The Continental was a short-lived TV show that
debuted in 1951 on KNBH Los Angeles and aired nationally on ABC and CBS during the 1952-1953 TV season. Sponsored by
Cameo Stockings, the show featured Italian actor
Renzo Cesana (who got discovered when Robert Rossellini produced a play Cesana wrote when he was 16!) purring seductively into the camera, while offering "sham-pan-ya" to an offscreen lady friend. Best known for inspiring a series of
Saturday Night Live sketches starring
Christopher Walken, the show inspired parodies in its own era, such as this
Popeye cartoon (where Bluto tries to seduce Olive Oyl by posing as "The International"), a
Jerry Lewis skit on the
Colgate Comedy Hour that imagines the Continental as played by Marlon Brando, and a Pepe Le Pew cartoon where our amorous skunk attempts to seduce the feline object of his affection in
The Cat's Bah. Unfortunately, Internet footage of the real show appears to be nonexistent, although you can buy some
love songs recorded by the Continental off EBay.
posted by jonp72
on Aug 14, 2007 -
25 comments
"It can seem daunting when you are initially handed a sabre and a chilled bottle of Champagne with the expectation that you will sever the top of the bottle with the sword’s blade. Do not be downhearted!" Sabrage is the
ancient art of opening champagne bottles by slicing them with a
sabre.
Learn how to combine swords and booze this New Year's Eve.
posted by blahblahblah
on Dec 30, 2006 -
42 comments
The Night They Invented Champagne... Tonight's the night for
Champagne. Meaning French. No other is as appropriate or necessary. If you know nothing - or a lot - about this most pleasant and aphrodisiac of all wines, you should still get more serious about it. The
Champagne Growers' Association has an excellent website where you can learn how to
chill,
open,
serve and properly
taste Champagne. They'll even send you four free, attractive little
notebooks to keep in your cocktail cabinet. The green
roll-down menus are all enlightening and to the point.
But don't think the French have all the experts. There's this amazing American website, called
IntoWine, put up by the
M2 Communications Wine Education Center, which is just as wise and, typically, more complete and snobbish.
Their
Champagne section is faultless. Compare cultures by noting how they
serve Champagne. Check out their full list of Champagne
houses and related
movies.
Happy New Year, MetaFilter!
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Dec 31, 2001 -
28 comments
The dramatic way to open champagne. Have you used or seen someone use a champagne saber? Amazing that the bottle neck doesn't shatter around the edges. I tried looking on Google for some lore and description but found nothing.
posted by mmarcos
on Oct 30, 2001 -
18 comments
