ENCINO, Calif. — Jayne Meadows, a Broadway, film and TV actress who was probably best known for her 46-year role as Steve Allen’s wife, business partner and frequent co-star, died at her home here April 26. She was 95.
MSTies will recall she was mentioned during the host segment in which Joel presented his invention, the Steve-O-Meter, in episode 408- HERCULES UNCHAINTED.
The New York Times has an obit.
A little personal story about my brush with this great lady: In a previous incarnation I used to write, for the Philadelphia Inquirer, that little write-up next to the TV grid that tells you what’s worth watching on TV that night. In one column, I said something nice about a performance by Steve Allen’s wife, Jayne Meadows. A few weeks later I was stunned to receive a hand-written letter from Ms. Meadows herself, thanking me for my kind words. I wrote back thanking HER for being so nice, and in the letter I mentioned MST3K, briefly explained the premise of the Steve-O-Meter and ended my letter with something to the effect of “now I know something else Steve thought of, marrying a class act.” A week or so later I was even MORE stunned to receive ANOTHER letter, informing me that Steve (now ailing) thought the Steve-O-Meter bit sounded funny and asking where they could get their hands on a tape of that show. I duped off a copy and sent it to them, and later got a short note saying Steve thought the sketch was very funny.
Farewell, Ms Meadows.
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Also…
Not an official MSTory item, but…
Time Magazine movie critic Richard Corliss passed away April 23. He was 71. Corliss was a dyed-in-the-wool MSTie and was not apologetic about it.
He also liked our site, once calling it “fun, fair and authoritive.” We were very grateful for that.
The New York Times has an obit.
Kevin Murphy has an appreciation on his Tumblr blog.
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
A great anecdote in the obit relating to MST3000. But what would the
Steve-O-Meter have thought of the Isaac Asimov Doomsday Device? Or
did he think of that too?
Contrast Richard Corliss’ unflagging appreciation for movie riffing with that of Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales, an early proponent of MST3k who did a complete about-face turn after he got crap from other critics for appearing on CC’s This Is MST3K special. “Uh, never mind, it’s all just juvenile potty humor. What was I thinking?” (Paraphrased.) Sad that he qualifies for a Date in MSTory entry when Corliss doesn’t.
I think you mean, “Corliss was a dyed-in-the-wool MSTie”…
No, he died in a sheep stampede. Tasteless pun, Sampo.
Shales is pretty open about how he thinks the Mike years are terrible TV. I’ve never heard of him dissing Joel.
This 2008 article by him still has him praising the show… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/29/AR2008122902492.html
Oh yeah, you’re right. He gave Cinematic Titanic some good press, too. He’s just one of those “Joel=perfect, Mike=garbage” idiots. As I recall, Shales also said that This Island Earth was “too good” to riff, putting his credibility as a film critic deeply in question. If only Joel had starred in MST3K:TM it would’ve been brilliant.
That article is fascinating in how it manifests his bias. The only person named in the article is Joel. Cinematic is Joel and four nameless fellows that are lucky to be basking in Joel’s aura of genius, apparently.
From the article:
“The movie, which Hodgson sat out, made the mistake of ridiculing “This Island Earth,” a 1955 sci-fi film that was just a little bit too good to lampoon. But the cast and crew had organized a fan write-in campaign that all but forced Universal to make the picture. Three years later, the show ran out of steam and was canceled.
Hodgson left the series several years before it ended because he became disenchanted with what interlopers were doing to his baby. The final collapse of the original partnership essentially divided the gang into two camps. Those who were faithful to Hodgson joined him on the new project.”
Wow, virtually none of that is accurate beyond “Joel left.” He makes Best Brains sounds like the Borgias. It’s was a frickin’ Minneapolis puppet show, not a criminal empire.
Also a R.I.P. to Verne Gagne who ran the AWA which was referenced a few times on the show – Nick Bockwinkel, Wahoo McDaniel, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund and I think Verne himself via riffing on Tor Johnson.
Oops, “dyed” of course. Duh.
And yes, it is a shame that he was NOT on “This is MST3K” like Shales was, and thus deserving a place in MSTory, as Shales is. I have always suspected that he (Shales) was embarrassed about how much of a gushing fanboy he seemed in the special and was determined to counter balance it with negative reviews later on. Ah well.
What, is being a MSTie something to be ashamed of, or something?
Any comment would pale before the diamondlike luster of that sentence.
Jayne Meadows pops up in a number of classic movies. She played the ingenue in the last Thin Man movie, The Song of the Thin Man, which i rewatched recently.
(Has anyone else suspected that Shales posts here under the name “EricJ”? Just me then.)
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: