Pop culture Q&A

June 27, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Tribune

Q. I’m hoping you can help out my memory of a song I heard as a kid back in the ’50s. It was a song about a family from Texas (me and my wife and my brother Joe) going for a ride in their old Ford. They encounter a guy in a Mercury and a race ensues. Eventually both cars are overtaken by “a kid in a souped-up Model-A.” I have never heard the song again. Could you shed some light on the name of the tune and the performers?

A. The song was “Hot Rod Race,” which inspired a slew of successors and answer songs, including the better-known “Hot Rod Lincoln.” Written by George Wilson, the first recording of “Hot Rod Race” was apparently by Arkie Shibley and His Mountain Dew Boys in 1950; Red Foley was among the artists who later recorded it. You can find a very detailed account of the song at http://www.rockabillyhall.com/HotRodLncln1.html.

Q. Are Christian LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin on “The Young and the Restless”) and the guy that played Joey on “Friends” related?

A. Matt LeBlanc of “Friends” and Christian LeBlanc are not related.

Q. Will “The Closer” be returning to TNT this summer? I hope so!

A. The sixth season begins July 12. And the fifth season arrives on DVD on June 29.

Q. Is Alex Desert, who plays Jake the blind newsstand owner on “Becker,” blind in real life?

A. No, he’s not blind in real life.

Q. On “Two and a Half Men,” does Charlie Sheen — who plays Charlie Harper, the composer of jingles — play the piano himself?

A. Also no. And, before you ask, the cast of “Men” does not sing the opening theme; it is done by studio musicians.

Q. Does CBS have plans to return “The New Adventures of Old Christine” to its lineup?

A. It does not. There was talk after the networks announced their lineups in May that ABC might pick up the comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. But Entertainment Weekly later reported that ABC passed — and the production company dropped its attempts to keep the show going.

Q. What is the name of the old movie that starred Elizabeth Taylor playing the part of mother to Mia Farrow and they mentioned seeing a dog on the moon? When I was a child I swear I saw a dog sitting on top of the moon and was surprised to hear someone else mention it.

A. That is “Secret Ceremony” (1968). Taylor and Farrow are not mother and daughter in the psychological drama. They meet after Taylor notices Farrow’s resemblance to her dead daughter, while Taylor resembles Farrow’s dead mother, and develop a mother-daughter relationship. Farrow talks about a “moon dog” in it.

Q. If you can help me find this movie it will be a miracle, since I have so many cobwebs in this old brain I don’t remember the name or the actors. Not sure if it came out in the ’70s or ’80s. Main characters were two brothers, a dingbat mom and a girlfriend. Mom lived with one son, who feeds her cereal with Coca-Cola on it, dresses in a gorilla suit and jumps on her bed.

A. With help from still more detail in your letter, I am sure you are thinking of “Where’s Poppa?” from 1970, directed by Carl Reiner and starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon. The deliberately outrageous comedy has a cult following and was released on DVD in 2002. Although it does not appear to be in release now, you can find reasonably priced old copies on Amazon.com.