The shortest, cheapest variety show in the history of entertainment.

April 23, 2005 4:32 AM

He's been on Star Trek and Deep Space Nine, the only Treks of quality out there. He's really geeky looking, but manages to score bit parts in lots of films. He's Opie's brother. And now he's got his own variety show, something that died when Carol Burnett went off the air (or, maybe Viva Variety). So three cheers for The Clint Howard Show! via Blue's News
posted by WolfDaddy (35 comments total)

The only treks of quality? That is a troll, whether intended or not, and by the way - Deep Space Nine sucked! It was nothing but a snooze fest.
posted by caddis at 4:40 AM on April 23, 2005

He's a real looker!
posted by moonbird at 4:44 AM on April 23, 2005

Don't forget Clint's star turn as a special guest in Seinfeld as the serial killer that Jerry and George share a police cruiser with (and allow to escape) while going to exonerate Kramer, who was the prime suspect.
posted by mikel at 5:22 AM on April 23, 2005

I always remember him in the hilarious role of Leon.
posted by jaronson at 5:25 AM on April 23, 2005

Baldness clearly is a genetic trait.
posted by tizzie at 5:56 AM on April 23, 2005

You mean he's had work since Rock and Roll High School? ("I don't care about history...")
God, that head. He and Condi should have hypsicephalic kids.
posted by klangklangston at 6:36 AM on April 23, 2005

I remember him in Gentle Ben. Both he and the bear had hair back then.
posted by found missing at 6:59 AM on April 23, 2005

He totally creeped me out when he was that "Wizard of Oz"-like kid alien on the original Star Trek. (On IMDB lookup, "Balok" in "The Corbomite Maneuver", I guess.) I wondered who he was for the longest time, and was amazed when I learned he was Ron Howard's brother a few years ago. (Although I guess you can see the family resemblance.)
posted by LairBob at 7:07 AM on April 23, 2005

I was wondering what they were going to do now that Nightline is going off the air.
posted by j.p. Hung at 7:15 AM on April 23, 2005

This must be several years old, since Clint thanks "the fine people at Pop.com"
posted by Robot Johnny at 7:19 AM on April 23, 2005

This is probably about what I would have made if I had a video camera and no money. Good thing to know Clint Howard's already done it before I could, so if I ever do get a video camera and way too much time on my hands, I'll just go juggle geese or something, instead. Save humanity the trouble... Oh who am I kiddin'? If I ever get my hands on a video camera I fully intend to outdo Clint in the really bad jokes and gross references to hemmoroids department. That's just too fun to resist.

Actually I think time has been veddy veddy good to this little project of Ron's More Talented Brother (patent pending Clint Howard 1987). Despite references to a website that went belly up with the end of the virtual gold rush of the late 1990s, his sly comic wit and timing are just as good today as they were next Wednesday. Like fine wine, or two month old laundry. Fox should give this guy a real series next fall, so they can cancel it before January.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:16 AM on April 23, 2005

Really, you can't mention Clint Howard in Star Trek without including a picture.

Who wants tranya?

Oh, and I think "The Corbomite Maneuver" was the one that took place entirely on the Enterprise bridge except for the last 5 minutes (and that was just a few drapes and some hip 60s furniture) and had Nichelle Nichols thinking about leaving because all she said was "Hailing frequencies open, sir" and she said it 17 times.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:39 AM on April 23, 2005

Star Trek the original series was good? Are you fucking kidding me? The horrible acting, the terrible plots, the campy everything.

DS9 at least had some good characters, and the nice arc of the last four seasons, but the individual episodes were pretty boring.

The only really good Star Trek was The Next Generation - great characters, the best plots of any sci-fi series in that they constantly called into question common perceptions of causality/machine intelligence/ontology/epistemology/etc., and honest-to-God *good* acting. The only great actor DS9 had was Colm Meaney (Chief O'Brien) - check out "Hard Time" and the technology/babble-free "Honor Among Thieves" to see a Star Trek actor actually act. The Next Generation had Brent Spiner (no matter how much Data got annoying) and Patrick Stewart, both of whom did amazing jobs throughout the series that put any actor from the original series to shame. I'm sorry, but the original Star Trek . . . good? What fantasy world do you live in?
posted by Ryvar at 9:14 AM on April 23, 2005

How strange that a troll within a post would inspire a troll-callout that is a troll itself, and then what I'm sure will be an entire derail of the subject. But I do mostly agree with Ryvar.
posted by blendor at 9:25 AM on April 23, 2005

mikel beat me to it. Clint Howard played in the role of Tobias Lehigh Nagy aka The Smog Strangler.
posted by euphorb at 9:25 AM on April 23, 2005

Oh, and LairBob, he totally creeped me out as a kid, too.
posted by blendor at 9:26 AM on April 23, 2005

Actually, it's was the Clint-factor that made those two shows the best. Nothing else. Lighten up, people, Clint RULES and just by his very presence adds gravitas to YOUR party/meeting/conference/orgy/roid surgery.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:17 AM on April 23, 2005

His line from his bit part in the Waterboy:

"I am not what you would call a handsome man. God did not choose to bless with me with good looks, charm, or a fully functional brain."
posted by Davenhill at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2005

"I wondered who he was for the longest time, and was amazed when I learned he was Ron Howard's brother a few years ago. (Although I guess you can see the family resemblance.)"

I also wondered who he was, especially since he showed up in each and every Ron Howard movie. Then it clicked...

And this FPP was a total troll for trekkies to battle it out, especially since Enterprise got canceled, what else they got to do?
posted by Busithoth at 10:42 AM on April 23, 2005

Tranya! I hope you relish it as much as I.
posted by fandango_matt at 10:42 AM on April 23, 2005

Personally, I like all the Star Treks accept Voyager, with DS9, Enterprise, and Next Gen pretty equal in my book. We all know such things are relative.

What a curious post. Clint also appeared on Enterprise of course as a Ferengi, and also on Seinfeld, not as a Ferengi, but as a serial killer.
posted by juiceCake at 10:54 AM on April 23, 2005

I would definately NOT hit it. Look at those sharp knees.
posted by mr.marx at 11:23 AM on April 23, 2005

Not to metion his first brush with stardom:

Gentle Ben
posted by mygoditsbob at 12:12 PM on April 23, 2005

From Fall 2001. Though produced for pop.com, it was countingdown.com that presented them.
posted by dhartung at 12:13 PM on April 23, 2005

juiceCake: enh, Enterprise was softcore porn Trek until they turned it into Star Trek: Team America (Fuck yeah!).
posted by Ryvar at 12:31 PM on April 23, 2005

juiceCake: enh, Enterprise was softcore porn Trek until they turned it into Star Trek: Team America (Fuck yeah!).

Thankfully we are diverse, and therefore, view it entirely differently. Not a fan of softcore porn or Team America.
posted by juiceCake at 1:45 PM on April 23, 2005

Not this again. People, Deep Space Nine had the only adult plotlines of any of the series -- not that it was all adult by any stretch, but you just can't say that about the original, Next Gen (obviously -- can we please have another alienated teenager story?), or Voyager. Skip the first two seasons and then watch a few in a row. You'll get it.

And Colm Meaney was great. Hard time was great. So were the episodes with him undercover on the mob planet. But every single episode with that whiney wife sucked.

Garak was cool, too.
posted by dreamsign at 2:03 PM on April 23, 2005

I saw him in short done years ago with Micheal Keaton. Keaton plays himself as a successful actor having retired to a vow-of-silence monkery giving an interview on his career pre-collapse (and clearly trying to finagle a way back into the lime light). Howard figures prominently as the insane if unwitting saboteur to said career. One of those one shot deals (I saw it on some talk show), and too bad. Very funny stuff. Don't suppose anyone knows if or where it can be found?
posted by IndigoJones at 2:33 PM on April 23, 2005

Deep Space Nine sucked!

Indeed. Aka Star Trek: Jumped The Shark From Day One....

Star Trek the original series was good? Are you fucking kidding me? The horrible acting, the terrible plots, the campy everything.

Word.
posted by y2karl at 4:44 PM on April 23, 2005

Star Trek the original series was good? Are you fucking kidding me? The horrible acting, the terrible plots, the campy everything.

Geez, you just described almost everything I liked about TOS (you left out the velour mini skirts and gorgeous color palette).

You guys just don't get it, do you?
posted by Scoo at 7:48 PM on April 23, 2005

Clint Howard was honoured a few years ago at the Oscar's I think it was. Fun guy.

And for what it's worth, all the Start Trek's were good with the exception of the latest incarnation, Enterprise.

NO MORE DISCUSSION!
posted by ashbury at 8:44 PM on April 23, 2005

I'm sorry, what were you saying about Star Trek (TOS) sucking?
posted by fandango_matt at 8:53 PM on April 23, 2005

I'm sorry, what were you saying about Star Trek (TOS) sucking?

Great page. And how many of those did Kirk do? And yet people call Enterprise soft porn. Hilariously inexplicable.
posted by juiceCake at 11:17 PM on April 23, 2005

It is interesting to note that his brother didn't come on until the sixth show and that it ended up being the final show of the Clint Howard Show. Is that when his show jumped the shark?

Thnking of jumping the shark (read this for the next reference to make sense) makes me think of Henry Winkler which leads me to Arrested Development. Which leads me to this next thought (stay with me) I wonder since Clint Howard seems to land on Ron Howard's projects (including Happy Days) one way or another eventually could it be that a guest star spot on the aforementioned super excellent Arrested Development is imminent? Assuming it stays on the air (God I hope so) I think it is a sure bet it will happen.

See? That wrapped up nicely and it's better than another Star Trek thread.
posted by gnash at 10:48 AM on April 24, 2005

Clint's already been on Arrested Development -- he played a protestor who became obsessed with Lindsay.
posted by John Shaft at 9:07 PM on April 25, 2005