Island of Misfit Toys Day 1: Cool cats and rock lobsters

The B-52's do the Rock Lobster (PBS photo)

Henry Louis Gates Jr. tells the Cat in the Hat he's related to Garfield (PBS photo)

It's always a delight to be welcomed to Los Angeles by my old friend the Cat in the Hat, who was kind enough to bring along historian/beer drinker Henry Louis Gates. They were both on hand for the first day of the TV Critics Association Press Tour, that event in which TV's biggest names come off their pedestal and tolerate lowlife journalists from across the country.

Highlights:

Harry Thomason, the producer behind "Designing Women," told hilarious stories about his longtime buddy, Bill Clinton, including one about how Clinton redeemed himself from his long-winded speech at the 1988 national Democratic convention by appearing on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."

Turns out Carson didn't want to book Clinton (he never wanted politicians on) but Thomason got the King to change his mind by pitching Clinton as a musical guest. His sax playing wasn't a stunt; it was the only way he could get on the show. After the appearance, his friends threw a party with the banner: President Clinton in '96. They thought it would take that long for him to get his reputation back. He won the title in 1992.

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Ended the evening with longtime friend Douglas Blackmon, the Pultizer Prize-winning author of "Slavery By Another Name." A documentary based on his book is being produced by Twin Cities Public Television. We were joined by the film's director, Sam Pollard, Spike Lee's longtime editor and a co-director of "Eyes on the Prize," one of the greatest docs of all time.

We had a rich conversation about race, music and movies. Blackmon's war stories about Spike Lee were incredible. Despite their long working relationship, Pollard said they've only had one meal together. Lee is too much of a workaholic to take time out for food, he said. "Slavery," a terrific piece of work," airs on PBS in mid-February.