"Wax on, wax off. Heart works, heart stops.!"
It was a sad, sad, day yesterday as Hollywood mourned the loss of the first Japanese actor to have his own television sitcom, even if it was for only a few episodes before it got scrubbed. Now, I don't understand why Pat Morita's first actual television role has been overlooked in favor of "Happy Days". It was actually a recurring role on "Sanford and Son" as Ah Chew that jump started his career, then came "Happy Days", and after that his own sitcom that paved the way for his famous movie role in the "Karate Kid" series where he caught house flies with chopsticks and made Ralph Macchio wash and wax his car. This was another movie franchise that should have quit while it was ahead with apologies to Oscar winner Hillary Swank who broke into the business on the 4th and final film. The last time I saw Pat on tv was in one of the better episodes of the new "Outer Limits" a few years back. Unfortunately, Mr. Morita's telephone only rang when Hollywood needed to fill the part of a Chinaman. If anyone needs to be at the funeral, it's Hillary Swank. Had it not been for that train wreck of a movie with Pat, she's probably be waiting tables at Applebee's. In any case, Mr. Morita had a good life but in my opinion 73 is too young to "exit stage left". Then again, someone somewhere is probably half way through writing the script to "Karate Kid 5" and that wouldn't be a good thing for any of us! R.I.P. Ah chew, Arnold, and Mr. Miyaghi.
posted by Dave Sypniewski at
Saturday, November 26, 2005
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