Monthly Archives: September 2021

Like you, I didn't know enough about the nominees to watch last night's Emmy Awards. I've also reached a certain saturation level with awards shows. I gather from the online chatter 'n' clips that it was the usual tedious and self-important event, that John Oliver won his usual two and that the broadcast networks won very little. About the only thing I wanted to see was the In Memoriam reel, which had more familiar names than usual. Here it is as broadcast and we'll discuss it after we watch it…

I can already hear two complaints about it, one being that a lot of people didn't get full-frame. The director was more interested in showing us the musical performers than the people the segment was about.

The other complaint was the usual "So-and-so" wasn't in it…and usually, some of that was because there's a cut-off date for the assembly of the montage and a few people who died the week before didn't make it in. This year, the Academy seems to have made a special effort to cut down on that. Norm Macdonald and Michael K. Williams were included.

The larger gripe each year is that someone decided that "So-and-so" did deserve inclusion and others didn't. If you wonder why they couldn't include everyone, go watch this video and force yourself to sit through the entire thing. It's on the Academy website and it's a list of everyone in the TV industry who passed in this past year. It's a little over seven minutes long and they probably still left someone out. Imagine that you were the person who had to decide who to include in the on-air presentation…and perhaps you will feel a twinge of sympathy for the folks who have to make those decisions.

And there's another reason to watch it in its entirety. I saw at least twenty names of people I worked with or knew casually…and I hadn't heard that they'd died. It might be more than twenty.

This is "Recommended Reading," not "Super-Recommended Reading" like the previous post but it's still "Recommended." Jonathan Chait debunks the fib that the richest one-percent of the country pays 40% of the taxes. This is one of those lies — like Trickle-Down Economics and "Trump won the 2020 Presidential Election" that is said mainly by people who will never stop saying it, no matter what.

Our pal Harry McCracken has done Pulitzer-worthy investigative reporting to present an illustrated history of the Bullwinkle Statue up on Sunset Boulevard. The statue is sixty years old today so today would be a great time to read all about it. Warning: It'll take you a while.

This is one of the finest works of journalism I have ever seen and I ain't kidding about this. I'm familiar with this turf and I sure couldn't have come up with most of what Harry uncovered. (Funny Typo! I just typed "moost of what" and corrected it.)

Harry sent me the link because he knew I'd share it with you and that we'd all love it. Also, he wrote to me, "I'm not sure if you're aware that your prediction of cars crashing into it in its new location has already come true at least twice." No, I wasn't. You can read about that prediction deep in the article.

After I posted the link to Ted Koppel's little tour of Mt. Airy, I got a lot of messages like this one from J. Tein…

I watched the video and had to wonder why you posted it without comment. You visited Mt. Airy in North Carolina. Did you observe the same things that Mr. Koppel observed?

Well, I was in Mt. Airy for less than twenty-four hours following two days at a comic convention in Charlotte. Unlike Ted Koppel, I didn't go around talking to people for however long he did. I didn't ask anyone about their politics. I didn't ask any black people if they'd experienced racial discrimination. Matter of fact, I don't think I saw any black people in Mt. Airy and that, I assume, had to do with how little of the town I covered — two restaurants, one hotel, one museum, a retirement home and the airport in nearby Greensboro.

I'm not dodging your question. I'm declining to make a judgement based on not very much evidence…something I wish more people would do.

Everyone I encountered in North Carolina was nice and friendly and really no different from the people I've met anywhere in the United States or my three brief trips to Canada. Admittedly, I have not traveled much in my life. The three Canadian excursions were all to comic conventions and people tend to be pretty much the same at comic conventions. They all ask me what Jack Kirby was like and what the hell do I do on Groo? I have been nowhere else outside the continental United States and to less than half of those states.

When I've been in different cities not for conventions, I still haven't seen much difference. I didn't see the people I met in Mt. Airy as particularly different from the people I met in Muncie or the people I meet in Los Angeles. But maybe it's that I didn't go looking for differences as Ted Koppel did.

He interviewed one small bus full of people who were almost all pro-Trump and there was a woman who was concerned that people would think they're stupid. Well, yeah. I suspect that anywhere you go, there are people who are pro-Trump and people who are anti-Trump and they all think those of the other mindset are stupid. But that political opposition aside, most people are nice and friendly, at least in my limited experience.

You know what I did find that Ted Koppel found? He spoke with one family that was visiting the Andy Griffith Museum. When I was there, I visited that museum with my beloved Betty Lynn, who was in a wheelchair. In my report after the trip, I wrote…

I was pushing her from my rental car towards the museum when a visiting family approached and asked, pretty please, if Betty would allow a photo of her and the two young girls in the family. Of course she would. She was so nice to those people, answering their questions and appreciating their love of the show.

The conversation Mr. Koppel had with the family he encountered was almost identical to the conversation with the family who asked to meet Betty. It was not the same family but both spoke of The Andy Griffith Show as a teaching instrument to instill morals and values in the children. That show has endured to some extent because of that. Whether you think it's a good or bad thing, it really does mean that much to some people. And I don't think it's that way just in Mt. Airy.

Newsguy Ted Koppel pays a visit to Mayberry Mt. Airy, North Carolina. You'll see my old neighbor Betty Lynn, who's the big attraction there…

William Shatner reacts to various impressions of William Shatner…

The vote totals on the California Recall aren't finalized yet but at the moment, "Don't remove the governor" is leading "Remove the governor" by 28 percentage points. Every single poll (repeat: Every single poll) of the last month or so showed "Don't" leading by double digits, though nowhere near as high as 28 points.

Anyone who wants to charge that the outcome was rigged has to explain how the riggers managed that. And of course, if somehow backers of the governor could have rigged all those polls, they wouldn't have. If your guy looks like a shoo-in, a lot of folks who would have voted for him won't bother to vote…but his opponents will start working extra-hard.

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There's lots of arguing out there about General Mark Milley's actions to make sure a spurned President Trump didn't start a nuclear war on his way out of the Oval Office. Some of the arguing seems to be about what he actually did, not whether or not it was legal or appropriate.

On matters like this, the guy I trust most to comment is Fred Kaplan.

And while you're over there on Slate reading Fred, read William Saletan about Republicans' conflicting arguments against vaccine mandates. Here's an excerpt…

Republicans have been particularly cynical in their complaints about Biden's failure to control the pandemic. They say he hasn't done enough, yet they refuse to let him do more. Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, says the president "failed to shut down the virus" because he "failed to get people vaccinated." At the same time, she says the RNC will sue to block the vaccine mandate. Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona vows to "pursue every legal and administrative option" against the mandate, even as he blames Biden for a "plummeting rate of vaccinations."

I really like these pieces Mr. Saletan writes where he quotes people contradicting themselves and posts links so you can see he's not quoting them falsely or outta-context. I wish more columnists did that.

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Turning to the real important matter: A number of you wrote me to say that the reason the folks who run Jeopardy! have named alternating guest hosts instead of a permanent one is that they really want Mayim Bialik but she can't do it full-time because of her sitcom job. So they're marking time with her (when she's available) and Ken Jennings (when she isn't), hoping for her sitcom to be canceled.

That's probably true. I wasn't particularly impressed with Ms. Bialik but if that's who they want, okay. I just can't believe there aren't others who'd be just as good and could start tomorrow. And what will they do if the sitcom gets picked-up for another season? Another year of temps?

• Simone Biles should get a few more gold medals for her testimony before the Senate committee.

Tickets go on sale Saturday (September 25) for Comic-Con International Special Edition, which is being held at the San Diego Convention Center on Thanksgiving Weekend. Festivities start on Friday, November 26 and run through Sunday, November 28. I would expect a much smaller con than we're used to seeing in that building and I would expect to not get in without Proof of Vaccination and other precautions.

It's all spelled out over on this page but I'll quote the main rule here and since they posted it in red, I'll post it in red…

Participants must also provide verification of full COVID-19 vaccination status or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of each day of attending Comic-Con Special Edition or to participate in any SDCC Activity.

After much deliberation, I have agreed to be a Special Guest at the Special Edition. I'll explain my thought process in a day or two here. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing all the usual panels but there might be some.

NOTE: When I first posted this, I erred on the date that tickets/badges go on sale. It is correct now.

The folks who bring us Jeopardy! have announced that for the rest of this year, shows will be hosted by Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings and that an actual permanent host will be named in 2022. Apparently, Ms. Bialik and Mr. Jennings are good enough to hold down the fort but neither is good enough to be actually given the job indefinitely.

If you can explain to me why the folks running this show are making the decisions they do, please explain it to me — making sure, of course, that it's in the form of a question.

As you know, this week they're running what was supposed to the first week or many hosted by Mike Richards. I watched one and thought of another reason, on top of all that stuff about being a miserable human being, that he shouldn't have been named to that job. The guy isn't very good.

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Neither is Jay Leno as the host of the new You Bet Your Life. If you've never seen this man do stand-up live, you can't possibly understand how good he is at that. I have seen all the great stand-up comedians of my generation perform full sets in person — Carlin, Klein, Pryor, Kinison, Murphy, Albert Brooks, etc. — and Leno is right up there with the best of them. I liked his Tonight Show most of the time and I even sometimes enjoy Jay Leno's Garage even though I don't swoon for cars…

Okay, here comes the "but" right after this photo…

But he is not breathing life into a hoary classic game show. He's showing that its format is obsolete and that he isn't comfy in the role of game show host. The fun seems forced, the contestants seem unnatural and the show can't seem to decide if it wants the players to give the right answers so they can win money or give dumb ones so we can laugh at their cluelessness. Even the prize money seems cheap. Folks are supposed to be excited at taking home amounts that would be consolation gifts on any other show these days.

My TiVo recorded six episodes so far. I watched two, deleted the rest unwatched and told it not to do that anymore.

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I didn't intend to write more about the Recall Thing but I want to throw out this theory: Larry Elder is supposedly saying he'll run again. Maybe he will but it would be like Pat Buchanan running for president, not because he thought he had a chance of winning but because he thought it would be good for his brand. Elder can't possibly believe a guy with his views and past statements has a future in California politics.

The recall was a fluke opportunity. He jumped into a race because no electable Republican wanted to be in it. He got the most votes from people who would vote for anyone who had an "R" after his name on the ballot and he was the most familiar to them. He has shown no interest in governing…but he has increased his fame and probably his listening audience and (I'll bet) his appearance fees when he gives speeches.

If he'd won, he had no plan on how to deal with the state's two biggest problems — COVID and fires — except to rescind mask and vaccination mandates. California is doing pretty good on the COVID front, especially in the areas that the maps show didn't vote to recall Gavin Newsom. If Elder had won and tampered with that and things got worse, we'd see another $300 million recall a.s.a.p. Because his one campaign issue was basically to make the counties where COVID is going down conform to the ones where it's on the rise.

Here is Stephen Sondheim's entire appearance last night with Stephen Colbert. Nice to hear that Mr. Sondheim is still writing and that he sounds alert and sharp, and that he likes the upcoming Broadway revival of Company and the upcoming film remake of West Side Story. All that balances the fact that he doesn't look healthy and apparently could not make an entrance on camera…

You may already be familiar with Mark Wiens, a man with a massive YouTube following.  It's so large that it apparently finances a life of just traveling the world and eating things he loves.  I wonder how many people watch him to live vicariously through his dining adventures and how many just like watching someone who seems to be the most positive, happy and polite person on the planet.

I've only watched a few of his videos because, as you know, I have loads of food allergies.  I can't eat about 85% of what this man consumes and I really don't want to watch someone eating and raving about dinners that would kill me.  But I've yet to see him down anything that wasn't the greatest whatever-it-is ever, prepared by the nicest, friendliest, most skilled chef who ever cooked a whatever-it-is.

I am not mocking this guy.  I envy his capacity to put just about anything into his stomach and to love everything about every dining experience.  Strange restaurants are my personal Danger Zones.

In this video, he and a friend gnaw their way through the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, which may be my favorite place anywhere to eat — though when I say that, keep in mind that I have not traveled much, in part because of the food allergies.  The Reading Terminal Market is a great place full of great places and in it, Mr. Wiens managed to find and endorse my all-time-fave barbecued chicken, though he missed my favorite turkey place which I like even more…

I'm going to try and write this one post about The California Recall That Lost Big and then get it off my mind and therefore off my blog.  In hindsight, Governor Newsom had this won before it began but we all remember when we thought Hillary had it in the bag…so you tend to be cautious.  And one thing you forget is that in statewide elections, there's no Electoral College.  The person who gets the most votes actually wins.

A month or two ago, there were one or two polls that showed Newsom being ejected but if you looked at the polls as a group, it was clear those were outliers.  One of the few that showed him losing later showed him winning by a wide margin but people kept citing the earlier version.  All the polls for the last few weeks showed him winning by double-digits and while we still don't have the final numbers, they might be better for him than most of that polling.

I don't see that Larry Elder or those who seek to profit from ginning up a case that the election was rigged have any evidence whatsoever.  That won't stop some from saying it because in politics today, it's much better to say "We wuz robbed" than "We wuz beaten."  And, like I said, it's profitable.  How much has Trump profited from Trumpsters donating to try and prove he won?

Someone should ask Elder or those who try and make the case for fraud, "So how did they rig more than two dozen independent polls that showed the recall failing by wide margins?" I guess he'd just say the conspiracy was even bigger than anyone imagined.

Elder was a terrible candidate — no experience governing, no clear idea of what to do except to ban mask mandates and vaccine requirements. There are Republicans who could conceivably score a gubernatorial win in my state but it wouldn't be easy. Most such people chose not to enter the race because they knew they'd have to take moderate positions and talk about "working with" the Democrats…which would lose them Republican support. Former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer — a G.O.P. moderate who tried to sound like a full-goose Trumpster — is going to finish with around 8%.

By the way: Read my buddy Ken Levine about his experiences with Larry Elder. The trouble with radio talk show hosts is that their job isn't to spread truth and wisdom. It's to get tune-in and phone calls…and while those could conceivably be the same thing, when they aren't, the option that leads to strong ratings always wins. I wish people of all stripes were more suspicious of those who say what they want to hear.

So what did this thing cost us? The Secretary of State is telling us it could be close to $300 million of taxpayer money.

I dunno…I live in a state with severe fires (especially this time of year) and a lot of problems flowing from homelessness and that COVID thing you may have heard something about. I'll bet if we put our minds to it, we could think of something more helpful to do with $300 million of taxpayer money. We might even ponder whether this was a good time to divert the governor and others in Sacramento from dealing with more serious matters.

It has now been eleven hours and fifteen minutes since I had my third shot of Moderna as a booster. No side effects whatsoever.

The only problem I had: I took a Lyft car to my doctor's office just in case I did get woozy or otherwise didn't feel like driving home. When I came out of the office, I felt fine but when I went to call a Lyft to take me home, I discovered that my cell phone was at 2%.

I don't think that was because of the shot. I think I have a defective battery and I've made an appointment to take it in tomorrow and have a new one installed. But this afternoon out in front of the doctor's office, I quickly shifted to Low Power Mode and summoned a Lyft. The car arrived just as the phone went deader than a right-wing anti-vaxx radio talk show host.

• Larry Elder should be happy tonight. He and his cronies are going to pocket a lot of cash as angry Republicans donate to investigate non-existent fraud. It's a combination of two business models: Donald Trump's and Max Bialystock's.