Lopez enshrined on Walk

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on March 30th, 2006

From AP:

LOS ANGELES Comedian George Lopez is the latest recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star and co-creator of A-B-C’s George Lopez was joined by his wife, Ann, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the ceremony today.

Ann, who donated a kidney to Lopez last April, cited her husband’s rough upbringing in Los Angeles, saying he is _quote_ “that little blade of grass that got through the cracks and got out.”

Okay. Now no one here thinks Lopez isn’t deserving of a star on the Walk. However, we are disturbed that there are some glaring omissions on that strip on terazzo and brass. We posted as much just over a year ago.Check them out:

Milton Berle
Red Buttons
George Carlin
Johnny Carson
Bill Cosby
Rodney Dangerfield
Redd Foxx
Shecky Greene
Buddy Hackett
Bob Hope
Alan King
Rich Little
Rowan & Martin
Bob Newhart
Don Rickles
Joan Rivers
Penn & Teller

Excuse me, did you say Johnny Carson?! That’s right. According to the Detroit Free Press, as of January 25 of last year, he was on the “eligible” list, meaning that he/she is only $15,000 away from that star.

Would it kill the next honoree to peel off $15,000 and start a domino effect? Like, say if Ray Romano were to be honored (if he doesn’t have one already), maybe he might reach into his cookie jar (recently fattened, we hear, by $50 million for each of the last two seasons of his sitcom!) and quietly pay for Johnny’s star. (Sure, he’s dead and all, but might it not mean something to his wife or his fans?)

Spare us the nasty emails castigating us for telling Romano how to spend his cash. He’s the one (or his publicist is) who’s making sure that the “2 X $50 million” figure makes it into each one of the “Ice Age II” interviews. And, from what we understand, the overriding theme of each of those interviews has been that Romano has a void in his life since the series ended. Perhaps coughing up the necessary funds to commemorate his comedy colleague(s) might make him feel as though his post-E.L.R. life is meaningful. Heck, with the kind of reserves he has, he could knock off all the above stars for a paltry $255,000. (We’re sure Romano is accustomed to folks telling him how and where to blow his bread. And we’re doubly sure that, when he had none, there was no shortage of folks telling how he might acquire some, making for a nice symmetry.)

We’re particularly horrified that Shecky Greene isn’t memorialized there. He’s coming up on his 80th birthday, next Saturday (the 8th), so, it’s probably too late to fill out all the paperwork, but wouldn’t that have been swell? Ah, well. We hear the Mega-Millions is up $100 million.