Ever since I first saw Paul Winchell on his eponymous TV show in the early '50s, I've thought ventriloquists were a little creepy.
I mean, I could stand it when Winchell performed with Jerry Mahoney, but Knucklehead Smiff was, well, the stuff of slasher films.
I came around a bit with Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, but that's only because Lamb Chop was really a sock puppet. Who doesn't love sock puppets?
By the time Wayland Flowers gave us Madame on Laugh-In in the 1970s, ventriloquism had pretty much lost my interest.
Then Arkansas' Alyse Eady elevated the art form. Granted, she and Rosie and Rocky only knew one song ("I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart"), but it was enough to win her first runner-up in the Miss America 2011 pageant.
The 27-year-old Eady can now be found on KTHV-TV's morning show (without her puppets).
Full confession: I didn't even look at Rosie and Rocky. I didn't even care if Alyse's lips moved.
If you think of ventriloquists these days, one name comes to mind -- Jeff Dunham. The 53-year-old Dallas native will star in an hour special, Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood at 7 p.m. today on NBC.
Dunham's special guest will be country star Brad Paisley, fresh from his free Little Rock concert following Saturday's Razorbacks game.
Also on hand will be comedian/actor Chris Parnell (30 Rock) and mixed martial artist and former UFC champ Chuck Liddell.
Dunham's suitcase full of politically incorrect and ill-tempered talent include the curmudgeonly Walter, the purple woozle Peanut, the "white trash trailer park" denizen Bubba J, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist.
The special was taped Aug. 19 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and promises "never before seen stand-up and behind-the-scenes sketches featuring Dunham and his eccentric beloved characters."
• Meat Loaf. Showtime rolls out a documentary about the beefy rocker with Meat Loaf: In and Out of Hell at 7 p.m. Friday.
• Doctor Who. A new season kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday on BBC America. Peter Capaldi is The Doctor.
• Yukon Men. The fourth season arrives at 8 p.m. today on Discovery. The adventure is set once again in the remote Alaskan village of Tanana. It's a tough life -- from the fierce weather to wolves on the doorstep.
• Dora's back. Dora is still exploring on Nickelodeon and will reunite with several of her old pals (amigos), including Boots and Backpack, in three forthcoming specials for Dora and Friends: Into the City!
The first special, Return to the Rainforest, premieres at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with Dora's city friends traveling back to the rainforest with Boots on an epic journey to rescue Backpack and Map.
• No kidding. CBS has ordered 13 episode of a "comic thriller" titled BrainDead for next summer. From the duo who give us The Good Wife, the series follows a young Washington staff member who discovers aliens have come to Earth and are eating the brains of a number of congressmen.
My question is how would the staff member know?
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Weekend on 09/17/2015