A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

WHEN OLD PEOPLE ATTACK (OTHER OLD PEOPLE): Alan Sepinwall brings us some surreal stuff involving Mickey Rooney, Carl Reiner and Red Buttons from the Televison Critics annual summer press tour:

A startled Buttons asked, "What the hell did Mickey (just) say?"

"I don't know," Reiner replied. "I was about to ask if somebody had written it down because I want to make a sampler out of that. I want to have that on my couch."

After a Rooney anecdote about the legendary producer and director Cecil B. DeMille that only Caesar seemed to understand, Buttons asked, "By the way, Mickey, was Lincoln a nice guy?"

This didn't have the desired effect, as Rooney started discussing Civil War generals whose last names also belonged to his own relatives. As the reporters and other panelists broke down in astonished giggles, Rooney insisted, "I don't know why you're laughing. It's true!"

Buttons may have been in a pissy mood because he's the only one of the three to have never won an Emmy. He's up for his guest role on ER as 'Ruby', however.