Another rendition of the "Meet the Flintstones" theme. This one is by the Bow-Tie Bigband…

This kind of thing amazes me. As you may know, there's a recall drive in California to remove Gavin Newsom from the governorship. Polls and common sense tell us it's not likely to pass. Newsom's approval ratings is about the same as the percentage of the vote he won in the last election. But crusaders like Caitlyn Jenner have been urging Newsom's ouster and Jenner has announced a run for his seat.

A little while ago, Jenner tweeted this…

This person who wants to the governor of California does not know that the governor of California has no District Attorneys.  District Attorneys in this state are elected at the county level by a vote of The People and are in no way commanded by the governor.

Shouldn't you understand what a job involves before you apply for it?

In 1978, I was the Head Writer on The Krofft Superstar Hour, a live-action variety and adventure series on NBC's Saturday morning schedule. It featured the Bay City Rollers, a once-popular Scottish rock group, mixed in with a bevy of other characters left over from other Saturday morn shows from the world of Sid and Marty Krofft. The program didn't perform well in the ratings as an hour but after they cut it to a half-hour and renamed it The Bay City Rollers Show, it did well enough that NBC reran the thirteen episodes for several years.

Like I said, it starred the Bay City Rollers and at the time, the Bay City Rollers starred Les McKeown, their lead singer. The Rollers were all great guys but not all of them were happy to be in Los Angeles doing a kids' show instead of in Europe or elsewhere, touring and performing for older audiences. They were also not all that happy to be called upon to speak and act and serve as hosts, which was not what they did best.

Furthermore, their thick Scottish accents caused a lot of problems — for us because most of them simply could not deliver some lines in a manner that American audiences might understand; for them because even getting them close to intelligible meant long, long hours with a dialogue coach. (Actually, it was a good warm-up for us folks behind the cameras. The next show most of us worked on for the Kroffts starred two Japanese ladies who could not speak English. Compared to them, the Rollers were all professional announcers.)

And then there was the fact that the Rollers were fighting — mostly Leslie against the other four. Derek, Alan, Woody and Eric lived somewhat happily together while in L.A. in a big house in the Valley that Marty Krofft owned. Les had to be housed elsewhere, lest someone kill someone.

What was the battle about? I honestly never found out, though it seemed to have something to do with four of them thinking they were a five-man band and one of them (guess which one) thinking they were one star with four back-up singer/musicians. Fortunately for us, they were professional enough to keep most of that out of the studio and to fully honor their contractual commitments. In fact, all five were often apologetic about the frictions and speaking limitations they brought to the program.

In the photo above, Les is the guy on the top with his hands on the shoulders of Alan (left) and Eric (right).  Woody is below Alan, Derek is below Eric and the lady in the center is the wonderful Billie Hayes in her role as Witchiepoo.

As you've figured out by now, this is an obit for Les, who died last Tuesday at the age of 65.  To quote the New York Times, "His family announced the death in a statement on social media. The statement said he died at his home, but did not say where that was or specify the cause."

I got along fine with all of them.  They were all good musicians and Les was great at exuding all the charm and sex appeal it took to be the lead singer in a Boy Band…and probably still does.  Given that I still get occasional questions about what it was like to work with them (or just him), it would seem he and they made a lasting impression on a lot of people.

This is eighteen minutes from the stage version of the musical version of The Producers…and what's interesting about it is that, first of all, it's the "Springtime For Hitler" number and what led up to it. And secondly, it's in German. This is from the Berlin production which was from all reports a huge hit. It's one thing for us in this country to laugh at Hitler and the Nazis. It's another thing — and arguably a good thing — for them to be howling over there.

Also, this version includes a chunk of the number that was in the show when it tried-out in Chicago but cut once they got to New York. In this section, the guy playing Roger DeBris playing Hitler is strutting about on stage and a chorus lady — the actress playing Ulla playing a Nazi — announces, "Clear the way for the challenge dance." Then one by one, actors playing Stalin, Churchill and then F.D.R. come out and try to out-dance Hitler but the Führer defeats them all.

The sequence got a lot of laughs in Chicago but not enough. At one point, they tried changing Roosevelt — who of course had to do his part of the tap-dancing contest from a wheelchair — to Uncle Sam who was free to dance upright. The actor, Jeffrey Denman, was wearing a Nazi outfit in the first part of the number with most of the Uncle Sam costume on under it. So he would dance as a Nazi, then run offstage and strip his Kraut garb off to dance as Uncle Sam, then rush offstage to become a Nazi again.

Anyway, it didn't work so they went back to Roosevelt before cutting the whole challenge dance sequence. But if you watch this video, you'll see Stalin, Churchill and F.D.R. are back in. One wonders if it was funnier to a German audience than to an American one and if so, why. One also wonders how the music score for the excised portions were obtainable…

• Some days, I feel like I'm Mel Cooley and everyone in the world is either Buddy Sorrell or Alan Brady.

Another rendition of the "Meet the Flintstones" theme. This one is by the John Moawad All-Star Big Band and it's one of those jazz versions where they play the beginning of the song, they they play a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with the song, then they play the end of the song…

Hey, if you like reading political-type articles to which I link — and some of you do — read Jonathan Chait on the Republican attitude about Climate Change.

One thing that bothers my Republican friends — and I'm not claiming they're representative of all in their party; just pointing out that I do have some — is that they want to see the Conservative agenda prevail but not the parts of it that do not deal with reality. I saw Ben Carson on TV the other day acting like Hydroxychloroquine is a proven cure for COVID-19. And you have Mike Lindell going on with Jimmy Kimmel next week to explain why Donald Trump won the election in a landslide.

Those friends don't like their party dealing with Climate Change by denying it's real, just as they don't like pretending the coronavirus was nothing more than a bad cold or that there's that mountain of evidence that Trump won. Reasonable adults can disagree on how to solve a given problem but not when they get stuck on debating whether the problem even exists.

Every time I browse Amazon, I come across at least one of these. Let's say you have the occasional jones for Campbell's SpaghettiOs with meatballs.  Don't snicker.  There are worse things you put in your body.  I usually have a few cans around because it's one of the better meals I can scarf down when I need warm chow in me and can't spare the six minutes to prepare something better.  Let's say you want to order some from Amazon.

I found these two listings side-by-side.  The photos are identical.  The contents of what you'd receive may not be because the one on the left can't decide if it contains ten cans or twelve…and you'll never know because you're smart enough to spot that the one on the right, which definitely contains twelve cans, is a buck cheaper.

And if you use Amazon Fresh, you won't order either because they sell however many cans you choose to order for 99 cents each.  A dozen there will run you $11.88.

All of these contain, let me remind you, the exact same…we'll call it "food"…in the same can from (probably) the same assembly line.  All 15.6 ounce cans of SpaghettiOs are created equal.

The great thing about Amazon is the utter convenience.  You search, you click, you buy, you get.  You don't have to rise up from your chair, put on a pair of those clean pants you aren't wearing much during The Pandemic, get in your car and spend time and gas money driving to a store that may be out of what you need and if they do have it, it probably costs more than buying it on Amazon.  There are downsides to Amazon but it does save me time 'n' money.

Ah, but if you want the absolute best price — and you do, you know you do — you have to do some comparison-shopping. Amazon may have it listed three dozen ways for a myriad of prices. Every time I order a new package of my favorite protein powder, I could just click "Buy Again" but instead, I search anew for it and often find it for a buck less, sometimes on the same page. I also once found a better price for it by misspelling its name in the search window.

I don't have a huge point to make here. I just find it odd and I wonder how much of it is intentional. Mr. Bezos is no dummy and Amazon knows a lot about my buying habits. I wonder if they track how often I don't find the best price for myself…and if they show me the same options they show someone who always does or never does. Because almost everything I purchase there, I can find there for a dollar more or a dollar less if I take some of that time they're otherwise saving me.

Another rendition of the "Meet the Flintstones" theme. This one is a heavy metal version by Nick Protonotarios…

Oh. Before I get to that, I should mention that after I posted this saying that two people objected to these posts, I got close to a hundred e-mails from folks who love them so don't worry. They shall continue. And now, here's Nick…

• They're doing COVID vaccinations at some Costcos. Only problem is you have to get twelve of them at a time.

There's no Comic-Con International in San Diego this July but there'll be one in a four-issue mini-series that comes out this July…Groo Meets Tarzan. Much of it is set at that con so you will be able to see a frighteningly-accurate vision of what would happen at that convention if they had it.

You'll also be able to see two great warriors — Edgar Rice Burroughs' majestic Tarzan and Sergio Aragonés' moronic Groo the Wanderer — come together in a story so unbelievable that I don't even believe it and I was actually there when it happened. Sergio and I appear in the story along with our title stars. The fine illustrator Tom Yeates drew Tarzan and the scenes in that hero's world. Sergio drew the rest and there was lettering by Stan Sakai and coloring by Tom Luth. More details can be found here.

Keeping with my policy of not predicting anything about the end of The Pandemic or believing anyone else's predictions, I have no plans to travel anywhere for the foreseeable future. There's nowhere I want to go now and I'm real comfy here in my Fortress of Solitude. I guess I should be calling it The Fortress of Semi-Solitude because select, vaccinated people do get in…but not many of them.

Down the line, I might (might!) drive down to San Diego for the Comic-Con Special Edition on Thanksgiving Weekend but there are a lot of ifs in there, starting with if they even have it and if there's no surprise encore of the virus. And I'm thinking my personal lockdown might be over in time for the next WonderCon in Anaheim next April 1 — but I'm not counting on that.

The only other future event that interests me would require a trip to New York. The long-delayed revival of The Music Man — starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, directed by Jerry Zaks — is enjoying a long run on the marquee of the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway in Manhattan. It has, of course, not actually opened or even gone into production.

We who love musical theater all have a few shows we never want to miss and The Music Man is on my list. Mr. Jackman and Ms. Foster sound like ideal casting and I've liked every Jerry Zaks show I've ever seen. They're now saying it will begin previews December 20, 2021 and then open for real on February 10, 2022. Well, maybe.

When I heard the announced dates, I momentarily thought about trying to get back there in March, maybe for my 70th birthday. Then I thought: No, probably not. I'm also reticent to get on an airplane for a while. Maybe if the show's two main stars are willing to stay with it long enough — or if it's delayed again — it might still be running on my 71st birthday.

One interesting thing that has happened to this show, which was originally announced to open on 10/22/20, is a change of Producer. Scott Rudin, probably the most prolific Broadway producer of the last decade or two, has announced he will "step back" from active participation in this and his other projects. He had been accused of multiple instances of both physical and emotional abuse as is discussed in this article.

I have no idea how valid the complaints about Mr. Rudin are but a lot of folks involved in his shows seem to be happy he's doing that. So once again, The Music Man has a happy ending…this time, even before it's gone into rehearsal.

I just won a bet with myself. I got a news bulletin thingie on my iPhone that said the Senate had just voted 94-1 for the bill to do something about Anti-Asian hate crimes. So I asked myself, "Which one Senator voted no to send a 'I'm-your-guy' message to white supremacists?" And the answer, of course, turned out to be Josh Hawley.

If you are hesitant about getting vaccinated for COVID-19 or trying to help someone who is, listen to one of the smarter guys I've come across on the Internet, John Green…

• When I read that Chris Christie is running for president in 2024, I think how ridiculous it is that an ex-governor who left office with a 14% approval rating could even get his party's nomination. And then I think how unlikely it once was that Donald Trump could do that.