For the second year in a row SNL hired an athlete to host the season premiere, in this case Michael Phelps on the heels of his historic 8 gold medal haul at the recently completed Beijing Olympics. By now we all know the limits of having an athlete host; for Phelps in particular he tends to speak in a monotone, a trait which doesn’t lend itself to dynamic comedy. The show did not ask too much of him; the cast did the bulk of the heavy lifting, and to his credit Phelps showed a light touch, even if the quality of his line readings left a lot to be desired.

Also for the second year in a row, every cast member returned. For now, at least. Amy Poehler was deep into a pregnancy, so she would soon take a maternity leave, but she was present for the first few episodes. There would be a pair of new hires in a few weeks to help fill the void, but neither one was here yet. There was 1 new featured player added to the cast: Bobby Moynihan. He actually had a spotlight sketch in his debut week, one in which he portrayed an unhelpful waiter at a Pizza Uno. It wasn’t a particularly good sketch, but it did demonstrate Moynihan’s unique energy.

The bigger addition this season came to the writing staff. This was John Mulaney’s first year with the show, and he would quickly becoming a vital voice. In addition, SNL received an unexpected gift over the summer. A few weeks earlier John McCain shocked the world by choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. She was nationally unknown unless one was a serious political junkie, but it took almost no time for people to notice that she looked an awful lot like Tina Fey. Lorne picked up the bat phone to summon Fey.

The season beginning cold open was the famous sketch in which Palin & Hillary Clinton (Poehler) spoke to the nation to decry sexism in politics. It was here that Fey introduced the immortal line “I can see Russia from my house!” All these years later many people still believe that this was an actual Sarah Palin quote and not an SNL line. Tina Fey was practically a regular in the opening weeks of the season, and rightfully so. Her Palin impersonation was letter perfect.

Phelps’s monologue referenced his recent Olympic triumph, specifically the frequent camera shots from NBC’s Olympic coverage which showed his mother cheering him on. Here, Poehler portrayed Mrs. Phelps. Then, as Phelps discussed some of the commercial offers he had been receiving, the camera cuts back to the audience, where William Shatner encourages him to be judicious when selecting products to endorse. He slips in a few plugs for Priceline while doing so. I was too distracted by the fact that Guy Fieri was sitting next to Shatner, and no one made mention of it. The monologue ended with an appearance from the real Mrs. Phelps.

The first post-monologue sketch was a game show, Quiz Bowl, in which teams of students from 2 different schools competed against each other in a general knowledge game. The joke was that one of the 2 teams was home schooled, and their answers were increasingly bizarre. Adding to the insanity was that the other team were always too slow when buzzing in, much to the irritation of the host (Jason Sudeikis).

I liked the ad parody for the Jar Glove. Kristen Wiig played a woman struggling to open up a tightly closed jar. It flies out of her hand, striking her husband (Sudeikis) in the head, killing him. She then proceeds to dismember and bury the body, before being caught, tried, convicted, and the target of a manhunt after she escapes from custody. She says “there must be a better way!” Voila! The Jar Glove would have made everything easier.

There were 3 desk pieces on Update. The first was Will Forte as Alaska Pete, here to complain about many of the stereotypes about Alaska that had become common in the wake of Palin’s nomination. The other 2 were recurring bits, one of which I liked and the other not so much. Fred Armisen returns as political comic Nicholas Fehn, once again offering his hot takes on the news of the day without really saying anything substantive. The other was Andy Samberg as the comic strip character Cathy. It consisted of little more than Samberg pulling at his hair and saying “aack!” a lot and was a real waste of time.

The 2 other highlights of the week were both built around ad campaigns. Who remembers the old T-Mobile “My 5” promotion? That gave a customer unlimited calls to their 5 most popular contacts. In this one while seated at the family dinner table the teen daughter (Casey Wilson) lists her 5. Her brother (Phelps) has the same 5 because he thinks her friends are hot. The father (Sudeikis) makes an offhand comment in which he agrees and it soon turns out that the dad has the same 5 on his phone.

One of the many stories surrounding Phelps’s training was the ungodly amount of calories that he would consume in a typical day. Presenting, the Phelps Diet, which states that you too can eat like an Olympic champion. The visual gag of the stacks of plates on the tables of diet followers giving their testimonies made me hungry. To eat that much food without gaining an unhealthy amount of weight would also necessitate training for several hours each day, so anyone who would actually follow the Phelps Diet would be in for a rude awakening. (Please ignore the cameo from Jared Fogle. It was a more innocent time.)

This episode was a lot funnier than it had any right to be. Phelps did not try to stray too far outside of his wheelhouse, the cast did the rest. Next week I will look at the midseason episode; Hugh Laurie was the host.

Pop Culture Corner

Time to check in once again on various items of arcana which have been prominent in the current discourse. It’s no secret that box office numbers have been dropping for comic book/super hero related movies, to the extent that Super Hero Fatigue has become a talking point. The people behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day ain’t having any of that. It is well on track to finish as one of the biggest box office draws in history.

The unanswered question is if this disproves the fatigue theory, or does it clarify that audiences have not turned their collective backs on super hero movies per se, rather they have had it with paint by numbers super hero movies. It’s gotta be worth the time and money for audiences to commit. Another factor is this. Some observers have theorized that Spider-Man and Batman are the two characters who are so popular that they are immune from the so-called fatigue. Avengers: Doomsday is going to be a good test. An Avengers movie is a guaranteed blockbuster, but it remains to be seen as to how many people will see the movie out of a sense of obligation as opposed to a sense of anticipation. I already see a lot of pushback towards the lists of older Marvel productions that people should watch or rewatch before Doomsday opens. No one wants to feel like they need to do homework before going to the movies.

Going into the summer there were 3 movies for which I became emotionally invested in their commercial fates. The first: Supergirl was a failure; I haven’t seen it yet but the general consensus is that the quality was poor and was exactly the sort of lazy superhero movie that I alluded to in the above paragraph. Second: The Odyssey was inevitably going to be a massive hit, I was rooting for it to be an even bigger than expected hit just to shut up the trolls who were up in arms over some of the casting choices. Consider it done. OK, I was 1 for 2 in my hopes. That leaves a third movie.

Coyote vs. Acme has been the textbook example of David Zaslav’s gutting of Warner Brothers content. Unlike the Batgirl and Scooby-Doo movies, which were disappeared before post production really began, Coyote was mostly finished when Zaslav started to purge material. In fact, those who had seen the working cut were universal in its praise. Thankfully, the movie was rescued and release rights were sold to a smaller studio. It finally saw the light of day last weekend and was released to positive reviews and strong feedback scores from audiences. It finished behind only the Spider-Man movie in its opening weekend. To be clear, it did not pull in blockbuster numbers; it was more of a medium sized hit. But a strong word of mouth could make it a sleeper hit. If nothing else it is doing well enough to serve as an f-u to Zaslav.

Turning over to television, Lanterns is serving as a strong contrast to Supergirl’s failure. The MCU is the dominant force on movie screens, that battle was decided long ago. DC Comics IP has the stronger track record on TV, Lanterns being the most recent example. 3 episodes in, and the verdict is so far so good. It has done an excellent job of cherry picking elements from decades worth of Green Lantern’s considerable mythology and turning it into a compelling story. It is always a bonus when great actors are added to the mix, and the presence of Laura Linney in episode 3 was a genius move. The biggest challenge when it comes to adapting comic book material to live action is that dialogue and character names can sound clunky when read out loud. Linney made the material sound as substantive as that which is found in any of the Oscar bait projects that she has starred in.

Finally, there has been more chart history made on the Billboard Hot 100. Fans consume music radically differently than they had in earlier eras; one result of that is that there has been a huge increase in songs which have marathon length runs at #1. A new record has been set. Choosin’ Texas by Ella Langley has just spent its 20th non-consecutive week at #1, breaking a tie for second place it had shared with Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and A Bar Song by Shaboozey. The only song with more weeks at the top is All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey, and that comes with a asterisk because it adds 3 weeks to its total every year unless and until a new Christmas standard enters the vernacular.

I don’t know if this is a sign that I’m old enough to be out of touch with current pop culture, but the news of this new record leaves me shrugging my shoulders. The Lil Nas X & Shaboozey songs were both ubiquitous enough that I was well aware of the impact that each song was making. I don’t feel the same way about the Ella Langley song. If you ask me to hum a few bars I would not be able to. The age of omniculture ended years ago, but I still find it odd that a song which is such a huge hit has completely bypassed my radar. Is it just me, or is it a song whose impact does not come close to matching its success?

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50 Years Ago - Kate & Anna McGarrigle

The debut album from the Montreal born McGarrigle sisters was one of the most highly acclaimed albums of its era. Seamlessly melding folk music with country and light rock, it was a precursor to what would eventually be labeled as Americana.

As is often the case with debut releases, many of the songs had been written years earlier before finally being set to tape. In fact, the best known song on the record, Anna’s Heart Like a Wheel, had been floating around long enough that it was the title track on a Linda Ronstadt album from 1974. All due respect to Ronstadt, but I prefer the McGarrigle version. As one would expect from a sibling act, the vocal harmonies were impeccable. They sound as one.

What they did not do was collaborate as songwriters. One sister or the other were the lone songwriters of 9 of the 12 songs on the record. A 10th song was written by Kate’s then husband Loudon Wainwright III. (Kate was the mother of both Rufus and Martha Wainwright.) This is interesting - the song Go Leave is a thinly veiled retort to Loudon about his infidelity; the couple would divorce in 1976.

That explains why, although several famous names are among the musicians on the record, Wainwright is NOT one of them. The album credits include a wide array of the leading session musicians of the era as well as several who share musical sensibilities with the McGarrigle sisters: Lowell George, Tony Levin, Bobby Keys, Steve Gadd, Hugh McCracken, Andrew Gold, Russ Kunkel, etc. All very familiar names to fans who love to closely peruse liner notes.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle spent their entire careers as legends within the folk music scene, eventually graduating to Respected Elder status. As Americana music was becoming more prominent, they had the same basic career pattern that most pioneers do - they themselves did not fully benefit, but they got to see many artists whom they inspired thrive, and Kate, who died of cancer in 2010, lived long enough to see her 2 children have lauded music careers of their own.

Closing Laughs

OK gang, it’s now September. I’ve set up a reminder so that I can wake Billie Joe Armstrong up when the month ends, so I’m all ready. Oh, and as a public service announcement, SCTV episodes are now available on Netflix. Plan your streaming schedule accordingly. Have a great day everyone. See you all again on Friday.

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1968 was among the most tumultuous years in American history. It was a time of escalation of the war in Vietnam, campus protests against said escalation, the Democratic convention in Chicago, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Episode #4 uses this history as a backdrop leading up to a massive year ending event; the first human lunar orbit, which made the goal of an actual moon landing before decade’s end much more realistic.

The first 20 minutes or so of the episode interspersed actual news footage of the time with the planning of Apollo 8. Most of that archival footage was in black & white, and the episode matched that - with the exception of the scenes shot in the space capsule which were seen in full color everything else was filmed in black & white. The news clips are meant to draw a contrast between the nationwide (and worldwide) trauma of the era with the hope provided by the imminent scientific breakthrough.

NASA was forced to pivot when CIA photos indicated that the Soviets were ready to launch an unmanned craft into lunar orbit. This stepped up the pressure for an American crew to be the first humans to travel that far. As a result, the missions and crews of 8 & 9 were going to switch. 8 was originally intended to be the initial test of the lunar module; instead 8 became the orbital test, which would also entail mapping out the moon’s surface for potential landing spots.

That switch added two potential dangers. It greatly reduced the amount of training time, and it meant that the craft would journey to the moon without a lunar module attached. If a catastrophe would occur with the main engine, there would be no backup engine available, which would result in the astronauts stuck in lunar orbit until they starve to death. Mission commander Frank Borman (David Andrews) accepted that risk and his crew, consisting of Jim Lovell (Tim Daly) and Bill Anders (Robert John Burke), worked around the clock to prepare for the mission.

The other main character this week was Borman’s wife Susan (Rita Wilson). The lives of the astronaut wives will be examined more closely in a later episode, but this episode did convey the unique experience of a spouse quite well. She had to put up a brave face for the press and her children, while publicly hiding her deep anxiety, reserving her concerns for private conversations with her husband.

This week provided one of the best examples of the miniseries’ ability to create a sense of tension even though the viewers know full well how things ended. Despite our knowledge of NASA’s ultimate success that didn’t make the scenes any less tense. In this instance there was a loss of signal of slightly more than an hour as the orbit took the capsule on the far side of the moon. The men in Mission Control were sweating it out, unable to exhale until the reacquisition of signal. The viewers felt the relief when transmission was reestablished.

Apollo 8 was not only the mission in which humans traveled further away from the Earth than anyone ever had, but it was also here where Anders took the famous Earthrise photo. The depiction of that moment was suitably awe inspiring. It also notably took place at the very end of the year. The actual orbit took place on Christmas Eve, and during the television broadcast the crew took turns reading from the opening verses of the Book Of Genesis.

The success of the mission ended a rough year on an uplifting note, and the episode made sure to end in a similar way. The final scene showed the crew on the way back home; Mission Control read a few congratulatory telegrams to the returning astronauts. One came from Charles and Anna Lindbergh, another from LBJ. That last one came from a random citizen, but in only a few words it stated what this week’s episode was all about. “You saved 1968.”

Next week: Engineers develop the most crucial component necessary for success: the lunar module.

Looking At Some Numbers

In this next batch of numbers, a total of 5 players have worn these 4 numbers. In other words, 3 players earn a spot on the honor roll by default and there is only 1 number for which I need to make an actual decision. That tends to lessen the chances of anyone finding fault with any of my decisions. Here are a few more greatest Mets to wear each uniform number.

84 - This is the number which 2 players have worn. Alex Carrillo pitches 4.2 innings last season with an ERA of 13.50. Thank goodness one of the recent callups is a #84. Word is that Jefry Yan was so excited over achieving this honor that he joyfully leapt in the air. Time will tell if he will prove to be a valuable bullpen arm and not just a fun guy to watch. For now, he is the best Met 84.

85 - Stephen Nogosek wore 2 different numbers as he appeared in parts of 4 seasons in the big leagues. He wore 85 for a longer period of time, and more importantly for this exercise, he remains the only Met to wear #85.

86 - 8 at bats spread across 5 games is not exactly a Mets career which matches that of Ed Kranepool, but it is enough to award this prize to Jake Hager.

87 - This is another example of a number which only 1 Met player has worn, as well as another example of a player who spent a good chunk of time with the team and briefly wore a high number. In this case it is Juan Lagares, but the circumstances here are a little unusual. In most instances a player wears such a high number when he is initially promoted and then switches to a more standard number once he is an established major league. Lagares was the opposite. He wore 12 or 15 for most of his Mets tenure, but when he briefly returned to the team for 2 games in 2020 he wore 87. No other Mets can say that they wore the number, so congrats to him.

The Weekend In Racing

It was an eventful weekend for the 2 large US-based racing circuits. Let’s begin with the Saturday night NASCAR race at Daytona, which was the final regular season race before the Chase begins on Sunday at Darlington. As expected, once the first stage of the race was completed Bubba Wallace had enough of a points lead over the cut line that he clinched a spot, and Brad Keselowski was too far behind to be able to race his way in. That left 3 drivers to battle it out over the final 2 slots.

It’s ironic that in the first year after NASCAR eliminated the “win and you’re in” path to the playoffs, that it took a Hail Mary of a win to shake up the playoff field. Ryan Preece began the evening as the first man out, and he was far enough below the cut line that he needed both a great finish and a disaster from one of the 2 drivers whom he was chasing. When that disaster did not occur, Preece’s only path was if he would win the race. Which he did; Preece was leading the race just as a crash took place on the final lap. When the caution flag dropped the field was frozen and since Preece was in first at that point he won the race, jumping into 16th place in the standings over Shane van Gisbergen. That only happened because the bonus points Preece earned for a victory gave him what he needed; a second place finish in the race would have kept him on the outside looking in.

As for IndyCar, it was a rainy day in Milwaukee on Saturday, so they only got in a portion of Saturday’s race. They wound up having to run the regularly scheduled race on Sunday afternoon, and then coming back to complete the Saturday race early Sunday evening. Got that? Pato O’Ward certainly did. He took the checkered flag in both races. He had a good day, but that was secondary to the history that was made.

Álex Palou came into the weekend with a points lead large enough that the question wasn’t if he would clinch the season title, but in which race. He wrapped things up with plenty of room to spare; doing so a full week before next Sunday’s season ending race in Laguna Seca. This is the second year in a row that Palou clinched things a week early, which is very unusual in IndyCar. The title is almost always in question until the final race, if not the final lap. (That’s no exaggeration. One season Will Power was on his way to the crown and he ran out of fuel on the literal final lap of the final race. The number of positions on track he lost as he slowed to a halt were enough to cost him the championship. Brutal), To say that Palou is on a roll is an understatement. This will be his 4th consecutive title, and 5th in the last 6 years. Complete and utter dominance.

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50 Years Ago - Monday Night Baseball On ABC

The national contracts for MLB telecasts have often switched around among the networks, but when I became a diehard baseball fan NBC was the sole network home for the sport. NBC had everything: the complete postseason, the All-Star Game, the Saturday afternoon Game Of the Week, and a smaller package of Monday night games. ABC obtained a portion of the contract beginning with the 1976 season. Going forward, the 2 networks shared custody of the big events, switching back and forth each year. And ABC took over the Monday night franchise.

ABC was new to primetime baseball, but not new to Monday night sports, and its presentation of the game was similar to the way in which it handled Monday Night Football. Each game was treated as An Event, and the broadcasters were promoted as being as big a part of the game as its participants were. I can’t find a clip of it on YouTube, but the initial title sequence featured the men in the booth. It showed big plays from the 1975 World Series, each of which included a depiction of how the ABC broadcasters would have called the play. For example, a shot of the infamous play in which the umpires did not call Ed Armbrister for interference on a bunt play in which he got in Carlton Fisk’s way, Bob Uecker said “This would have never happened to me. I wouldn’t have gotten to the ball.”

The initial A-crew consisted of long time Pirates play by play man Bob Prince, Warner Wolf, and Uecker. Wolf was a rising star within the ABC ranks; he had the speed skating assignment in the 1976 Winter Olympics, and a spot in the baseball booth was further indication that the network had big plans for him. This team did not last very long; there was little chemistry among the 3. Prince would soon leave, and Wolf moved on to the local evening news sports reports where he burnished his legend. By season’s end Uecker was the last man standing, and Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell were in the top booth by the time the playoffs began. That was some nice symmetry for Jackson. He was the play by play man in season 1 of Monday Night Football; the familiar Cosell/Gifford/Meredith booth would not debut until the second year of MNF. (Al Michaels was the play by play man on the backup games; although he is the voice most easily identified with baseball on ABC, it would be several years until he was in the lead booth.)

ABC heavily promoted the technical innovations they were adding to the game. It was here where the dugout camera was introduced; viewers now had a much closer look at the players and the ways in which they interacted during the game. I had completely forgotten that ABC also originated the use of the center field camera. I could have sworn that it was in use well before then, but I was wrong. The center field shot is now of course the default view on baseball telecasts. It began here.

Now is the time on Sprockets where we complain about the presence of Howard Cosell. He was the biggest name in ABC Sports, and the network wanted to use him as much as possible. He was very vocal about his disdain for baseball, and yet ABC deemed it appropriate to include him here. His significant ego also often got in the way. Take a look at such moments as Chris Chambliss’s walkoff home run to win the 1976 ALCS, or Reggie Jackson’s 3rd home run in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. In both cases Cosell talked over ostensible play by play man Keith Jackson. Moreover, he refused to let either moment breathe. It’s a given that when dramatic moments happen that the broadcaster will go silent. Let the visuals and the crowd reaction tell the story. But that would mean Cosell would have needed to stop talking. Ain’t gonna happen.

ABC had many highlights during the years it broadcast baseball - arguably none higher than Al Michaels’ tour de force work the night of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake - but there is no doubt about the most memorable game in that 1976 season. That would be the game in which Mark Fidrych made his national TV debut. He threw a complete game for the Tigers in a game against the Yankees, and ABC played The Bird’s wonderful eccentricities for all that they were worth. Roone Arledge was always interested in 2 things - stories and personalities. The magical rookie season of Fidrych and ABC were a match made in heaven.

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Closing Laughs

How was your weekend? Good? Good. Let’s hope this is a wondrous pre-holiday week for all. Nice to see you all, and thanks for tuning on. See you on Wednesday.

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As the end of the summer approaches, this is a seasonably appropriate selection. Blow Away, the lead single from George Harrison’s self-titled 1979 album, is the aural equivalent of sitting back and relaxing while enjoying a light breeze. This song is a perfect soundtrack for a lazy afternoon spent on the summertime furniture of your choice: lawn chair, hammock, etc.

Harrison had said that the inspiration for the song came from the aggravation he felt whilst dealing with a leaky roof. He eventually realized that if he was too concerned with the annoying things in life, he was losing sight of the joyful things. This too shall pass. The 3 verses describe the progression of that realization. In verse 1, the leaks are damaging his roof and floorboards. In the chorus he states that all he’s got to do is love you. All he’s got to be is be happy. All it’s got to take is some warmth to make it blow away.

The new found optimism manifests itself in verses 2 & 3. In verse 2 a sunny day gives him instant amnesia, yang to the yin. Finally, in verse 3 the rainbows and breezes emerge; a moment had passed like he knew that it should. All of this is accompanied by some exceptionally warm guitar playing. The record as a whole is so calm, so soothing. All Things Must Pass is the magnum opus of George Harrison’s solo career; Blow Away is just as good as any song heard on that album.

International Sports Review/Preview

The final Grand Slam tournament on the tennis calendar begins this weekend with the opening round of the U.S. Open starting on Sunday. The tennis gods giveth and the tennis gods taketh away. Carlos Alcaraz will return to play after missing the last several months of action due to a wrist injury. He enters the tournament without any recent match experience, unless you count the 2 matches he played in mixed doubles - paired with Serena Williams - on Tuesday. It’s probably asking too much to expect him to be able to win 7 matches with that much rust, but you never know. Unfortunately, the tourney will take place sans Jannik Sinner; the world #1 had to withdraw due to a knee injury.

That leaves the men’s draw wide open. There are so many intriguing questions. Can Novak Djokovic get that 25th major championship? Can Alexander Zverev cap off a magical year with a second major? Can any of the highly ranked players still seeking their first major break through? Will this be the moment in which an American male wins a major for the first time since Andy Roddick way back in 2003?

The women’s draw is equally wide open; 7 different women have won the last 7 majors. If that streak continues, this could be the long awaited first major for someone such as Jessica Pegula or Amanda Anisimova. Or perhaps Naomi Osaka can complete her slow rise back up in the rankings with a win. That’s not to mention the tightness at the top of the rankings. Aryna Sabalenka is ranked #1, but Elena Rybakina is nipping at her heels; depending on how the results shake out either Sabalenka, Rybakina, Pegula, or Coco Gauff could leave Flushing with the #1 ranking.

I’m not going to take the bait. I will not let the outstanding product produced by the WNBA to be spoiled by attention seeking losers who are attempting to weaponize the league as another front in the culture wars. Ignore them. As for the league itself, after this weekend the season will go on pause so that the top players will be available to represent their national teams in next month’s FIBA World Cup. When the season resumes, it will only be a brief sprint to the completion of the schedule; each team will only have 4 or 5 games left to play.

The 8 playoff teams have all clinched their spots, but there is still a lot to play for. The standings are so tightly packed that seeding is far from certain. The Minnesota Lynx should be in good shape to earn the #1 seed and home court advantage, but there are a multitude of scenarios as each of the other 7 teams work to find the most advantageous position. It’s all set up for a thrilling finish.

The inaugural IndyCar race held on the streets of Washington D.C. turned out to be a complete success. I only managed to catch a small portion of the race, but all involved confirm that the pre-event angst was misplaced. I was only mildly concerned; this wasn’t exactly IndyCar’s first rodeo when it comes to staging a street race: the schedule traditionally opens with a race in St. Petersburg. The organizers are well-versed when it comes to all of the necessary logistics. (I never for a second agreed with some of the hysterics who feared that the vibrations could damage precious art work in the local museums.) If I had any worries it was that in the administration’s eagerness to fast track everything in order to make the Big Special Boy happy, corners might be cut. No need for concern. Everything went smoothly; it was well attended and a ratings smash as well.

With that out of the way, the season is almost over. There will be a doubleheader held this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, followed by the season ending race at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California next week. Álex Palou has all but wrapped up his 5th title in the last 6 years. Unless he gets lost on the way to the race track he will clinch it either tomorrow or Sunday.

This weekend is also the final race in NASCAR’s regular season before the 10 race Chase begins next weekend. NASCAR eliminated the “win and you’re in” policy this year. The playoff field is limited to the top 16 finishers in the points race so there is no chance that someone can make a Hail Mary move into the playoffs with an unexpected victory. 13 drivers have already clinched their spots; Bubba Wallace basically only needs to start the race to become the 14th. That leaves 3 drivers contending for the final 2 slots. Brad Kesolowski is technically still alive as well, but he is so far behind that it would take an implausible series of events to leap into the field.

On a normal track the driver currently outside the playoff field - Ryan Preece - would probably be too far behind to have a realistic chance of moving up. Tomorrow night’s race is at Daytona, which is not a normal track. The inherent volatility seen at Daytona with the ever present danger of a crash that takes out half the field could conceivably result in a massive shakeup of the standings near the bubble. One thing which is certain; Denny Hamlin has already clinched the regular season points title. That is huge, because the number of bonus points he earns from that gives him a healthy advantage once the Chase starts. Hamlin is almost certainly NASCAR’s most accomplished driver without a Cup title. He came so agonizingly close last year; we will know in 10 weeks if the fates have something better in store for him this time.

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RIP

Tim Curry’s career was remarkable in both its length and its breadth. Obviously, every obituary led with his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but if you would take a Family Feud style survey and ask people what would be the second thing they think of when Curry’s name comes up there would be a huge variety of responses. Perhaps it was his portrayal of the butler in Clue. Or as Pennywise in the original TV adaptation of It. Maybe his stage work: he was nominated for a Tony Award 3 times - for Amadeus, My Favorite Year, and Spamalot. Or his voiceover work on animated series such as The Wild Thornberrys. Need I also mention Muppet Treasure Island? And how about the handful of new wave albums that he released?

That only scratches the surface of his résumé, all of which is to say there is a good reason why he was so admired. No matter your specific tastes, Curry could find a way to whet your pop cultural appetite. Rocky Horror is illustrative of what made him special. He always gave 100% effort in whatever project he was in, and he never hesitated to let his freak flag fly. Curry suffered a major stroke in 2012, which confined him to a wheelchair and essentially ended his acting career. He did not lose his voice, however, so he was able to continue doing voiceovers, and he was a magnificent storyteller as well. Curry was 80.

It’s inevitable, if you look like Vincent Pastore you are going to be typecast. He had the exact appearance of a stereotypical gangster; therefore he was frequently cast in crime movies and television shows. Fortunately for him he had an important role in one of the gold standards of the genre. He portrayed Tony’s old friend and loyal soldier Sal “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in the early seasons of The Sopranos. Or should I say he was loyal until he wasn’t. Big Pussy would be arrested and the feds had him working as a mole within the Sopranos organization.

Pastore did a superb job of conveying the character’s pain. It was clearly killing him to have to flip on his friends; at the same time he was kidding himself that if he somehow played things correctly he could have gotten back into Tony’s good graces. The inevitable moment in which Tony and the rest whacked him was one of the more heart wrenching moments in the show’s history. Pastore played on his image in his post-Sopranos years, appearing in several commercials and reality programs. Pastore was 80.

The Hayden Panettiere story is just so unbelievably sad. There have been more cautionary tales to count about the tragic downfalls of former child stars, and in her case it appears as if there was no one in her life who was looking out for her best interests. She was constantly harassed by the paparazzi and by the tabloids; to be fair she brought a lot of the bad headlines on herself, but at the same time this is a real chicken and egg situation. Did the harsh spotlight steer her towards bad behavior? It’s impossible to know.

Panettiere was an unusually poised child actress. The dirty secret about kid actors is that they are rarely actually acting; more often they are simply reciting lines while projecting out to the rafters. It’s unusual for them to genuinely act in the manner in which we understand the term. But take a look at Remember the Titans. She more than held her own with Denzel Washington, not easy for any actor no matter one’s age. She was then a centerpiece character on a pair of TV shows. The “save the cheerleader, save the world” tagline made her the de facto star of Heroes. That was a show which went off the rails in near record time, but you can’t blame that on her. After Heroes she was the co-lead on the nighttime soap Nashville. Panettiere died a few days shy of her 37th birthday.

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Childhood celebrity crush alert! Shelley Fabares died over the weekend. Her breakthrough came when she was cast as the daughter on The Donna Reed Show. At the time it was very common for young TV stars to also branch out into pop music, and Fabares was no exception. Her 1962 hit single Johnny Angel made it all the way to #1 on the charts; it has since become a song which is somewhat lost in time. That type of pop record doesn’t fit will into any current radio format, so it is rarely heard anymore, but I am still old enough to remember when it was an omnipresent song. She later co-starred in a handful of Elvis Presley movies.

All of this took place either before I was born or when I was an infant. I learned who Fabares was - and noticed how cute she was - when she was part of the 1970’s game show infrastructure. That was always a good way to keep TV show regulars from a few years earlier in the public eye. She eventually became a regular in the later seasons of One Day At a Time as Ann Romano’s workplace nemesis Francine. (You might also recall that Nanette Fabray portrayed Bonnie Franklin’s mother on the show. Fabray was Fabares’ aunt in real life.) Her most visible role arguably came when she was Craig T. Nelson’s girlfriend/eventual wife on Coach. Fabares was 82.

When I wrote about The Gong Show a few weeks ago, I singled out Jaye P. Morgan as one of the more frequently recurring judges on the show. Morgan recently passed away as well. In many ways she was a quintessential 1970’s celebrity. People my age easily recognized her as someone who was once famous, but not completely certain what it was that initially made her well known. Morgan was a popular singer in the 1950’s; history sometimes portrays the pop music scene of the time as one which suffered an upheaval during the emergence of rock & roll, which is not entirely accurate. There was still plenty of room for classic pop singers, and Morgan was one of them.

One of the reasons why she was so valuable on The Gong Show is that she had a good sense of how filthy she could speak on television without crossing a line. That is, until NBC fired her for flashing Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. Fans of The Odd Couple also fondly remember her episode in which she took a bouncy pop song that Felix Unger had written, Happy & Peppy & Bursting With Love, and turned it into a torch ballad. Morgan was 94.

TV Of The 21st Century - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

When bad titles happen to good shows. I’m pretty sure that a significant segment of this show’s potential audience looked at the title and took a pass. In addition, it ran in relative obscurity on the CW Network, so a lot of people didn’t even know of its existence. What they missed out on was a perceptive examination of mental illness hidden inside a frothy live action cartoon. It’s a minor miracle that a show with ratings this poor managed to last 4 seasons.

The absurdly talented Rachel Bloom starred in the show, co-created it with Aline Brosh McKenna, and co-wrote most of the songs with Adam Schlesinger. It was a show in which you either fully brought into it before the first commercial break or dismissed it just as quickly. Bloom starred as Rebecca Bunch, and the opening scenes flashed back to her teenage days in summer camp, specifically her first crush, Josh Chan (Vincent Rodríguez III.) Cut back to current day, where she is a hard working lawyer at a big New York firm on partnership track. One day she has a chance encounter with Josh, who tells her that he is about to move back to his home town of West Covina, California. Rebecca reads this as a sign from the universe that she must drop everything and follow Josh to the west coast.

That impulsiveness is only one of Rebecca’s many personality quirks. She is narcissistic and manipulative, often using other people as little more than means to her own ends. She quickly finds a circle of colleagues, friends, and frenemies. And then there was the defining characteristic of the show. Two or three times per episode Rebecca would break out into song, with skillfully choreographed production numbers. In time the other characters would find themselves as parts of the musical sequences as well. The late Adam Schlesinger of course was a musical wizard; the songs were catchy and smart. One good running joke was that they had written a song called Period Sex, which the network censors put the ixnay on. Several times Rebecca would start to sing the first few notes before stopping.

The show kept it intentionally vague as to whether the musical numbers were hallucinations or not, but it was evident that her head was not in a good place. In one episode, following a visit back home with her smothering mother (Tovah Feldshuh), she swallowed a bunch of sleeping pills on the plane ride back to California in a botched suicide attempt. She would eventually be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

The show was famous for its opening credit sequence, which would change every season. All 4 are helpfully compiled in the clip below. My favorites are the ones from seasons 2 & 4.

I described the show above as a live action cartoon. Yes, that’s partly due to the musical elements. The supporting characters all have some elements of caricature to them, and they were largely used to serve Rebecca. Still, the actors added nuance over time. Josh was a decent guy, but fairly stupid. Her other assorted romantic partners all had something of a “what have I gotten myself into?” air about them. The character who showed the most growth was Rebecca’s closest friend Paula, a paralegal at the California firm which Rebecca joined. She started off as your basic long suffering foil, but she grew increasingly assertive over the years and would eventually earn her own law degree.

Would this show have been better off if the title had not been so flippant? It’s hard to say. The CW schedule at the time mostly consisted of either teen soaps or shows from DC’s Arrowverse. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend never had a logical time slot companion. It didn’t even benefit all that much from the Netflix effect; Netflix streamed many CW programs which increased their audiences immensely, but not so with this show. In the end, it was too much of a niche show, but its cult was passionate. One unfortunate thing is that Rachel Bloom really deserves to be a massive star. She was that good.

Originally aired on: The CW

Currently streaming on: PlutoTV

Closing Laughs

OK universe, I’m not sure what point you are trying to make, but you are taking too many beloved celebrities away from us. Please take a pause. Thanks as always for stopping by, and we’ll fire up the ol’ machine once again on Monday. Have a great weekend everybody.

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In his monologue, host Steve Carell informed the audience that the privilege of hosting the season finale is reserved for only the very best. It was presented with false bravado, but he wasn’t all that far off. Much more often than not a season ender is hosted by either a returning alum or by a certified Friend Of SNL. Carell probably qualifies as the latter, which makes it a slight disappointment that this episode wasn’t as strong as it could have been.

For the second year in a row, no cast members left at season’s end, but there were 2 important departures from the writers’ room. After a long tenure as one of the head writers, this was Harper Steele’s final episode. Steele did not become all that well known outside of the show until recently, when the documentary she co-starred in with Will Ferrell, Will & Harper was released. Robert Smigel was much more visible to the general public. He had been on the staff on and off for about 20 years; more recently as the chief creative force behind the Saturday TV Funhouse animated shorts. This week would be his SNL swan song.

Because current events related sketches are so ingrained in the cold open, it’s always a welcome change of pace to see one which is not. Carell portrayed a high school principal handing out diplomas at the commencement. He starts off by mentioning that most of the student body are outsiders. One manifestation of their outsider status is that many of them have mockable names, and as he announces each name so that the students can receive their diplomas there are the obvious ones such as Eileen Dover and Craven Morehead before devolving into some delightfully creative and absurdly filthy monikers. One other note - I get a kick out of seeing then-unknowns act as extras. Because the students entered and left the stage so quickly I am not 100% certain, but I’m pretty sure that I saw both Abby Elliott and Colin Jost in this sketch.

In his monologue Carell stated that he was so nervous that he downed 6 Red Bulls before the show. They kicked in mid-monologue, and the adrenaline rush led him to metaphorically climb the walls all over the studio, eventually meeting up with his wife (and former SNL cast member) Nancy backstage. She calms him down and gets him to admit that he didn’t actually drink any Red Bulls, he was just using that as an excuse for his behavior.

Nancy Carell was one of 3 surprise cameos this week. Another came in the Digital Short. Ricky Gervais teased Carell about what he called the inferior American version of The Office before he revealed that he himself stole the premise from the original Japanese version of the show, which he showed clips of. It showed the Japanese take on the (American) characters whom we knew and loved. I chuckled at the shot of Kenan Thompson as Japanese Stanley working on his crossword puzzles during a staff meeting. The piece ended with Gervais saying “it’s funny because it’s racist.” I’ll leave it up to you to decide if he was accurate in that assessment.

John McCain appeared as himself twice. The first was in an appeal he was making to voters in which he spoke of the wasteful government spending which he was taking credit for putting an end to. He also had a desk piece on Update. At this point in the campaign he had long since clinched the Republican nomination, but Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were still fighting it out. Obama had essentially clinched, but Clinton was refusing to formally withdraw until Obama had won all of the needed delegates to make it official. McCain encouraged both to keep up the fight; as he put it a long, drawn out campaign could only strengthen both campaigns. Not that he had any ulterior motive in having them spend money and resources which could better be used for the general campaign.

The other desk piece on Update involved Al Sharpton (Thompson) and Jesse Jackson (Darrell Hammond) offering campaign advice to Obama based on their experiences from their own presidential runs. I will say it for the umpteenth time; Hammond had a strong Jackson impression, but it is an uncomfortable watch to see a white comic play that role.

There were a couple of mildly amusing sketches. One was a take on Deal Or No Deal. Carell played the contestant who while playing the game was constantly arguing with his father (Will Forte) who kept telling his son how much of a disappointment he was. Carell also played the host of a daytime talk show, whose hook was that he had recently lost more than 200 pounds. The shtick was that he continuously burst through wall posters of himself. Meh.

Much better was the CPR sketch. Carell was instructing a class, and he was demonstrating the technique on a former student of his (Andy Samberg.) He was being very gentle, and Samberg kept on encouraging him to show the students precisely how hard the chest compressions would need to be. You can probably guess where this is going. When Carell uses full force he completely crushes Samberg’s chest cavity; blood and viscera spout everywhere.

Steve Carell has thus far hosted SNL 3 times; I found his first and most recent stints much funnier than this one was. Next week we move on to season 34. Michael Phelps hosted the season premiere. It was also the debut appearance of one of SNL’s most notable political impersonations.

We Did Not Deserve Dolly

I think we were all bracing ourselves for the news - there have been too many health scares and cancelled appearances in recent months - but it still doesn’t make it any less gut wrenching. Dolly Parton has died. No hyperbole, she is one of the greatest individuals that our nation has ever produced. A brilliant singer/songwriter, and a committed philanthropist with the sunniest of all demeanors, the world would have been a much better place had there been more Dolly Partons in it. I can think of no better epitaph for her than this: she was one of the few celebrities who was universally beloved. No matter one’s generation, political persuasion, ethnicity, musical taste, etc., we can all agree that Dolly was awesome.

I’m a little embarrassed to say that it took me much too long to appreciate her. My earliest recollections of her came from creepy jokes that male comedians made about her physique. Combine that with the fact that I had zero interest in country music when I was young as well as the stereotypes which came with her intentionally over the top persona, and I easily dismissed her as someone lacking in substance.

There was no a-ha! moment for me. I gradually began to listen to more of her music, both vintage and newer. The stuff she created later in her career in which she explored her roots in more depth was particularly good. I also learned about what a badass she was behind her sugary facade. Her Elvis story has been often told. The short version is that Presley’s people reached out to her asking if he could cover I Will Always Love You, with one important stipulation - he wanted a partial songwriting credit. She turned that request down; she knew that Elvis would kill it but she would not relinquish any credit for a song which had so much personal meaning for her. In some of her tellings of the story, she punctuated it by saying something to the effect that Whitney Houston’s cover of the song made so much money that she could buy Graceland if she wanted to. Well played.

Just as important as her considerable talent was her heart and soul. She used her massive wealth for good; her Dolly Parton Imagination Library has provided more than 300 million free books for children for years. There is also an old Oprah Winfrey clip from the 1980’s. There had long been rumors that Parton was secretly gay; she was asked about it. She denied those rumors, but was not defensive about it and was unequivocal in her support and love for the gay community. Keep in mind, this was the 1980’s, an era in which being out of the closet was a near death sentence for a celebrity’s career. She wasn’t putting up with that nonsense; she refused to demonize gay people. Peruse social media and you will find a plethora of stories describing her good works, such as quietly funding marching bands in largely black high schools.

During that prolonged period in which I dismissed her, I thought that she presented herself as too good to be true. No one can be that humble. Shows how much I know; she actually was that good. She actually was that humble. Dolly Parton was 80; may her example shame all of the millionaires and billionaires out there who refuse to share their good fortunes with those less fortunate. Over the course of her career she gave away tens, if not hundreds of millions. Guess what, she was still tremendously wealthy. You can’t take it with you, and she didn’t. She truly was the best of us.

50 Years Ago - The Live Action Disney Movies

By 1976 Disney’s animation division had started to move into a prolonged down period, but the studio was cranking out live action comedies like it was an assembly line. A few of them are ingrained onto my brain, but in some cases I’m not quite sure if I actually saw the movies as opposed to having seen the TV ads on auto loop while I was watching cartoons. Here are a few of the highlights of the year. If nothing else, Disney sure kept Don Knotts and Dick Van Patten busy.

I know that I never saw No Deposit, No Return, although I remember the madcap antics shown on the ads quite well. Reading the plot summary, it sounds like it was bonkers. It involved two young children spending Easter weekend with their wealthy grandfather while their mother was spending the holiday in Hong Kong. They wind up intersecting with a pair of safe crackers, there is a phony kidnapping involved, and it ends with a valuable lesson for all. Actors do enjoy making the occasional kiddie movie; if for no other reason it is something they can watch with their own children. This one had a hell of a cast. In addition to Knotts: David Niven and Darren McGavin and Barbara Feldon and Vic Tayback and Kim Richards, to name a few.

Years before the release of Air Bud, Gus pioneered the notion of an animal participating in a sporting event. In this case it was a field goal kicking mule. The owner of the worst team in the league had gambling debts; the bookies to whom he owed money will seize control of the team unless they win the Super Bowl. Enter Gus and his powerful hind leg. Now, a Disney movie is not the place you are necessarily going to turn to for gritty realism. For example, one of the tough guy bookies was played by Dick Van Patten. That only scratches the surface of an amazing cast. Ed Asner was the team owner; Don Knotts the head coach. Tim Conway was in this movie. So was Tom Bosley. And Bob Crane. Football legitimacy was provided by Johnny Unitas and Dick Butkus. Laughs were had by all.

More animals, and yet another amazing cast. The Shaggy D.A. was a sequel to 1959’s The Shaggy Dog. Dean Jones stars as a lawyer running for office against the local corrupt district attorney, who, due to a cursed ring, switches bodies with an English sheepdog. Disney must have had a BOGO deal going on, as several actors who were also in Gus appeared in this one as well: Conway, Van Patten, and Tayback. All this and Suzanne Pleshette, Jo Ann Worley, and Keenan Wynn too. Does the plot even matter? All that counts is the inherent hilarity of a giant dog in a suit appearing in a courtroom. If only the actual legal system ran like this.

Sticking with the body switching motif, and sticking with the Dick Van Patten filmography, Freaky Friday was the 1976 Disney movie which has left the largest footprint. The basic framework is familiar to fans of the Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan remake; a mother and her teenage daughter have a contentious relationship. They simultaneously wish they could switch places with the other; a wish which is magically granted.

In this version the mother and daughter were portrayed by Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. As expected, the wacky dial gets turned up to 11, most notably in the water skiing sequence which takes place during the movie’s climax. And just like all of the other movies discussed here, the cast is filled with recognizable faces of all stripes. John Astin is the husband/father. Sorrell “Boss Hogg” Booke is here. So are Kaye Ballard and Ruth Buzzi. And a young Charlene Tilton. Is that Al Molinaro I see? Why yes, it is.

I clearly remember seeing Freaky Friday in the theatre. There is a good reason why this specific movie gets remade and revisited so frequently; beyond the supernatural elements it is a very relatable concept. Who among us cannot wonder what it must be like to live in the shoes of another person? To borrow from a completely different Disney product, it’s a tale as old as time.

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Closing Laughs

That will be enough for today. Thanks as always for reading, much appreciated. Have a great day everyone. We’ll do this all again on Friday.

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The next set of Apollo missions which followed the Apollo 1 tragedy were unmanned tests. It was not until Apollo 7 that manned crews were sent back into space. This mission launched in October 1968; time was starting to get tight. Multiple times throughout the course of this episode one character or another said something to the effect of “if this mission fails, we will not achieve the goal of making it to the moon by the end of the decade.” I don’t need to throw out a spoiler alert when I say that Americans did in fact land on the moon in 1969; therefore this mission was a complete success. Despite that knowledge, this was still an episode filled with tension. BTW, I can’t find any episode clips on YouTube so I have nothing to share this week.

The storytelling device this week was that it followed an unnamed fictional documentarian (Peter Horton) as he filmed those involved in mission preparation. The commander of Apollo 7 was Mercury veteran Wally Schirra (Mark Harmon) with his crew filled out by Walt Cunningham (Frederic Lane) and Donn Eisele (John Mese.) In addition to Horton and Schirra the third lead character was pad leader Guenter Wendt (Max Wright.) Oh, and there are also some very cool sports cars the astronauts are shown driving, just in case we had forgotten how badass they are.

The documentary format allowed the episode to present a tiny sampling of the thousands of people who contributed to the success or failure of a mission. People such as a long time NASA nurse (Ann Magnuson.) And a chief supervisor at a weather station. And a computer tech (Joshua Malina) loading a large stack of punch cards into the machine. And most importantly, Wendt.

Wendt was a part of the NASA team going back to the Mercury days. John Glenn had semi-affectionately dubbed him the The Fuhrer Of The Launch Pad due to his demanding demeanor. A German immigrant, Wendt was a generation younger than Werner von Braun and his peers, so best as I can gather he was not part of Operation Paper Clip. He was simply a scientist who emigrated to the United States who just happened to have come from Germany. Now, for fear of getting into ethnic stereotypes - I am of German descent myself, so I know of what I speak - Germans are famously fastidious and meticulous. There are thousands of components in a space craft, each one of which needs to work perfectly. Wendt was exactly the sort of perfectionist whom you would want to supervise the project. He crossed every “t” and dotted every “i” over and over and over. Wendt is portrayed as having a kind heart behind a rough facade, and even though he and the crews would often clash, there was a clear sense of respect going both ways.

He and Schirra made for an ideal combo on this mission. Schirra was just as demanding as Wendt, even more so in light of what happened on Apollo 1. The spectre of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee hovered over this mission, and this crew was the back-up crew for Apollo 1 to boot. In one of the interviews for the doc, he was asked about the ever-present danger. Schirra brought up the point that as test pilots these men go into every mission fully aware that it could easily end in catastrophe. When the worst happens, they mourn and they honor the fallen, but as he says, “you can’t wear the black arm band forever.” They move on, because that is what they do.

This episode was less interested in the specifics of the mission; it barely touched on the mission goals. Apollo 7 did not travel deep into space, but it did remain out there for the full 11 days of a moon mission, just to confirm that humans are able to survive in zero gravity for that long. The crew also tested the modules. The portion of the mission which the episode was most concerned with was reflected in the episode title. Can the rocket actually launch? Seems simple enough, except for a few new details.

NASA had been successfully launching space crafts for years, but now the game was being upped. A moon mission requires a three man crew, plus enough food and water to sustain them for 11 days and enough fuel to get them there and back. That adds a lot of weight; there was no guarantee that the craft could safely clear the tower until they actually do it. In addition, Schirra’s main concern in the days leading up to the launch was the wind. If gusts are strong enough to blow the rocket off course, it would crash land on the ground, and that would be catastrophic on multiple levels.

So naturally, launch day was a windy one. Schirra, the weather station, and Mission Control were all carefully monitoring the wind gauges. Wind velocity was dangerously close to the level which would cause a postponement. As the countdown began, Schirra radioed back to say that he was feeling uncomfortable; the camera showed him with a tight grip on the “abort” control. During the communications, Deke Slayton (Nick Searcy) chimed in. He assured Schirra that the meteorologists deem the conditions for launch acceptable, but he will leave it up to Schirra to make the final decision. That is enough to reassure Schirra. His old Mercury colleague will not permit the launch it’s too dangerous. All systems go, the mission launches on schedule, and the episode ends with a transmission of “we have cleared the tower.” We just might make that end of decade deadline after all.

Next week: a traumatic year for the United States ends with a significant milestone on the race to the moon.

Looking At Some Numbers

With each week this project becomes more of a challenge. In this set there are more numbers which need to be skipped because no player has ever worn it in a regular season, the numbers which are here contain very limited options. Here are more of the greatest Mets to wear each uniform number.

77 - Oof, this is really getting tough. I’d love to give it to D.J. Carrasco, simply because he sported old school stirrups, but he pitched too poorly to be seriously considered. The only real options are a couple of players who briefly wore 77 when they were first promoted to the majors, only to switch to different numbers once they became more established. This one will go to David Peterson over Tomás Nido.

81 - Only 2 Mets have worn #81. My choices are either a player with fewer than 25 at bats, or a pitcher who spent 2 seasons with the team and finished with a negative WAR. I’ll take the limited quantity over the limited quality. It is Johneshwy Vargas. You’ve earned some serious Mets Fan Points if you remember him.

82 - Once again, only 2 options here, both of recent vintage. Jack Weisenburger is one of the relief pitchers the Mets promoted following this season’s trade deadline purge, and he has pitched reasonably well in limited time, but I want to see a little more from him before bestowing such a prestigious honor. Instead I will go with Brandon Waddell from last season.

83 - Colin Poche’s Mets career lasted for 2/3 of an inning, with an ERA of 27.00. But he is the only Met to have worn this number, so that’s good enough to place him on the same honor roll with Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza. Congratulations!

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RIP

William Orbit was one of the most acclaimed producers in electronic and techno dance music, going all the way back to the late 1980’s. He worked with a wide range of artists, such as Blur and Beth Orton. Blur’s album 13 was a particular favorite of mine. He even did some work with legacy artists such as Queen and U2. His most fruitful collaborations came with Madonna. He was behind the board for her landmark Ray Of Light album, along with occasional later singles such as Beautiful Stranger. It was with Madonna where he won his 3 Grammy Awards. He also released music under his own name and was a popular club DJ as well. Orbit was 69.

Bill Rasmussen was one of the most visionary executives in television history. It was he who came up with the then outrageous notion of a cable channel devoted to sports 24/7. As the founder of ESPN he changed television like few before or since ever have, and it was he who established Bristol, Connecticut as sports TV central. He would sell the majority of his shares of the company before the network signed on for the first time, so he missed out on the significant money that he could have earned. In addition he was estranged from the network he founded until he reestablished ties during the network’s 20th anniversary celebration. There is impact, and there is IMPACT. Rasmussen made an IMPACT. He died at 93 of complications from Parkinson’s disease.

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50 Years Ago - Frampton Comes Alive

As I have mentioned more than once, the mid 1970’s were a golden age for the double live album. In some cases these albums pushed artists who had more of a cult following firmly into more mainstream prominence. One can make the case that there was no bigger example of a starmaking live release than that of Frampton Comes Alive! Mike Myers made similar jokes about a handful of albums from this era, and it certainly applied to this one. The joke was that people did not purchase this record, they were issued it. They would find a copy of it in their mailbox along with free samples of laundry detergent.

As of 1976, Peter Frampton’s career wasn’t exactly that of a journeyman but he wasn’t far off from that; the more accurate description was that he had been making a slow steady rise. Originally a teenage prodigy as the leader of the British band The Herd, he would join Humble Pie while still in his teens, building a name for himself before leaving to pursue a solo career. His profile gradually increased, with his “Frampton” album from 1975 earning gold status. More importantly, he toured his ass off.

Several factors contributed to his rising stardom. He found his voice as a songwriter, producing a string of catchy, easily accessible rock tunes. He was a splendid guitar player, helping to popularize the talk-box guitar effect. It did not hurt either that with his long blonde curls he had the perfect look for the time. He built a loyal following and put together a strong stage show.

There were a total of 4 separate shows recorded for the live album, the bulk of which came from a concert held at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. The set starts off strongly with Something’s Happening, and what follows are several catchy songs which had earlier started to gain foothold on album rock radio. These versions basically took precedence; it’s a near certainty that anytime you hear Frampton’s music these days on classic rock radio it is the versions from this album and not the original studio recordings.

The centerpiece of the album - in addition to a solid cover version of Jumpin’ Jack Flash - is his trio of radio classics. Show Me the Way is almost certainly his best known song, and IMHO his best overall song as well. The often covered Baby I Love Your Way is another highlight. And the original release ends with his epic (14 minutes long) Do You Feel Like We Do.

Before too long, Peter Frampton would become a superstar. Frampton Comes Alive! was the top selling album of 1976, selling 8 million copies to date. Was it a Pyrrhic victory? His pop leaning songs and matinee idol looks resulted in his image overwhelming his substance; few of his new fans were fully aware of his significant skills as a guitarist. His sales would gradually diminish with each subsequent release, and his co-starring role in the debacle that was the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie would prove to be the nail in his coffin as a mainstream star. That was not the end of the Peter Frampton story, however.

He accumulated a great deal of goodwill among his peers, so he was a much in demand session player. In addition, he never lost his talent as a live artist and his ability to command a stage. He would play smaller venues, but he would never disappoint. The guy can both pick and shred. Even though he has been suffering from myositis for years, a muscle disorder which among other symptoms has affected his physical dexterity, he has continued to perform whenever he is able to. Frampton’s stardom only lasted a few years, but his legacy continues to last. And we will always have that talk-box guitar.

Closing Laughs

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by, and we will talk again on Wednesday. Enjoy your day!

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This week’s selection is a change of pace for Joan Jett. She is one of the avatars for standard guitar rock - a hard driving 4/4 beat with heavy riffs and loudly chanted choruses. It’s a simple formula which she mastered while still a teenager. This song is not only vastly different musically, but thematically as well. Played at a slower tempo than her norm Jett also gets uncharacteristically introspective here.

I Got No Answers was the closing track on her 4th album (and 3rd which was co-credited to The Blackhearts) Glorious Results Of a Misspent Youth. It is one of her more obscure releases; the collection is best known now for its leadoff track, her cover of the Runaways classic Cherry Bomb; at this point people are likely to be more familiar with Jett’s version than they are with the Runaways original. I personally find this album to be a hidden gem; it contains some of her strongest work. Such as this song.

It is structured as a series of questions from young children as to why bad things and bad feelings exist. Why do people get mad? Why are people so sad? Why is the sky so gray? Jett does not respond by saying “it is what it is,” but she does basically say that she doesn’t know. In the bridge she states that she buries whatever poor feelings she herself has as a coping mechanism.

This was the moment when Joan Jett’s commercial success started to wane. She would have a brief resurgence a couple of years later, but she has spent most of the last several decades as a legacy artist, and as a highly influential one. There have been generations of female rockers who worship her as a primary inspiration. She recently had to cancel tour dates as she is recovering from a fractured vertebra. Send good thoughts her way.

International Sports Review/Preview

There is no world championship in swimming being held this year; the biggest competitions this year were a pair of regional meets which took place simultaneously: the European Championships and the Pan-Pacific Championships. I don’t pay attention as closely to events in which the entire world does not compete, but there were some noteworthy results worth mentioning. It’s too early to say how much of a bearing this will have in the 2028 Olympics, 2 years can be an eternity in elite level sports.

Time is a flat circle, Team USA and Team Australia continue to be the 2 main forces in the pool. The Americans had something of a disappointing 2025, but they appear to be rebounding, particularly on the women’s side. Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, and Katharine Berkoff all won multiple golds at the Pan-Pacifics. Even though she only won 1 gold here, Canadian Summer McIntosh is still the swimmer to watch in LA 2028. There are any number of races in which she figures to be the favorite; it will only be a matter of looking at the program and figuring out the best way to optimize her individual schedule. The biggest star at this meet might have been Australian Lani Pallister; she won 3 individual races, including a defeat of Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle. That was the first time Ledecky has lost a face at that distance in 14 years. It is not as if Ledecky is slowing down either; her time was very strong, it’s more that the rest of the world has finally caught up to her.

Staying in the water, 2 world championship events take place next week. The Canoe Sprint World Championships will be held in Poland. Canoe/kayak events tend to be dominated by paddlers from Central and Eastern Europe, nations with a large number of lakes. Meanwhile, the World Rowing Championships will begin in the Netherlands. American success in rowing has been sporadic. Crew is a popular college sport, but mostly for 8 person boats. There is not much of a history over here for singles, doubles, or quad boats. The United States did win this year’s World Cup, so perhaps they have a deeper team than normal this year. Neither of these 2 events are streaming in the US; in years past some, but not all, of the races can be found on YouTube.

Turning stateside, the Lakers sale continues to be a clusterf***; indications are that Mark Walter’s assorted holdings are a Jenga tower on the verge of collapse. He has been playing a game of robbing Peter to pay Paul on steroids. Meanwhile, it’s still a developing story, but the inner workings of the Buss family fascinate me. As part of the original agreement when the Buss family sold their majority stake to Walter, Jeanie Buss was to remain as the team’s governor for 5 years, an agreement which supposedly held even after last week’s sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. But now, her 5 brothers are selling off their shares, which would leave the Buss family with a percentage of the team below the threshold for which NBA league rules would allow Jeanie to remain as governor. I swear, if this ends with Tom Wambsgans in control of the Lakers…

The inaugural IndyCar race on the streets of Washington D.C. will run on Sunday. It is ostensibly scheduled as part of the America 250 festivities, but we all know this is largely because loud cars going fast will excite the Toddler-In-Chief. In a vacuum this should be an exciting event, but I am terribly concerned that this could be the reflecting pool renovation fiasco all over again. Has this been planned properly? Normally IndyCar pays close attention to logistics; did the administration pressure them into fast tracking everything? We’ll find out soon. The thought of cars racing around DC at 180-190 mph fills me with trepidation.

RIP

Time to catch up on some mini-tributes to recently passed celebrities that have been building up in the queue. Some of these have been fairly prominent, others more under the radar.

People always loved to make jokes about the fact that 2 of the 3 members of ZZ Top grew long beards; the one who did not was drummer Frank Beard. He was apparently not a believer in nominative determinism. Beard passed away this week after entering hospice care. The self-described Little Ol’ Band From Texas had their own distinctive mix of blues and boogie which made them one of the most popular touring bands of the 1970’s. That was a mere appetizer for their second act.

The MTV era pushed a large number of established rock bands out of the way, yet ZZ Top, who on the surface did not appear to be a video friendly act, discovered the perfect formula. Fill their videos with pretty girls and cool cars, add their signature look of long beards and dark sunglasses, mix in fuzzy guitars, and presto! They were one of the hugest bands of the mid 1980’s. The addition of synthesizers drew them away from their musical roots, but Beard helped keep them grounded. He still found room to add some flair - think of those beats in the chorus of Sharp Dressed Man, or the way that his fills drive Gimme All Your Lovin’ forward. The classic ZZ Top lineup remained together for more than 50 years until bassist Dusty Hill’s death in 2021. Frank Beard was 77. That Little Ol’ Band From Texas did good.

Dave Marsh was one of the most well-known music critics. Starting off as one of the founding editors of Creem magazine, he also spent many years as a writer for Rolling Stone and edited his own newsletter, Rock and Roll Confidential. He was an early champion of Bruce Springsteen, authoring what would be the definitive early biography of The Boss, Born To Run, in 1979. Marsh edited 2 of the most popular “bathroom” books about rock music, The Rolling Stone Album Guide and The Book Of Rock Lists. I am not using the term bathroom reading as an insult, both of those books were chock full of interesting info ideally suited for a reader to ingest a few minutes at a time.

Famously opinionated even by music critic standards, only Marsh could have the hubris to write The Heart Of Rock and Soul. This book was his personal ranking of the 1001 greatest singles ever recorded at the time of its publication in 1989. It was a great read, even though every few pages one couldn’t help but scream either “too high!” or “too low!” at each placement. Marsh wrote the book with a clear agenda, which was precisely what made it so valuable. Titling the book “rock and soul” was no accident. He wanted to steer the conversation away from the standard classic rock canon. He included R&B, country, early hip-hop, etc. in the book. More crucially, he included a significant number of singles from female artists; contrast that with Jann Wenner’s infamous book of vintage interviews from a few years ago in which he could not find room for a single woman. Dave Marsh was 76.

Ben Jones had multiple careers during his life. As a young man he was a civil rights activist in his native North Carolina, before he eventually got into acting. The role for which he became famous was Cooter on The Dukes Of Hazzard. He would soon move over to politics, serving 2 terms as a Democratic congressman in Georgia. I guess after Fred “Gopher” Grandy retired from Congress there was a niche which needed to be filled for TV actors whose characters had colorful nicknames. He would lose his seat after redistricting found him facing Newt Gingrich in his bid for a third term. In his later years he unfortunately spent a lot of his time defending the use of the Confederate flag, a sad betrayal of his earlier activist roots. Jones was 84.

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The Worst Sports Movie Ever Made

I had promised that I was going to conclude the feature spotlighting my personal sports movie pantheon with a takedown of what I believe to be the worst sports movie, but I was almost tempted to skip it. That’s because on Joe Posnanski’s Substack he has been counting down the 75 best baseball movies, a list which had been voted on by some of his famous friends and colleagues. He was slightly horrified at how high a certain movie finished, which inspired him to repost a column he had written about the film a few years earlier. What can I do now? If I write about the same flick, it puts me in an awkward position. Not only is Joe a much better writer than I am, but critiquing the same exact movie would also feel like I’m copying off of his work. Rest assured, I long ago fully intended to award the booby prize to, drumroll please, Trouble With the Curve.

Part of what makes this film so dreadful - beyond the fact that it gets so many basic things about baseball very wrong - is that it has a strong pedigree. With the assembled talent it should have been so much better. It starred Clint Eastwood, in what was his first acting role since Gran Torino 4 years earlier. At the time he indicated that while he would continue to direct, Gran Torino would be his swan song as an actor. In addition, he did not direct Trouble With the Curve. If you ignore his cameo in Casper, you would have to go all the way back to In the Line Of Fire to find a movie in which he did not direct himself. There must have been something very special about this one to lure him back.

This was basically the anti-Moneyball. It gave Eastwood the chance to rail against what he felt were the pointy headed nerds ruining sports. Eastwood portrayed a long time scout for the Atlanta Braves, who had the #2 pick in the upcoming amateur draft. Matthew Lillard played a stats minded front office exec, confident in the belief that scouts are no longer essential; he can learn everything he needs to know about a player by looking at his statistics. As proof, he punches up the numbers of a high school slugger from North Carolina whom he has his eye on and mentions how high his batting average is. Stop right there! Batting average is the last thing a guy like that would take a look at.

Amy Adams played Eastwood’s daughter, a workaholic associate lawyer in a high end firm who is called in to act as an emergency babysitter for her dad. It seems his eyesight is failing, and is reacting angrily to the aging process. The third lead is Justin Timberlake as a former top pitching prospect whose career ended prematurely due to an injury. He is now scouting for the Boston Red Sox, who have the #1 pick in the draft. He too is looking at that kid from North Carolina. Two problems with that prospect. One, he is an a-hole. He taunts a young man who sells peanuts at the ball field, calling him Peanut Boy. Two, he does not look like an athlete at all, he still has so much baby fat.

Without wandering too deeply into the tall weeds of the plot, Eastwood recommends that the Braves do not draft the player. He is confident that his trouble hitting the curveball will prove to be insurmountable. Lillard overrules him, and the team selects the player. While getting ready to head back home, Adams notices Peanut Boy throwing on the side. Intrigued, she straps on catching equipment and squats beyond the plate to catch a few pitches. The kid has got a hell of a curve.

In the meantime the Braves are holding a photo op for their new first round pick and he blasts a series of long homers. Before the press gathering breaks up, Adams convinces the team to let Peanut Boy throw a few pitches to the kid. He wows all of the observers with a few fastballs, and then it is time to snap a curveball. The pitch freezes him, which shocks everyone and results in the Braves firing Lillard. Of course they did, you learn everything you need to know about a player from what he does in an informal press gaggle. It’s not as if the organization has a minor league coaching staff which can perhaps teach him how to hit a curveball.

I only worked in the sports industry very briefly, so it’s not as if I have to same sort of insider knowledge that makes actual doctors or lawyers shake their heads in disgust at some of the unrealistic plot developments in medical or legal dramas. But I know enough to know that the absurd details found in Trouble With the Curve ruin the whole thing. Bad movies are one thing. Bad movies that make me angry and make me dislike everyone involved in the project are a whole other thing. Of course, there are many sports movies that are actually worse than this one. I can’t judge this by the same standards I would use for movies made for children, or older movies that care so little about realism that William Bendix could be cast as Babe Ruth. Trouble With the Curve had higher ambitions; it was intended to be a good movie. It failed spectacularly.

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Closing Laughs

Time to let the whistle blow and close the books on this week. Hope you all had a good one and that you are set for a wonderful weekend. Summer weekends are starting to dwindle down to a precious few. What better way to celebrate the end of a season than to upgrade your subscription to paid, or to throw a few bucks into the tip jar? See you all again in Monday.

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The midseason episode of season 33 was the second one which aired following the resolution of that year’s WGA strike. As I mentioned last week, Maya Rudolph left the show during that lengthy hiatus, and although there was no replacing her, a new cast member joined SNL as a featured player. This began an odd era for the show; over the next few years there would be a parade of talented comediennes - most of whom have had strong post-SNL careers - who were unable to make much of an impression here and only lasted one or two seasons. Nasim Pedrad was a rare exception; much more common were the likes of Jenny Slate or Michaela Watkins.

Casey Wilson was the first of those. Probably best known as part of the ensemble cast on Happy Endings, she has been a great comedy utility player on an assortment of projects. Perhaps in an alternate timeline she could have had Kathryn Hahn’s career. As for SNL, I remember her time well but I would be hard pressed to name a great sketch in which she was prominently featured, or even a major recurring character that she had created.

Elliot Page had the hosting duties this week; this was when he was still known as Ellen and it aired in the wake of his Oscar nominated starring role in Juno. The Juno reference was taken care of in the monologue, in which Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody (Andy Samberg) interrupted to admonish Page for not sticking to the jokes which Cody had written, jokes filled with Cody’s signature slang and pop culture references. Hollywood struggled with how best to use Page. Pre-transition, Page was one of one. Petite and boyish, he wasn’t like most young actresses of the time. SNL gave Page ample opportunity to break out of that box, he showed a deft comic touch.

But first, the cold open. This episode aired in March 2008, or during the presidential primary season. By this point, John McCain had already essentially wrapped up the GOP nod, but the Democratic race was hotly contested between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. This created an issue, what to do about Obama with the current cast? Kenan Thompson looks nothing like Obama, and besides, Kenan’s natural tendency to play things big would not have worked for an Obama impression. Lorne Michaels held auditions for an Obama - and one can’t help but wonder what sort of butterfly effect would have occurred had he hired Jordan Peele - but Lorne ultimately decided to keep it in house and have Fred Armisen portray Obama.

Neither Armisen nor the writers ever really figured out how to best handle Obama. His impression felt lethargic, and the sketches mostly concerned other people’s reactions to Obama. Such as in this cold open, which was a Democratic debate moderated by Brian Williams (Darrell Hammond) and Tim Russert (Will Forte). The premise was that they were much easier on Obama than they were on Clinton (Amy Poehler.) It even included a cameo from Vincent D’Onofrio as his Law & Order: Criminal Intent character Ed Goren to further interrogate Clinton.

It did not end with the traditional “live from New York!” Instead, what followed was an editorial response to the sketch from the actual Hillary Clinton. She appeared together with Poehler, and it included the famous moment in which Poehler aped Clinton’s famous laugh, after which HRC asked if that is how she actually laughs.

On occasion rewatching these old episodes reminds me of old recurring bits which I had forgotten about, such as The Dakota Fanning Show. It was a talk show hosted by Poehler as the then pre-teen actress, who was portrayed in these sketches as being unnaturally mature for someone her age. She would discuss serious topics completely over the heads of her target audience, and in man on the street interviews with fellow tweeners she would ask for their opinions on figures such as Leo Tolstoy or Phillip Glass. Page portrayed this week’s guest: Miley Cyrus. As the 2 discuss Cyrus’ music career, Fanning mentions her own album, consisting of such material as spoken word and covers of Tom Waits b-sides.

There were 2 desk pieces on Update, the first coming from Rudy Giuliani as himself. He came on to discuss his own failure in the presidential campaign. He assigned all the blame to the fact that he appeared in a dress in a sketch when he had hosted a few years earlier. Seth Meyers asked him if he thought that ignoring the early primary states and placing all of his eggs in the Florida basket was a tactical error. Giuliani said nope, it was all about the dress.

The other was a recurring character whom I liked a lot, Armisen’s political comic Nicolas Fehn. The premise was that he would scan the headlines and offer his own funny takes on the day’s news. Those takes never expanded much beyond him either saying “no way!” or aimlessly yammering on with no sense of direction. He looked the part of an “edgy” comic as well, sporting an army fatigue jacket.

There were a few other bits which were mildly amusing, if unspectacular. Page played Anne Boleyn in an Other Boleyn Girl sketch, which introduced a number of increasingly unattractive obscure Boleyn sisters. Page also portrayed Peter Pan in a sketch in which Captain Hook (Bill Hader) yelled at his crew for not simply killing Pan and the Lost Boys; they were instead distracted by all of the singing and dancing. The final sketch was an interesting one; in that Page’s character was describing to her boyfriend (Samberg) a Melissa Etheridge concert she had just attended. It was clear that it had stirred up certain feelings in her. It was sweet, the boyfriend offered to “turn gay” in solidarity so that they can remain a couple.

It’s fair to wonder how differently Page’s career would have gone if he had been used as well as SNL used him. Page was a good sport, and he handled all of the material with great skill. Next week it’s time for the finale of the abbreviated season 33. Steve Carell was the host.

TJ

About a week after he publicly released a farewell letter to fans, Tommy John did in fact pass away. He was, quite simply, one of the most impactful baseball players in history. He became the first man to undergo the experimental elbow surgery which would eventually become known as Tommy John surgery, a procedure which has saved the careers of countless pitchers in the years since. One can only imagine how differently history would have gone had he not diligently gone through what must have been a tedious rehab process, or if he had not returned to pitch as well as he had before his injury. He proved that it is possible to come back from a UCL tear, it just takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work.

His Hall Of Fame case has been litigated time and time again. Here is where I am about to contradict myself. As much of an obsession as I often show towards the Hall, and as much as I love debating a player’s qualifications, at the same time I am often uncomfortable with the binary decision that Hall debates create. I don’t believe I am insulting John when I say that as fine a pitcher as he was, he did not reach the level of elite greatness often enough to merit a plaque. Now, if there were such a thing as a contributor category, absolutely. Induct Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe together. They literally changed the game; the number of pitchers who have undergone Tommy John surgery is staggering.

Rather than go through his career with a fine tooth comb, as many have already done, I would rather share two anecdotes instead. In Game 6 of the 1981 World Series, John’s Yankees trailed the Dodgers 3 games to 2. John got the start in Game 6, and it was tied at 1 in the 4th inning. Manager Bob Lemon pinch hit for John in hopes of getting the offense going. Dugout cameras caught John’s look of disbelief as he was informed of the move, as well as John shaking his head in disgust as he walked through the dugout. The Dodgers teed off on the Yankees bullpen, winning the game and the World Series.

Flash forward a couple of years later, and John is a guest on Late Night With David Letterman. It was a fairly straightforward interview, until a middle aged man in a baseball uniform stepped on stage and whispered something in John’s ear. John was being pulled for a reliever; he replicated that same look of dismay as he left the stage. Bill Lee then stepped in to complete the interview. Outstanding. Sadly, I can’t find a clip of that moment on YouTube so I have no physical proof that it actually happened and was not just a late night hallucination.

That showed he had a sense of humor. The other story showed that he was a good guy. Several years ago Vice published a story about Lisa Saxon, who while covering the California Angels in the 1980’s was one of the first female beat reporters. Needless to say, she had to put up with a lot of undeserved crap from players and managers. One player in particular tormented her. I won’t mention his name here, the story is linked above if you care. Saxon did specifically single out Tommy John as one of the players who consistently treated her with decency and respect. Good for him. Tommy John was 83.

Another Iconic Company… Gone

This is one that I did not see coming. Columbia House is closing shop after more than 70 years in business. It shocks me because I had no idea that Columbia House still existed. This is no snark, either. I was a long time customer, all the way up to when it was absorbed into its chief competitor, the BMG Music Club. I was under the assumption that Columbia House went out of business at that point. Who knew that it still had a mail order DVD business in operation?

Those of us of a certain age remember Columbia House quite well. You couldn’t find a magazine without its “_ records for a penny” ads; TV commercials for the service were equally inescapable. It developed a reputation as a bit of a scam. They hook you with the initial offer, but subsequent purchases were full price with shipping and handling, so costs would add up. In addition, if you would forget to mail back the card stating that you don’t wish to receive the selection of the month, they would send it to you - and charge you for it - whether you wanted it or not.

For all of the jokes, it did provide a valuable service at first. When Columbia House was founded in 1955, it was not easy for rural music fans to be able to easily purchase new music. The direct mail service was heavily promoted to these markets, eventually becoming the more ubiquitous service that most of us remember. And yes, it was pricy, unless you were a lunatic like me. If you would make enough purchases you would earn sufficient reward points to earn free CDs. It would pay off if you were building a sizable record collection. For a more casual music fan, not so much.

I have become immune to seeing major companies from my younger days fade away into irrelevance. This one feels different. Huge chunks of my record collection came via Columbia House or BMG; I was still a frequent customer as recently as 15 years ago. As I said, I had no idea that it even still existed, but now I find myself mourning its loss.

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TV Of the 21st Century - The Wire

Perhaps you have heard of this show. Ran for 5 seasons on HBO, a lot of people seemed to like it? Ring a bell? There is a caricature about the intense Wire fan. A guy who seizes any opportunity to proselytize over how this was the greatest TV show ever made. Umm, guilty as charged. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the #1 show of all time; that is an impossible choice to make. What I am comfortable in saying is this. I am not often prone to hyperbole, but I sincerely believe that season 4 of The Wire is the single greatest season of television ever made.

It is difficult to talk much about this show without either getting too heavy into spoilers or without making it sound like a homework assignment. As to the latter point, it was a deeply detailed series which took a while to make clear what creator and show runner David Simon’s intent was. It was a sociological portrayal of a broken city, Baltimore in this case. Over the course of the show’s 5 seasons, Simon examined why this particular city was the way it was. The short answer is that the systems which were designed to protect society have failed, more concerned with internal politics than in making a real difference. In each season he examined a separate institution in hopes of getting to the bottom of things.

That was exemplified by the main plot in season 1. Dominic West starred as homicide detective Jimmy McNulty. He was your classic loose cannon - a womanizer and a heavy drinker who did not respond well to authority and therefore constantly aggravated his superiors in the police department. McNulty was frustrated that no real progress was being made in the drug war. Arresting lower level dealers and addicts was nothing more than turnstile justice. You have to combat the source, and that was drug kingpin Avon Barksdale.

There were 2 problems. One, Barksdale (Wood Harris) was as much myth as man. The Baltimore PD did not even have a current photo of him. Two, it takes a lot of time and manpower to put together a case against someone as high up the ladder as Barksdale was. Much easier to keep arrest numbers high by arresting the pawns. There was a great scene in season 1 in which Barksdale’s nephew D’Angelo (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) was teaching the rules of chess to a trio of young dealers, who included a baby faced Michael B. Jordan. Metaphor alert - they are mere pawns in the game, and “the king stay the king.” Still, to get McNulty out of their hair as much as anything else he is assigned to a task force meant to investigate the Barksdale organization, and much like Slow Horses the detectives assigned to that task force were an island of misfit toys.

You have probably noticed by now that one thing I love about shows with large ensemble casts is if that cast is so deep and rich that it is nearly impossible to list one’s favorite characters. I once tried to list my 5 favorites; I had such difficulty narrowing it down to 15 that I realized it was an exercise in futility. The cast of this show was heavily populated with actors of color, and it gave them a chance to tackle much meatier roles than they were usually afforded, and across the board they were all magnificent. Many of them were either already in either the Extended David Simon Universe, the Extended HBO Universe, or both. The actors came from such projects as Homicide: Life On the Streets, The Corner, and Oz.

The general consensus was that the best character on the show was Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) a heavily feared stick-up man who only robbed drug dealers. I would reluctantly place him at #2. My personal fave was Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) a veteran detective who years earlier had been put into pasture because he pissed off the wrong people. He would quickly prove that he was one of the best detectives on the force.

I could simply spend the rest of this post listing more of my favorite characters, but I will try to whittle it down to just a few. Such as homicide detective Bunk (Wendell Pierce.) Or Bubbles (Andre Royo) the addict whom we were heavily rooting for to get and stay clean. Or Kima (Sonja Sohn) the rising detective who had to put up with both misogyny and homophobia. And of course there was Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) Avon’s second in command who was running the organization like a business. I could easily rattle off a dozen more names. I won’t.

David Simon was not as much of a contrarian as David Chase was, but he also never went out of his way to give the audiences what they were expecting. Everything served the story; popular characters would be killed or sent to prison. If a character was no longer crucial to the story, he would be written out no matter how much affection everyone may have had for the actor/character. Case in point, that season 4 which I referenced above? The show’s ostensible main character, McNulty, barely appeared in that season, as he was not central to the main storyline.

I did notice that in the final season such absent characters started to cameo in an episode. It quickly dawned on me that Simon was giving each actor a chance to take a virtual curtain call. I started keeping mental track of who we haven’t seen yet. “When are we gonna get to _____?” And to Simon’s credit, those cameos rarely felt forced. The natural flow of the story would lead to character A having a chance encounter with character B.

The Wire wasn’t fully appreciated in its time; it infamously only received 2 Emmy nominations, both for writing. In time it did finally receive the respect it deserved. It is now fully recognized as one of the landmark programs in history. I actually envy people who have yet to watch the show; seeing The Wire for the first time provides an enriching experience. That is a feeling I can never experience again. If you haven’t seen it yet, I urge you to do so pronto. You’ll be glad you did. Just a warning, though. The video I embedded below is filled with spoilers.

Originally aired on: HBO

Currently streaming on: HBO Max

Closing Laughs

That should be all for now. Thanks for stopping by, hope you all had a great time. Have a fantastic day, and we’re gonna do it all again on Friday.

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The Apollo program began with a terrible tragedy in its very first mission. Worse, it did not even happen on the actual mission. During a “plugs out” test on the ground, a fire broke out in the capsule. It rapidly spread in a tightly enclosed, heavily oxygen concentrated space, and since the astronauts were strapped tightly into their seats, they had no chance to extinguish the fire. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed.

A recurring scene throughout this miniseries was shots of the men in Mission Control, either cheering triumphantly or quietly sitting in a tension filled room as they await a transmission from the crew following a temporary loss of signal. This week was much different. Suddenly, communication from the capsule was heavily garbled; one man asked “did he just say ‘fire?’” When things became apparent, the looks of the technicians in Mission Control suddenly shifted to that of quiet grief and devastation.

The bulk of episode 2 dealt with the aftermath of the fire, particularly where to go from here. If the missions are so dangerous that crew members died during a dress rehearsal, is the risk of sending men to space worth the cost? The episode followed 2 parallel tracks. In one, the research and blame department was fully activated. NASA and North American Aviation were pointing fingers at each other, each attempting to assign more responsibility to the other. At the same time, the Senate was taking a serious look at the cost/benefit of moon missions. Would congressional funding be better spent elsewhere?

The villain of the piece was Senator Walter Mondale (John Slattery), who hoped to seize the opportunity to drastically cut funding for NASA. At one point in the episode James Webb (Dan Lauria) tried to appeal to Mondale’s partisan nature. We are both Democrats, why are you trying to ruin JFK’s dream? Mondale responded by saying that Kennedy had many dreams. He wanted to end poverty for example, and in a zero sum game, any money spent on NASA is money not devoted to the other goal. Can’t say that he’s wrong; Mondale was far from being a mustache twirling villain.

The NASA representative in the story was Joe Shea, head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office (Kevin Pollack), NAA’s main character was chief engineer Harrison Storms (James Rebhorn). NAA was insistent that NASA was not listening to their various safety instructions: too much pure oxygen, combustible Velcro was being installed too close to metal parts, etc. NASA, by contrast, felt that they were being put under too much pressure to meet the end of decade deadline, and as a result, things were moving too quickly.

Another x-factor was that during some of the tests Mission Control was having trouble hearing communications from the crew members. As a result there were plans to have a 4th man in the capsule to assist during the tests; it would been either Shea or Deke Slayton (Nick Searcy), who would have therefore been in the capsule on that fateful day, but it wound up not happening. Shea lamented that fact throughout the episode, a fact that worried his superiors enough that they believed he had been feeling suicidal and ordered him to see a psychiatrist. He passed - he later explained that had been in the capsule he would have been lying at the feet of the crew and placed in a position that he would have seen the fire as it had ignited; he would have theoretically been able to put it out in time.

As I mentioned last week, episodes of this series had a knack for including at least one big emotional moment; this week’s one came about 2/3 of the way in, as Senate committee hearings were taking place. Frank Borman (David Andrews) had earlier been shown as the astronaut representative on the review board which investigated the tragedy and he was scheduled to be the last witness in the hearings. This made NASA nervous; as an astronaut he would have had every reason to blast the agency for cutting corners and putting their safety in jeopardy. It did not help that Webb was raked over the coals during his own testimony. NASA administrators had every reason to feel that they were doomed.

Of all the astronauts, Borman would wind up appearing in the most episodes of the miniseries. He was often portrayed as the conscience of NASA. In this case, he essentially saved the space program. As an aside, he would go on to be one of the most visible former astronauts in later years when he became CEO and chairman of the board for Eastern Airlines. He was the public face of the airline in a long running serious of ubiquitous commercials for the company, similar to the role that people such as Dave Thomas for Wendy’s or Lee Iacocca for Chrysler have had.

Mondale was questioning Borman with the same ferocity that he did the other witnesses. That is, until committee chairman Senator Clinton Anderson (Mason Adams) interceded, took the floor from Mondale and questioned Borman more informally. He wanted to get a better idea of the personalities of the 3 doomed astronauts and what their feelings were about the mission, as well as to piece together what happened from his best estimate. Borman not only did a great job of humanizing the men but he also effectively conveyed the of the men who were actually going to be making the journey to the moon. He concluded by saying “let’s end this witch hunt and go the moon.” When Mondale was given the floor again, he had no further questions. Apollo is still a go.

Shea and Storms would become the respective fall guys in each organization. Shea had earlier been kicked upstairs to an administrative job, but he quickly realized that he had no responsibilities and was essentially being pushed out of the way. The two old rivals commiserated with each other over their fates. Shea and Storms each had a framed, signed photo that the Apollo 1 crew had presented them as a peace offering. The photo showed the crew praying over a scale model of the capsule with the inscription good naturedly reading “it’s not that we don’t trust you Joe, but this time we’ve decided to go over your head.” The astronauts were often cantankerous, but since they were all pursuing the same goal, there were no real hard feelings.

That leads to the final emotional kicker of the week. The three widows invited Slayton over for a visit and presented him with a gift that the Apollo crew had intended to give him after they had completed the mission - an astronaut pin. Remember, Slayton had been medically grounded so as of this date he had not actually traveled into space. The pin was a gesture to indicate that they still regarded him as a real astronaut. Slayton proudly placed the pin on his lapel. The episode ended with the moments before the fateful test began. Grissom (Mark Rolston) gives his old Mercury colleague a salute as he enters the capsule.

Next week, as the end of decade deadline approaches, another Mercury vet commands an important mission.

Looking At Some Numbers

We have reached another new milestone in the survey of the greatest Mets to wear each uniform number. For the first time I have come across a number which only one Met has worn. That will make that one an easy choice. As for the rest, read on.

73 - Remember what I said when I started this project that a connection with Mets fans would be a key factor? Welp, this number tests that policy. The Mets who have worn 73 largely consist of guys who only had cups of coffee. Kenny Rogers also wore 73. He actually pitched well for the Mets during the half season he was with the team, but the lasting image he has left is that he walked in the deciding run in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS to end the season. That’s a gut punch, and most fans will never forgive him for that, but he really is the only legitimate choice here.

74 - In 1999 Chris Mazza pitched 16.1 innings with an ERA above 5. That is still enough to give him this honor. Need I remind you again that the pickings among the higher numbers are slim?

75 - Here is where fan connection comes back into play. Francisco Rodriguez saved 83 games over two and a half seasons, but his Mets tenure was often controversial, ending with a bizarre incident in which he physically attacked his father in law. Reed Garrett wasn’t exactly a world beater, but he was a solid enough setup man, and he had nowhere near the baggage that K-Rod did. The second most significant Garrett in Mets history gets the prize.

76 - Backup catcher Patrick Mazeika is the only Met to have worn this number in a regular season game, so he earns this by default. I don’t have anything insightful to say about him, he was your basic backup catcher.

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50 Years Ago - Family Feud

The most successful game shows are the ones with the simplest rules. When watching a game show you just want to turn your brain off and not have to try to figure out a convoluted set of rules. That even applies to Jeopardy! Yes, you have to use a lot of brain power to play along, but the game play itself is easily explainable. So too with Family Feud. The formula is easy to follow, a large part of why it is still on the air to this day. (There were a couple of hiatuses over that period of time, but it remains as one of the highest rated games shows on TV.)

Family Feud consists of 2 teams of 5 family members competing against each other. In the face off, 1 member from each team is asked a question for which a group of 100 people had been previously polled. Something such as, “name something people like to eat for breakfast.” Whichever team selects the answer which had the most responses in the earlier survey controls the board. They have the option to play or pass. Those that play offer guesses as to which answers complete the list; with each family member taking their turn in the lineup. If they miss on 3 guesses, it goes back to the other team, which can steal the board if they successfully guess an answer which had not been previously chosen.

Then, at the end, whichever of the 2 teams accumulated the most points moves on to the Fast Money round. 2 members from each family compete, one of whom is placed in a soundproof booth. Then, the first is asked a series of 5 survey questions. The second comes out to answer the same 5, and they cannot duplicate what the previous member had guessed. If the 2 total enough points, then the family wins whatever the big cash bonus is.

It’s all as simple as that; I have not watched the show in years, but I would suspect that except for a stray tweak, it is essentially unchanged. Add the usual bells and whistles, and you’ve got the groundwork for a successful show. In this case the producers added to the atmosphere by playing up the Hatfields vs. McCoys aspect of the feuding families concept; using old timey western music as the show’s theme: lots of fiddles.

As with any game show, the host is the most important factor, and they struck gold here. The original host was Richard Dawson; at one time best known as one of the regulars on Hogan’s Heroes, but by the mid 1970’s he had become game show royalty. He was one of the regular panelists on Match Game, and he was ready to move on to hosting duties. Richard Dawson as the Family Feud host was about as 1970’s as one could get.

His suit jackets had the requisite wide lapels emblematic of the time. And let’s just say that his interactions with the contestants would not pass muster today. He would go down the line greeting each of the 5 family members, generally giving the male members a hearty handshake. The women? He would plant a huge kiss on the lips of each female contestant; nowadays he would have been called into a meeting with HR after the first episode.

It was a requirement of the show that the host must be quick enough on his feet to offer a clever response when one of the contestants would inevitably provide a terrible answer. Dawson would pause for a second and then say “the dreaded ___” with an air of bemusement to his voice. The current host is Steve Harvey - who by this point has now hosted the show longer than Dawson did - and his reactions to bad guesses frequently go viral. He channels his old standup comedy skills, rolling his eyes in an overly exaggerated way, with a vibe which suggests “did I actually just hear you say what I think I heard? What is wrong with you?”

It’s been many years since I was a regular watcher of game shows, but back in the day Family Feud was one of my go-to shows. It was fun to play along with; yet another huge factor on why it has been so successful. Would it be on a hypothetical Mount Rushmore of American game shows? The 3 most obvious choices are Jeopardy!, Wheel Of Fortune, and The Price Is Right. Family Feud is one of several contenders for the Teddy Roosevelt slot, along with Password, or Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? among others.

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Closing Laughs

Now that I have embedded the image of Richard Dawson The Kissing Bandit in your heads, time to call it a day. Thanks as always for tuning in. Have a great day everyone, and I will see you all again on Wednesday.

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Who’ll Stop the Rain was one of the highlights of the entire Creedence Clearwater Revival catalog. One of 5 CCR singles which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as part of a 2-sided single along with Travelin’ Band - they were never able to reach #1 - it is a near perfect blend of folk and country with just enough of Creedence’s signature swamp rock sound to make it their own.

There is a deep sense of melancholy to be found both in the lyrics and in John Fogerty’s vocals. The lyrics make reference to both the Vietnam War and the gathering of the tribes at Woodstock, but there is not so much specificity in those references to basically preserve the song in amber. It is a product of its time, yet it is still timeless. That has helped it remain an enduring classic.

The song has left a strong legacy as well. The title was borrowed as the title for a critically acclaimed film in the late 1970’s which starred Nick Nolte as a Vietnam vet. And it is one of those must songs for any live appearance which Fogerty makes. It’s not an easy trick to pull off to make such a sad song into an audience singalong, but that is a testament to Fogerty’s skills. This is certainly one which makes a crowd sing together in full harmony.

International Sports Review/Preview

It’s been a relatively quiet week on the international sports scene, other than the continued piling on of Gianni Infantino. I want to see how this plays out before commenting further. Same deal with all the negative NBA news which is blowing up. We have seen further evidence that the Clippers have been working around the salary cap by arranging even more no-show jobs for Kawhi Leonard, as well as a fishy smelling sudden sale of the Lakers to a group co-led by Jared Kushner’s brother at the very moment that Lakers owner Mark Walter is under federal investigation for alleged financial fraud. What an amazing coincidence!

Sticking to stateside sports topics, this week Max Scherzer moved ahead of Walter Johnson into 10th place on the all-time strikeouts list. It has been a rough couple of years for Mad Max; a litany of injuries have kept him off the mound for months at a time. Unlike Justin Verlander, Scherzer has given no indication that he plans to retire after this season, but if he does, he and Verlander will make for a strong Hall of Fame class in 5 years. Just like the newly retired Russell Westbrook will go into the Naismith Hall as part of the same class as Chris Paul. Naismith only has a 3 year waiting period after a player retires, so that induction will take place before we know it.

As for Scherzer’s milestone, it is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Walter Johnson is now outside the top 10. I am old enough to remember when he held the career lead. His record was never as unapproachable as Cy Young’s career win total was - Bob Gibson came within 400 K’s - but even with the knowledge of the increase in strikeouts it is jarring to see the Big Train fall downward on that list. It must be something similar to how old timey fans felt when they saw Roger Connor tumble down the career home run list in the early years of the live ball era.

Two pieces of poignant news came out last weekend during what are usually joyous celebrations. For the induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, former 49ers great Roger Craig pre-recorded his speech, a speech in which he revealed that he is suffering from dementia, likely a result of concussions he suffered during his career. Craig was a favorite of mine back in the day; this is yet another crushing blow. There are several reasons why I stopped watching football, but head trauma is the biggest one. I don’t know how this can be resolved. The American public has an insatiable appetite for football, but it takes an awful toll on the players. How is this sustainable? A reckoning will have to eventually come.

Sad news also came out of Yankees Old Timers Day. Tommy John was not one of the returning players, but he sent a “farewell” letter from his Florida home. John has been suffering from a series of health issues, most recently bladder cancer. He did not specify if he is in his final stages or if he simply wants to quietly spend whatever remaining time with his loved ones. Nor should he - it is completely his right to publicly share as much or as little as he feels comfortable doing. It is no one’s business but his own.

Who’s Next?

Each year there is a lengthy gap between the announcement of a new Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame class and the actual induction ceremony. That gives acts enough time to adjust their touring schedules if they are willing and able to. It also means that for months there is little news surrounding the event. For a few days after the class announcement there are the responses from artists as well as crickets from those who are ambivalent at best about the event. There are the usual litany of complaints from fans. And then… nothing.

There are the occasional drips and drabs which come out. Phil Collins made the expected announcement that his health will preclude him from performing. There was a smidgen of hope that there could be a New Order reunion, but Peter Hook dashed those hopes when he reaffirmed his pledge to never perform with those people again. In addition, both Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris announced that they were stepping back from touring with New Order due to health reasons of their own. That doesn’t sound good. On a happier note, the Gallagher brothers recently stated that they have reconciled with all past members of Oasis and there should be a full band reunion at the show. Oasis are actually… excited about the honor? Wut?

So, with little to talk about until the event organizers start to release the names of the ceremony’s participants, why not take the time to take a preliminary look at who might be on next year’s ballot? To be clear, I am not ready to start making predictions, this is just my first attempt to think out loud about possible names. There is a 100% chance that at the very moment I hit “publish” I will think of someone else and smack myself in the head for forgetting them, so this is only my Beta version of Class of 2027 thoughts. I promise I won’t bring up either Emmylou Harris or The B-52’s yet again, my feelings on their omissions are clear by now.

Once again using the valuable resources of FutureRockLegends.com, there are an intriguing number of first year eligibles next year. Not all of them are going to be on the ballot, let alone elected, but at least some of these new names likely to grab precious ballot space. Which also means that some of this year’s nominees who were passed over might still have longer waits ahead of them.

The Mariah Carey question continues to hover over the nominating committee. They clearly don’t want to face another Chic situation, in which she is on the ballot year after year to no avail, but at the same time her absence is holding things up for similar acts whom the Hall probably wishes to see considered but also wishes to avoid the optics of them jumping the line ahead of Mariah. That is my theory as to why Alicia Keys did not receive a nomination this year. My guess is that Mariah will not be on next year’s ballot, but will be inducted via one of the side categories. And Keys will find her rightful place on the ballot.

I am curious to see if the lack of 1970’s artists on this year’s ballot was a one year anomaly, or if it is a sign that the Hall is ready to close the book on that generation. My hope is that they are done with the classic rock artists of that time period, but I would not mind to see them still consider overlooked R&B artists of the decade: The Commodores, The Pointer Sisters, Diana Ross as a solo artist. I would add The Chi-Lites as well, but that’s probably asking too much.

INXS might get a second look, but it’s just as likely that the committee will look elsewhere for prominent 1980’s artists. Perhaps Mötley Crüe or Tears For Fears. As for the 90’s, my issue with the back to back nominations for The Black Crowes isn’t so much that I find their candidacy lacking. It’s more that their profile matches that of many of the second and third tier 70’s acts that the Hall just can’t quit. The Black Crowes can wait their turn. There are dozens of 90’s acts better than the Crowes, get to them first. Such as Alice In Chains. Or Weezer. Or Stone Temple Pilots. Or Smashing Pumpkins. And most of all, Alanis Morrissette. All of them would be more prominently featured in a history of the decade than the Black Crowes would be.

There are 2 artists whose absence kinda shocks me. The voting panels are not exactly the same, but there is enough crossover between Hall voters and Grammy voters that I would think Grammy darlings would have a lot of champions in the Hall. Beck was nominated once, Coldplay has yet to be nominated. I have to believe that their times will come sooner rather than later.

I’m not sure what they are going to do about hip-hop this year. To keep the institution relevant, the Hall needs to honor representatives from such a major cultural force, but the question remains as to how heavily to lean in that direction. And which direction should the voters take? Go with pop-leaning artists who happen to rap? Or more distinctive rappers/writers who were able to cross over into the mainstream? In other words, Nelly or Nas? Busta Rhymes or Lil’ Wayne? By this point Snoop Dogg is as much of a cultural icon as he is a hip-hop artist. That could be a deciding factor for him. I still hold out some hope for De La Soul, but we might have already reached the point where if a nomination was going to happen, it would have happened by now.

The nominating committee has shown a keen interest in acknowledging Latin music, I could see them turning towards Selena or Gloria Estefan next year. Perhaps it could be time to honor electronic music and give Daft Punk a nomination. It could also finally be TLC’s turn for a nomination. The Strokes have been eligible for a couple of years; if the Hall wishes to honor a pure rock & roll band, they would be a strong candidate. As always, there is going to be at least one way out of left field nomination that no one saw coming. And I am still hoping to see more college rock/alternative rock favorites get a nod. Sonic Youth? The Pixies? The Replacements? The Smiths? All worthy, all probably a little too under the radar for the large voting populace to fully support them.

As for the first year eligibles I referenced above? There is one humongous slam dunk: Beyoncé is eligible for the first time next year and she is as close to a sure thing as it can get. The Black Keys also stand a strong chance at receiving a nomination. LCD Soundsystem will be eligible for the first time, but they might not be mainstream enough to earn a first year nod. And then there is the Kanye Conundrum.

By any objective measure Kanye West should be as much of a no-brainer as Beyoncé is. But then there is everything else about him; his recent attempt at an apology tour has not worked. People obviously do not find him to be sincere. To be clear, there are many certifiably terrible people who have already been inducted, and it is true that his mental health issues are a mitigating factor when it comes to some of his behavior. That’s not an excuse, however. There are plenty of bipolar people who do not espouse Nazi s***. A West nomination/induction would feel as if the Hall is condoning or sanctioning what he has said and done. I believe he needs to do much more genuine penance before the Hall would be comfortable with honoring him.

These are just a handful of names. Keep an eye on who participates in the induction ceremony, either as presenters/performers or as talking heads in the filmed segments. If nothing else, such an appearance would put an artist on a voter’s radar. In addition, other names are certain to reenter the zeitgeist between now and the date when the nominating committee meets early next year.

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50 Years Ago -Heat Treatment

Graham Parker’s rookie season continued with the second of 2 albums which he released in 1976, both of which were highly acclaimed at the time. I often reference the annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, and ‘76 was a hell of a year for Parker. Heat Treatment finished in 2nd place, two spots above his earlier release Howlin’ Wind. Critics could not get enough of Parker that year.

Heat Treatment, which was co-credited to Parker’s longtime back-up band, The Rumour, is in my opinion the much stronger of his first 2 albums; the quality of the songs is considerably higher. It should also be noted that with the exception of one song which Nick Lowe produced, this record was produced by Mutt Lange. This was very early in Lange’s career, so he was not yet a bold faced name. The record doesn’t have the big, bold sound of his more famous productions. It’s more a case of game recognizing game for 2 creative talents as they were still making names for themselves.

On a superficial level Parker was often compared to Elvis Costello. Both were lumped together as Angry Young Men, but both soon proved that their musical ambitions could not be contained in such a small jar. Parker was not a vaguely new wavish singer; he was more of a blue eyed soul guy, and he was showing those signs as early as on this record. The best song on the album is the closing one, Fools’ Gold. There is an authentic sense of soul heard on that one.

Fools’ Gold is just one of many highlights. The title track starts things off quite well, and Black Honey and Hotel Chambermaid make for a great way to end Side 1. In the vinyl days those 2 songs would have made you immediately want to flip the record to the other side. Even better, reissues of the album include Hold Back the Night, which was originally heard on an EP, not on the original release of Heat Treatment. That is only one of the 4 or 5 best songs that Parker ever recorded.

Parker’s record sales, at least in America, never matched his critical standing. It might be an exaggeration to call him a cult artist, but he does have a devoted following which has remained loyal all these years later. He has released more than two dozen albums over the course of his career, this one was probably his best.

Closing Laughs

Another weekend has snuck up on us. Have a most relaxing time, everyone. See you again on Monday.

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There strike of the Writers Guild which ran from November of 2007 through February of 2008. One of the ramifications is that season 33 of SNL was the shortest in show history; only 12 episodes were produced that year. Every cast member from the conclusion of season 32 returned for this one, at least temporarily. Maya Rudolph left the show during that strike break, so this is the final time we will see her as a show regular.

Rudolph was one of the best SNL cast members there has ever been. This could be my memory playing tricks in me, but I don’t recall her getting the credit that she truly deserved when she was on the show, but now she is a confirmed Very Important Alumnus, more than welcome to return at any time and she is one the most prolific comic actresses in the biz. She is almost absurdly talented; a skilled singer - remember, her mother was Minnie Riperton - as well as an actress equally skilled at playing both extremes: subtle as well as wonderfully over the top. She had a wide range of memorable SNL moments and characters; from the one-shot of an overly exuberant National Anthem singer, to Jodi on Bronx Beat, to impressions such as Beyoncé, Donatella Versace, and Whitney Houston. She was, and is, the best.

LeBron James hosted the season 33 premiere. He was like most athlete hosts; he hit his marks and cues well, but his line delivery was awkward. There is a good reason why few athletes are asked to host a second time; they draw eyeballs but their comedic skills are somewhat lacking. The best example of what James brought came in the best sketch from this week. He was shown filming a Read To Achieve PSA. The kicker was that the PSA a would end with James hitting a layup; the director (Bill Hader) was getting frustrated because the passes to James weren’t putting him in a great shooting position. Before too long the stagehand who was making the passes (Jason Sudeikis) was blaming that on James, so he challenged the NBA star to a game of one on one. It did not go well. The piece was funny; a more experienced comedian would have likely made it much better.

This episode was from the fall of 2007, or the early stages of the 2008 presidential campaign. This was a time when most people assumed that the general election would match Hilary Clinton against Rudy Giuliani, and the cold open was labeled as a statement from the Certain To Be Next President, aka Clinton. I am not sure if this was Amy Poehler’s debut as HRC, but her impression at this point was nowhere near as refined as it would eventually become. The bulk of the sketch consisted of her trash talking her Democratic rivals, making references to such topics as Barack Obama’s misguided optimism and Joe Biden’s hair plugs.

Kristin Wiig developed a long list of recurring characters of wildly varying quality - I hope I never need to see Gilly ever again - and this episode included an appearance from Penelope, the woman who constantly tries to one up everyone else. In this one James is holding a charitable auction for a youth organization, and Penelope intrudes upon the event to show how her work with youths is much more impressive than that of James.

For some reason, Fred Armisen appeared as Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in 2 separate sketches. In the first he was the object of a love song which Andy Samberg sang in this week’s digital short - including backing vocals supplied by Adam Levine and Jake Gyllenhaal. The Iranian prez also showed up on an Update desk piece. This was after he had spoken to a group at Columbia University in which he claimed there are no gay people in Iran. He came on Update to further elaborate on this with the help of his translator (Rudolph). It was a real rogues gallery on this Update. The other desk piece was Kenan Thompson as O.J. Simpson. This was after his arrest for stealing back some of his memorabilia in a Vegas hotel room, Kenan as O.J. was attempting to explain what happened.

Many years ago I saw Lorne Michaels make the observation that taking instructions from TV directors is similar to being coached; athletes use that same skill set when appearing on SNL. The best I can say is that James gave his best effort - and he did in fact show a more natural comic flair years later when he had a supporting role in the movie Trainwreck - but a strong effort can only go so far. If you judge this episode on a curve by comparing him to other athletes, it was an above average one. If you instead compare him to more standard hosts, then it is subpar.

The midseason episode is one of the first ones which aired after the strike ended. That one was hosted by a pre-transition Elliot Page, at the time still known as Ellen. Maya Rudolph’s replacement will also have been added to the cast. We will discuss that next week.

Nellie

Don Nelson lived a great basketball life. He also lived one of the great post-retirement lives. Nelson, who was a major force in the NBA for almost half a century, died over the weekend at the age of 86.

Nelson’s playing career lasted 14 seasons, most of which were spent with the Boston Celtics, where he was a member of 5 championship teams. He spent much of that time as the 6th or 7th man, far from the most important factor in their success, but an important role player nonetheless. His career zenith was the moment in which he hit one of the most famous shots in league history. His jumper in the paint late in Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals bounced HIGH off the back rim before landing with a swish. That extended a lead which the Celtics would not relinquish.

He would make a larger impact as a head coach. An innovate offensive mind - and a fashion icon through his infamous fish neckties - he coached the Milwaukee Bucks for a decade, where he went against the norm at the time in which teams centered their attacks around big men by creating the concept of the point forward with players such as Marques Johnson and, later, Paul Pressey. He ran the offense, which would be known as “Nellie Ball,” through wing players and that helped spur the Bucks to 7 consecutive division crowns. Unfortunately they were stuck in that mid-level quagmire. They were never quite good enough to be a viable championship contender, but at the same time they never had a poor enough W-L record to be in position to draft a game changing player.

From there he moved to Golden State, where he continued to push up the offensive tempo during the Warriors’ Run-TMC era. This was a high octane, small ball defense spearhead by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. And Šarūnas Marčiulionis as well. Together with his son Donn, Nelson was a pioneer when it came to scouting and developing European players for the NBA. After less than a full season coaching the Knicks - his time in New York seemed to age him 10 years - he landed back on his feet in Dallas, where he created the aesthetically unpleasant “Hack-a-Shaq” defense, before finishing his coaching career with a return to Golden State. At the time of his retirement he held the record for all-time coaching victories; he still ranks #2 behind only Gregg Popovich. He would be elected to the Naismith Hall Of Fame as a coach.

Boy oh boy, did he enjoy retirement. He retreated to Hawaii, where he lived a blissful life in which Willie Nelson was one of his poker buddies. That wasn’t Willie’s only hobby with which Don Nelson partook. He grew his own weed, and let’s just say that in any photo taken of him in the last 15 years he looked exceptionally happy. May we all be that chill in our golden years.

50 Years Ago - Network

Rocky won the Best Picture Oscar for 1976, but as far as I am concerned Network was the best movie released that year by a mile. Paddy Chayefsky’s brilliant screenplay gets more and more prescient with each passing year. What once seemed like outrageous satire doesn’t seem quite so unrealistic after all.

Network included contributions from many of the major figures of the time, more than just Chayefsky. It was directed by Sidney Lumet when he was in the midst of a spectacular run of great movies. So too was co-star Faye Dunaway in a decade long stretch in which she starred in classic after classic. It wasn’t a requirement that Robert Duvall needed to be in every legendary movie from the 1970’s, it only seemed that way. Well, here he is.

The movie was set at the fictional UBS television network, which perennially lagged in the ratings behind the Big 3. A sale of CCA, the corporation which owned the network, to Saudi holdings was in the negotiation stage, and CEO Frank Hackett (Duvall) was putting pressure on news president Max Schumacher (William Holden), specifically to fire veteran anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch.) Upon being given the news, Beale threatened to commit suicide on air. This draws the attention of new programming head Diana Christensen (Dunaway). All publicity is good publicity, after all.

This comes to a head in the famous scene which everybody knows, whether they have seen the movie or not. In what is supposed to be one of his final broadcasts, Beale goes off script and goes on a lengthy diatribe about the downfall of society. He instructs his viewers to scream out of their windows “I am mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” This resonates with the populace and Dunaway seizes the opportunity to have the news division of the network fall under the umbrella of the entertainment division. News is no longer a loss leader, there is gold in them thar hills.

With his head off the chopping block, Beale now hosts the Howard Beale Show, where he is promoted as the Mad Prophet Of the Airwaves. That is only the start of the new direction for UBS; network news programming is now filled with some of the most outrageous content imaginable, including television psychics, a program hosted by a fictional terrorist organization known as the ELA. That program? The Mao Tse-Tung Hour.

The movie adeptly mixes sober scenes concerning corporate intrigue along with the satirical elements which mocked just how far these people will go in the quest for ratings. Some of this anticipates the later business plan of the Fox network that Chayefsky was practically channeling Nostradamus. It also contains two of the most famous one scene performances in movie history. Beatrice Straight, as Max’s wife has an emotionally devastating scene in which she confronts him over an affair he has been having with Diana. She was only on screen for about 5 minutes, but that was enough to make her the Best Supporting Actress winner; still the record for shortest performance by an Oscar winner. Ned Beatty had an equally short scene which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod. He played CAA chairman Arthur Jensen who calls Beale to the carpet for not toeing the line. The scene is set in a huge conference room and is shot to make Jensen look large and imposing, Beale small and insignificant.

That is not the only Oscar history that the movie made. It lost Best Picture, but Chayefsky would win Best Original Screenplay, and Network would be one of only 9 movies to earn 5 acting nominations. In addition it is one of only 3 movies to win a total of 3 acting trophies. In addition to Straight, Finch and Dunaway were the winners in the 2 lead categories. (Holden was the 5th actor to score a nomination.) Finch died of a heart attack months after the film’s release; he would be the first person to win a posthumous acting Oscar.

I can’t go on without mentioning Network’s famous closing line, so it is SPOILER ALERT time. The attention and ratings that Beale produced was short lived, as audiences quickly grew tired of his act. UBS and CAA collectively decided it was time to get rid of Beale, so they recruit the ELA to assassinate Beale on the air. After the deed is done, a voiceover states that this was the story of Howard Beale, “the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings.”

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Closing Laughs

And with that, that’s that. Or something like that. Thanks to all for tuning in once again, and have a wonderful day everyone. See you all again on Friday.

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“Can we do this?” is not only the question that NASA Administrator James Webb (Dan Lauria) asks his staff as they are listening to JFK’s address to a joint session of Congress in which he reiterates his promise to send a man to the moon and back before the end of the decade. It is also a question which several other characters ask in some way throughout the course of the premiere episode. This first episode of the miniseries only offers a small hint as to how good the rest of the series is going to be. It is by necessity somewhat overstuffed. Dozens of characters are introduced - with helpful chyron added so that the audience gets a sense of who these people are and what their specific responsibilities are - and a lot of ground gets covered. Several years of critical missions are condensed into one hour of television. By the time the hour is done the Gemini missions are complete and onto Apollo we go.

It begins at a down period for NASA. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin has just become the first human in space. This was years after the USSR had launched Sputnik; the US space program is clearly lagging behind. The episode next depicts the moment in which Alan Shepard (Ted Levine) makes history by becoming the first American in space. It is amazing to see how low tech things were back then; it is so analog. In the scenes at Mission Control it almost looks like they should be using abacuses.

The only way to pass the Soviets in the space race is to go big. What could be bigger than landing on the moon? This episode is heavily academic at times; NASA engineer Chris Craft (Stephen Root) explains the necessary goals required on each step of the ladder on the way to the moon, and the episode later shows the missions which would successfully achieve each of those vital goals. But if there is one criticism I have it is that at times watching this almost feels like homework.

Among the many characters introduced are the one person who appears in the most episodes of this series, Deke Slayton (Nick Searcy.) Slayton was one of the Mercury 7 astronauts, but he was medically grounded due to a heart condition. (He would be cleared years later and would finally go into space during the Skylab missions.) Slayton served as mission director for NASA; his most visible responsibility was that it was he who handed out the crew assignments. Another character who would show up in many episodes was a fictional one - Emmett Seaborn (Lane Smith) was a composite of several news anchors/science reporters who helped out with exposition; in his news reports he used scale models to demonstrate mission details.

And then there were astronauts. The newest set of astronauts - known as the Next Nine - were introduced as they attended a top secret meeting at a hotel ballroom. Among the newbies were Pete Conrad (Peter Scolari), Jim Lovell (Tim Daly), Ed White (Chris Isaak), and a guy named Neil Armstrong (Tony Goldwyn). These men, along with some of the Mercury holdovers as well as a future set of recruits who would soon join the program, would serve as the backbone for the upcoming Apollo program.

Things are still starting off slowly. Two astronauts are killed in a jet crash; this raises a question if it is worth the risk. A running theme this week was Webb’s constant need to secure funding from Congress. If men are already losing their lives on Earth; what will happen in space? In a twisted way what likely saved the space program was that we were still lagging behind the Soviets. Reaching the moon was such an important goal of the martyred JFK; a Democratic Congress dare not let his dream die. We gotta beat the Russkies to there.

Another Russian cosmonaut, Alexei Leonov, became the first man to complete a spacewalk. But the tide was turning; soon afterwards Ed White became the first American to step outside his capsule, and his walk lasting more than twice as long as the Soviet walk did. We were finally catching up. In another mission Neil Armstrong showed his cool under pressure; things went wrong in a docking test and the capsule went out of control. This forced the mission to be aborted, but Armstrong safely splashed down in the Pacific.

I mentioned last week that many episodes ended with an uplifting rah-rah moment, and this one certainly did, but a couple of important moments happened before that. First, Slayton was shown on a hunting trip with his old colleague Gus Grissom (Mark Rolston). They discuss the importance of a Mercury astronaut having the honor of commanding the first Apollo mission. He gives Grissom the option of selecting his crew mates, and they collectively decide on Ed White and Roger Chaffee. We then see Buzz Aldrin (Bryan Cranston) completing the final Gemini mission; they have successfully completed the required tasks needed. All hands on deck are now ready to move on to the next phase.

The final scene takes place in a meeting room where all of the active astronauts are gathered. Slayton is ready to give them great news, so he wipes off his s*** eating grin before entering, and then goes on to lead the meeting. He lists the progression of the upcoming missions, reiterating that each step must be successfully completed before NASA can go on to the next one. Because the crew assignments are on a rotational basis there is no way of knowing yet who will have the ultimate honor. To use the current vernacular, this meeting could have been an email. That is, until Slayton adds the kicker.

He reminds the assembled staff that the men in this room WILL be making moon landings. The first man on the moon has entered this room and is looking at Deke right now. So too are the second, third, and so on. The camera cuts to a multitude of reaction shots, including from Armstrong and Aldrin. Slayton ends by saying “I thought you should know that” and exits. The episode ends with the reactions of the astronauts which range from “hell yeah!” to quiet contemplation. We are going to the f***ing moon!

I have a deep fascination with the Apollo program because it is such a triumph of the hard work of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom are anonymous. To make it there took scientific knowledge, intelligence, competence, and deep cooperation across multiple divisions. Many of those factors have fallen out of disregard. Apollo proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that government can do great things, things that the private sector just can’t do as well. Unless you really believe that Elon Musk is going to establish colonies on Mars. Sure, Jan.

Next week: a horrible tragedy threatens the program just as it’s getting started.

Looking At Some Numbers

We have reached a milestone in this little project; the first number which no Met has yet to wear in a regular season game. To this point no Met has been enough of an arrested adolescent to wear #69. Not nice. For the first time we will need to skip a number. Here is the next set of greatest Mets to wear each uniform number.

68 - The higher numbers often offer a series of uninspiring options. Dellin Betances came to Queens with a great deal of past success from when he was with the Yankees, but he was never healthy enough as a Met to make a positive impact. Therefore I will select Wilmer Font, who provided solid relief work for a portion of the 2019 season and also inspired a series of puns about his surname. One could say that he was a Helvetica good pitcher. God, that joke is awful. Must delete.

70 - This one is pretty easy. José Buttó supplied above average bullpen work for parts of 4 seasons, and he was a key cog during the team’s surprising run to the 2024 NLCS. 2024, we are only 2 years removed from that season, yet it seems like such a long time ago. I’m not bitter, why do you ask?

71 - 10 Mets have worn this number, many of whom fall into the “who was he?” bin. The most substantive Mets career probably came from Sean Reid-Foley, but he finished his Mets career with a negative WAR, so I just can’t do it. Instead I will go with Tyler Rogers, who pitched well out of the bullpen following the 2025 trade deadline. It’s an exaggeration to say that this season would have gone better had he returned after hitting free agency, but it wouldn’t have hurt.

72 - I will go with promise for this number. Dedniel Núñez’s promotion to the major leagues roughly coincided with the team’s resurgence in 2024. His UCL tear in 2025 also seemed to coincide with the club’s collapse. He only just returned to the major leagues this week. Is that a harbinger of better things to come? One can only hope.

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The Science Fiction Movie Pantheon - Alien

Anyone who was watching a lot of TV in 1979 remembers the teaser ad for Alien very well. It consisted of an outer space shot accompanied by spooky sounding ambient music and a close up of what appears to be an egg. And then, the narrator recites the famous tag line “in space, no one can hear you scream.” The egg hatches, we hear a high pitched noise, and we are all certain that this was going to be one of the scariest movies ever made. And you know what, it was. Alien would: a) create a template for many similar movies, b) introduce one of the most frightening movie monsters ever seen, and c) create one of the most iconic characters in film history.

Directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is set aboard the Nostromo, a cargo spaceship. The crew is on its way back home, only to be awoken from hyper sleep so that they can respond to a distress call. After Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) reminds them that the corporation which had hired them will not pay them if they ignore the order, they divert to the desolate planet LV-426. It is there that Kane (John Hurt) is attacked by an alien being which hatched out of an egg, attaching itself to Kane’s face.

At first, warrant officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) refuses to allow Kane back on board, stating that he needs to be quarantined. Captain pulls rank, and science officer Ash (Ian Holm) examines him, trying to determine what exactly this is and if it is possible to save Kane’s life. In his studies he discovers that the alien has acid for blood. BTW, I would be neglectful if I fail to mention the rest of the ace level cast. In addition to the characters whom I have already mentioned, the crew was filled out with navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), engineer Parker (Yaphet Kotto), and technician Brett (Harry Dean Stanton).

Seemingly within warning, Kane suddenly improves. The alien removes itself from his face and dies. Kane appears perfectly healthy, so the crew sits down for a last meal before going back into deep sleep for the long journey back to Earth. It’s very noticeable that as the crew is dining together and shooting the s***, Ash is silently observing as if he knows something major is about to happen. Which it does. Kane begins to cough uncontrollably, and then a creature bursts out of his chest and runs into hiding, killing Kane in the process.

The alien species which they have discovered is the xenomorph, which breeds by attaching itself to its victim’s face, allowing the offspring to incubate within its body. Now the crew must find the creature which is hiding within the dark bowels of the ship - and it matures at an accelerated rate; it is full sized before too long. It picks off the crew members one by one.

The xenomorph was designed by H.R. Giger, and it is an unstoppable killing machine. But it is not the villain of the piece. The villain is the crew’s corporate overlord, simply referred to as “The Company.” Ripley soon learns that it was no accident that the crew was sent to investigate LV-426. The corporation wanted to bring the alien back for study; the crew was expendable. Ash would be revealed as both a corporate mole and as an android.

I mentioned that this movie created a story-telling template. Going forward, any movie set in a tight, claustrophobic space in which some type of monster kills the characters one by one, would be described as “Alien in a ____.” Alien will also go down in film history for creating Ellen Ripley. Weaver was mostly unknown at the time of its release, but she put her own twist on the Final Girl trope. She was no helpless victim, she was as badass as it gets.

Alien would go on to become a major film franchise. The 1986 sequel is a stone cold classic as well, and even though the later movies suffered from the same diminishing returns that most long running franchises do, there is no denying that the xenomorph was always terribly frightening and that Ripley was always a welcome presence. In space, no one can hear you scream, but in a crowded movie theater, you sure as hell can hear those screams.

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Closing Laughs

Xenomorphs are generally not something which we need to worry about much in our day to day lives, but since we are living in a dystopia, you can never be too careful. Keep your head on a swivel, and stay safe. Have a great day everyone, and I will see you all again on Wednesday.

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People can be very territorial over bands that they love, especially bands which slowly rose up from the underground to the mainstream. A related notion is when the old school fans feel almost insulted towards the bands themselves when their popularity increases. I’m old enough to remember hearing constant complaints about how The Clash “sold out.” R.E.M. was a lot like that. They spent much of the 1980’s as the darlings of the indie rock/college rock circuit, gradually increasing their record sales and radio airplay with each release. They eventually became platinum selling stars. And then, the Out Of Time album and its first single brought them to a multi-platinum, awards show sweeping level of superstardom.

The lamentation from OG fans is best exemplified by a personal anecdote. I once worked with a guy who claimed that he used to be a big R.E.M. fan until they “went pop.” OK, boomer. This guy was a boss of mine, so I couldn’t say out loud what I was thinking. But Losing My Religion was a minor key dirge in which the primary instrument was a mandolin. I’m not sure in which universe it could be considered going pop, but music fandom isn’t always rational.

A mandolin tune it may be, but that riff from Peter Buck is an undeniably catchy earworm. It is supplemented by one of Michael Stipe’s most heartfelt vocal performances. He had long since moved past the period in which he would mumble his way through enigmatic lyrics. Despite the song’s title and the religious imagery found in the song’s video, it is not a religious song. Losing my religion is a southern colloquial term meant to express either a loss of temper or a feeling of frustration. Stipe has stated many times that this is a song about unrequited love.

That idea is very explicit in the lyrics. “That’s me in the corner” expresses loneliness and isolation. “Trying to keep up with you and I don’t know if I can do it.” Stipe doesn’t hear the objection of his affection laughing or singing; he only thought that he could hear it. That was just a dream.

The rest was history. The biggest shocker over R.E.M.’s eventual mass stardom related to Stipe himself. When the band made its national TV debut on the David Letterman show, they performed one song and when Letterman interviewed the band, Stipe sat back near the drum set; it was up to Buck and Mike Mills to participate in the chat. Who would have thunk at the time that such a shy introvert would become the force that he did? Stipe gained more comfort as the years went on. I’ll say it, that was him in the spotlight.

International Sports Review/Preview

It’s been a busy past few weeks for world championship level events, and the most recent was last week’s conclusion of the men’s division of the 2026 Volleyball Nations League. Poland defeated the United States in the final to win their 3rd championship in the last 4 years.

Arguably the current single most dominant squad in international team sports is the US women’s basketball team. With the exception of an Australian world championship in 2006, the US women have won every Olympic gold, FIBA world championship, and FIBA World Cup in the 21st century. They are ready to defend their crown in next month’s World Cup, and USA Basketball has finalized the team roster. In addition to some of the usual holdovers such as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Chelsea Gray, the roster also includes several players representing the next generation of American greats. Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese are among those who will be representing Team USA for the first time. As stacked as this team is, just as has been the case for the men, the rest of the world is catching up. The women are favored (and expected) to win gold, but it’s not a sure thing. I can’t imagine how much pressure these players must be feeling - no one wants to be on the team which ends the streak - but you can be sure that the 12 players will be playing with an off the charts sense of pride.

I’m very thankful that FIFA exists. Whenever I feel that I have to reconcile my love for the Olympics with my disgust for the IOC, I can assure myself that for all of the IOC’s corruption, it’s got nothing on FIFA. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is so comically corrupt that it wouldn’t shock me if he were to be revealed as Eric Adams in disguise. Because FIFA is such a money printing machine, his position has never been in jeopardy, no matter how much of an international embarrassment he often is. But he sure came close this time.

He recently announced a plan to sell a portion of the World Cup to private equity. The blowback was immediate; UEFA unanimously voted to boycott all FIFA events if that sale were to go through. Imagine a World Cup without a single European country, and you can see how serious the threat was. It worked, too. FIFA blinked. For now, Infantino appears safe. The board pledged its support to Infantino this week, so his job is safe for now and he is free to continue to decide who will be the next recipient of the prestigious FIFA Peace Prize. But… UEFA has yet to rescind that boycott, so the story is far from over.

This isn’t international sports related, but there is a noteworthy retirement in sports broadcasting. Much beloved San Francisco Giants color man Mike Krukow will step away at the end of the season after more than 3 decades behind the mic. Half of the popular “Kruk and Kuip” team along with Duane Kuiper, he has been a SF institution. He has been dealing with myositis for years and has cut back on his schedule in recent seasons, but even with a limited schedule it has gotten to be too tough physically for him to continue another season. I get a chance to catch a few Giants games during a typical season, and I find him to be a delightfully entertaining and informative broadcaster; I completely understand why fans love him so. I should also note that when the Giants Pride Night kerfuffle happened earlier this year, Krukow came out immediately in full support of the trans community. The guy is a mensch. He has yet to be awarded with the Hall Of Fame’s Ford Frick Award. Here is hoping that this will finally be his year - and that the Hall amends the policy for this award just once and presents it to Krukow and Kuiper as a team.

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TV Of the 21st Century - This Is Us

I’ll get the obvious stuff out of the way first. This Is Us was often emotionally manipulative. The show, especially in its early episodes, was a bit too reliant on shocking endings. And as much as we were drawn into the personal journeys of these characters, the Pearsons were pretty exhausting people. Would you want to actually know them in real life? None of that really mattered. Those emotions were well earned, and for all of their faults, these are people whose stories I was fully invested in. I wanted nothing but the best for these people.

It’s easy to forget how vague the early promotion was for this show. The ads gave little detail other than that it was following a group of people throughout critical moments in their lives. The pilot switched among 3 groups of people, each facing a major life change on their respective 36th birthdays. In one story young married couple Jack and Rebecca Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) are about to see their lives change forever; Rebecca is in her third trimester and they are expecting triplets. In another Randall (Sterling K. Brown), after years of searching, has found William (Ron Cephas Jones), who had abandoned him in a firehouse when he was a newborn. Finally, we meet twins Kate and Kevin (Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley.) Kevin is the star of a highly rated sitcom, and Kate works as his assistant while she is also dealing with body issues.

Kate meets Toby (Chris Sullivan) at a support group for overweight people, and they strike up a romance. Kevin is having an existential crisis. His sitcom, The Manny, in which he stars as an often shirtless male nanny, leaves him unfulfilled creatively. He suffers a full meltdown while taping an episode before a studio audience, telling them how stupid he finds the show to be. He quits the show in a huff. Rebecca, meanwhile, goes into early labor and complications develop during the delivery. It is touch and go for a while, but Rebecca survives, although one of the 3 babies is stillborn. Needless to say they are devastated, but the obstetrician tries to uplift Jack by giving him a form of the make lemons out of lemonade speech. That leads to the kicker. Jack is looking at his two surviving children in the maternity ward, as a firefighter stands next to him and mentions that he has brought in a baby who had been left at the firehouse. Hold the phone, that is Kate, Kevin, & Randall. Jack and Rebecca were their parents, and their scenes were set in the past!

That sets up the series as a whole. Most episodes followed two timelines. The contemporary plot would feature the 3 adult Pearson children, and flashbacks would show a scene from the past; the plot in the current timeline would often parallel an incident which had happened when they were children. (In later seasons the show would use flash forwards as a storytelling device as well.) The overall theme of the show was how events from the past would affect what happens in the future, how past is often prologue, and how the sins of the father can be visited upon the son.

A running theme as well is the extent to which his children idolized Jack. We would quickly find out why. Episode 2 ended with a visit from Rebecca, in which she was accompanied by her husband: Jack’s best friend Miguel (Jon Huertas.) What happened here? We soon learn that Jack had died some years earlier; it was a mystery as to when and how Rebecca and Miguel had gotten involved with each other and if Miguel had violated the bro code by marrying his BFF’s widow.

Among the traits that the Pearsons got from Jack was the tendency to go for grand gestures. There was a humorous scene early on in which Toby and Miguel, along with Randall’s wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) spoke about what it was like to be a part of this family, especially because no one could live up to the idealized image of Jack that the siblings, known as the Big 3, shared. We also learn that Jack had flaws, just like anyone. He was a good man who worked hard to be a good husband and father, but he had a difficult upbringing. His father was an alcoholic and an emotionally abusive man. Jack, too, would develop a drinking problem and that addictive personality would be inherited by his biological children - Kate to food and Kevin to alcohol. Randall’s main issue was deep anxiety; as early as childhood it was obvious in the flashback scenes that his need to be perfect at all times would lead to challenges in adulthood.

I loved this show, but are a handful of criticisms I have for it. There would be the occasional “oh come on!” plot twists, and I sometimes found it implausible to see how frequently the assorted family members flew cross country. Damn, they totaled some heavy flier miles. The show was also inconsistent about how successful Kevin’s acting career was portrayed. But it did do a great job of portraying how weird the life of a celebrity is. There was one episode in which he was in one of his mini-spirals. He meets a young woman, and they spend a day together, a day in which she frequently steps away to text someone. When he is ready to move on to the next base, she puts a stop to it by saying “you’re my free pass!” It turns out that Kevin is her free pass celebrity crush; she had been texting her husband to say “you won’t believe who I see” and she was giving him updates on how the day was going. But in the end, she wasn’t going to cash in on that pass.

This is a show about the characters; if you don’t root for these people there is no show. Randall was clearly the breakout; as a testament to how great Brown’s performance was Randall’s constant God Complex was rarely off-putting. Beth was far and away my personal favorite character; may we all have a spouse as understanding and indulgent of our quirks. William was also a real gem. It was revealed early on that he was suffering from terminal cancer, so his time was limited. He took quite a journey in that short time. He was a decent man who understood that he did not have enough time for full penance, but now that he was given a chance to make late in life amends he was going to try his best. And his flashback scenes did not fully excuse him for abandoning his infant child, but you could see how he came to that decision.

Above all, this was Rebecca’s show. Jack was held up as the martyr, but time showed her to be the glue which held the family together. To put it simply, Moore was a revelation. She had to play Rebecca as a young woman with a hopeful future, an overwhelmed young mother, a grieving widow, and a retired grandmother in old age makeup. And then the kicker came. Around halfway through the show’s run, a flash forward showed the family gathered around her deathbed. It was obvious that the show was going to end with her death. The contemporary timeline eventually revealed that she was struggling with early signs of dementia; symptoms of which would soon rapidly increase. The signs of dementia added another dimension to Moore’s performance.

One of the final episodes told Miguel’s full story and that one ended with his death. It was a gut punch, and I immediately realized that if Miguel’s passing had affected me so, then I would be a mess when the Rebecca death would come. She died in the penultimate episode, and yep, it knocked me for a loop.

You don’t need me to tell you that this is not a golden era for network television, particularly for dramas. Dramas on cable and on streaming can take chances that network dramas just can’t make with the restrictions that they have. That’s why most drama series on the networks are procedurals or are franchises. This Is Us proved that under the right circumstances the networks can still produce shows of substance. I won’t say it was cutting edge, but everyone can use a good catharsis. This Is Us provided that.

Originally aired on: NBC

Currently streaming on: Hulu and Tubi

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Closing Laughs

The little clock on the wall tells me that it’s time to wrap things up for today. Thanks for tuning in. Have a most enjoyable week everyone. See you all once again on Monday, same bat channel!

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Zach Braff served as your host for the season 32 finale. #32 was one of the rare seasons in which the entire cast returned for the following year, so there is no need for any exit interviews this time around. Let’s get right into things; it was another episode which fairly heavily included recurring sketches of varying quality. I’m pretty much done with Deep House Dish, but this week also included Bronx Beat, which is always welcome.

But first, it’s not just SNL which is ready to take the summer off. In the cold open, George W. Bush (Jason Sudeikis) is addressing the nation from the Oval Office in which he informs the populace about his summer plans, which mostly consist of leaving Washington and letting things run their course. The camera constantly cuts to Dick Cheney (Darrell Hammond) offering approving thumbs up. Bush ends by assuring America that someone will be in charge during his extended vacation - Condoleeza Rice (Maya Rudolph) will run the country throughout the summer.

The monologue was a musical one, as Braff reminded the audience of his starring role in Garden State from a few years earlier - this episode ran in May 2007 - by singing a song promoting the finer points of his home state of New Jersey. The Saturday TV Funhouse animated sketch of the week was a solid one. In an acknowledgment that the 2008 Presidential campaign would soon kick into high gear, the likely contenders all appeared on Oprah to get ahead of any negative pieces of information that might come out. The various pre-revelations were comically absurd for the most part. If nothing else, the piece served as a reminder about some of the candidates whose campaigns crashed out quickly. Remember Dennis Kucinich? Those were the days.

This week’s Update included 2 desk pieces and one cameo. The cameo came after a mild joke about Law & Order; a stern Sam Waterson (Fred Armisen) admonished Seth & Amy in full Jack McCoy mode. Kristen Wiig’s Aunt Linda character offered her latest movie reviews. Aunt Linda was one of my favorite Wiig characters because I used to work with someone exactly like that - she would describe movies she hated with a series of facial gestures and nonsensical phrases which barely made sense. Boy, could I relate to what I was seeing from Wiig. Update ended with an appearance from Whitney Houston (Rudolph) also trying her best, and failing, to sound coherent.

Another one of my favorite recurring sketches from this era was Bill Hader’s Italian talk show La Revista Della, starring Vinny Vedecci. It was a simple formula, and it admittedly fell into stereotypes, but Hader’s performance was so amazing that he held everything together. In this edition Braff was the guest, but since he speaks no Italian and Vedecci spoke no English, it quickly fell into chaos. A regular part of the sketch would show Vedecci and his producer (Armisen) screaming at each other in Pig Italian while another crew member (Will Forte) would be seen silently eating a bowl of spaghetti.

Braff’s specific physical type guaranteed that he would act in a Bronx Beat segment in which Betty and Jody (Amy Poehler and Rudolph) would playfully flirt with a much younger man. In this instance their originally booked guest did not show, so Braff portrayed an intern who was recruited to act as the last minute replacement. Cue Betty and Jody spending their time telling him how adorable they find him to be.

That closes the books on season 32. This is a period in SNL history in which I fell into the “this show isn’t as good as it used to be” cliche, but in retrospect I could not have been more wrong. It is amazing how stacked the cast was in this era. It’s true, you rarely appreciate what you have at the time. Next week I will move on to the premiere episode of season 33. That was hosted by LeBron James of the Philadelphia 76ers.

40 Years Later

Last weekend the Mets celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1986 World Series champs. The ceremony was more bittersweet than what was expected when it was originally scheduled. This season has been such a dumpster fire that fan attendance was something of a disappointment. The date of the reunion didn’t do anyone any favors either. When the season began the assumption was that the ceremony would take place in the middle of a pennant push; the fact that it happened during trade deadline weekend as the major league roster was in the process of being stripped for parts made things awkward.

Despite that it was great to see nearly everyone return. Don’t get me wrong, I surely wish that my team has won more than 2 WS titles in its history, but if there is a sliver lining it’s that I can easily list the names of the 49 men who were on the World Series rosters. (1986 was a collusion year; owners took advantage of a loophole which permitted them to limit rosters to only 24 players that year.) 22 of 24 Mets players attended; the late Gary Carter was represented by his widow and children. In addition, most of the coaching staff was also represented by surviving family members. The only player who was not in attendance was Rick Aguilera.

These ceremonies are easy to pull off; show some highlights on the scoreboard, and introduce the players so that the fans can greet them warmly. In this case the players were introduced two at a time, with Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson earning the honor of being the final pair. In some cases the reality of 40 years slapped me in the face. There was a lot less hair, much of it gray, on top, lots of paunchy middles, and too much sights of aging heroes walking with slow gaits for my blood. I wasn’t fully prepared for that much f***ing perspective.

The day also came with the cold reality that this will be the last celebration of this type the Mets will hold for quite some time. Since the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Miracle Mets several members of that team have passed. The 60th anniversary is 3 years from now; it’s hard to imagine that there will still be enough of those men physically able to travel to New York to make a ceremony feasible. What else can the franchise celebrate? The 50th anniversary of the 1973 pennant winners? The 30th anniversary of 2000? Mets fans might have to wait until the golden anniversary of these same 1986 champs.

One final note - the 1986 roster is yet another sign of how drastically the sport has changed. These were the 24 men who were on the playoff roster, but it’s not as if there was a large number of additional 1986 Mets. In-season roster churn was almost non-existent in those days. You know how many men played at least one game for that team? This includes players traded away mid-season, rookies who had cups of coffee to replace disabled players, September call-ups, etc. Only 36 in total. Nowadays teams cycle through that many pitchers over the course of a season. It’s barely the same sport today.

Congratulations, You Too May Have Been Traded

The rich got richer at this year’s MLB trade deadline, as the collective baseball fandom was united in its dismay over the fact that the 2-time defending World Series champion Dodgers further improved their roster by trading for the pitcher who was this year’s big prize. But enough about Kris Bubic.

No, the Tarik Skubal deal is not evidence that the league needs a salary cap. Literally any contending team could have put together a similar package than the one that Dodgers offered. The Dodgers should not have to apologize for being the team willing to go the extra yard. Nor does the trade sew up the World Series. Need we be reminded again about the randomness of October baseball? The Dodgers are obviously the strongest team in the league, but nothing is guaranteed. I have lost track of the number of times I have looked at trades a team has made at the deadline and declared that it’s all over only to be proven wrong. This is why they play the games; anything can happen. An ace starter gets bombed, a shutdown reliever suffers a meltdown, an important player suffers an ill-timed injury, an obscure player has the month of his life. Any one of these events can have major ramifications in the playoffs.

I won’t criticize the Dodgers for using all of their considerable resources to strengthen the team, but I do have one issue with their standard operating procedure, even though it works. They have discovered the cheat code. The most important thing to have in October is a relatively healthy and rested pitching staff. This year’s Dodgers have had almost no contributions from Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, or Edwin Díaz. Do you think they really care about that if these pitchers are available in the playoffs with few miles on their arms as they face opponents who are gassed? That is the one financial advantage the Dodgers have which I find to be unfair. The majority of teams can’t afford to carry what is essentially a taxi squad.

Trading season is now over. Teams are basically stuck with what they have. Let’s see how it plays out. Titles are won with more than just the front line talent; it takes everyone from 1 to 26 in a team’s hierarchy to succeed. In the end the lower profile deals could turn out to be just as important as the bright and shiny moves will.

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50 Years Ago - Boston

Released in 1976, it did not take long for the first Boston album - with its familiar spaceships which look like upside down guitars cover art - to become the biggest selling debut album in history. All these years later it still ranks in second place, behind only Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction. That is not much of a surprise; the record dominated album rock and later classic rock radio for years. 7 of the 8 songs on the album (sorry, Something About You) were in fairly heavy rotation and even as newer songs have become radio staples over the years and push older ones aside the songs from Boston’s debut continue to be radio perennials.

Boston has its own little niche in the rock music world. They are generally categorized as part of the musical movement derisively called either arena rock or corporate rock. That is reserved for artists who specialize in a mainstream sound, but are fairly anonymous. Unless one is a devoted fan of a specific band, many people could not easily identify a band from its photo. Boston was kind of like that, but they stood out a bit from that pack.

Boston was more or less the brainchild of guitarist Tom Scholz. He formed the band, co-produced the album, and wrote almost all of the songs. (Lead singer Brad Delp has sole songwriting credit on one song, and co-credit on another, but otherwise it’s all Scholz.) The songs are all meticulously crafted; Scholz is one of the biggest perfectionists in rock music history; and that is not necessarily a good thing. You almost feel as if he spent months agonizing over each specific note. There is little sense of spontaneity heard here.

Despite that, it is still an impeccable example of its subgenre. The riffs and hooks are as good as it gets, and More Than a Feeling, the album’s leadoff track and hit single, was practically a template for the next decade of AOR. Almost every power ballad heard since is a direct descendant of this song, and it also proves that Boston was more than just the project of a one-man mad genius tinkering in the recording studio. Delp hits some amazing notes in his vocal performance.

More Than a Feeling is just one of many highlights. Songs such as Peace Of Mind or Long Time have a way of sticking in your head forever. IMHO the best song on the album is Rock & Roll Band. A semi-fictional account of the rise into prominence of a New England based band that sounds a lot like Boston, it tells a compelling narrative quite well.

I must admit that I didn’t give Boston the credit they deserved when I was in my prolonged “too hip for the room” phase. There was nothing adventurous about this band, but they weren’t trying to be. There’s nothing wrong with radio friendly, arena friendly rock music and the 8 songs on this album are as good an example of that as one can hear. Sure, it’s a bit over produced, but the collection as a whole is tight.

They couldn’t keep things going, largely due to Scholz’s perfectionist instincts. He can’t help but tinker; it wasn’t a huge problem with this debut. He had written some of the songs as far back as 1971, so he had plenty of time to work on them. He did not have the same luxury going forward; a major label constantly demands new product. It took 2 years for their follow-up to come out; which was an unusually long gap at the time but not completely unheard of. It took 8 years until their 3rd album saw the light of day. Even though that 3rd album was a hit - and it also produced their only #1 hit single - there was a sense that their time had passed. Subsequent albums had similarly long gaps between release, but those came with zero anticipation. Fans only care about the debut; when Boston was still an active touring band, those songs were greeted with massive enthusiasm, other songs not so much. Even if Boston’s legacy is almost entirely tied to the contents of one album, they did create major history with that release.

Closing Laughs

I invoked my no-trade clause, so I am still here. Glad to see that all of you are as well. Thanks for sticking around. Enjoy your day, everyone. See ya again on Friday.

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This was my second complete rewatch of Freaks and Geeks and I have to say that it was even more enjoyable this time around; this show continues to age quite well. My admiration for the show grows the further I am away from the ages of the main characters. I can watch this with much wider perspective; I know full well what these people are going through and with the wisdom of time I can better appreciate what is and what is not important for these people.

It is still amazing how on point Judd Apatow and Paul Feig were when they cast this series. The young cast was almost entirely filled with complete unknowns at the time: and almost all of them have gone on to have massive success. Seth Rogen is practically a one-man mogul. Linda Cardellini and Jason Segel were each just nominated for Emmy awards last month. Martin Starr and Busy Phillips are both the sort of actors whose names you are happy to see in the opening credits; each has a specific character type which they often portray, but they have mastered those archetypes. You know exactly what you are going to get. As for James Franco, while it’s true that his toxicity has tarnished his reputation, it’s just as true that at his best he was a magnetic, charismatic performer.

There were only 2 main actors who fell short of stardom, and one of those comes with a slight asterisk. His years as a regular on Bones aside, John Francis Daley has largely focused on screenwriting and not on acting, but he has carved out a nifty career for himself there. Among his credits are the Horrible Bosses movies as well as Spider-Man: Homecoming. Not too shabby. That leaves Samm Levine. He has a pretty hefty IMDB page, but it’s mostly filled with supporting work, and even those were usually low profile projects. Inglorious Basterds was an outlier.

Like many of the best television series, Freaks and Geeks is one with a deep bench of great supporting characters. Of course, the actors and writers found further depth in the main characters with each successive episode, but so too did that apply to the secondary and tertiary characters. There were more dimensions to the likes of Millie and Harris than were initially seen, and one could easily imagine more fruitful exploration of these people had the show survived to a second season.

That goes double for the adult characters. One of the reasons I find it nearly impossible to enjoy most of the classic John Hughes movies is that the adults in his movies tended to be broadly drawn caricatures. Not so here. The Weir parents were just as richly portrayed as the kids were. Coach Fredricks started out as the prototypical tyrannical gym teacher, but the creative staff always took the time to show that he was much more than that. Even Mr. Rosso, who provided the comic relief, was much more than the aging hippie who went out of his way to appear “cool” to his students.

All things considered, was it better off being a one season wonder? As I repeated constantly during my recaps, the series told a perfectly constructed series of stories over 18 episodes. It’s possible Apatow and Feig would not have been able to maintain that same level of quality indefinitely. Keeping the show running might have necessitated making some compromises. The freaks were high school juniors, what would have been next? Nick was clearly military bound, Lindsay college bound, Daniel fated to be left behind in class for another year. It would have been a challenge to maintain those storylines with seasons 3, 4, etc. in mind. As for the geeks, would we really want to see Bill wind his way through adolescence? It helped a lot that Sam seemed a lot younger than he actually was; his delayed maturity could not last much longer.

All parties concerned went on to bigger and better things. Let’s not be greedy, Freaks and Geeks was near perfection. Let’s be happy with what we had. Everyone involved with the show should be proud.

What’s Next

With Freaks and Geeks completed, it is now time to find a new show to rewatch as the lead feature on Mondays. Something with the length of F&G was ideal, because as many great longer running series as there are, I don’t want to make too much of a commitment. I am already in the midst of a lengthy SNL project, after all. So as enticing as it would be to rewatch The Wire, or Breaking Bad, or The Sopranos, etc., I wanted to go with something which would only take me a few months to get through.

I have decided on the HBO miniseries about the Apollo program, From the Earth To the Moon. It originally ran in 1998 on the heels of the success of the Apollo 13 movie from a couple of years earlier, and this was produced by Tom Hanks, who also acted as the host in an Alastair Cook sort of way, introducing each episode. (He only acted in 1 of the 12 episodes.) This series was one of the high points of HBO’s pre “It’s Not TV, It’s HBO” era. High quality HBO programming did not start with The Sopranos; it had also been the home of such shows as The Larry Sanders Show and Oz. This was part of that tradition.

The miniseries had an interesting structure. Each episode more or less focused on one mission, and as such, there were few regular characters. The closest thing to a main character was Deke Slayton (Nick Searcy) the former Mercury 7 astronaut who acted as NASA’s Director of Flight Crew Operations. The cast consisted of a treasure trove of That Guys, several of whom graduated into Recognizable Actor status in the years since. One note - in my recaps I will refrain from using the phrase That Guy. Suffice it to say that if I drop an actor’s name whom you may not be familiar with, if you Google the name you will recognize him. And it is a litany of That Guys. The series wasn’t a complete sausage fest, but keep in mind that it is a historical representation of a point in time. All of the astronauts were men, as were the administrators and engineers. It was a macho atmosphere; not much room for women.

Each episode was written and directed by a different team, and the 12 episodes included a wide range of storytelling approaches or even genres. One episode was a buddy comedy set on a rocket ship. Another one starred the engineers who designed and built the lunar module. Another starred a geologist who taught the astronauts important observational skills. Yet another focused on the wives of the astronauts. During the promotional run, one of the producers stated that you can only show the slow motion shot of men in spacesuits walking towards the rocket so many times before it gets repetitive. This unique structure allowed them to work around that limitation quite well.

Even so, some recurring scenes remained effective. I never got tired of shots of the men in Mission Control sitting in nervous silence as they wait for communications from the crew. And so many episodes ended with a moment which almost made the audience want to break into rounds of applause. The only minor drawback to the program is that it was shot in standard def, but HBO up-res’d it when it was rereleased around the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing and it looked great.

With the increase in interest surrounding the space program following the recent Artemis II mission, this feels like an ideal time to revisit From the Earth To the Moon. It is streaming on HBO Max, so I invite one and all to join me for this rewatch. It launches - see what I did there? - next week, with the premiere episode. It introduces the main players and summarizes the Gemini missions, which set things up for our ultimate journey to the moon. See you then.

Looking At Some Numbers

We are well into the portion of this segment where I must begin to ask myself if it’s worth seeing to completion. This isn’t even Remembering Some Guys territory, we are in Who Is This Guy? territory. But I made the commitment, and gosh darn it, I am going to continue. Here is the next set of greatest Mets to wear each uniform number.

64 - Part of me wants to give this to Anthony Kay, who was a high school classmate of at least one subscriber to this newsletter, but his Mets tenure was barely a cameo. Among the selection of uninspiring options, I will go with Elmer Dessens, who provided a couple of seasons of reliable mid-inning relief work at the end of his career.

65 - Mets fans of a certain age may well remember Doug Simons. He was a Rule 5 draftee who was kept on the roster for the entire 1991 season, even though he was far from major league ready. That wasted roster space conceivably cost them an NL East title. The best #65 was Robert Gsellman; he was instrumental in the Mets making it to the 2016 Wild Card game. He was both a starter and reliever, depending on the team’s needs at the time, and performed quite well in both roles.

66 - I was surprised to see that Josh Edgin was a Met for 5 seasons; I didn’t recall him lasting that long. He was a standard LOOGY type; his career totals were 177 games pitched, but only 129 innings. That could explain why I had forgotten that he pitched that long, he rarely stayed in a game long enough to make a lasting impression. Not every LOOGY can be as memorable as Pedro Feliciano.

67 - Only 2 Mets have ever worn #67, but thankfully this is not a coin flip selection. Much of what I said about Robert Gsellman applies just as easily to Seth Lugo. He was an exceptionally valuable pitcher for 7 seasons. Almost too valuable; he clearly wished to be a starting pitcher, but he was pitching so well out of the bullpen that the Mets were hesitant to move him out of that role. When the Royals finally gave him the chance to be a full-time starter he responded by finishing in 2nd place in the AL Cy Young race in 2024.

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50 Years Ago - The Muppet Show

I have covered a lot of old TV series in this segment, and to be frank, most of them are not very good. American network TV played things very safely in this time period, taking care to appeal to the lowest common denominator while also ensuring that no one would be offended. It stands to reason, therefore, that the most fondly remembered show which premiered in 1976 wasn’t part of the standard American TV infrastructure. It was filmed in England. And it aired via syndication, not on a network. And it starred puppets.

The Muppet Show made its debut in 1976, introducing scores of much beloved characters in the process. It was further proof that Jim Henson, along with his team of puppeteers, was one of the premiere creative geniuses of the 20th century. He could easily adapt the Muppet concept to appeal to adults just as well as his Sesame Street characters appealed to a pre-school crowd.

The Muppet Show cast did not consist entirely of brand new creations. Kermit the Frog was a centerpiece Henson character even before Sesame Street began; Rowlf had been around for quite a while as well. Those were among the few exceptions; 1976 saw the introductions of a multitude of new characters whose popularity is just as strong now as it was then. Even better, many of them were recognizable show business prototypes, they just happened to be puppets. Kermit was the grounded bastion of sanity in the midst of chaos. Fozzie Bear could have fit in just as easily in vaudeville or in a Borscht Belt resort as he did here. And what was Miss Piggy, other than a classic example of an egotistical show biz diva?

The Muppet Show was technically a variety show, but it was also structured as a show within a show. The backstage segments were just as vital to the show as the sketches were. Each episode had a guest host, and just as was the case with Sesame Street, the show never had any difficulty in signing up A-listers to appear, even in some cases stars who rarely did TV. I did not remember this until I did the research - there were 120 episodes produced all told, and there was not a single duplicate host. 120 shows, 120 big name hosts.

Kudos to the hosts, but the show was all about the Muppets, almost all of whom were absolutely wonderful. Who was your favorite? The Swedish Chef? Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker? Sam the Eagle? Animal? Statler and Waldorf? There are no wrong answers. As for me, my answer is Gonzo. When I was a regular Sesame Street viewer, Grover was my favorite, and Grover and Gonzo do in fact share a similar vibe. Being that they never fully explained what exactly Gonzo was supposed to be - neither animal nor monster - consider them brothers from different mothers.

This set of characters would go on to star in a series of movies, and there have been multiple revivals over the years on both TV and on screen. Rightfully so; these characters are timeless and every generation falls in love with them upon introduction. I don’t see that ever changing; there will always be a time to play the music and to light the lights. May the Muppets remain sensational, inspirational, celebrational, and Muppetational for all time.

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Closing Laughs

Hopefully there are no Statlers or Waldorfs among you and you have not spent the past several minutes heckling the contents of today’s newsletter. Thank you for not doing so. Have a great day everyone, and let’s make this a great week now, shall we? See you all again on Wednesday.

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Hard as it seems to believe now that he is a legacy artist on a variety of formats, there was a time when one rarely heard the music of Bob Marley on the radio. For myself, he was an artist whom I heard of long before I actually heard him. I was well aware that he was the most important figure in reggae music, but except for a stray I Can See Clearly Now here or there, mainstream American radio just did not play reggae. Even when Marley died, the local newscast here in New York only mentioned it in passing.

The first Marley tune that started to find its way on regular rotation was Buffalo Soldier, which was found on a posthumous release. My personal full introduction to Marley’s music - other than when my guitar teacher taught me how to play Redemption Song, but I’m pretty sure that at the time I couldn’t identify it as a Marley tune - was when I got my hands on a copy of his classic live album.

Each song on the recording caught my fancy. And then he and his band played No Woman, No Cry. Hearing this song for the first time was a transcendent experience. An incredibly beautiful song, which he sang the hell out of. The original studio recording was brilliant in its own right, but the live version is art.

Much of the basic Bob Marley ethos is exemplified by this song. He is pleading with his lover to focus on the positive aspects in life and think about the good times from the past while looking forward to what will come. Everything’s going to be alright; if that phrase alone doesn’t perfectly summarize themes found in many of his best songs, I don’t know what does. It should also be noted that Marley gave partial songwriting credit to a close friend of his, Vincent Ford, who ran a soup kitchen in Jamaica. The royalties he earned from the song allowed him to keep the kitchen up and running. How much of a contribution Ford actually made to the song is unclear, but Marley certainly did a good deed here. Everything was alright indeed.

International Sports Review/Preview

I wasn’t planning on writing about NASCAR two weeks in a row, but the results from last weekend’s race at Indianapolis were significant; the arrival of the next great driver is imminent. Two time truck series champion Corey Heim has been ready to make the leap to the Cup series, but there were no full-time rides available for him this season. Therefore, this year he is only driving a limited schedule, but he has signed a deal to have a full season ride with 23XI Racing beginning next season. He raised a few eyebrows when as part of that limited schedule for 2026 he won the race at San Diego a few weeks ago. An Indy win was even more unexpected.

For those who do not follow racing closely, trust me, it is extraordinarily difficult for a part-time driver and pit crew to win any race. To do it at Indy on top of that? That is beyond impressive. Indianapolis, with its flat straightaways and sharp turns, is a difficult track for even the most experienced and accomplished drivers. For Heim to win this race shows that his potential promises to be unlimited. He is definitely to keep an eye on next season.

No surprise, Tadej Pogačar’s lead was large enough that all he needed to do was complete his parade lap down the Champs-Élysées to win his 5th career Tour de France. That places him in a tie for the all-time record. He is only 27.

The star of the Canoe Slalom World Championships was the Australian kayaker Jessica Fox, who has been the dominant force in the sport for years. Slalom canoe & kayaking are not sports in which the United States has a history of success; even with home water advantage the only American medalist was a silver in women’s kayak for Evy Leibfarth. Here are the champions:

• Men’s Kayak Time Trial: Joseph Clarke/Great Britain

• Men’s Kayak: Jakub Krejčí/Czechia

• Men’s Kayak Cross: Vit Přindiš/Czechia

• Men’s Kayak Team: Slovenia

• Men’s Canoe: Miguel Travé/Spain

• Men’s Canoe Team: Great Britain

• Women’s Kayak Time Trial: Jessica Fox/Australia

• Women’s Kayak: Jessica Fox/Australia

• Women’s Kayak Cross: Alena Marx/Switzerland

• Women’s Kayak Team: Australia

• Women’s Canoe: Tereza Kneblová/Czechia

• Women’s Canoe Team: Slovakia

With there being no world championships held this year, the most prestigious competition in water polo in 2026 is the World Cup. Greece defeated Hungary to win the men’s title. For the women, after a couple of years of regrouping it appears that Team USA is back in their usual position of world dominance. The American women defeated Spain to take gold.

Similarly to water polo, there is no world championship held for indoor volleyball this year, leaving the Nations League as the prime international competition of the year. The American women lost to China in the quarterfinal round. The eventual champs would be Türkiye, who defeated Brazil in the final. The men’s tournament is currently in progress; the semifinals will be held tomorrow with the finals on Sunday. The United States plays Japan in one semi; it is Slovenia vs. Poland in the other.

An Update

You might recall that several months ago I discussed an ambitious project that my old high school buddy and Friend Of The Newsletter Albert deGrasse is undertaking this year. He is going to play 365 rounds of golf in 365 days, covering all 50 states in the process. This doubles as a fund raiser for the REACH program, which is a program our alma mater created to help young middle school boys gain the academic and leadership skills which will help them gain admission into academically prestigious high schools.

He initially teed off a few weeks ago and his quest is now well in progress. Here is the website which also contains links to the GoFundMe as well as a link to the REACH info page. You can also follow him on Instagram: nowdrivingtheUSA. As I said when I first discussed this endeavor, Albert is a really good guy and he is doing this for a very worthy cause. Check it out, and please donate if you are able to. I admire the hell out of him for even attempting this.

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Glen Hansard

I have a complicated relationship with the film/soundtrack of The Commitments. It is a wonderful movie; I have seen it multiple teams and I am sure that it helped introduce a generation to classic soul recordings in the same way that the Blues Brothers had done with blues a generation earlier. On the other hand, I have had too many conversations with boomers who loved The Commitments but would never give a listen to Wilson Pickett. There is a huge disconnect there.

It’s also surprising that for all of the success that the soundtrack had, few of the actor/musicians who made up the band’s lineup would go on to have significant musical careers. I’m thinking in particular of Andrew Strong, who portrayed the lead singer. He had a very soulful voice with a strong Joe Cocker vibe, it’s a shock that he never became a big star. The most significant musical figure to emerge from The Commitments would turn out to be Glen Hansard.

Hansard was the long time leader of the popular Irish rock band The Frames. Never a huge seller, the band still had enough of a loyal following that they have always been a popular touring band. He also formed the band The Swell Season, along with Czech multi-instrumentalist Markéta Irglová, who would soon become his romantic partner as well as his musical one. That would soon lead to their greatest success.

The pair co-starred in and composed the music for the romantic comedy Once, based loosely on their own relationship, for which the centerpiece song Falling Slowly would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song. They were so adorable that evening, they accepted the award with an endearing air of “can you believe this is actually happening to us?” shock. Once, which was an utterly charming movie, would later be adapted into a long running Tony Award winning Broadway musical.

Hansard and Irglová would eventually break up as a couple - the age difference between the two was a bit uncomfortable - but they would continue to occasionally collaborate professionally. Hansard maintained his presence in the Irish musical scene, both with The Frames and as a solo artist. Sadly, he was killed in a motorcycle crash this week. He was only 56. It feels appropriate to bid him farewell by sharing his tribute performance at the funeral of a different legendary Irish musician.

The Science Fiction Movie Pantheon - Moon

One of the most difficult movies to pull off successfully is one in which there is only one actor on screen for most, if not all, of the film. It is imperative that the star is someone magnetic enough to keep the audience interested. Think of Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Or Sandra Bullock in Gravity. Or, in this instance, Sam Rockwell in Moon.

Moon was the directorial debut of Duncan Jones - the artist formerly known as Zowie Bowie - who also conceived the story. In the near future, the moon is being used as a rich source for helium, therefore a corporation has set up a mining station has been set up on the far side of the moon to mine the element. The facility is fully automated and only requires one man on site to troubleshoot/make necessary repairs as well as to load the canisters which contain the materials onto rocket ships headed back to Earth. The solo workers work on 3 year contracts, and the film introduces us to Rockwell as Sam, whose tour is nearing its conclusion.

The early scenes show the day to day tedium of his life. With little to actually do, and no human contact - remember, he is stationed on the far side of the moon, so there is very limited opportunity for him to communicate with home - he fills the days as best as he can. When I say that this movie is a solo showcase for Rockwell, that is fairly accurate. We see his wife and daughter in flashback scenes, and there is a brief scene showing a transmission from corporate base. The men in that scene are only seen on a small monitor, but the voice of one of them is unmistakable. Along with Benedict Wong, we hear the distinctive tones of Matt Berry. Also heard but not seen is Kevin Spacey as the voice of the AI assistant that is Sam’s sole companion on the moon.

One day while on one of his recovery missions, Sam experiences a hallucination which distracts him enough so that he crashes his vehicle. After he regains consciousness, he is shocked to discover a doppelgänger. I will go no further in describing the plot, as it will get too heavy into spoilers if I do so. Suffice it to say that the movie gets very intense and thought provoking.

And as I said above, the movie would be nothing had the lead character been cast poorly. Jones had said that he had Rockwell in mind to portray Sam from the moment that he conceived the film, and he made an excellent choice. He has always been an actor for whom you can clearly see the wheels turning in his head, and being that this is a movie in which he must question everything, this is a perfect demonstration of his skill set. It clocks in tightly, just over 90 minutes long, and there is not a single wasted moment.

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Closing Laughs

Sorry to spring this on you, but tomorrow is August 1. The end of summer will begin to sneak up on us all too soon. I’m not going to ask where did the time go, but, where did the time go? Have a great weekend, all you good people. We shall speak again on Monday.

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This episode turned out to be a pleasant surprise. My constant frustration with the episodes on Peacock has been the number of great sketches which had to be omitted due to music licensing costs. This episode is not only mostly fully intact, but it is the first time I have seen one which also retained the performances from the musical act - The Shins in this case.

Jake Gyllenhaal was the host for this one; the first of his 3 hosting gigs thus far. Adam Driver remains the gold standard for intense dramatic actors who have taken to SNL like a duck to water, but Gyllenhaal comes reasonably close to clearing the high bar that Driver has set. This was just a real solid overall episode, albeit one which is overly reliant on recurring sketches.

The cold open was an Oval Office address from George W. Bush, and Jason Sudeikis has taken over the Dubya duties from Will Forte. His Bush was only OK; I actually preferred Forte. In this piece, Bush announced an increase in troops which will be sent to Baghdad; he will activate literally every uniformed employee on the federal payroll, up to and including postal workers.

The highlight of the week was one of the more endearing repeat sketches from this era, the Bronx Beat talk show starring Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph as Betty and Jodi. Talk show sketches are a well that SNL goes into often, but this is one which I never grew tired of, because the characters were well drawn and the performances were impeccable. This is a sketch often used when the host was a young man, especially a boyishly handsome one, which would give Betty and Jodi a chance to tell him how adorable he is. Gyllenhaal fit the bill as a young author promoting his newest book.

Less successful is the latest edition of Deep House Dish, a sketch which I found overly formulaic. Kenan Thompson as host DJ Dynasty Handbag, joined by clueless co-host T’Shane (Andy Samberg sporting a spiky Mohawk) introduce a parade of musical acts who sing a snippet of a song before coming to the couch for a brief interview segment.

Last week I briefly discussed the new Update team of Poehler and Seth Meyers; the full Update was not included in the Peacock stream of the season premiere, but it is fully intact this time and their immediate rapport was crystal clear. Both desk pieces this week were good. Fred Armisen appeared as Steve Jobs, hawking the capabilities of the iPhone. Even better was Rudolph doing one of her finest impressions - Whitney Houston. Here she was auctioning off some of her personal belongings to help pay off bills. The way in which Rudolph’s Houston would pronounce the name “Bobby Brown” was pure art.

The Digital Short this week was Samberg’s and Bill Hader’s long awaited sequel to their beloved Laser Cats. The audacity of the concept was outstanding - a cheapo science fiction movie about cats who shoot lasers interspersed with Lorne’s disgust. I can easily picture Lorne Michaels having the exact same reaction when Samberg initially proposed the piece.

The episode also included a trio of very good non-recurring sketches, the best of which was an acting class specifically for actors searching for a guest starring role on Law & Order. Yes, one of the students pantomimes unloading boxes from a truck, as every witness to a crime on L&O appears to do. I also liked the Stock Footage Awards piece. This was an awards show hosted by Dan Rather (Darrell Hammond) and Jane Pauley (Kristen Wiig) which honored the best uses of stock footage to serve as B-Roll on news stories. Finally, there was a sketch set at a party in which Gyllenhaal and Rudolph portrayed a couple who were trying to set up a paraplegic friend of theirs (Sudeikis) with a woman who they claim would be perfect for him. The woman in question (Wiig) is also in a wheelchair and Gyllenhaal and Rudolph need to awkwardly deny that their sole reason for believing that the couple has so much in common is that they are both in chairs.

Overall, this was an outstanding episode. Jake Gyllenhaal still needs to host twice more before he earns that 5 Timers jacket; I would welcome him to return at any time. Next week I will turn to the finale of season 32; hosted by Zach Braff.

Welcome To the Hall

The National Baseball Hall Of Fame Class of 2026 was formally inducted this past weekend. The ceremony, the speeches, the unveiling of the plaques, Rob Manfred reading the plaque inscriptions out loud with the dynamic magnetism that only he can provide, the whole kit and kaboodle. Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, and Jeff Kent are now all officially members of the Hall. The pricing on their autographs will now rise accordingly.

Attendance at this year’s ceremony was sparse compared to some of the more recent ones. It makes sense; even though the 3 players all have their fans, their popularity is nothing compared to that of someone like, say, Ichiro. On top of that, people have issues with the candidacies of each man to one extent or another. I won’t go there; I may not agree with the induction of Jones, but I am not going to be the guy to rain on someone’s parade on one of the greatest days of his life. If Lou Whitaker and Bobby Grich are more deserving second basemen that Kent, that’s not his fault. He was on the ballot, they were not. And although the presence of a former Giant as well as a cheater on the podium causes people to make the “what about Bonds?” argument yet again, all indications are that the people in charge of the Hall have made it very clear that they will do everything they can to keep Bonds and Clemens out. I don’t see that changing any time soon. Next year’s induction is likely to be highlighted by Buster Posey and Dusty Baker. We shall see if attendance improves.

I am rarely all that interested in the speeches; there is a clear format to a HOF speech, and unless one of the speakers is unusually witty, the speeches tend to be forgettable. The part I enjoy most is the sight of the returning Hall Of Famers on stage. This year a record number of 60 past honorees returned to Cooperstown. These are men who range in age from their late 40’s all the way up to 90 year old Sandy Koufax, so in some cases there is added poignancy in seeing some of our heroes from the past as aged men. It’s still a treat to see them; I will not question the decisions of those who choose not to make the trek. Cooperstown isn’t the easiest place to get to, and it’s an additional challenge for a man of a certain age for whom travel is difficult to head on up there. The thought of a ceremony with 100% attendance is a pipe dream, but no matter how many HOFers are there in a given year, a wide shot of the stage is a special sight indeed.

A Photo Which Brings Me Great Joy

Rick Moranis has been informally retired from acting and has refrained from making public appearances for years. His wife died from cancer in 1991, and Moranis stepped away so that he could be there for his kids. That is admirable; he has always seemed to be an exceptionally nice man, and his desire to be a full time dad should be celebrated. From a purely selfish standpoint, however, one can’t help but wonder how many wonderful comedic performances we would have seen from him had he remained active.

In recent years he has made a few tentative steps back into the spotlight, none more heavily anticipated than his return as Dark Helmet in next year’s Spaceballs sequel. To be clear, I don’t have much confidence that the movie is going to be very good; is it even possible to recreate the same magic in a 40 years after the fact sequel? So what; it was uplifting to see Moranis make an appearance at a ComicCon panel last week. The dude looks so happy; I certainly hope he appreciates how much joy he has brought to so many over the years. Welcome back, Mr. Moranis.

Deadline Time

MLB’s trade deadline is less than a week away - 6PM on Monday to be exact - and the soft middle of the American League muddies the trade market. Because there are so many teams near .500, and therefore close enough that they can convince themselves that they are in playoff contention, it could take up until the very last moment for front offices to decide if they should be buyers or sellers. Overly optimistic organizations can turn their lonely eyes towards Boston - where the Red Sox quickly went from all but out of it to finding themselves in the postseason were the season to end today. Amazing how quickly a 15 games winning streak can change the narrative. Conversely, the bottom has dropped out on the Marlins. Not so long ago they were a stealth contender; a 12 game losing streak, which finally ended on Monday, has placed them in likely seller mode.

Because there are so few teams who are indisputably out of the race, it is a seller’s market. Even more so because the Angels should be sellers, but that franchise never does what is expected of them. As deflating as this annus horribilis has been for the Mets, the number of potential buyers makes this a trade deadline in which a team can turn things around fairly quickly. The biggest question hanging over the next several days is what the Tigers are going to do about Tarik Skubal. There is practically zero chance that they will be able to sign him when he hits free agency. One would think they can’t risk losing him for nothing, but at the same time they have Fangraphs playoff odds above just above 25%. Not out of the race, but far from a likely playoff participant. The front office has a difficult decision to make; that’s why they earn the big bucks.

50 Years Ago - Logan’s Run

As we have seen time and again, the mid-1970s were a fertile period for dystopian thrillers. Logan’s Run was among the very best of them. Set in the year 2274, humans were living in domed cities. In these cities, people live lives of debauchery, in which every primal need is tended to. The tradeoff is that when each person turns 30, they must sacrifice themselves as part of a quasi-religious ceremony known as “Carrousel.” In order to guarantee participation, each person receives a palm implant at birth, which changes color as the fateful day approaches.

Not everyone goes willingly, and there is a special police force known as Sandmen who track down the runners. Michael York stars as Logan, one of the most accomplished sandmen. He is assigned to infiltrate an underground society of runners, who all wear distinctive pendants. It turns out that these pendants are intended to help people escape the domed city and search for a mythical sanctuary found outside the dome.

Eventually this causes Logan to Question Everything. Joined by Jessica, a woman he has fallen in love with (Jenny Agutter) he goes on a run to find sanctuary while being hunted by his former partner and close friend Francis (Richard Jordan.) Among his stops along the way is an underground plastic surgery clinic, which de-ages the patients so that they do not look 30. The physician’s assistant was portrayed by Farrah Fawcett, which I only mention because when Logan’s Run aired on network TV she was promoted as one of the stars of the movie, even though she was only in 2 scenes.

Logan and Jessica do eventually make it out of the city, where they discover the abandoned remnants of Washington D.C. They are struck by the moss covered ruins of the Lincoln Memorial; they had never seen a man that old before, even if it was only a statue. That was nothing compared to their next discovery; they find an elderly man portrayed by Peter Ustinov.

The movie climaxes with the final confrontation between Logan and Francis, as well as Logan’s reveal of the old man to the citizenry, offered as proof that one could live beyond 30. Logan’s Run stood out from most movies of its ilk because it was a fascinating concept well executed. It should also be noted that the 23rd century setting placed it far enough in the future that societal collapse doesn’t feel quite as foreboding. I have seen enough futuristic thrillers in which we have already passed the date in which it was set. If you go by timelines, we should already be eating Soylent Green or living in a society in which talking apes are the dominant species. Thankfully we have a ways to go before we will need to concern ourselves with Carrousel.

Closing Laughs

And that’s the end of that story. Thanks once again for tuning in, you guys are the best. Have a terrific day, and we shall speak again on Friday.

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I hesitate to ever describe a television series as “perfect.” Nitpick closely enough, and one can find minor flaws on even the best shows. No, Freaks and Geeks was not perfect. But it came pretty damn close. The series finale tied a nice bow on the whole thing; it closed with Lindsay making a fateful decision which would have had major ramifications had there been a second season. Watching this one comes with its share of melancholy, knowing that this is the final moments we get to share with these characters. Soldier on we must.

The episode begins in a sparsely attended disco, in which Sara (Lizzy Caplan) is exuberantly dancing, and the moonlighting DJ is the clothing store salesman whom Joel Hodgson had portrayed in a couple of earlier episodes. Daniel and Ken drag Lindsay and Kim in so that they can pull one of their favorite pranks - shouting “disco sucks!” at the dancers. Except this time, Sara’s date turns around. It’s Nick, decked out in his finest satin shirt.

Yep, Nick and Sara are now a couple, seemingly out of the blue. Sara had occasionally shown up in an episode here and there, rarely having more than a single line or two. This was her first real screen time, and she appears to be a handful. She is a clingy girlfriend, and she insists on calling Ken “Kenny.” He doesn’t seem like a Kenny. Nick seems content to act like a chameleon, changing his personality to suit her.

This episode coincides with the end of the school year, and students and teachers alike are in phone it in mode. The jocks seize the opportunity to pick on the geeks one last time, knocking the school books out of the hands of Sam, Bill, and Neal. They take refuge in the AV club, asking the AV advisor (Steve Higgins) why the jocks feel the need to constantly bully them. Higgins gives them his version of the “one day, they’ll be working for you” speech.

Lindsay, meanwhile, has been informed that she will receive a special honor. She has been selected to take part in a 2 week long academic summit at the University of Michigan. She is apathetic about this, so Mr. Rosso brings her into his office to remind her that this is the sort of thing which would look impressive on a college application. In doing so, he casually quotes some Grateful Dead lyrics. When she appears to not recognize what he is doing, he tells her that she can find much wisdom from the Dead, and loans her his copy of American Beauty.

Daniel, as usual, is in dire straits academically. He is not worried about his upcoming math final, however. He has a guy who he always sits next to and cheats from. That is, until, he finds an empty seat in class. The dude broke his leg and has to miss the test. In a panic, Daniel excuses himself to go to the bathroom, and then smashes the protective glass over the fire alarm. He doesn’t actually get a chance to pull the alarm, because Rosso has caught him red handed. As punishment, Rosso informs Daniel that he must join the AV club.

Lindsay is walking through the cafeteria with American Beauty under her arm, which draws the attention of the 2 Deadheads to whom we were introduced a couple of weeks earlier. They get very excited when Lindsay tells them that she had never previously listened to the Dead. They tell her it will be a life changing experience, and they go to describe their summer plans, which will be to follow the band on their summer tour. This makes her curious, and she is now willing to give the record a chance.

In a montage set to Box Of Rain, Lindsay listens to the album in her bedroom. We can see her interest increasing with each listen. She constantly picks up the needle and places it once again at the beginning of the album. She gradually begins to gently sway to the music. By the end, she is doing a full blown version of the Dead Shuffle. She is now completely hooked into the Grateful Dead ethos.

The geeks, along with Gordon and Harris, are less thrilled to learn that Daniel will be intruding on their safe space. Maybe not Harris so much. You might recall that a few weeks ago Daniel had told Harris that he admired how comfortable he seems to be in his own skin; Harris informed Daniel that the secret is to just be yourself and not be so concerned with what other people think. Sam tries to convince his friends that deep down inside, Daniel is a good guy. Neal reminds him that Daniel had earlier given Sam a porno film, naively thinking that would help him out.

I mentioned that this is the end of the school year, so rather than teach a class, an English teacher is preparing to show the Franco Zeffirelli Romeo & Juliet film to his students. Daniel wheels in the cart with the projector, and he is humiliated when he is unable to properly set it up. Later, Sam catches Daniel sitting alone in the AV room, carefully reading the manual so that he will know what to do next time. Harris also decides to invite Daniel to join them for their next round of Dungeons & Dragons.

Lindsay still has yet to fully commit to the summit, so Kim tries to talk some sense into her, mostly by telling her that she is jealous that her friend will have something to do during the summer. Kim is stuck in town; Lindsay says that doesn’t need to be the case, but Kim reminds her that even if she had somewhere to go, she has no money. Lindsay says that shouldn’t be a reason to hold her back.

Daniel does attend the D&D session, where much to his displeasure his roll of the dice results in his being assigned a dwarf character. Confession time for me here. You probably know by now that I have been drawn towards all sorts of nerdy stuff, but I never once played Dungeons & Dragons. Therefore, I can’t relate to these scenes quite as well as I have to many others in the show’s history.

While this has been going on, Nick has been preparing to compete in a dance contest. In what is kind of a dickish move, Ken pulls his “disco sucks!” prank once again the night of the contest. Hodgson’s DJ gets into an argument with Ken, stating that The Rolling Stones had recorded a disco tune, and if disco is good enough for them… Ken is finally dragged out by a bouncer, who confides in Ken that not only does he agree with him, but that the club is about to shut down due to lack of interest. It will be replaced with Foxy Boxing. Nick does his dance routine reasonably well, although he is mostly all arms and legs. He loses, however, as the next competitor includes some magic tricks as part of his routine. Just as has been the case with Nick and his drumming, he is good, but nowhere near being good enough.

In the end, Daniel has a great time playing D&D and he has fully bonded with his new friends from the AV club. He goes to the kitchen to get a round of soda for everyone. Sorry, this show is set in the Midwest. He goes for a round of pop. While he’s out of the room, the gang wonders what is happening. Does this mean that Daniel is officially a geek? Or even better, does the fact that Daniel is one of them mean that they’re cool? This is something the audience would have learned in the season 2 which never happened.

Things end with the Weirs dropping Lindsay off at the bus stop, where she is ready to travel to Ann Arbor. Sam tearfully begs her not to go, but she reminds him that she will only be away for 2 weeks. Neal and Bill come by to see her off as well, where Lindsay gives Neal a peck on the cheek. Poor deluded Neal still thinks he has a shot at his best friend’s older sister, but who knows where this storyline would have led had the show survived.

The show ends with Ripple serving as the soundtrack. Lindsay is riding on the bus to Ann Arbor with a sad look in her eyes. Except she does not go all the way to Ann Arbor. She gets off at the first stop instead, where she finds Kim waiting for her. As the camera zooms out, we see the Deadhead van. Lindsay and Kim hop in, and they hit the road. Lindsay will not spend 2 weeks at an academic summit, she will spend an entire summer following the Grateful Dead. End of episode, end of season, end of series. Bravo to all involved.

Next week I’ll wrap things up with my final thoughts on what just might be the single best one-season series in TV history. I will also preview the next show which I will rewatch for the lead segment on the Monday newsletter. What will it be? You will need to tune in to find out.

Looking At Some Numbers

We are not quite yet at the point where there is only one option for each number, or none for that matter, but we’re getting there. Here is the next set of winners of the most prestigious honor in sports - the greatest Met to wear each uniform number. Don’t expect to see many legends today.

60 - This was the number that Andrés Giménez wore during his brief Mets tenure. He showed some promise, but I would be lying if I said that I thought he would soon mature into becoming one of the best defensive second basemen of the era. He was traded to Cleveland as part of the Francisco Lindor deal, so he holds a special place in franchise history.

61 - The dozen Mets who have worn #61 range from guys for whom I have literally zero memories of to Jesse Orosco when he made his initial major league cameo in 1979 to veteran pitchers who made stops in New York during the journeyman portion of their career. I will make my selection from the latter group; the answer is Liván Hernández.

62 - This comes down to a choice between a dependable setup relief pitcher and a solid middle of the rotation starter. All things being equal, the advantage should go to a starting pitcher. With all due respect to Drew Smith, the honor goes to Jose Quintana, especially because Quintana made a couple of strong starts during the 2024 playoffs.

63 - Only 6 players have worn this number, and 5 of them have negative bWARs as Mets. The 6th had a WAR of exactly 0.0, and he pitched a grand total of 1 inning for the Mets. That’s not exactly a large enough sample size, so I will move to the #63 with the second highest WAR. Congratulations, Bryce Montes de Oca.

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All Things Considered, He’d Rather Be In Philadelphia

Most seasons, NBA free agency season runs to its own rhythm. There is a frenzy to sign the big names/rotation players at the first possible moment, followed months later by the guys who will have to settle for the veteran minimum just before training camp starts. That leaves the middle class to have to see which teams still have enough available salary cap space. This year has been a little bit different, because 2 players were basically holding things up for everyone else.

One of those players is Kawhi Leonard, but the ambiguity concerning his case is only affecting two teams, the Clippers and Raptors. The proposed trade which was going to send him to Toronto is on hold pending the completion of his investigation into his alleged no-show job with Aspiration. Both teams have their hands tied until the league releases its final decision. That’s unfortunate, but neither franchise is blameless. If the Clippers did in fact illegally circumvent salary cap rules, then they deserve whichever punishment is coming to them. As for Toronto, somebody, anybody, in the organization should have spoken up and asked if trading for him is really a good idea if there is even a smidgeon of a chance that the league could void his contract. If that happens, it is much too late for Toronto to switch to Plan B.

The LeBron James situation is much different. Each team which believed they had a realistic chance at signing him has been stuck in a holding pattern. They needed to hold open a roster spot and reserve salary cap space (although the cap did not turn out to be in issue, since LeBron signed for the veteran minimum) until James would make his latest Decision. After weeks of inscrutable comments from both James and his agent, they finally announced that he will make the final stop in his legendary career in Philadelphia.

He obviously trusts the process. At this stage of his career he is no longer the peerless alpha of the NBA - and that is no insult, the guy is 41 - but he is still a legitimate all-star level player, and on paper this is an intriguing starting 5. LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and V.J. Edgecombe promises to be an elite unit. The problems are that Embiid’s game to game availability is always in question, and that these are 5 guys who all need the ball to thrive. Sixers coach Nick Nurse will have his work cut out for him if he wishes to mold this into a smoothly working unit.

What this does do is help shift the balance of power even further in the Eastern Conference’s direction. The Knicks are the reigning NBA champs, the Pistons and Cavs are hoping to build on strong regular seasons which turned into disappointing playoff runs. The Pacers should rebound if/when Tyrese Haliburton is healthy, the Hawks look like a team ready to make the leap. If Kawhi does wind up on Toronto’s roster, then one should not sleep on the Raptors either. And who knows what additional movers the Celtics and Heat will be able to make now that the LeBron news will reopen free agent business.

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TV Of the 21st Century - Wellington Paranormal

The TV adaptation of What We Do In the Shadows was not the first TV spin-off from the movie. There was a series produced for New Zealand television which was a more direct adaptation of the movie. Like the FX produced series, it was co-created by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, but Wellington Paranormal retained the NZ setting and it starred two of the supporting characters from the movie.

Wellington police officers Minogue (Mike Minogue) and O’Leary (Karen O’Leary) were assigned to a secret division headed by Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu) which investigated supernatural events. It appears that the city of Wellington is a real weirdness magnet; ghosts and demons and vampires, oh my, and all sorts of otherworldly forces have a way of popping up and terrorizing the local populace.

The situations were often comically absurd, but it is the characters who made the show work. Minogue is endearingly stupid; I sometimes have an issue with characters that are implausibly dumb, but his level is just right. He would inadvertently wind up getting possessed once or twice per season. O’Leary, on the other hand, liked to pretend that she was the competent half of the partnership, but that came with a hint of hubris. She wasn’t as good of a cop as she pretended to be, which would inevitably place her in embarrassing situations as well.

After the success of the WWDITS series, CW imported Wellington Paranormal. The show ran for 4 6 episode seasons plus a holiday special; CW repurposed that into a 2 season run on the American network. It was not as consistently, uproariously funny as the American series was - few shows were - but it was a reliable source of humor and it provided a good deal of genuine LOL moments. Sad to say it is not currently streaming anywhere in the United States; it ran on HBO Max for a while but it is no longer available in the library. If and when it does return somewhere, it is absolutely worth checking out. It was a lovely little hidden gem.

Originally aired on: The CW Network

Currently streaming on: Nowhere at the moment.

Closing Laughs

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Thanks for tuning in, & please be sure to have an awesome day. See ya again on Wednesday.

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This song, from Bob Dylan’s classic Blood On the Tracks album, has a particularly haunting quality to it. It doesn’t hurt that Stephen King used a portion of the song’s lyrics as a heading on a chapter in his novel The Stand. The religious imagery found throughout the song is the cherry on top.

The song contains no chorus per se, instead it consists of 10 verses, each punctuated with the phrase “‘Come in’ she said ‘I’ll give ya, shelter from the storm.’” The song’s theme is about the redemptive power of love, and as mentioned, some of the lyrics sound as if they could have come out of a religious text. Dylan has always been a lyrical master; it would be a challenge to narrow down the greatest lines he has ever written to only a select few. In my opinion, “I offered up my innocence, and I got repaid with scorn” must rank near the top.

The arrangement is such that the song would not have felt out of place on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Other than a subtle bass line, the only instrumentation is Dylan himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. The throwback nature of the record is not the only reason why it is so powerful, but it sure doesn’t hurt. Dylan was still at the very peak of his powers when this song came out, and it is a very deserving Greatest Song Evah.

International Sports Review/Preview

As it turns out, the Cup is coming home after all. It’s just that home is Spain. Spain is hoarding just about every major soccer championship that there is. Not only did they defeat Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup, but Spain also won the Euro 2024 tournament, and they are the reigning Olympic champions to boot (no pun intended.) Who won the Women’s World Cup in 2023? You guessed it. Not Frank Stallone, but Team Spain. As for individual honors, Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot for having scored the most goals in this tournament, passing Lionel Messi for most career World Cup goals in the process. The Golden Ball award - which really needs to be renamed - for tournament MVP went to Spanish captain Rodri.

The lead up to every major international sporting event comes with its share of angst, and we are all guilty of forgetting that once the actual competition begins the inherent drama brushes all of the off field aside. With the Olympics we always worry that the facilities will not be competed in time. They always are. In this case, the concern was that the current administration will ruin everything, and although there were some dicey moments, what will be remembered is the thrills that the players gave us. Let’s not be naive, the experience that fans from Middle Eastern and African nations did not match those of the European visitors who shot viral videos about their newfound love for ranch dressing. Overall, however, the Cup was a success beyond everyone’s greatest hopes, and soccer aficionados who have spend years extolling the joys of the Beautiful Game must be doing victory dances right about now. TV ratings went through the roof, and even hotel bookings improved as the tournament progressed.

What next? The 2030 Cup will be held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which means that many matches will be held during morning hours in the states. Can momentum carry over until then? I will once again survey myself as a focus group of one and say that as much as I enjoyed the matches, I just don’t have enough time to add another sport to my viewing queue. I highly doubt I will go out of my way to watch a soccer match until next year’s Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Brazil, so the time zone is advantageous for American viewing. As for everyone else, if you are going to use this as an opportunity to find an EPL team to root for, good luck on your search.

Another major event is approaching its climax; the Tour De France ends this weekend, with the traditional closing stage finishing along the Champs-Élysées. I don’t pay a great deal of attention to this event. I admire the sheer difficulty of competing the tour, but I just can’t bring myself to watch hours of road cycling day after day. That said, the result is little in doubt at this juncture. Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia has a seemingly insurmountable lead. That would be his 3rd consecutive victory, and 5th overall.

I am much more drawn to shorter races on bicycles, such as in BMX racing. The BMX Racing World Championships took place last week. There are all sorts of asterisks assigned to the results, as dangerously high winds forced the event to be canceled after the 1/8 finals, so the championships went to the cyclists who had the fastest time in that round. Jesse Asmus of Australia was the winner in the men’s elite division, his first career world title. The women’s elite winner has considerably more hardware on her mantle. Beth Shriever of Great Britain won her second consecutive crown and 4th overall, to go with her gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics.

Both of the major US based racing series are at crucial points in their seasons. The IndyCar season is off this weekend and next, before a 6 races in 5 weekends sprint will wrap up the year, allowing completion of the season before the NFL sucks all of the oxygen out of the room. A lot can still happen, but Álex Palou - yet another Spanish athlete at the top of his game on the world stage - once again has a sizable lead in the points over David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood, who currently rank second and third respectively. Palou’s lead isn’t quite as large as it was last year, when he wrapped up the title before the final race, but it would take something extraordinary to overtake him. That would be 4 consecutive cups, and 5 in 6 years. Sometimes such utter dominance can get boring, here’s hoping that the points can tighten up in the next few weeks. One more note: one of next month’s races is the inaugural edition of a new race to be held on the streets of DC, so that the Make A Wish child currently occupying the White House can watch fast cars go “vroom vroom” near his house.

NASCAR has 5 races to go in the regular season before the 10 race Chase begins, and drivers have started to clinch spots in the 16 man field. Thus far, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney are locked in, and realistically, the drivers currently ranked 4-10 in the standings likely have enough of a cushion in the points that their positions are reasonably solid. In addition, there are probably only around 2 or 3 drivers outside the playoff bubble who can realistically still race their way in. There are still a lot of stakes, even for those already in. Each position in the final regular season standings adds bonus points to a driver’s total once the points reset at the beginning of the Chase. Those additional points, or lack thereof, could make all the difference in the world between winning the Cup and just falling short.

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RIP

I have mentioned in the past that I grew up in Queens, & NYC did not wire the outer boroughs for cable TV until the late 1980’s, so I mostly missed out on the early days of MTV. When I finally had access to the channel, one of my must watches was 120 Minutes. A Sunday night show which showcased alternative, college, and indie rock, it was the perfect show for my tastes. Dave Kendall, who was the creator of 120 Minutes, recently passed away.

When I began watching the show, Kevin Seal was the host. At the time, Kendall had a weekly segment in which if memory serves correctly, he provided updated on the British alternative scene for the American audience. He was dressed in black leather while standing in a darkly lit set, and with a gravelly, British accented voice, the presentation made him seem like something of an ominous figure. When he eventually took over as show host, he was revealed to be a typical MTV personality, for better or worse. He did have one tendency which consistently irked me. He had deep knowledge of alternative rock, but whenever he attempted to talk about music which was not in his wheelhouse, he showed unfortunate ignorance. One would think that a producer would give him an “umm, actually” in his earpiece, but no such luck. That tendency of his was even worse on the one non-MTV project in which I saw him. He was one of the studio hosts for the pay per view broadcast of the Woodstock ‘94 concert. I don’t want to mock a dead man by giving you specific examples, but he spewed out an embarrassing number of faux pas. Kendall was 63.

Speaking of alternative rock, news had come out recently that L7 bassist Jennifer Finch was suffering from an aggressive form of brain cancer. She succumbed to the disease this week. The all-female L7 were an amalgam of grunge/punk/hard rock with a decidedly feminist tinge. I don’t remember them being specifically categorized as part of the riot grrrl scene, but they certainly had the same “mess with me and you will regret it” ethos. They famously dealt with dickish men in their audience by hurling used tampons at them. Which, ick. But also, you had it coming, a**hole. L7 broke it big in that post-Nirvana wave and were one of the headliners in an early Lollapalooza festival. I really enjoyed the major label albums that they released in this time period. They could switch from hardcore aggression to detached apathy on the turn of a dime. Finch herself was a multi-talented artist. In addition to her musicAl career, she was also a professional photographer and visual artist. Finch died weeks shy of her 60th birthday.

Hal Williams had roles in two successful sitcoms a decade apart from each other. He had a recurring role as Officer Smith on Sanford & Son, and then he co-starred as Marla Gibbs’ husband Lester on 227. Both of those provided him with the opportunity to portray exasperation quite well. He interspersed that with frequent guest starring roles on dozens of television series over the years along with a handful of film roles. For example, he was the drill sergeant in Private Benjamin. Williams was 92.

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50 Years Ago - Holmes & Yoyo/Mr. T & Tina

Here are two series which are indelibly joined at the hip. They aired back to back on Saturday nights on ABC. Both were catastrophic flops, both critically and commercially. (I remember the shows having been cancelled simultaneously, but Mr. T was pulled after only 5 episodes, whereas Holmes lasted for 11.) And as a sign as to how screwed up my memory is, I have some clear recollections about each of these shows. Why can’t my mind clear room for more important stuff instead?

Holmes & Yoyo was a police comedy. Holmes (Richard B. Shull) was a veteran detective whose partners kept on getting shot. His newly assigned partner was Yoyo (John Schuck.) The twist? Yoyo was an android. A android who frequently malfunctions. One of the things I remember about the show was that whenever Yoyo was asked which division of the force he had come from, he would reply “the bunco squad.” And then, a glitch would result in his repeating the phrase “the bunco squad” over and over again. Another gag was that when Yoyo would touch his nose it would activate an internal camera, an instant photo popping out of his shirt pocket.

I liked the show when it aired, but what did I know, I was 10. It was a decent enough show for a 10 year old, for anyone 11 or older it was probably a painful experience. As I said, ABC cancelled the show before all of the produced episodes aired. As much of a bomb as it turned out to be, it was a massive hit when compared to Mr. T and Tina.

Pat Morita - who left Happy Days to star in this - starred as the titular Mr. T, an eccentric inventor who has just moved to Chicago, and hired Tina (Susan Blanchard) as a governess for his 2 young children. This sets up a cultural clash comedy, as despite his whimsical side, Mr. T was very much a traditional Japanese businessman as opposed to the more free-spirited Tina.

I have 2 memories of this one. His landlady was named Mrs. Llewellyn, and the show mined comedy from his inability to pronounce her name correctly. Because, you know, why not go full blown into offensive stereotypes and show a Japanese man have difficulty with the letter “l.” In addition, Ted Lange was a regular on the show, and in one scene he joined Mr. T in a traditional Japanese bath, a scene in which he went snorkeling, much to Mr. T’s displeasure.

One thing I had forgotten is that this show was ostensibly a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter. The lead character was initially introduced on a Kotter episode before he moved to Chicago. That connection was not enough to salvage the show. ABC yanked the show after only 5 episodes. Poor Pat Morita had to watch as Happy Days continued to thrive for years to come. (Fun fact, his Happy Days character Arnold would return a year later on another short-lived comedy, the Happy Days spin-off Blansky’s Beauties. The guy couldn’t catch a break. Mr. Miyagi would still be years away.) OK, silly young me might have liked Holmes & Yoyo, but I can’t say the same for Mr. T & Tina. Even back then, I recognized the show as hot garbage. Both of the above shows often pop up on listings of the worst TV series in history. I can’t disagree.

Closing Laughs

Friday already? Yes indeed. Thanks as always for the clicks and likes and everything else. Have an excellent weekend everyone, let’s do this again on Monday.

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The beginning of season 32 on Peacock had the same issues that all of season 31 did; for some reason the episodes are much more heavily edited than normal. No opening credits, no Weekend Update, no closing goodbyes. After this, the brevity of the episodes will no longer be an issue; I checked ahead and later episodes from season 32 are standard length.

5 cast members from season 31 either left on their own accord or were let go, and since the firings were due to budget cuts, no new cast members were hired. The featured players from last season were all promoted to the main cast, leaving 11 people in total. That is an unusually small cast for modern era SNL, but what it lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality. These are the 11 regulars in season 32. Fred Armisen. Will Forte. Bill Hader. Darrell Hammond. Seth Meyers. Amy Poehler. Maya Rudolph. Andy Samberg. Jason Sudeikis. Kenan Thompson. Kristen Wiig. Not a single weak link in the bunch. Not only are these all SNL legends, but with the exception of Hammond - who has mostly backed away from the spotlight, and even he is still part of the SNL family as the current show announcer - they all remain major forces in comedy to this day.

In reality, there are 10 members of this season’s cast. Meyers replaced Tina Fey as co-anchor on Update, and he essentially ceased appearing in sketches. Meyers was also one of the 3 head writers, along with Paula Pell and Harper Steele. In addition, following long time director Beth McCarthy Miller’s departure, Don Roy King took over the helm, a position he would hold for the next 15 years. With all of this housecleaning out of the way, time to tackle the season premiere, hosted by Dane Cook.

I have to say, that after all this time Dane Cook’s success still puzzles me. I can usually figure out the appeal of artists who just don’t do it for me, especially those for whom I am not the target demographic. I could never get what it is about Dane Cook that people find funny. His monologue was OK, nothing more than that. Nothing that would lead me to believe he was once the most popular standup in America. This made for a rather humdrum episode. I’m probably not alone in my feelings; exactly 1 sketch from this week is on SNL’s YouTube channel.

The highlight of the week was a sketch which was a perfect showcase for Forte’s particular brand of oddness. He & Cook portrayed a pair of delivery men for Poland Spring who were seen in their shared apartment chugging from large cooler jugs of water. And then, their supervisor (Wiig) knocks on the door. They need to quickly hide the dozens of empty jugs strewn about the apartment before letting her in. When they finally do so, she informs them that there have been complaints from customers about unreceived deliveries. She eventually finds the evidence, and then comes the whammy. Who knows how many SNL viewers in 2006 were also old time fans of Fibber McGee & Molly, but if there were any they were in for a treat.

Forte opens a closet, from which a pile of jugs fall out. And more. And more. And more. The number of jugs blows well past Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes territory, but somehow each falling jug continues to be funny. Wiig tells them that they are both fired, and one would think this would be the end of the sketch, but now it gets surreal. Wondering what they can do now, Forte mentions that he has a friend who works for SNL and is always looking for sketch ideas. Forte suggests telling the friend about this incident. Even better, in case that doesn’t work he has another friend who works at Studio 60 On Sunset Strip, and Cook has a friend at 30 Rock. They’re all set!

As mentioned, this was the debut of the Amy Poehler/Seth Meyers Update team, and one can make the argument that they made the best pairing of them all. The full Update was not on Peacock, but a pre-Update segment was. In this one, Brian Williams arrived to take his seat at the desk, convinced that he had the job. Poehler was the one who had to give him the bad news. I always appreciated the fact that for all of his Serious News Anchor bona fides, Williams never seemed to take himself too seriously. I find it hard to imagine any of his contemporaries being as good of a sport as he was in this piece.

In the digital short this week, a cubicle fight takes place between Cook and Hader after the latter was newly hired. It degenerated into some solid physical comedy. The other notable piece was one which sounded better in conception than in execution. Hader used his impeccable Al Pacino impression for a sketch in which he is on the phone with customer service at his bank so that he can check his balance. I can appreciate the absurdity of placing a big personality such as Pacino in such a mundane situation, but there weren’t enough jokes to be found.

Once again, my feelings about this episode are likely due to the fact that Dane Cook is not my cup of tea. The midseason episode which I will tackle next week promises to be much better. Jake Gyllenhaal hosted that one.

How ‘Bout Them Box Office Numbers?

I generally don’t talk much about box office here. Like any creative endeavor, popularity, or lack thereof, has no correlation with quality. I have seen enough wonderful movies unfortunately tank; and way too many awful movies which raked up the big bucks. The main reason to care about the numbers is that they help determine what does and not get made in the future. Movie studios are not charity cases; they are big businesses. Movie A bombing makes it less likely that movie B gets a green light. Conversely, movie C becoming a hit encourages bandwagon jumpers; similar movies are sure to follow.

I’ll make an exception in this case. In the weeks leading up to the release of The Odyssey, the usual suspects had been making bad faith arguments about the movie, specifically about some of the casting choices. I mean, if someone could look at Lupita Nyong’o and not believe that she has a face which can launch a thousand ships I would recommend that person gets his vision checked, pronto. Either that, or admit to being a racist. One or the other.

Which I was why I was so pleased to see that it is a massive hit, opening with the highest gross for a non-animated film in 2026. No surprise, Christopher Nolan has a strong track record, and it is exactly the sort of spectacle that audiences would wish to see on a big screen. Good for all involved; maybe the Elons of the world will learn their lesson, stop micromanaging Hollywood, and shut up about things they know nothing about. (Narrator: they won’t.)

Now, I could also discuss the failure of Supergirl and what it means for the future of superhero movies, the DC Universe, female-led action movies, etc. but all of that depresses me too much. Move along, nothing to see here.

RIP

Ron Hunt was the first young star player for the Mets. After purchasing his contract from the Braves, he went on to finish second in the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year race to Pete Rose. A year later he was the starter at second base in the All-Star Game. He would go on to have some big years for both the Giants and Expos, but he was most famous for one particular skill. The man was a hit by pitch magnet. He led the National League in that stat for 7 consecutive seasons, with his “best” season coming in 1971, when he was plunked 50 times (ouch!), a modern day single season record. He retired as the all-time 20th century leader; he currently sits 6th all-time, 4th among post-1900 players. That is an awful lot of bruises. Hunt was 85.

Brenda Fricker earned a place in film history by becoming the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, earning the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her portrayal of Christy Brown’s mother in My Left Foot. I would suspect that her most recognizable role was as the pigeon lady in Home Alone 2. Like many actors from Ireland or Britain, she seamlessly moved from stage to screen to television; as a result a significant portion of her work is not very well known stateside. It’s also a good bet that in a Dylan McDermott/Dermot Mulroney type situation, she was often mistaken for Brenda Blethyn and vice versa. Fricker was 81.

Very few people would recognize the name Jim Gilstrap. Hell, I didn’t know who he was until I saw his obituary, but we have all heard his voice countless times. Gilstrap had a few minor hits on the R&B charts in the 1970’s, but he spent the bulk of his career as a session singer, and 2 of his recordings in particular stood out from the pack. You may recall that in You Are the Sunshine Of My Life, Stevie Wonder does not enter until the song’s third line. The first voice heard in the song is that of Gilstrap. He was also one of the singers on the Good Times theme song - he is the one who sings the famous phrase “temporary layoffs.” He was one of many anonymous figures who kept the entertainment machine rolling, but that wasn’t a bad legacy to leave behind. Gilstrap was 79.

The Sports Movie Pantheon - Breaking Away

Breaking Away is one of my all-time favorite movies of any genre, not just sports. It tells the story of 4 recent high school graduates in Bloomington, Indiana - Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern), and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley). It is significant that it is set in a college town, a place which outsiders essentially take over for the majority of the year. Our 4 leads deal with feeling like outsiders in their own home town in different ways.

Mike was the star quarterback in high school, but not quite good enough to earn a college scholarship. He feels as if he has already peaked. Cyril is a likable but dumb guy; it appears that he has little future. Moocher has a ferocious temper and goes through life with a major chip on his shoulder. Whatever you do, do NOT call him short. Dave is the dreamer. An avid cyclist, he is a successful racer who gathers a multitude of trophies from race wins and idolizes the Italian Cinzano racing team. He goes so far as to speak Italian - complete with faux accent - around the house, much to the chagrin of his father (Paul Dooley), a used car salesman of questionable ethics. His mother (Barbara Barrie) is much more indulgent.

The locals are derisively known as “cutters” by the university students, a reference to the fact that they are the children of the masons who cut the stone which was used to construct the buildings at Indiana University. Those jobs are all gone, however, and the lead characters spend much of their time at the swimming hole in the abandoned quarry.

One day, Dave was lounging around the campus when he sees a student (Robyn Douglass) lose one of her textbooks as she is riding a bike. Dave jumps on his own bike and catches up with her so that he can return it to her. As he is still using his fake accent, Katherine, or Caterina as he calls her, believes he is actually Italian. Attracted to her, Dave continues the ruse, pretending that he is an exchange student.

Tensions between the cutters and the students continue to rise. One night, Dave serenades Katherine (in Italian) outside her dorm room. As they then go out on a date, the bros beat up Cyril, who had accompanied Dave on guitar. Mike takes revenge, as he instigates a brawl at the bowling alley. In a hilarious bit of casting, the lead d-bag among the IU students was portrayed by Hart Bochner, who years later would play the famously doomed Harry Ellis in Die Hard. He is named Rod, to boot. No hidden meaning there, no sir.

Things take a turn when Dave learns that the Italians are coming! The Cinzano team will participate in a local road race. This will be Dave’s chance to compete with his heroes. What he discovers crushes him. He attempts to chat with the racers during the race; they have no interest. One team member gave him the Italian salute, another reached down to switch Dave’s gears, slowing him down. Dave catches up again, which is the last straw. One racer sticks his bicycle pump into Dave’s spokes, causing him to tumble onto the ground, suffering an injury which knocks him out of the race.

When a dejected Dave makes it back home, his father first asks why there’s no trophy today. Dave collapse into his father’s arms in tears, saying that everyone cheats, he just didn’t know it until now. Not knowing what to say, dad says “well, now you know.”This encounter with the Italian racers had sent Dave on a downward spiral. He tore down all of his posters from the wall. More importantly, he confesses to Katherine that he is not an Italian exchange student after all, he’s just a cutter. Needless to say, she is PISSED. She slaps him in the face and storms away.

The ramification from the brawl is that the university president reminds the students that they are merely temporary visitors in town. As a result, the school will allow a team of locals to compete in the Little 500 bike race. This is an actual event modeled on the Indy 500 auto race. Instead of 500 miles, it is 500 laps across a quarter mile track. 33 teams of 4 riders participate. Now, the real race is only for university students, but for narrative purposes one outside team was included in the race in this movie.

Mike, Cyril, & Moocher have to convince Dave to compete. They claim that he can race all 500 laps himself, which he reluctantly agrees to. By this time Dave’s father has finally joined his mother in encouraging Dave’s dreams. He shows Dave some of the buildings which contain the stone that he himself had cut as a way of pushing him towards something better. In a scene which is what earned an Oscar nomination for Barrie, she shows her son her passport. Even though she is in no financial position to travel internationally, it is a symbol for the fact that she can. Her wanderlust is an unfulfilled dream; she doesn’t want her son to feel the same restrictions in life. Finally, Katherine speaks to Dave, informing him that she is leaving school to take a job in Chicago, and also that he is going to be going places.

The film climaxes with the bike race. SPOILER ALERT time. Dave dominates the race, until he suffers a leg injury in a crash. The other 3 take their turns riding laps, but since none of them have any experience riding bikes, they fall helplessly out of contention. All hope appears lost, that is until Dave decides to compensate for his injury by having his feet taped to the pedals so that he can finish the race himself without any relief.

The movie doesn’t specify how far they had fallen behind by this point, but it’s safe to say it was a pretty significant deficit. Is it far fetched that he came back to win the race for The Cutters? Or that he passed Rod on the last lap to win? Sure, but everything about the movie was so damn likable that I just didn’t care. The good guys won, and even Rod gave our heroes a respectful hand clap at the end.

The film’s coda shows Dave taking classes at IU. A pretty French student asks him for directions on campus. Dave seizes the opportunity to woo a pretty girl be seeming more exotic than he actually is, and he takes on a French accent, telling her all about the Tour De France. Dave’s father, who now has taken up cycling to improve his health, pedals by the pair where he is greeted with a “bonjour, papa!” His crazy son has stopped pretending that he’s Italian, now he thinks he’s French.

Breaking Away was nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Barbara Barrie’s aforementioned Best Supporting Actress nomination. Steve Tesich won the award for Best Original Screenplay. Back in those days it was common for one small underdog film to get a Best Picture nod, fated to lose to a more traditional Oscar Movie, Kramer vs. Kramer in this case. I wonder if it would have had a better chance in the modern era, which uses ranked choice voting. These types of smaller movies have had greater success in recent years. In 2026 The Cutters could have had more of a fighting chance.

This wraps up the Sports Movie Pantheon segment. I will shortly introduce a new genre from which to select a pantheon, but first, as promised, I will spend a few paragraphs tearing to shreds my choice for the single worst sports movie ever made. What will it be? Tune in to find out!

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Closing Laughs

This brings things to a close for yet another day. Thanks for tuning in, and we will talk again on Friday. Have a great day, everyone!

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What a magnificent episode of television this was. If I was ever asked to rank the best episodes of Freaks and Geeks would almost be tempted to simply say that all 18 are tied for first, but this penultimate episode is certainly one which is more than worthy of ranking at or near the top. Most Freaks and Geeks episodes have a great blend of heart and comedy; this week there are relatively few laughs, at least until Special Guest Star Ben Stiller shows up. Despite the relative lack of yuks, what it did do is show tremendous growth for 2 of our main characters.

It begins at the Weir dinner table, with Cindy joining the family for a meal. Up until now, the audience has essentially witnessed the idealized version of Cindy as seen through Sam’s eyes. But there is more to her than it seems. As a pretty 14 year old girl, she has already learned how she can use her looks to manipulate others, and she has already mastered the ability to tell people exactly what they want to hear. At dinner, Harold brings up the fact that a large chain sporting goods store will soon be opening up, and that could threaten his own business. Cindy says that she could never imagine shopping anywhere else than in Harold’s store. That scores some points with the parents. Then, mention is made of the upcoming big event in town: Vice President George Bush will speak at a school assembly, and as the head of the Young Republicans, Cindy will have the honor of introducing the VP. More points scored with dad.

In the cafeteria, Neal, Bill, Gordon, and Harris wistfully look at Sam as he is now sitting at the cool kids’ table, and he feels very out of his element there. Vicki speaks about how disrespectful it is that there are some unattractive cheerleaders at the rival school. Todd replies that not every cheerleader at McKinley is all that good looking either, which Cindy takes as a veiled shot at her. Todd claims that he wasn’t talking about her, but Cindy still asks Sam why he isn’t sticking up for her, to which he responds by reminding her that Todd was not referring to her.

Meanwhile, Lindsay is informed that she will have the honor of asking Bush the first question at the assembly. Already slightly annoyed over the fact that a Secret Service sweep chased the freaks away from the spot in the stairwell where they usually hang out, and as a vocal Democrat, Lindsay was at first hesitant. That is, until she and Kim conspire to come up with a list of questions to submit for approval which call out Bush for the Reagan administration policies with which they disagree.

The last time we saw Amy the tuba girl, she and Ken were sharing a kiss at the planetarium, and their relationship is still going smoothly. To this point, Ken has the most mysterious background of the regular characters. We know that his father runs a successful business, but we have never seen either of his parents. In Amy’s room, she asks Ken why they are never at his house. He explains that he doesn’t like spending time there, and that he was largely raised by his nanny. Amy takes this confession from Ken as an opportunity to reveal a personal secret. She had been born with both male and female genitalia, and at birth her parents decided that she should be a girl. Ken responded with a “thanks for confiding” attitude, but this still shocks him. A sheltered, suburban teenager in 1981 would clearly have trouble processing such news; Ken is no different.

Sam is still struggling with how to best deal with his new relationship with Cindy. As he says to Neal and Bill, they spend most of their time in malls or hanging out with the cheerleaders and jocks. They never do anything that he wants to do. His friends tell him that he needs to take her out on a real date, and they point out that a local movie theater is screening The Jerk this weekend.

Ken tells Daniel and Nick about Amy’s secret, with the promise that they don’t tell anyone - which, to their credit, they do not appear to do. They offer token advice, but what sticks is a joking suggestion from Daniel that Ken’s attraction to Amy could mean that he is gay. He tests the theory by popping a David Bowie tape on his stereo, followed by a headbanger, and then a disco tune. He also pulls out both male and female porn mags, to see which one turned him on more. He finally goes to Mr. Rosso for advice, under the mistaken impression that Rosso is gay.

Rosso also had the job of informing Lindsay that her prescreened questions for Bush had all been rejected. Instead she would be forced to ask a generic question about where he likes to eat when he is in Michigan. This angers him as much as it does her, he still has enough of the aging 60’s radical in him that he wants to stick it to the man, but there is only so much that he can do.

In preparation for his date, Jean hands Sam a family heirloom. It is a necklace that is meant for him give to his first love. (I am calling a foul here. Jean should be smart enough to know that a freshman year crush is not going to be his lifetime love; don’t waste such a precious family artifact here.) Sam gives the necklace to Cindy. Red flag #1: the first thing she does is ask him how much it cost. “I don’t know, it’s an heirloom.” Red flag #2: as they are watching The Jerk on their date, she is sitting stone faced. Not only did she not find anything funny about the movie, but she was not wearing the necklace.

Ken continues to pretend that he is OK with the news, but Amy senses that he is anything but. This comes to a head when the freaks are hanging out, and Daniel appears with a greeting of “hey, guys!” Ken responds with “what did you mean by that?” and punches Daniel in the face. This is the last straw for Amy, it is obvious that Ken is freaked out. Ken slowly walks home alone, where Daniel drives by, tells him to get in the car, and they presumably settle things.

As the VP’s visit approaches, Harold and Jean give Lindsay an assignment. It seems that the threat from the chain store is worse than they had been letting on. They ask Lindsay to wear a T-shirt promoting Harold’s store, and that when she asks her question she should identify herself as the daughter of a local business owner and to be sure to mention the business’s name.

On assembly day, Ken is in the bathroom getting ready to break up with Amy, and then Sam emerges from a stall, having just vomited in nervousness over his own impending breakup with Cindy. When Ken asks why he is doing this, Sam says it’s because she never wants to do what he wants to. This is the revelation Ken needs; he recognizes that he and Amy are two peas in a pod. They like the same things, share the same love of sarcasm, and do everything together. He needs to get over himself.

Sam then proceeds to break up with Cindy; when asked why he tells her one of the main reasons is that she refuses to wear the heirloom. She tries to defend herself by claiming that it is ugly, but she returns the necklace to Sam and walks away. Ken, meanwhile, runs towards the band as they prepare to enter the auditorium. After tapping the shoulder of every tuba player, he finally reaches Amy and apologizes for being such an idiot. As she leans in to kiss him, she bonks him on the head with her tuba. They share a laugh, and then a kiss.

As Lindsay and Rosso prepare to enter the auditorium, the Secret Service stops Rosso. It seems that he is still on a watch list for some of the radical organizations he had been a member of when he was a college student. An agent portrayed by Stiller escorts him to his office where he must sit to wait out the event. When he asks Rosso what his job is, Rosso mentions that he is the school guidance counselor. That cuts to the 2 of them in his office, where Stiller confesses that he is unsatisfied with his job. He spends his days leaning against walls, and his job of protecting the VP isn’t all that important. He winds up taking the vocational aptitude test while the assembly is taking place.

Lindsay did fulfill her parents’ wish. She wore the shirt and did mention Harold’s store before asking the first question. She went off script, however. Instead of asking the pre-approved question, she asked Bush why he was too scared to answer an honest question from a high school student. The episode ends before we hear the response, but we do see reaction shots of approval from Kim & Rosso, as well as a look of horror from Harold. OK, Lindsay was acting self-righteously the way any high school kid would, but she made her point.

Next week, the (sob) final episode of Freaks and Geeks. I’m not ready to let go.

Looking At Some Numbers

Once again we are in the portion of this project where we are more likely to find a number only worn by fairly obscure players that we are to find a significant name. There is one in today’s batch, however, who achieved one of the most noteworthy accomplishments in team history. Here, then, are more of the greatest Mets to have worn each uniform number.

56 - This is a bit of a cursed number, as it has been worn by some notoriously unsuccessful relief pitchers such as Luis Ayala and Ryan Helsley. Outfielder Brian McRae was one of the few Mets to have worn #56 for more than one season, so he gets this by default.

57 - No difficulty choosing this one here. Johan Santana was not as healthy as a Met as he had hoped to be, but when he was available he was just as dominant as he had been when pitching in Minnesota. He heroically kept the Mets temporarily alive in the midst of a second consecutive September collapse when he threw a shutout in the penultimate game of the season on a torn meniscus. Did that contribute to the shoulder injuries he dealt with for the remainder of his career? Perhaps. His final big moment was the night in 2012 when he threw the first no-hitter in Mets history. We can’t have nice things. His pitch count was much higher than any doctor would recommend, being that he was recovering from yet another injury at the time, and his career would end soon thereafter. He says it was worth it, who am I to disagree?

58 - This is another tough one, because the most obvious choice had a tainted career. Jennry Mejía was a league average closer, before getting hit with multiple suspensions for PED’s, including pulling off the dubious distinction of testing positive again while already under suspicion. I hesitate to honor him, but who else is it gonna be? Paul Blackburn?

59 - This is another easy choice; it is the current bearer of #59, Sean Manaea. He has struggled with injuries and inconsistency these last 2 seasons, but his 2024 season was more than enough to place him in this position of honor. I still hold out a smidgeon of hope that he can return to form.

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Bon Voyage, Chloe

Late July falls roughly halfway between the end of SNL season 51 and the beginning of season 52, and late last week we learned of the first official cast departure. Chloe Fineman is leaving the show after 7 seasons. That doesn’t come as a huge surprise; most observers who keep track of these things had pegged her as the most likely veteran to depart. Her screen time has varied widely from episode to episode this past season, it stands to reason that she is at the point where she would wish to see what else is out there for her. 7 seasons is a pretty good run; for perspective that’s about twice as long as Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy were regulars on SNL.

In a bizarre way, COVID helped her find her footing on the show. In her rookie campaign she followed the standard path of a first timer; lots of appearances as the fourth most vital performer in a sketch and a few table scraps here and there. Then, when SNL aired episodes shot from home during the height of the pandemic, she was finally afforded the opportunity to show her range. She is a solid impressionist; a good B+. Hers is not an irreplaceable loss, but she was a strong contributor.

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50 Years Ago - Songs In the Key Of Life

No exaggeration, Songs In the Key Of Life is one of the landmark albums of all time. Phenomenally popular, it was only the 3rd album to debut at #1 on the Billboard album chart. It produced 2 #1 hit singles, as well as several other songs which have since become standards. It has a song which inspired one of the most familiar samples in a hip-hop record. It topped multiple year end critic’s polls, including the prestigious Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll. It was the 3rd album in a 4 year period in which Stevie Wonder albums won the Grammy for Album Of the Year. Finally, it completed a spectacular run of classic Wonder albums which began earlier in the decade. Whew.

I will contradict myself slightly here. Even through this record is overflowing with amazing songs, and even though it contains my single favorite song in the entire Stevie Wonder catalog, I do prefer both Talking Book and Innervisions from that magical run. Songs In the Key was a double album, with a bonus 4 song EP included. That is a LOT of music, by the time it hits side 4 you start to imagine if it would have been better off eliminating a couple of songs and tightening it up. As a comparison, London Calling was also a double album, but it was still short enough to fit onto a single CD when the CD era commenced. A shorter Songs In the Key would have been an equally kick-ass single disc.

That said, what was there was magnificent. The release was ambitious and sprawling, and included a little bit of something for everyone. Some of the most beautiful love songs ever written, hard funk, songs about what it means to be a black man in America in the 1970’s, loving tributes to musical greats from the past, a warm look back at his own childhood, a love song written for his newly born daughter, it’s all there.

Dozens of people contribute either vocally or musically, including heavy hitters such as Herbie Hancock, George Benson, and Minnie Riperton, but like many of his albums from this time period, Stevie Wonder played the bulk of the instruments on the record. More than a dozen years before this release, he had been dubbed “the 12 year old genius,” and in the years since he more than lived up to that designation.

I have yet to single out any of the individual tracks on this collection; the music heard here should be familiar to anyone who has spent any time listening to the radio in the past 50 years. The 2 most famous are the pair of #1 singles, I Wish and Sir Duke. Familiar in a different way is Pastime Paradise, which years later would serve as the hook for Coolio’s Gangstas Paradise. There is so much more; Love’s In Need Of Love Today is a perfect leadoff track. Isn’t She Lovely contains the tears of his newborn daughter in the mix.

There are few people who can write a love song as skillfully as Stevie Wonder. He has a special knack for expressing some of the most simple sentiments artfully. This album includes two of the very best examples of this unique skill. In As, he pledges his love until… and then lists a long set of circumstances which are unlikely to ever occur. In other words, he will love her always.

As far as I am concerned, he never wrote a better song than Knocks Me Off My Feet. Once again, it’s hard to get more basic than saying “I don’t want to bore you with this, but I love you, I love you, I love you.” The pure joy heard in his voice prevents the record from falling into overly sentimental treacle.

This would prove to be the peak of Stevie Wonder’s career. As mentioned, it debuted at #1 on the album chart, and although that feat occurs most weeks these days, back then it just wasn’t done. Before this, only 2 other albums had ever done so, and both of those were Elton John albums. Simply put, everyone wanted to hear this album, and Stevie Wonder did not disappoint. A half century later, Songs In the Key Of Life remains as an enduring classic.

Closing Laughs

Sure hope that the worst of the wildfire smoke is over, and that it did not ruin your weekend plans too badly. I know that it did mine. Here’s wishing all of you a great week. See ya again on Wednesday. And as always, any contributions are welcome, whether it’s a subscription upgrade or simply throwing a few books in the tip jar. Thanks again.

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