Koko, the Western Lowland Gorilla who is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language and 2,000 words of spoken English, has met some celebrities over the years. In 1988, William Shatner had a memorable visit with Koko, as seen in part in this edited clip, and re-told on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2009. Mister Rogers visited in 1998 (YouTube clip), as part of series of shows addressing children's fears of meeting someone new or unusual. In 2004, Koko met Betty White and Robin Williams. (Koko and other non-human primates using and learning sign language previously)
posted by filthy light thief on Nov 11, 2011 - 12 comments

The Thirteenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American humor was awarded to Tina Fey. Here is video of the PBS broadcast of the awards ceremony as well as Ms. Fey's complete acceptance speech.
posted by West of House on Nov 16, 2010 - 78 comments

Most people don't realize that Betty White was awesome nearly 60 years ago. In 1952, she was already TV's first female talk show host, and she became the first woman on TV to star AND co-produce her own sitcom (without being married to one of the other producers), "Life With Elizabeth", and the show is (IMO) a Lost Classic. (less lost now, with the help of YouTube; MLYT follows...) [more inside]
posted by oneswellfoop on May 8, 2010 - 24 comments

What happens to celebrities we forget about? They make terrible commercials for beer, candy, and Man Dom.
posted by stoneweaver on May 2, 2010 - 79 comments