A Treasury of TV Jibes

During the heyday of TV Guide magazine, TV Jibes was a popular feature, consisting of television-themed cartoons created by some leading practitioners of the art. A dozen pages of these cartoons were collected in A Treasury of TV Jibes, which was included as an insert with the magazine. Hence there is no price on the cover. Alas, there is also no copyright date.

Johnny Carson
Ronald Searle
TV Jibes

Scan by Tom Bloom

Even without a date of publication, we know TV Jibes couldn't have appeared before Ronald Searle's TV Guide cover of 1968 featuring Johnny Carson, and most likely it didn't appear immediately afterward either. Hence, a reasonable estimate for the publication date is 1970.

Johnny Carson
Ronald Searle
TV Guide, August 31-September 6, 1968

Here then is the rest of this issue of TV Jibes, the whole kit and kaboodle, as heroically scanned by Tom Bloom.

   TV Jibes                                   The Young Set
J. B. Handelsman                                  Claude Smith       
Henry Martin                              Charles Rodrigues
Charles Rodrigues                                   Chon Day        

TV Jibe:  Debatable Tactics                                   TV Jibes     
             Brian Savage                              Copper[?]          Hageman[?]
                                                                 Al Kaufman

         TV Jibes                                 TV Jibe:  The Younger Set
Charles E. Martin                                       Sidney Harris      
Henry Martin                                                          
Charles Rodrigues                                                        

TV Jibe:  It Must Be Football                                  My Fellow Americans...
Paul Peter Porges                                                 Brian Savage

TV Jibe:  And Now a Pause for the Program...             TV Jibe:  An Evening at Home
          Sidney Harris                                             Charles Rodrigues
                                                                     Paul Peter Porges
                                                                     Larry [Terence Parkes]

TV Jibes                                     TV Jibe:  Poor Reception
Charles Rodrigues                       Larry [Terence Parkes]
Mort Gerberg                                       Joseph Farris
Val                                           Charles Rodrigues

Note:  First off, my sincere thanks to Tom Bloom for this contribution. As I've already called his scanning heroic, I haven't left myself too much else to add. This is Tom's seventeenth contribution to Attempted Bloggery.

We are not alone. Postino writes informatively about this very TV Jibes cartoon booklet in the blog Insomnia Notebook here.

Cover artist Ronald Searle's extensive TV Guide work is surveyed in Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, here. There's no mention of TV Jibes, though, but that could change. 

Numerically speaking, Ronald Searle's centenary closed on March 3, which marked 101 years since the artist's birth. Nevertheless, since the pandemic interrupted any proper recognition of his achievement, I have taken the lead from the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover, Germany, and will continue to celebrate his centenary. Indefinitely.

Three of the cartoonists shown above in the pages of TV Jibes are unfamiliar to me. I will tentatively identify them as Copper, Hageman, and Val, although I am not sure I'm reading the first two signatures correctly. Does anybody recognize the cartoonists or know a little something about them? Do tell.

Also--can anyone tell me with which issue this insert was distributed? I'm kind of a stickler for these things, especially when they're of no importance.

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Cartoons from the Mark Birley Collection

Pity Sotheby's London. In selling off the collection of Mark Birley, they had to deal with eight cartoons by various artists, five of them Americans. So how did they categorize lot 452? Why, it's Miscellaneous, of course!

Eight cartoons from the Mark Birley collection

First up, The Greeter at Annabel's strikes me as a bit primitive, particularly in the crude rendering of the hands. Perhaps I detect the influence of David Levine or Ranan Lurie in this caricature by John Springs.

John Springs, The Greeter at Annabel's

Sotheby's didn't recognize that this cartoon by Frank Modell was published in the New Yorker in 1977. Unfortunately, the artwork was executed in felt tip pen. Not even forty years old, it has faded exceedingly. I hope this prolific artist's other drawings have fared better.

Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
Original artwork for the New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29

Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
The New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29

Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
The New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29

Mischa Richter's New Yorker cartoon has fared considerably better. The magazine used to frame some of the less marketable drawings in this manner with published text revealed in windows in the matte. These were given, I believe, as corporate gifts.

Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
Original artwork for the New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57

Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
The New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57

Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
The New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57

Gary Larson's "The Far Side" panel strip needs no introduction, I suppose. It's interesting that he inscribed this original right in the middle of the image and added a small, unrelated drawing there.

Gary Larson, "One of the nicest evenings I've ever spent at the Wilson's...and then you had to go and do that on the rug!"
"The Far Side," November 5, 1980
Inscribed with drawing "To Mr. Birley/Happy Birthday!/Gary Larson"

Gary Larson, "One of the nicest evenings I've ever spent at the Wilson's...and then you had to go and do that on the rug!"
"The Far Side," November 5, 1980
As reprinted in the Tufts Daily, February 24, 1989, p. 15

http://dl.tufts.edu/file_assets/tufts:UP029.010.014.00026

Of course, I'd like to know where and when this Peter Arno cartoon was published. Anybody?

Peter Arno, "Yes, this is the 'A.1. Physical Culture School'!" 1932

This political cartoon by Steve Breen from ten years ago strikes me as an unexceptional idea, although it is reasonably well-drawn. It isn't especially partisan, either.

Steve Breen, Study Finds Owners and Their Pets Look Alike...
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 1, 2004
Inscribed "Best wishes, Steve Breen"

Does anyone know who this cartoonist is?

Artist Unknown (Brewster?) [English School, 20th Century], "If there's one thing I can't stand it's being called a doyen."

Finally, here's some rugby humor from Terence Parkes ("Larry"), for those who can't get by on cricket humor alone.

Terence Parkes ("Larry"), Scrum

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/mark-birley-collection/lot.452.html

Eight cartoons from the Mark Birley collection

Note:  Peter Arno's cartoons have been known to appear in the blog. Here, for example.

Frank Modell's cartoons have also made the rounds here.

Mischa Richter too. See his cartoons on the blog here.

Maybe one day I'll give equal time to Terence Parkes ("Larry"). Meanwhile, there's a nice selection of his artwork at Chris Beetles here.

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