Category: Television

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Side Stories

Hacks on Tap Podcast. David Axelrod & Mike Murphy. A funny duo who got this couple through the election season. Last night they were talking about Jared Kushner. Murphy recalls a Rickles act.

– Don sees a young couple in the first row. Asks the guy his name. Larry Feinman. Ah, a nice Jewish boy, what do you do? I’m a businessman. Oh. What are you going to do when your father-in-law dies? –

Abbreviated World Series. Asterisk? Dodgers take it in 6. 6 in LA. 1 in Brooklyn. Any team with a player named Mookie had to win.

Lorraine Bracco from Goodfellas & The Sopranos bought a Sicilian dwelling for 1 Euro. New HGTV series- My Big Italian Adventure.

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Off-Piste

Literally off the trail. What Biden & Harris usually are. And. Why does Kamala laugh at every question? It’s silly.

Ruth Ware’s new thriller One by One is set in a chalet in the French Alps. A small UK startup getaway turns into murder and mayhem. Lots of harrowing off-piste ski drama and salopettes.

David E. Kelley’s HBO The Undoing premiere entices. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Set in NYC before Covid. However, in every exterior shot there’s scaffolding. No matter where in the City.

Speaking of Hugh Grant, his lover in A Very English Scandal, Ben Whishaw is the star of Fargo as the Irish Rabbi.

Totally off the trek. Tom Brady still throws a football better than most.

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Fall Viewing

No. Not leaf-peeping. Fall television viewing.

Happy –  Maine Cabin Masters
Smart – Shark Tank
Theatrical –  Fargo
Formulaic – Love It or List It
Snarky – Real Time With Bill Maher
Uneven – SNL
Topical – The Circus
Anticipated – The Undoing
Geezer Bowl – Green Bay v. Tampa Bay

Best news. Masters Golf coming in November. Augusta National does not allow greens books so maybe there will be no Slow DeChambeau.

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Jeop or Shep?

It’s 7 PM. What to do?

Shep Smith has moved to CNBC. Now the best evening news show on TV. He is the rare journalist with his own twist. Stories from around the U.S. and the World with a unique brand of enthusiastic entertaining delivery.

It’s not typical cable slanted political narratives with panels who regurgitate the network’s talking points all day and night. Amazing to find out that there is more happening than Trump and Covid.

7 o’clock is also the Jeopardy time slot. Cannot miss our favorite info game show every night. Which to record? It’s a good choice.

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Rocky Week

Covid clusters continue to grow and more government anti-masked succumb. Could delay if not derail SCOTUS play.

Meanwhile. Chris Rock is everywhere. The first episode of Coen Brothers’ Fargo was gorgeously choreographed theater. Almost felt like we were in our orchestra seats. So far. Great.

SNL returned as irreverent as ever despite the Prez in hospital. Jim Carrey nailed Biden without gushing to debate Baldwin’s less sharp Trump. Mostly funny nonetheless. Chris Rock hosted and was a little nasty but got enough laughs. Megan Thee Stallion. Talent-less.

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Back to the City

Crisp and chilly air as NYC seems a bit more bustling. School buses and car horns. Better than masked silence. For now.

Golf is officially gone as a fan sport. No one will tune in to see Bryson deChambeau take thirty practice swings before his drive. Then. Check his book twenty times on each shot after he admonishes his caddie for choosing the wrong club. And. Finally line up and mark his putt a minimum of ten times before he hits it.  How can anyone stand to play with him? Nevermind watch?   So. Rant done.

Emmy’s got it mostly right. Kimmel kicked it off and kept it fresh. Schitt’s Creek and Succession best two shows on TV last year. And they won big.

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Regnum Finis

Reege! Say it ain’t so. But. Whatta way to go. Followed you from Live! with Kathie Lee then Kelly. To Millionayah. To Crowd Goes Wild. Television King for decades. Raconteur. Real. Grumpy. Funny. David Letterman said when Regis retired, he stopped watching TV.

Stories that typified his persona. He put a lawn chair on the median of Park Avenue when he was living on the UES. Because they had planted tulips and he wanted to sit outside. And. Yes. He was besties with the Donald. Called him the Trumpstah. Every time he was on Live! Regis asked him when he was going to run for President. Regis had an engagement for Trump-Melania wedding in Palm Beach, so he didn’t go, but showed up at Mar-a-Lago for the honeymoon.

Miss you Reege. That’s my final answer.

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Heat Beat

It’s too hot to walk around. Impossible with a mask on. So. Beat the heat and stay in the a/c. Tune into tonight’s Obama-Biden fundraiser show. But. You’ll have to donate to watch them sitting in separate spaces with bad audio. Haven’t we had enough basement and living room Zooms?

Or. Watch Dirty John. Amanda Peet and Christian Slater are genius crazy. Totally team Betty. Or. Beecham House on Masterpiece. Lavish soapy stilted romance novel set in India 1795. Or. HBO’s Perry Mason. Don’t expect the Raymond Burr version. Matthew Rhys a rumpled PI Perry before he becomes a lawyer in a noir and gritty 1930’s Los Angeles. Think more Chinatown. As always Lithgow steals the show.

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Managing Change

Memorial Day Weekend. Some things the same. Cool and gray. Backyard fire pits socially distanced. Most not. No summer tourists around. Locals abound. Beach towns on lockdown.

Golf tried to manage the new normal with a charity event. Tiger & Peyton v. Phippy & TB. It started as a soggy slow slog. Technical problems didn’t help. Until Brady made a miraculous shot into the hole. As he told Barkley, “Suck on that, Chuck.” The match became fun to watch. But. Tiger should never wear shorts. Again.

Mrs. America with Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly sounds deadly. But it was good. Historical context and perspective turned the anti-ERA villain into a complicated woman. Feminist leaders flawed as well. Balanced look back. ERA still not ratified to this day.

A distraction from Biden’s campaign which magnifies his lack of management skills. He couldn’t even assemble a competent team to make him look less inept in his bunker. Sad.

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The In-Between

Stranger Things place where the gates open to the Upside Down. A place of confusion and panic. Hmmm. Whoever wrote that was prescient. We are in our own version of the In-Between.

Can only see people out the window or on a screen. Most restaurants are re-opening all over the ‘hood. For take-out and delivery. Lenwich, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Greek, Middle Eastern, Cuban. Some with cocktails, too. Let’s clear avenue lanes for al fresco socially-distanced dining!

Sweeper back today. Just brushing the middle of the street. There’s still the caranda. Alternate side next week. Definitely Limbo.