Monthly Archives: September 2010

Lawrence Wright on America's tolerance and intolerance towards Islam. And you'll be happy to know this piece includes the latest stupid thing Pat Robertson has said.

For those of you who enjoyed the video link posted earlier here: I did a bit of Googling and found out that the groom, Lin-Manuel, is Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony-winning lyricist (and Tony-nominated actor) who wrote and starred in In the Heights on Broadway. The bride is Vanessa Nadal, a high school friend he married on September 5, about a week ago. Here's an article about their marriage and wedding which includes a link to more of the ceremony and celebration…and more show tunes.

Zack Davisson is a very wise man. Even if he does read Groo.

We seem to have a flurry of articles out these days which psychoanalyze or otherwise seek to "explain" President Barack Obama by discussing his father…and there's no doubt that Barack Hussein Obama, Sr was a pretty messed-up guy who had a lot of problems. I can't say for sure that the life of the father didn't in some way impact the son…but I think it's deeply (and probably deliberately) misleading to write about this topic and to not make clear that Senior didn't raise Junior. The future Chief Exec only met his father once…when the kid was ten. You'd never know that from some of the armchair analysts.

In his writings and speeches, Obama Jr has said that his old man didn't make much of an impression on him. I cannot imagine how anyone who wasn't close to either Obama could possibly be in a position to know otherwise…but I suppose if you want to slime our president, you could make up any sort of scenario about them and get someone to believe it.

Whatever happened to peeling potatoes?

Back in olden days, restaurants used to do that…and I appreciated it because my digestive tract really doesn't like potato skins. It likes potatoes but not the skins. When you got an order of french fries, they had but the faintest traces of skin on them. Someone had actually peeled them before slicing and frying. Then all of a sudden, it started becoming fashionable to leave a little skin on fries…and now many restaurants don't peel at all. Even Five Guys, where the fries are terrific, doesn't peel their spuds…which I guess is a good thing because otherwise, I'd devour an entire order. As it is, I just eat the ones with little or no skin. An order of french fries at Five Guys is large enough that you can do that and still get more than enough fries.

Skins on fries is bad enough but a few years ago, the disease began to infest mashed potatoes. Suddenly, mine were coming with little pieces of skin in them — usually red but sometimes other colors. I don't know about you but I don't want pieces of skin in my mashed potatoes any more than I want dung beetles in there. One of the great things about good mashed potatoes is the comforting, fluffy texture. Even lumps of potato spoil the effect.

The change seemed especially tragic at a chain of restaurants I used to often patronize called The Daily Grill. They had perfect mashed potatoes…the best I'd ever had anywhere. For some reason, their Head Chef decided to tamper with perfection. Well, actually I think I know the reason…

The first time I found hunks of potato jacket in my mashers, I complained politely to the manager. I didn't seek him out. He ambled by the table and inquired, as restaurant managers often do, "Is everything to your liking?" I thought, Well, he asked, and said, "No, the mashed potatoes are not to my liking," adding that the skinless ones were superb.

He apologized but said, "We found that many people prefer the mashed potatoes that way." Still being polite, I did not call him a liar. I merely asked, "Has even one customer said to you, 'Oh, thank you for leaving the skin on your potatoes when you mash them. They're so much better that way!'?"

He thought for a second and then muttered, "Well, not in those words. But you know, there are a lot of vitamins in the potato skins…"

"If people are interested in getting vitamins out of their potatoes, they don't order them fried or mashed," I said…and then I asked, "Is it possible you're just trying to save time and money by not having anyone peel the potatoes?"

"I didn't say that," he said.

"I don't hear you denying it," I said.

He chuckled, put up his hands in a gesture of surrender and said, "You've got me." It wasn't the kind of confession Perry Mason used to get but I accepted it as such. Not peeling the taters is cheaper and easier, and that's why I think restaurants are doing it. I don't think most folks prefer it. I think just not enough of them object or, like I did with the Daily Grill, cut back on their patronage.

But let's take a survey and find out if people — or at least, people who read this blog — really prefer it. This poll will be open for one week…and please note. Other blogs may ask you to vote on the soul and safety of the United States or the future of the environment or the true meaning of life. On this site, we get down to the important stuff…

Joe Conason on how the G.O.P. thinks it'll gain ground by encouraging Americans to hate Muslims. It starts with forgetting all that stuff the Bush Administration said about Islam being a "religion of peace."

From Robert Moore…

I noticed your link to Fred Fox's piece about Jumping the Shark. While I understand what he's saying, I think he misunderstands what the phrase "jumping the shark" means. It means a given show has peaked in quality, not necessarily popularity. What Mr. Fox is downplaying is that while Happy Days was continuing to draw big ratings, it was through stunts such as Fonzie jumping sharks and riding bulls. When the Fonz jumped the school buses earlier, it had been a stunt, but a well conceived one. It added dimension to the character: we learned his heart could be broken, that he could feel fear, that he could be hurt. With the shark jumping episode, the audience learned nothing. It was just a stunt.

I was the biggest Fonz fan there was back in the day. I had a Fonz t-shirt and a jacket. Not a leather jacket, no way my parents were going to buy me that, but a denim jacket, which the Fonz wore from time to time. I watched Happy Days every Tuesday, and also an hour of episodes each day in syndication. I can't remember the episode airing on ABC, but I distinctly remember watching it for the first time in syndication and shocking my parents by walking out halfway through the episode to go outside and play. I was only nine years old, so it's not like I had any sort of aesthetic standards that I felt were being violated. I was simply bored with the show.

I also wonder at how disingenuous Fox is being when he says he doesn't know who came up with the idea for the "Jump the Shark" episode. If I'm not mistaken, Fred Silverman was running ABC, and I know that he made Happy Days ABC's flagship show. Silverman has said that he almost killed Happy Days by counter programming Good Times against it when he was at CBS, and then had to do everything he could to revive Happy Days when he went to ABC. It was at that time that the gimmicks started: Fonzie jumps school buses, Fonzie jumps a shark, Fonzie rides a bull, etc. I was wondering, with your vast knowledge of the TV business (and I'm not being facetious, ironic, or trying to flatter you here) if you could shed any light on this. Could it have been Silverman or one of his assistants who came up with the idea? I know Silverman could be really hands on with TV shows. From everything I've read, he had a lot of input on Scooby Doo at the beginning, and took the show to ABC with him when he left to CBS.

Thanks for the excellent website and I hope this note finds you well.

P.S. Based on your many recommendations, I finally tried the Five Guys closest to me (Lexington, KY). You have given me the best culinary advice I have ever gotten from the internet. Bravo!

P.P.S. What do the put in those burgers to make them taste so good? I think I'm addicted.

I'm afraid I never watched Happy Days enough to have a lot of opinions on it. I do recall being less interested in Fonzie as the character became more human…but I suppose most audiences preferred that. I also thought Hawkeye Pierce became a less compelling presence on TV as they soft-pedalled his womanizing and drinking, and that didn't hurt the ratings of M*A*S*H either. My impression is that early on, Happy Days simply clicked with audiences who were thereafter willing to follow it anywhere until cast defections made it seem like a different show. The rise of its numbers at times might be partially explainable by weak competition. Once that Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley hour became a juggernaut, NBC and CBS often conceded the slot and programmed their more promising shows on other nights.

I doubt Fred Fox is being disingenuous when he says he doesn't know whose idea it was. I don't know Mr. Fox but on a show with a big writing staff, it's very common for ideas to sorta materialize in the room. One guy tosses out the germ cell, another turns it into something else and that triggers another writer to suggest something similar…and ten minutes later, it's impossible to trace the lineage. It probably was not someone at the network. Garry Marshall had a pretty powerful creative team then…and the clout to get the network to leave them alone. They might tell him when they needed episodes with extra heat but I doubt they'd presume to tell him what should be in them.

What I think I like about Five Guys burgers is the feeling of freshness. I know In-N-Out also uses beef that's never been frozen but it doesn't particularly taste that way to me. That may be because their patties are so thin. Both Five Guys and In-N-Out cook their meat to well-done but since the Five Guys patties are thicker, the entire burger isn't as well-done as the exterior…if you follow me. The meat in an In-N-Out burger often feels overwhemed by bun to me, as well. A lot of folks have written, by the way, to say they agree with me that In-N-Out isn't as good as it used to be. Apparently, they too jumped the shark.