Seth Meyers has tested positive for COVID. He tweets that he feels fine but that they're canceling the rest of their shows this week, which is surely the wise thing to do.

Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman is soon to resume his Harold Hilling duties in the revival of The Music Man on Broadway. They're reportedly expecting to have a lot of understudies and swings filling roles and I had a dream the other night that I went to see this show and before it started, a producer came out and asked the audience, "Is there anyone here with a recent negative test who knows the part of Marcellus Washburn?"

(I didn't really have that dream. If I had, it would probably have ended with me on stage leading the rest of the cast in "The Shipoopi.")

I guess it's a big Good News/Bad News joke, the Good News being that the current strain — assuming that's the one you get — isn't as lethal, especially for the well-vaccinated. The Bad News is that it's a lot harder to avoid. I still believe in presuming the worst in both categories.

The other day, I got a delivery from my local market and as I do, I specified "do not substitute" for most of the items, meaning that if you're out of my brand of honey-roasted ham, don't bring me another brand of honey-roasted ham. The "shopper" who filled my order was apparently new to the task and because of how he serviced not just my order but others, he has been dismissed. What he was doing was substituting anyway…and with some bizarre logic.

He did bring me the "wrong" brand of honey-baked ham and that at least makes some sense, even though I'd told him not to do that. But the market was also out of the brand of English Muffins I order and in that case, he brought me (and charged me for) a package of Barilla brand Penne Pasta. They apparently did have brands of English Muffins other than the one I requested but he decided if I couldn't have my favorite kind, I'd be happier with a box of Barilla Penne Pasta.

Mostly though, it was different brands or different flavors. Out of fifteen items requested, six unwanted substitutions turned up on my front porch.

I called the market and they immediately issued me full credit for the six items…which I got to keep. I gave most of them to my cleaning lady but I tried the wrong brand of honey-roasted ham and decided it was better than the one I'd been ordering. I wonder if, with a substantial chunk of the grocery business veering into home delivery, anyone has thought to bring every customer a little bag of free samples clearly identified as such. The folks at Costco in the hairnets giving you a taste of this or that seem to motivate sales.

Back in December of 2010, I went to an event in Beverly Hills: Dick Cavett interviewing Mel Brooks.  It was supposed to be a promotion for Mr. Cavett's new book but it was really just Cavett (and us out in the audience) enjoying about 90 minutes of Mel's anecdotes.  Here's a story from that night.  Ignore the silly opening with Wink Martindale. Better still, ignore everything you ever see with Wink Martindale…

• I'm going to save the video of Andy Cohen on CNN's New Year's Eve telecast. If by some odd chance I ever get the notion to start drinking, it will remind me why I never have.

Another busy day here on the sprawling newsfromme campus.  Not one of the many staffers who write this blog has the time to post anything new besides this.  Don't worry.  It won't be like this all year.

Here's a clip from The Ed Sullivan Show for August 14, 1966. We have Jimmy Durante, Sonny King and some pretty strange choreography. I can't explain why but I always loved watching Jimmy Durante. He was 73 years and six months old when he did this and he still had all his old energy…

For 663 days now, I've taken my doctor's advice and largely isolated from the general public, the better to avoid that nasty thing that's going around. This hasn't been as hard for me as it has been for some people because I'm used to working at home. Also, a lot of events I might attend aren't happening and a lot of places I might go just plain aren't open.

January 2 (i.e., today) is an annual event at the Magic Castle and I always try to attend it. Many months ago when it looked like it might be safe by now, I got a reservation for tonight's event…but a few weeks ago with Omicron spreading faster than [MAKE UP YOUR OWN JOKE], I decided to cancel that reservation. And a few days later, the Castle management decided to postpone it until late February.

So it's been like that. I don't go out much. Only a few Trusted Individuals are allowed in. One day recently, one of those Trusted Individuals was here for a while and shortly after, got a COVID test that came back as Positive. No one panicked. No one had symptoms. I ramped up my isolation and waited five days, as directed by my doctor, to get my own test. Meanwhile, the Trusted Individual waited five days and got another test.

Both came back Negative so activities are now back to normal — or as close to "normal" as it gets these days. I still ain't going anywhere I'd be in a crowd.

I have friends who wouldn't (or maybe couldn't) live in such confinement. They didn't pick such a solitary profession for themselves and their need to be around others isn't appeased by ZOOM conferencing. I feel sorry for them but confident that it will end and there will be Life After COVID. I'm just not confident as to when.

Back here, I recommended Street Gang, a new documentary on Sesame Street that is now playing on HBO Max. In it, they play a long clip of "Put Down the Duckie," one of the more memorable songs to appear on that series. Here's a longer version of it complete with some great guest cameos. I especially laughed at Andrea Martin as Edith Prickley and at newsguy Robert MacNeil.

The furry (for some reason) owl is named Hoots and he was performed by Kevin Clash, the Muppeteer who gave Elmo his distinctive voice and personality.

When you buy a Kirkland-brand product at Costco, you're not buying something made at the Kirkland Factory. There is no such place. Those products are made by other companies that have struck a deal with Costco to supply goods with the Kirkland brand. That other company may or may not have its own name on the product. For instance, some kinds of Kirkland tuna fish are actually Bumble Bee tuna. Here's an updated list of some Kirkland products and where they come from.

It's been quite a while since I posted a picture of a can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup to signify I was taking some or all of the day off from blogging. And it's about time. Happy This Year!

I almost never see it these days but from the first week it turned up on PBS in 1969, I was a great admirer of Sesame Street. I may not watch but I'm very glad it's still on for the wee folks in its target audience.

My pal Charlie Kochman (also a fan) recommended the new documentary on HBO Max called Street Gang. It's about how the show came to be and its early days on the air…the period when I used to watch at least a little of it every morning before I had to go to college. I admired the ingenuity, the clever use of television and the sheer benevolence of the program. There's an awful lot in there about the Muppets…though not nearly enough Cookie Monster for my tastes. But I highly recommend it anyway.

This might be an appropriate song for today. Bernadette Peters sings "Move On" from Sunday in the Park With George. This is from a concert she gave in 1998 at the Royal Festival Hall in London…

• Let's start a rumor that Betty White's last wish was that Aaron Sorkin not be allowed to do a film called Being the Golden Girls.

• Betty White had a reputation for being very nice to comedy writers and other oft-mistreated animals.

Here is my one Betty White story, repurposed from an item I posted here in 2018..

Some years ago, I was at a party full of Hollywood-type people and I was introduced to Betty White. Told that I was the producer of The Garfield Show, she instantly said to me, "Why haven't I been on The Garfield Show?" I smiled and said, "Because you're on everything else!" I don't think any TV actor at whatever age she was then has ever been in more demand than Betty White was at the time.

We wound up talking about other things and parting. Then a little later, she came up to me and said, "I hope you know I was only half-serious when I asked you, 'Why haven't I been on The Garfield Show.'" I said, "I assumed as much but just out of curiosity…what about the other half? You're on like twenty-seven TV shows these days. We pay scale to all our guest stars. If I did want to hire you, are you even available? And are you available for that money?"

She thought for a second and said, "No, I guess I'm not. The money wouldn't matter all that much but I just don't really have the time." Then she asked me, "Do you have any experience with feral cats?"

I told her about the small herd of them I feed in my backyard. She said, "Well, then maybe you're aware of this. Looking for food is hardwired into most feral cats. Their lives revolve around finding the next meal so even if you feed one and she stuffs herself, a minute later, she's thinking, 'Where is food? Where do I find food?' They can't help themselves. I'm afraid most actors are like that. Even when they have a job, they're thinking, 'Where is my next one?'"

"When we were doing The Golden Girls, there was a point where we were picked-up for two more seasons and I had all these other things I was doing. I was turning down offer after offer because I just didn't have the time open. And still, there were moments when a little voice in me was wondering, 'What are you going to do when this ends?' Actors…at times, we're all like feral cats!"

To put this in proper context, you have to remember how few times in her career, Betty White was in the position of not being committed to a TV appearance within the next week or two. It wasn't often. An obit like this one will list some of the shows on which she appeared with some regularity. There were probably dozens more. What an incredible career…and it was all based on producers knowing how good she'd be for their programs.

A month ago in this post, I shared with you a mystery from my early days of collecting comic books. I went into a store in West Los Angeles and bought a ton of back issue Charlton Comics…one perfect condition copy of everything they'd published for two years. I couldn't figure out how or why someone thousands of miles away from the company's offices would or could assemble such a collection.

About a dozen of you sent me your guesses, none of which made me say, "Aha! That's probably it!" But then yesterday, I received an e-mail from a reader of this site named Miron Murcury. Miron sent me some scans and this message…

I have a possible and plausible answer to your question. As you can see in the scan of the inside front cover to Peacemaker number 4, Charlton had an (a-hem) "advertising office" in nearby Pasadena, CA at 495 So. Arroyo Pkwy. Murray Bothwell is the listed ad rep. The address now houses a K-9 Loft.

We'll probably never know for sure but that comes closer to a believable solution than anything that ever crossed my mind. It makes sense that a firm handling advertising sales for Charlton might receive copies of all the comics they published. It makes sense that someone at that firm — maybe Murray himself — might think, "We don't need all these comics sitting here in boxes" and take them to a used book store and trade them in. Or just give them away to someone they thought might appreciate them.

The address in Pasadena is (I looked it up) is about 24 miles from the bookshop where I bought those comics but that doesn't mean Mr. Bothwell or someone else working there or someone they gave them to didn't trade then in over in West L.A. Unless someone comes up with a more likely scenario, I'm going to hold onto this as the probable answer. Thank you, Miron.