Here in Los Angeles, things are a lot quieter than Donald Trump and his enablers want you to believe. There are a few car fires and loud protests going on in a small portion of Southern California…apparently nothing the L.A.P.D. couldn't handle, especially if they didn't have all these unassigned Marines and National Guard soldiers […]
Every year, a few shows with marginal ticket sales hold on until the Tony Awards, hoping some win or exposure there will drive buyers to the box office. When it doesn't happen, they announce they're closing…and the first one this year is Smash, which will be giving its final performance on June 22. It got […]
Years ago, I had a chilling jolt when I found myself debating an acquaintance ("friend" is too strong a word) about the Death Penalty. He was for it and I was against it…and I remember thinking that he was a bit too enthusiastic for it and that I was not as unenthusiastically against it as […]
Last Thursday marked 500 days since I broke my ankle. I'm still not quite sure how I did that but I know that since then, things have gotten steadily better and I can now walk semi-okay, though not for great or even medium-great distances, plus I have some trouble with stairs. I will still need […]
Last night on this blog, I was highly critical of Donald Trump. In keeping with current journalistic practice, I am suspending myself from this blog for an indefinite period of time. "Indefinite" in this case probably means "Until I get my current script assignment done." […]
So I've been keeping one eye on the Tony Awards, one eye on the protests in Los Angeles and one eye on a script…and I still can't figure out why I'm still on the same page of that script that I was on at 3:00 this afternoon. But this post is just about the Tony […]
Donald Trump just put up a post on Truth Social that just said, "Paid Insurrectionists!" One assumes he's referring to some group or all groups protesting ICE in Los Angeles. This is not the first time he's made that accusation about protestors who oppose his policies…as if it's not possible that someone could honestly think […]
I'm sitting here in my home, working on a script with one eye on the Tony Awards. I'm many miles from where any protests are taking place or where any of the 2,000 National Guardsmen dispatched here on the orders of Donald Trump are doing whatever it is they were sent here to do. So […]
John Ficarra and Sam Viviano — respectively, the former editor-in-chief of MAD magazine and its Art Director — were fortunate enough to be invited to Donald Trump's big birthday celebration and parade on June 14th. They shared the wonderful invitation they received with the Albany Times Union and that newspaper published it for all the […]
The 78th Annual Tony Awards are being doled out tonight at Radio City Music Hall in New York. They're viewable on CBS and I assume you know how to find CBS on your TV or iPhone or iPad or Galaxy Phone or computer browser or Etch-a-Sketch or whatever the hell you have. The live show […]
In 1973, ABC tried something which probably sounded good in the meetings but didn't work as well as they'd hoped. In their 11:30 PM weeknight slot, they had The Dick Cavett Show, which was critically acclaimed and attracting enough viewers to show a modest profit. But alas, it wasn't beating Johnny Carson in the ratings […]
We have heard nothing about Boop! The Musical being added to the list of shows performing at the Tony Awards tomorrow night…so either that ain't gonna happen or they've added it and are keeping it ultra-super-duper-secret to make it a huge surprise. Since the show's sets would have to be moved in and out at […]
Those backing Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" say it would do certain (good) things for Medicaid and other ways via much of the population receives its health care. Those opposing the bill say it would do other (bad) things to those people. FactCheck.org tackles the question of what it would really do…or might do. Politifact takes […]
It's been quite a while since I had a Julien Neel video up here. Here he is with a Beach Boys classic, of all selections… […]
Good Night and Good Luck is, among other things, the name of a play currently packin' 'em in Broadway. In it, George Clooney plays veteran CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow back in the fifties, standing up to those who saw Commies hiding under every bed and in every closet. It's about to conclude a very […]