In this classic 1977 television moment from the short-lived Richard Pryor Show, the Pips grab a few moments of full spotlight as they perform their song and dance parts of a two-hit medley (Heard It Through The Grapevine & Midnight Train To Georgia) without the interference of Gladys Knight. Pay attention to the empty microphone close ups. Comic gold. more ›

The films of horror maestro Dario Argento put the gore in gorgeous! This weekend, the New Beverly plays his two best-known features, Suspiria and Deep Red. For the uninitiated, Suspiria concerns a boarding school that may be a coven, while Deep Red is a textbook giallo (an Italian genre of sleazy, violent murder-mysteries). Argento augments both films with a psychedelic palette and delirious prog-rock score by Italian band Goblin. If you're already down with the Dario, you may want to especially note the Saturday evening show, as actress Barbara Magnolfi (Olga, the roommate from Suspiria) will make an appearance. It's a real treat to see these films in 35mm, and because they're horror films someone has heard of, remakes of both are in the works. Catch the originals while you can! more ›

It's big business when a celebrity dies--not just for the memorabilia hawkers, the slap-dash t-shirt makers, or the TV documentarians, but because the late celeb's business keeps local civil courts busy. more ›

Don Imus is an old man. Maybe back in the day he was funny, but he hasn't been funny for as long as I've been aware of him. But he does live in America, and here we have the freedom of speech. Now that Right doesn't mean that people cant call you out on what you say, but it should mean that you shouldn't have to get fired or jailed or killed for saying... more ›

- The always outrageous kids at T-Shirt Hell have done it again, this time featuring KKKramer - T-Shirt Hell - Black leaders ask comedians to stop saying "nigger". Richard Pryor laughing in his grave - LA Times - CBS2 shows the Tustin apartment complex and front door of the OC high school teacher accused of blowing her student - CBS2 - Bush appoints extremist pro-lifer to head federal family planning office - LAT -... more ›

Weekend Edition Friday - Today "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) An evening of stop-action animation starts with this one followed by "Jason and the Argonauts" and "Mysterious Island" "NHL Hockey" (5:30 p.m.) Kings @ Stars "NBA Basketball" (KCAL, 6:00 p.m.) Lakers @ Jazz "College Football" (ESPN2, 6:00 p.m.) Fresno State @ Louisiana Tech "College Basketball" (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Long Beach State @ USC "Ghost Whisperer/Close To Home/NUMB3RS" (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.) All... more ›

Sly Stone gets on stage for the first time in 19 years. That made the Grammy Awards worth watching. more ›

More SAG Awards liveblogging. Watch out, Dakota is coming. more ›

Up until today, his website's claim that he was the "Funny survivor who ain't dead yet, MF'er!" was true. No longer. He died this morning of a heart attack in the San Fernando Valley. We won't go through Richard Pryor's long career or explain his history. You know it. We'll just say that we think his skit with Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live is probably the finest and most defining sketch of the series and that while his movie career is probably most defined by his Gene Wilder buddy flicks, we won't apologize for loving The Toy and Brewster's Millions. more ›

With nearly 900 million dollars in unclaimed money and property locked up in the state controller's office, we were convinced that we'd hit the search the vault website this morning and be rich. That is until we tried to access the site and found it unavailable because everybody else had the same idea. And then, once we finally got on, nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not even a missing $0.01 check like we saw lots of different people being owed from former employers (although maybe LAist can use that to our advantage like Richard Pryor in Superman III). more ›