Monthly Archives: February 2017

Trump seems to be trapped in a vicious circle: The more he gets criticized by the press and ridiculed by comedians, the more his ranting provides ammo for those who criticize or ridicule him.

There's a certain poetic justice happening with his TV coverage. Not that long ago, the programming folks seem to have come to the conclusion that covering Trump's campaign speeches, usually in full, was good for ratings. That helped him a lot to get where he is today. But now, the folks who do late night programming seem to have concluded that calling Trump a clueless, lying lunatic is good for ratings. Live by the Nielsens, die by the Nielsens. Here are some links…

• As Kevin Drum notes, enthusiasm for getting rid of Obamacare is faltering among Republicans now they they've gotten rid of Obama. I agree with his observation that "Hating Obamacare was mostly just a way of hating Obama."
• Matt Taibbi explains what Trump is trying to accomplish by repealing the bi-partisan provision of the Dodd-Frank bill known as the Cardin-Lugar Amendment. Hint: It isn't to keep his promise to cut down on the power of special interests to get what they want out of government.
• Daniel Larison explains why it would be foolish and counter-productive for the Trump administration to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Some people sure want them to.
• Trump just selected Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser. Fred Kaplan explains why this might turn out to be a pretty good choice.

Lastly: I've been catching up on TV programs I missed while I was away and I have to say I was really disappointed in Bill Maher for having Milo Yiannopoulos on his show and for acting like the mere fact that some people don't want this man to speak in certain venues means that he has something to say worth hearing. Yiannopoulos struck me as one of those people who has learned that saying outrageous things that piss people off is a good career move…so he says outrageous things that piss people off.

I am reminded of when I worked with the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, back when he was a superstar bad-guy wrestler. Out of the ring, Roddy was a great, funny fellow who admitted his villainy was all an act…but, as he put it, "It made me rich and famous and I didn't have to work on a loading dock anymore."  To some, being a hated somebody is better than being a non-hated nobody, especially if there's money in it.

No principle of Free Speech guarantees anyone a forum to air their views. I live not far from where Maher does his show and there's a derelict-looking guy who's sometimes about, yelling hatred of Jews and Blacks and women who don't stay home and just make fudge and babies…and there are no coherent views behind any of this. It's just kind of a desperate primal scream to be noticed. I look forward to seeing him on Real Time in the near future.

• It's kinda fun watching a president who repeats and spreads any silly thing he hears or thinks complain that the news media isn't accurate.

That's me interviewing Disney Legend Floyd Norman on Saturday at the San Diego Comic Fest…a different kind of comic book convention in San Diego but a very enjoyable one, nonetheless. Enjoyable for me, anyway. If you go to Comic-Con just to see movie stars and hear about next year's movies and to shop the giant Dealers' Room, you might have been lost at this intimate gathering which was just about comic books, especially older comic books. I love The Big One in July but for a guy like me, there's a lot of fun in just hanging around for a few days with folks of my generation, talking about how comics used to be.

Which is what I did. This was a small con in a small space with a small array of dealers (some of whom had very small prices) and a small guest list and I sure wasn't bored. I don't think anyone was.

The theme of the con was Jack Kirby, who would have turned 100 this August. On Facebook, I saw someone say that this con took us back to the days of the other San Diego Con, when you could sit by the pool in the evening and talk with Jack. I didn't check the pool at the hotel but I don't think he was there. They did though have three people who worked with Jack — myself, my then-partner Steve Sherman and Jack's favorite inker, Mike Royer. We did a number of panels about him and there were others. Attendees seemed quite happy.

The convention, by the way, concludes today. I had to get home. I kinda wish I was back there instead of back here.

Last night, I took advantage of being in San Diego to go into town, dine with friends at one of my favorite restaurants when it wasn't full of Comic-Con people and see a production of the musical 9 to 5 mounted by the San Diego Musical Theater group at the Spreckels Theater.

I didn't see the musical based on the 1980 movie when it played Broadway or elsewhere and was curious but I mainly went because my friend Candi Milo was in it. Candi who is one of the best voice actresses working today did not surprise me by getting every possible laugh anyone could ever get in the role she played — that of Roz, the loyal secretary to the boss played by Dabney Coleman in the film. I knew she'd be funny. Then again, I didn't know she'd be that funny.

Joy Yandell played Violet (the Lily Tomlin role in the film), Allison Spratt Pearce was Judy (the part Jane Fonda had) and Karyn Overstreet, who looks a lot like Dolly Parton or at least did on stage, played the Dolly Parton role, Doralee. All three leading ladies have powerful singing voices and did fine jobs of disappearing into their characters and making us feel their pains and frustrations.

David S. Humphrey had the Dabney Coleman role and managed to pull off the Dabney Coleman trick of being very funny and very sleazy at the same time. In fact, everyone was pretty good and the whole show was professionally directed, choreographed and staged.

So did I like everything about it? Well, I did have this teensy complaint: I wish all these talented people had been in a better show. The musical itself seemed unspectacular to me with no memorable songs except for the title one. Dolly Parton wrote them and I guess I'm more forgiving of pedestrian lyrics and "near" rhymes in country pop tunes than I am in something done for Broadway.

The storyline itself was starting to feel dated when the film first came out. I recall a lady I knew at the time remarking that the core problems of sexism and discrimination in the workplace weren't really about obvious a-holes like the one Coleman played but from the kind who can retain some veneer of respectability and innocence.

The message of the show is that women should stand up for themselves and not allow discrimination by gender or to be the victims of unwanted sexual aggression. I'm 100% behind the message but I thought the show got a little ham-handed with delivering it.

That said, the audience last night loved it all and many were on their feet for the closing ovations…so what do I know? If you're in the area, you might want to take it in. The show's there through February 26 and I guarantee you laughter every time Candi Milo is onstage. And other times, as well.

We're coming to you today from San Diego, which is currently experiencing the tail end of that big, big storm that hit Southern California yesterday.  I, having the foresight to drive down here on Thursday, did not have to spend even two seconds on the freeway in it.  My house-sitter back in L.A. reports that it dumped many, many gallons of H2O on my neighborhood but did no noticeable damage unless you count the opening of a few new Great Lakes that were formerly busy intersections.

Yesterday before the San Diego part of the storm commenced, I went out to buy a few things for myself and some friends here and my "to do" list concluded with a swing through some McDonald's to get a sack o' burgers. Now, you'd think that finding a McDonald's would be, like, the easiest thing in the world for a G.P.S.  I told mine to search for some, it made a list of several thousand and then I told it to direct me to the closest one, which it said was 1.8 miles from where I made the request.

1.8 miles later, I found myself puzzled, driving down a street lined with hospital buildings with no Golden Arches to be seen.  Then I noticed a sign which explained it: My G.P.S. had brought me to Ronald McDonald House.

So I told Henrietta — that's what I call the Lady in the G.P.S. when I have her voice enabled — to take us to the next-closest McDonald's and eight minutes later, I was in one, waiting to order. Ahead of me was a gent in his twenties who wanted to order eight Chicken McNuggets.

The young lady behind the counter explained politely to him that they sold McNuggets in quantities of six, ten, twenty, etc. They didn't sell eight. The customer said he wanted eight. Six was not enough. Ten was too many.

With the patience of Job or maybe a Bernie Sanders supporter, she explained how on the little keyboard where she enters orders, there was a key for six, a key for ten, a key for twenty…but no key for eight. He argued back that eight was a better number — and what would be even better would be if McDonald's had a per-nugget price and one could get the quantity of their choice. "In America," he proclaimed, "too many times 'they' make decisions for you."

"That might be wonderful," she said. "But right now, I can only sell you six, ten, twenty…" The fellow seemed genuinely to have the idea that this teenager in a paper hat could remake Corporate Policy or that convincing her of the wisdom of an eight-pack would lead to its introduction at McDonald's around the world.

I finally had to step in and tell the guy that the Ghost of Ray Kroc couldn't get a box of eight here and that he should reconsider if after all the time he'd spent filibustering this matter, he wasn't now hungry enough to down two more. He finally decided it did. If he hadn't, I'd still be there, probably being just as obnoxious complaining that they should have opened a second register.

But I got back to the hotel before the skies opened and there was a lovely opening ceremony last night for the San Diego Comic Fest. I'd tell you more about it but I'm due downstairs. More later.

As I sit and wait for Donald to call and offer me the position of National Security Adviser, let's see what else we can talk about…

• The Gallup Poll currently shows Trump with a Disapproval Rating of 56% and an Approval Rating of 38%. That's an 18 point deficit. To put that number in context, Obama started out his first term around 50-50 and in eight years, the worst he had was a few brief periods when his deficit was three or four points.
• And yet, I agree with both Kevin Drum and Jonathan Chait that from Trump's point o' view, everything probably looks just peachy and presidential and he can't fathom why the polls are lying to him and much of the press is talking about an administration that's inept and in chaos.
• Jonathan Chait also reports on how Republicans in Congress are doing with the only thing they seem to care about, which is giving very wealthy Americans a huge tax cut.
• And Andrew Sullivan has all sorts of observations about Trump and the folks with whom he surrounds himself. I think Mr. Sulllivan tries too hard to come up with "life experience" reasons why people like Ann Coulter become rabid Conservatives. I think the ones who get very rich advocating an extreme position of any kind generally do it because it makes them very rich. But some of his other observations are worth a click.

I'm going to try to take some time off from Trump Dumps to finish not only some assignments but some blog posts on other topics. Let's see if I can manage it this time.

• Each day, Trump should have an insane press conference to denounce as "fake news" reports that yesterday he had an insane press conference.

Brian Trester sent me this question…

I was wondering how you cast for a voice when the original actor has passed away. I am sure it's difficult. I am thinking of Garfield. I have seen the new Garfield show and while it is good, I still can't get used to the art or his voice. To me, Lorenzo Music will always be the voice of Garfield. This is why I am asking the question.

What I am driving at is it must be hard. You want someone to resemble the voice but at the same time do not want the person to be a carbon copy of the actor. Either way, it seems like a lose-lose situation. If you get a sound-alike, people will complain you're disrespecting the original voice. But if you get a new voice, they complain it doesn't sound like the original or they hate the new voice.

I know Hanna-Barbera had this problem with Scooby Doo and even Shaggy. I also know when Mel Blanc died they had a huge problem with the new voices and complaints. Since you have done a lot in this field, I was wondering how you handle or handled this problem.

In the case of Garfield, Jim Davis made the decision to hire Frank Welker and to have him do a voice that was similar but not exact. Believe me, Frank can do exact. It took me a while to get used to it. The whole first season of the new show when Frank took over, I heard Lorenzo in my head when I wrote dialogue for Frank. It wasn't until we had some finished episodes with Frank doing the voice that I began to hear him as I wrote for him.

I can't say I've ever heard anyone say it was disrespectful to closely imitate a voice. I have heard plenty of complaints when the imitation ain't so good. A lot of us grew up with certain voices burned into our childhood memories and it can be jarring — and even despoiling when the new guy is too far from what we expect.

There's a whole science and a raft of considerations involved in casting a replacement voice for an established character and I could go into it here. But as it happens, it's the topic for discussion the night of March 2nd at the The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences out in North Hollywood. There's a panel there that evening called "…But the Characters Live On" and it's all about new voices in old legends.

The list of those discussing this topic isn't complete yet but so far, it includes Matt Craig and Gary Hartle, who produce the TV series, Wabbit; Andrea Romano, who has cast and voice-directed more cartoon shows than any human alive; Bob Bergen, who now speaks for Porky Pig and Tweety; Dee Bradley Baker, who speaks these days for Daffy Duck; Grey Griffin, who plays Daphne on the Scooby-Doo show; Jeff Bergman, who has voiced Fred Flintstone, George Jetson, Bugs Bunny, and many more, and Mallory Lewis, who inherited the talent of her mother, the great Shari Lewis, and also inherited Lamb Chop.

There will be a few others…and the moderator might have something to say, as well. The moderator is me.

This will disappoint some who read this site but the event — which you can read about here — is only open to Television Academy Members with valid membership cards. Sure hope I can find mine. It will however be watchable by all on the Academy's website and I'll let you know how and when to do that.

Brian, you'll probably get many of your questions answered there and then. If you have more, I'll try to address them on this here blog.

• Trump says his administration is "running like a fine-tuned machine." Yeah, one he acquired from the estate of Jack Kevorkian.

Just checked in over at Nate Silver's site, which I've somehow not visited for a while. He has an interesting essay up about why some revelations about Donald Trump become big news stories and some don't. I've always been curious about this, and not just about Trump. Seems to me this is the case with most public figures. Why did people suddenly start talking about Bill Cosby as a rapist? Did one YouTube video by a comedian most people had never heard of really cause all that?

They're also doing articles over there like this one trying to forecast the Academy Awards. I am unmoved from my belief that they're trying to predict the unpredictable. This is because there is too little meaningful data available. Trying to extrapolate from other awards or Google searches or other factors does not seem to me to be any sort of proven science.

I think a lot of factors go into determining who wins Best Whatever and they're not the kind of things you can put on a chart. Best Acting awards seem to me based largely on subjective evaluations of which performer is doing more courageous work — not necessarily better and not necessarily in the film for which they were nominated. And it has a lot to do with whose acceptance speech they'd like to hear. Every big movie studio has in-house "experts" with theories on how to promote a film or an individual for Oscar consideration…and even they're just guessing and usually wrong.

Posting will be light today here but our hard-working staff (i.e., me) came across these links of interest…

• Matt Taibbi on how on the campaign trail, Trump promised all sorts of things that would reduce corruption among financiers and lobbyists…and among the first orders of business at his White House is making sure the government doesn't stop those folks from doing whatever they want. Did anyone really believe Trump when he said he'd put Wall Street on a leash? Anyone?
• So are a Republican House and Senate really interested in a proper investigation of Russian influence in the Trump administration? That's what John Cassidy wants to know. Heck, that's what a lot of us want to know.
• Steve Benen says Trump is really, really afraid of major news outlets. You know the major news outlets…they're the ones who in a few cases are starting to do real fact-checking.
• And we now have a lot of psychiatrists saying all kinds of things from afar about the (perceived) mental and emotional stability of Donald J. Trump. I have a hard time taking this stuff seriously. I mean, I'm not sure a lot of doctors who deal in this kind of thing can even properly diagnosis patients with whom they've spent a lot of time. Evaluating someone they've never met? Based on public speeches? No, sorry. When you become a licensed practitioner in the field, you have a responsibility to not say those things as casually as us laypersons.

You get the feeling that Trump still doesn't grasp the "public servant" aspect of his job and the fact that there are laws and other branches of government that limit what the President of the United States can do? That's feeling like the subtext for all that's gone wrong since he was elected. That's not a psychiatric evaluation. I just don't see anything in his speeches or actions to indicate that he wants to "work with" anyone unless you define "work with" as taking orders from him.

Here's some extraordinary video of Min Min, a panda living in a wildlife reserve in China, giving birth after a three-day labor. If my mother was still around and saw this, she would have said, "That's what I went through with you!" And she might even have added, "At least Min Min got an adorable baby panda out of it!"

• Trump's new plan for press conferences: He'll just denounce the media and have Breitbart ask about the awesome size of his victory.

Hey, where's the statue of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose that used to be up on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood? Answer: It's in storage.