in studio by her friends Carol Channing, Bernadette Peters and Gollum(!).

Judy comments on everything in the pop culture. One episode had an Oscar nomination round table. Another had an interview with Madonna with Judy asking the questions while a real Madonna (apparently interview clips taken from an actual interview strategically selected to sound like responses to some of Judy's outrageous questions) responded. And yet another was a run down of the Tony Awards, which I really didn't give a shit about as I don't really get into theater at all.

But perhaps the best episode of all was the last one they produced where Judy, Carol, Roger, Bernadette and Gollum recreated, in its entirety, the episode of The Golden Girls where Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean visits and proceeds to fall for Rose. Gollum played Sophia, Carol was Blanche, Bernadette was Rose, Roger did Dorothy (and it was amazingly like Bea Arthur) while Judy played Jean. It was a hoot. It doesn't hurt that that episode is freaking hilarious. For example (paraphrased):

Sophia: Jean is a lesbian.
Blanche: Well what's wrong with that, isn't Danny Thomas one?
Dorothy: Not LEBANESE, Blanche. Lesbian!

And what's really funny is BillyBoy's impression of Judy only periodically sounds like Judy. It more frequently sounds like a drunk Blanche Devereaux. So maybe Judy should have played Blanche in the podcast.