Blank as variable/output when run from command line

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

When I run this:

PDHDURL=`/usr/bin/curl --silent http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php | /usr/bin/grep -o http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/.*.gif | head -1`
echo -e "$PHDURL"

It is totally blank. However, when I just run it from the terminal:

/usr/bin/curl --silent http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php | /usr/bin/grep -o http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/.*.gif | head -1

I get the real output I am looking for, the URL of the comic. This doesn't happen with any other URL I try to grab.

Oh and this is bash on OSX. and sh I think.

2

Is this just a typo in your post or the cause for the empty output?

3

Ahhhhh man not again. What a stupid mistake. Thanks.