One of my favorite character actors was the late, great Jimmy Finlayson — the only man to ever steal scenes from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Among Fin's many comic talents was an amazing capacity for double-takes that sometimes graduated to triple-takes and even quadruple-takes. He was a great "reacter," which made him the perfect foil for Stan and Ollie. Often, when one or both did something stupid or outrageous, he would give out with a loud, painful "D'oh!" His cry lives on in the vocabulary of one Homer Simpson as this article relates. [Warning: Beware of annoying pop-up ad. It's enough to make you go "D'oh!"]

I've just been reading the reviews of the new version of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. It's one of those times when you really get to wondering if all those folks who saw the same show were watching the same show. Ken Mandelbaum says of Ms. Peters, "Because she's not a natural powerhouse, she must push extremely hard in the dialogue and the glorious Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim songs, and she sometimes runs out of steam from all the effort." On the other hand, Andrew Gans says, "…this Rose shines, seduces, scares and shatters." On the other hand, Howard Kissel headlines his review, "No Gypsy in Her Soul" and says, "Peters still is too much a kewpie doll to be plausible as the stage mother who, in her sick drive for success, makes her daughter a stripper."

On the other hand, Ben Brantley (He's The New York Times) says, "Bernadette Peters delivered the surprise coup of many a Broadway season in the revival of Gypsy that opened last night at the Shubert Theater." On the other hand, Charles Isherwood (he's with Variety; link not available) says, "The controversial casting of the downy-soft Bernadette Peters as the flinty Momma Rose proves to be, as many had feared, a miscalculation that all this talented performer's hard work simply cannot overcome." On the other hand, Michael Kuchwara says, "There's a steely quality here that Peters gets with icy accuracy, a single-mindedness that really defines who Rose is."

And so on and so on. Some thought she and the show were terrific. Some didn't see Momma Rose on the stage. The wide range of views is, of course, the norm. Opinions, after all, are just opinions. But these struck me as more conflicted than usual. Eventually, of course, I hope to see for myself.

Stan Lee is among the guests tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live. By the way, Mr. Kimmel's ratings have improved a bit lately. I'm no longer hearing rumors that the network is discussing what they might put in his place.

Good article by William Saletan about how George W. is attempting to pass victory in Iraq off as victory over the folks who flew the planes into the buildings.

Photo historian Kevin Walsh runs a superb website called Forgotten N.Y. which is full of pictures of fascinating places in New York. All of the site is recommended, but especially a new page called A Spy at the House of Moe. Yes, it's Moe of the Three Stooges and his brothers. Thanks to Larry Steller for pointing the way.

Michael Kinsley on how Republicans once demanded a Balanced Budget and now want nothing of the sort.

MSNBC correspondent Ashley Banfield ticked off her bosses and a few other folks with this speech she delivered recently about news coverage of the war in Iraq. That alone makes it well worth a read.

My cynical side never believes anyone who is unreservedly pleased with any of our elected (or wanna-be elected) officials. When I hear anyone say that their guy is 100% honest, smart and moral, I think the person saying this is lying — certainly to me, maybe even to himself. Even with the candidates we decide are good enough to support, I think we wind up pretending that his flip-flop on certain issues isn't a flip-flop; that his sleazy business dealings are spic-and-span; that his fund-raising activities don't have the distinct aroma of taking bribes. When it's Our Guy, we rationalize, ignore the evidence, and find an innocent explanation for that which was a character-defining felony last week when we caught the opposition doing it.

I rarely believe that people saying George W. Bush is a great leader really believe that. I think they just think he's the guy in the position to take the country where they want it to go, so they'll back him and pretend. Some of them are probably also pretending he's taking the country where they want it to go. I have a ultra-right wing friend who for years has been lecturing me that deficits are the tool of Satan and that any public servant who runs one should be executed. When Ronald Reagan increased the National Debt, my friend developed a long, tortured explanation (it had something to do with percentages of G.N.P.) as to why that debt was not really a debt. But when I ask him about the current financial projections, he can't even come up with a rationale. He has to change the subject.

All of this is a way of recommending a very sharp piece that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart just did about George W. If you don't like Bush, you'll laugh because it confirms everything you believe about the man, and does it in a way that's hard to deny. If you do like Bush…well, you might laugh but you'll also wince. Because just as Reagan supporters had to ignore his imaginary facts and his abominable record as a family man, followers of the previous Bush had to ignore him lying about Iran-Contra and taxes, and Clinton fans had to ignore his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky and fund-raising follies, supporters of the current Bush have to ignore stuff like this. (RealPlayer is, alas, required.)

Spinsanity — which is as close to the "last word" as anything you'll find on the web — has debunked the story of Tim Robbins being cut off during his appearance on The Today Show. I think we'd already figured out here that it didn't happen, but their confirmation settles it for me.

Ben Varkentine is the latest of several to ask what I think of the announcement that a new TV-Movie is to be produced of one of my favorite musicals and movies, 1776. Answer: I don't know what I think. I suppose it depends on how well it's done. The 1972 movie was apparently an utterly faithful version of the original Broadway show, and it's wonderful. But one of the great things about theater is that shows are open to reinterpretation. Ethel Merman was said to have given one of the all-time classic performances when she played Momma Rose in Gypsy, but that didn't preclude Angela Lansbury from doing a version that many preferred. Other versions have not been without value. It is certainly not inconceivable that a new version of 1776 might be wonderful on its own terms.

Which is not to say I'm over-optimistic. The whole show runs about three hours. If, as one might expect, they try to do it in a two-hour slot with commercial breaks, that will mean cutting almost half the show. I have no idea how that could be done and still keep the wonderful way in which the obstacles to the Declaration of Independence are slowly chipped away, one after the other. The casting will presumably require "names" and no star leaps to mind as ideal to play John Adams. I'd love to see Kelsey Grammer play John Dickinson but even if they could afford him and he could find the time, it's still a supporting role. Some of the Internet discussion groups that talk of musicals are already assuming it'll be Victor Garber in one of those two roles, and I would imagine he could be very good.

But who knows? Some in those groups are already writing off the whole project as a disaster before one bit of casting has even been announced. I think it would be nice if we waited until they actually make the film before we review it. I'm certainly willing to enjoy a new version.

With one caveat. Most of these TV-musicals are filmed in Canada. I really think it would be a shame if the story of how the United States of America was founded was filmed anywhere but in the good ol' U.S. of A.

Where's the best pastrami sandwich in New York? Find out here. And don't miss the audio slide show.

On tonight's show, Jay Leno had one of those "Act Two correspondents" segments which I think are dragging his program down. They involve sending someone (a comedian, one of their "Jaywalking" dummies, or a gay intern) and a camera crew to cover some interesting event, often by asking people awkward, silly questions. Some of the comedians who do these are good ones, and some of the remotes are funny, but they have nothing to do with Leno or The Tonight Show. It's like the program you're watching stops and you're suddenly subjected to five minutes of something else because Jay — who'd be better than any of those correspondents — was too busy doing stand-up in Vegas to tape a spot for his own show.

For tonight's, they dispatched comedian Harland Williams to cover a wedding that took place at last week's Ventriloquist Convention in Las Vegas. The bride was Eyvonne Dee Carter and the groom was my pal Valentine Vox, a fine performer and historian of the art. Both walked down the aisle with their puppets and I assume (I wasn't there) didn't move their lips when they said, "I do." If you looked quickly at the segment on The Tonight Show, you caught a fast glimpse of Maid-of-Honor Mallory Lewis, who was carrying Lamb Chop, the wonderful character she inherited from her mother, Shari Lewis. The Best Man was another pal of mine, Ronn Lucas, but I had to still-frame my TiVo to see him standing there with his puppet, Scorch. There was also a brief interview with Nancy Wible, a name well-known to those of us who know everyone who ever did cartoon voices.

As a fan of ventriloquists, I enjoyed the segment but…come on, Jay. People tune in to see you, and you get the biggest check. Let guys like Harland Williams do their stand-up on the show, and do the remote segments yourself. And Valentine…congrats on your marriage!

We have our work cut out for us. The Missouri Senate is mulling a proposal to tax — and I quote from this article: "bestiality, masturbation and sadistic or masochistic abuse." Another proposal would add lap dances to the "adult services" that would be taxed.

I don't believe they really mean this. I think they were watching late night TV and said, "Gee, the monologues are getting kinda thin. Let's come up with something Jay and Dave can milk for a few weeks."

A tariff on sadistic or masochistic abuse? Geez. I knew taxes were supposed to hurt but I didn't know you were supposed to enjoy it…

If, like me, you have a childish interest in the true identity of the infamous Woodward-Bernstein garage-haunting source, "Deep Throat," here's a link for you. Timothy Noah says the case is very strong for Fred Fielding. And the way he puts it, it sure is.

More on this when I have more time.

Several folks have written me to note that Drudge has also been attacking Hillary Clinton's autobiography, spreading the story that it was nowhere near completed and would never come out in June, as planned. It is, of course, already being printed for a June 9 release.

And someone else suggested we all visit The Drudge Report Headline Generator. Fun stuff.

Sidney Blumenthal's as-yet-unreleased book is presently at #4 on the Amazon Hit Parade.