Movies try auto focus

The Love Bug is still a 1963 Volkswagen with a mind of its own and headlights that can freakin’ blink. Herbie is back with Ms. Lohan in the driver’s seat. The VW’s look and story hasn’t changed since actor Dean Herbie rode in “Herbie Rides Again,” “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” and — perhaps the movie that saw the franchise reach its nadir — “Herbie Goes Bananas.” —Ed Tahaney —Movies try auto focus (NY Daily News)

A puffy article with a silly pun for a headline (get it, “auto-focus”?).

Nobody’s perfect. When I was a student, I once mistakenly gave two sources the same last name, and later ended up working both of those sources. These things happen, and there really wasn’t any way for the copy-editor to know about my goof.

As father of a seven-year-old and a three-year-old, I’m something of an expert on the Herbie franchise, but for the uninitiated, a quick visit to IMDB.com is useful.

There’s no “Dean Herbie” in the cast lists of those films. Dean Jones appeared in The Love Bug (1968), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), a 1982 TV series, and, briefly, a TV movie also named The Love Bug (1997). He didn’t appear in “Herbie Goes Bananas.” Only two of the seven “Herbie” titles in IMDB appeared during the 70s, but Tahaney refers to Herbie as a 1970s phenomenon.