Added to the list of the wrong people Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 63, who were found dead Wednesday in their Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Also one of their 3 dogs.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said, “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time however exact cause of death has not been determined."
I admired Hackman's work in such films as Hoosiers and Mississippi Burning but it was in the Superman films with Christopher Reeve that I first encountered Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.
Here is Gene Hackman in an uncredited role in Young Frankenstein.
Gene Hackman retired from acting about 20 years ago, leaving a commendable body of work as his legacy.
(I swear one day I am going to sit down and watch The French Connection.)
It is a terrible shame he is no longer with us, particularly under such mysterious and tragic circumstances.
Back in November, I did a post about comic books I had purchased 50 years earlier.
I rather enjoyed that nostalgic trip back through time so I'm going back 50 years again to look at some of the comics I bought in February 1975.
From Batman #263, we got "Riddler on the Move" written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Ernie Chan and Dick Giordano.
By this point, Ernie Chan (then credited as Ernie Chua) was the defacto Batman artist and I wasn't particularly happy about it. His Batman was too chunky. I missed Irv Novick's more lithe version of the Caped Crusader. For now, Giordano was still inking Batman, adding some gloss to Ernie's work.
The issue feature's a riddle from the Riddler that I still invoke to this day. "Batman, why are you like an unemployed doctor? Because you have no patience!"
Detective Comics #447 continues Len Wein's "Bat-Murderer" saga but artist Jim Aparo is gone. We get Chan & Giordano again on the art and also we get a guest appearance from the Creeper.
Straight laced TV reported Jack Ryder was the Creeper with a bizarre ensemble and a maniacal laugh. The Creeper was ostensibly a super hero but his appearance and behavior made most people assume he's a villain.
The back up was a Robin solo story drawn by a team of artists identified only as Martinez and Mazzaroli. Who they were and how they came to attention of editor Julius Schwartz are unknown. They drew this one Robin story and were never heard from again.
By 1975, these stories were sharing less space. In 1974, the page count for story and art in a standard issue comic book was 20 pages. As of 1975, the page count was down to 18 pages.
And that was after a price increase from 20 cents to 25 cents.
After making a surprise cameo in a Green Arrow back up in Action Comics, Krypto returns in Superman #287 by Elliot S! Maggin, Curt Swan and Bob Oskner.
By the time I started reading DC comics in earnest, I had missed the great teaming of penciller Curt Swan with inker Murphy Anderson. For my era, Bob Oskner was Swan's principlal inker and for my money, none of the inkers than came after (Adkins, Chiramonte, Hunt, etc) were as good as Oskner.
Gone by 1975 was DC's main cover artist Nick Cardy. Dick Giordano is frequently pressed into service to provide covers.
Another thing that was gone by 1975 was the 60 cent 100 page spectacular. I had only known the Shazam title in that format so it was a bit weird to see the oddly thin Shazam#18 bereft of those classic Golden Age reprints.
The lead Captain Marvel story was "The Celebrated Talking Frog of Blackstone Forest" by Elliot S! Maggin and Robert Oksner.
There is also a talking tiger. Tawky Tawny was a recurring character in the old Captain Marvel mythos.
The back up is a Captain Marvel, Jr. tale written by E. Nelson Bridwell with art by Kurt Schaffenberger. Bridewell will go on as the principal writer of all things Shazam for several years.
February 1975 appears to have been a slim month for me. Sometime comic book purchase could be hit or miss depending on my how much spare change I had.
Under the heading of "the wrong people keep dying", the news broke today that Michelle Trachtenberg had died at the age of 39.
Michelle in 1997
Michelle was a child actor who came to prominence as the titular Harriet the Spy when she was 10 years old.
She came to my attention when she joined Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the 5th season as Dawn, Buffy's younger sister we never heard of before but has always been there living with Buffy and her mom.
Michelle Trachtenberg with Sarah Michelle Gellar in 2001
A big bad using time bending magic shenanigans did a retcon on reality to plant a threat right next to Buffy, a threat that Buffy had known and loved all her life even if she didn't exist in the previous 4 seasons.
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
Michelle followed up Buffy with the role of villain Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl.
Michelle Trachtenberg had recently undergone a liver transplant which means she may have experienced complications from that.
She was found dead in her New York City apartment which means she died alone.
As if this was not sad enough already.
By all accounts a good sweet person who took joy in her work and her life, it is a great and terrible tragedy Michelle Trachtenberg is no longer on this Earth.
And it is great and terrible tragedy that others bereft of goodness and joy continue to breathe our air.
I had planned not to devote any more attention to the fuckery of Donald Trump and/or Elon Musk but something happened a few days ago that just royally pissed me off, I needed to put it down in words.
The recent purges of federal employees has been extraordinarly awful by several terrible measures.
The sheer numbers of people who found themselves out of work.
The reckless nature of the terminations putting essential government functions in jeopardy.
The lack of warning or notice with notices going out late at night advising employees not to come in that morning and being immediately locked out.
The lies as to why people have lost jobs. Emails sent terminating employees all claim the termination is due to performance issues. A lot of employees were probationary and had not been on the job long enough to warrant a performance review. And others were long time employees with exemplary performance records.
Being painted with the broad brush that they are tied to fraud and corruption.
And as if all that was not bad enough, there's just the sheer cruelty of it all.
And cruelty seems to be a deliberate part of the process.
Elon Musk posing with a chain saw grinning maniacally, taking god damn fucking joy at the hundreds of people he's putting out of work, taking pleasure at the lives he's ruining.
Sounds like fun to Donald Trump.
Trump posted this image on his Truth Social account to give an account of the disrespect for these workers.
Donald Trump's lack of respect for other people is well documented. He demands respect for himself but feels no compunction to return it.
But posting this meme to his social media is just...
This lying, cheating, hateful, whiney, petulant, moronic god damn motherfucking son of a bitch gets to be called "President" but still can't act like it.
All he understands is cruelty. Even cruelty directed against the very American citizens he is supposed to serve.
God damn you, Donald Trump for your total disregard and disrespect for Americans.
And furthermore, keep Spongebob Squarepants off your god forsaken social media!
A couple of weeks ago, Andrea and I caught up the series finale of High Potential.
I'll be honest, trying out this show was not on radar until clips showing parts of this opening scene made it to my Tik Tok.
OK, I was intrigued.
(Or as we pronounce it around here in Bugs Bunny style, "in-tri-gewd".)
I knew Kaitlin Olson from her roles as Sweet Dee in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and as DJ from Hacks but I was not prepared for what she brings to the role of Morgan Gillory.
Morgan is an intellectually gifted person, a high potential intellectual. Her HPI status makes her hyper aware of everything around her which makes holding a regular job difficult hence her revolving series of odd jobs like cleaning lady.
She winds up getting a gig as a consultant with an LAPD Major Crimes Unit and paired off with detective Adam Karadec.
At first he resents this. But once he out in the field with her, he really REALLY resents it. Morgan isn't trained for this, she's always breaking rules and regs and she doesn't know when to NOT talk.
Now this dynamic would get old pretty damn quick if the series held firm to a status quo. But High Potential has seen the relationship between Gillory and Karadec evolve. By the end of season 1's 13 episodes, Karadec is a defender of his eccentric partner's gifts and talents.
High Potential is based on a French TV show where the Gillory and Karadec characters became lovers early on the first season. For the American show, I suppose I don't mind if the Gillory/Karadec dynamic eventually deepens into a more intimate relationship but not too soon. I'm appreciative of the development of just moving from resentment to mutual respect. Anything more than that should be given more time.
Speaking of the French version, that show's Morgan Gillory is more abrupt and dismissive of people. Which we've seen in this kind of show before where someone with a High IQ and an eidectic memory just shows up all the lowly normal people around them.
But what makes our Morgan Gillory stand out from those characters is her empathy. Yes, her brain is packed to the limit with facts scientific and historical but she also possesses a very keen insight into human behavior.
Shows like these sometime makes the supporting player lug around idiot balls to make the super smart person look good and I will admit this show has slipped a couple of times into that trap but for the most part, the crew of the Major Crimes Unit are shown to be competent and good at their jobs; it's just Morgan Gillory is working at whole other level.
While High Potential is primarily a once and done episodic series, the season finale introduces a recurring threat, a super smart game master who sees Morgan Gillory as a worthy opponent. Morgan has her Moriarty who will apparently be a recurring enemy in season 2.
I can't wait to see what develops next with the next season of High Potential.
____________________________________
On the subject of crime solving shows, I'm catching up on the 4th season of My Life Is Murder. Lucy Lawless is Alexa Crowe, independent investigator who helps the police. Alexa is weird, quirky misanthrope who has a better relationship with her cat Chowder than she does with most people.
Including Madison, her roommate and live in computer hacker who helps Alexa on her cases.
And there are a lot of murder cases.
New Zealand is a dangerous place to live.
Most murders involve the very rich living very posh life styles who have zero patience for Alexa's interminable questions about pesky seemingly irrelevant details.
Ostensibly Detective Harry Henare is only supposed to bring the twistiest, thorniest murder mysteries to Alexa to solve but I really don't think he's working as hard as he should be and keeps bringing cases to Alexa just to push her buttons.
Alexa Crowe cuts an impressive figure as she marches about New Zealand with her long jacket whipping about her in the breeze as she bugs people until someone cracks, cops to the fatal deed and Harry calmly walks up to make the arrest.
My Life Is Murder can be formulaic as hell but damn Lucy Lawless makes Alexa Crowe a distinctive detective with her wry sense of humor, her brittle impatience with the world and her fierce pursuit of justice.
Well, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.
What's to come on the Touchbase?
The return of Invincible.
The conclusion of our rewatch of Arrested Development.
Believe it or not: Phineas & Ferb.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
So back in the campaign when Donald Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine and he said he could end the war easily, how many of you figured out well in advance that Li'l Donnie's strategy would just be this:
Trump: "So, Vlad, you want Ukraine, huh?"
Putin: "Dah!"
Trump: "Well, you can have it!"
So POOF! goes American aid, Russia rolls over Ukraine and war, it is over.
Simple, no?
Well, Trump is going there.
I'm trying to be surprised by this development but no. Li'l Donnie has his lips puckered against Vladimir Putin's back side since day one.
Putin wants Ukraine. Trump wants that for him too.
Putin casts Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the real enemy. Trump is down with that.
Trump says Zelenskyy is...
a dictator
only has a job approval rating of 4%
the war is his fault.
Seriously....
What?
What the...?
What the fuck?!?
Do we really need to break this down? OK, fine!
Zelenskyy is the duely elected President of Ukraine. The next election cycle has been postponed due to Russia bombing Ukraine every god damn day.
In the most recent polling data available, Zelenskyy is polling in the 60% to 70% range and even opposition leaders speak highly of his conduct while Russia is bombing Ukraine every god damn day.
The war started when Putin sent Russian troops to attack and invade Ukraine. Of course a cowardly bully like Trump would view Ukraine at fault because they fought back. And Ukraine continues to fight back while Russia is bombing Ukraine every god damn day.
How much has Trump put himself on the wrong side of history?
When Trump called into this favorite propaganda machine Fox News, the ever obsequious butt kisser Brian Kilmeade pushed back on the assertion that the Ukraine/Russia war is Ukraine's fault.
Kilmeade reminded anyone listening that the war started when Russia attacked Ukraine.
Trump refused to hear it.
Kilmeade tried again by asserting the war started when Russia attacked Ukraine.
Trump blew right past it as if Kilmeade had not said a word.
There is some push back against the petulant man baby.
The hope is slim but possibly Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine have not quite been abandoned yet.
________________________________________
Meanwhile there are a million other levels of fuckery coming from Donald Trump and our unelected acting President Elon Musk and I've only got so much bandwidth to deal with all of this.
And Doctor Who fans absolutely abhor, despise, hate, LOATHE a vacuum.
In the absence of confirmation of the future of Doctor Who, the rumor mill has been running amuck.
Ncuti Gatwa is leaving Doctor Who! 😧
Ncuti has already filmed his regeneration scene!! 😧
Disney+ is disappointed with the show!!! 😧
The BBC is going to cancel Doctor Who!!!! 😧
DOCTOR WHO IS DOOMED!!!!! 😱😱😱😱
Well, everybody hold on a minute!
Here's what we do know.
There is a new season of Doctor Who coming.
When? A lot of sources assume it's going to begin sometime in May but a recent announcement on iPlayer is that the new season will launch in the UK on April 12th.
There is a spin off mini series coming featuring UNIT vs. Silurians and Sea Devils.
But as for the 3rd (or 16th) season of Doctor Who itself?
Therein lies the source of the consternation.
There is no confirmation from the BBC, Disney+ or Russell T Davies of the next season. Davies has said there will be an announcement on that season when this year's season drops.
On one hand, that might seem reasonable. But on the other hand, the lead time on making Doctor Who is such that if there is going to be a 3rd season, it should've started by now.
For example filming of the 2025 season had begun on October 2023. And Davies posted on Instagram in May 2024 that filming of the 2nd season for 2025 was complete.
But it appears the production staff in Cardiff is cooling it's heels with nothing to do.
Including Ncuti Gatwa.
Therein lies more consternation.
According to someone allegedly close to Ncuti, he's looking to plans move to Los Angeles where reportedly several Hollywood projects await him.
And the oppressive nature of the trolling against that series in general and against Ncuti in particular (How DARE he be black AND gay!) is a bit much to keep dealing with.
So Ncuti Gatwa leaving after only 2 seasons makes sense, especially if there are other things he can be doing and the future of Doctor Who is in question.
While handwringing over when an actor is going to leave is SOP in Doctor Who fandom, I think there may be something to this concern of Ncuti leaving.
But what of the show itself?
The current version of Doctor Who has been running now in one form or another for 20 years which is a long time for a TV series. Maybe it is time to park the TARDIS in the garage for a moment.
But I hope not. And I do not expect so.
There's still a lot of life left in the old girl.
________________________________
Next Sunday: the return of Doctor Who Is Classic with a look back an adventure with the 4th Doctor.
Today's edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post is totally random. Andrea and I watched this movie maybe two years ago and I'm only posting about it now because... no particular reason.
From 1957, today's movie is Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, directed by John Huston and starring Robert Mitchum and Deborak Kerr. The film was based on a book of the same name that came out in 1952.
Set during World War II, the movie takes place on a Japanese-occupied island in the Pacific Ocean.
Two Americans are stranded on the island: a Marine and a nun.
Lost, abandoned and surrounded by the enemy, how will they survive?
In the South Pacific in 1944, U.S. Marine Corporal Allison narrowly escapes a Japanese attack. Allison is on a rubber raft as it drifts towards an island. He finds an abandoned settlement and a chapel with one occupant: Sister Angela, a novice Irish nun who has not yet taken her final vows.
She had come to the island with an elderly priest to rescue another clergyman but the Japanese got to him first. Then the priest died and Sister Angela has been on her own ever since.
Robert Mitcum & Deborah Kerr
For a while, they have the island to themselves, but then a detachment of Japanese troops arrives to set up a base, forcing them to hide in a cave.
When Sister Angela is unable to stomach the raw fish that Allison has caught, he sneaks into the Japanese camp for supplies. He barely escapes without getting caught. That night, they watch flashes from naval guns being fired in a sea battle over the horizon.
The Japanese unexpectedly leave the island.
Allison professes his love for Sister Angela, proposing marriage. But Sister Angela remains committed to her holy vows.
After getting drunk, Allison voices his frustration with her vows, that they are pointless when the two of them are stuck on this island like Adam & Eve.
More than a little frightened by Allison's drunken tirade, Sister Angela runs out into the night just as a tropical storm hits.
Allison sobers up and feels bad for snapping at Sister Angela like that. After the storm lets up, he finds her shivering and deathly ill.
To complicate matters more, the Japanese have returned forcing our duo to retreat to the cave.
Allison sneaks into the Japanese encampment for supplies to help treat the very ill Angela. This incursion is less successful as Allison is forced to kill a Japanese soldier to effect his escape. This alerts the Japanese there is an enemy combatant on the island.
Allison and Sister Angela narrowly avoid capture thanks to a timely attack on the island by American forces. But the Japanese are ready with four massive artillery pieces ready to mow down the Americans as they descend on the island.
Allison sneaks out from hiding to sabotage these big guns but he gets shot.
Without their big guns, the Japanese cannot repel the American Marines.
Sister Angela and the wounded Allison then say their goodbyes. Allison has reconciled himself to Sister Angela's dedication to her faith but assures him that they will always be close "companions." The wounded Allison is carried to the ship by the Marines with Sister Angela walking by his side.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison earned Academy Award nominations for the screenplay and for Deborah Kerr as Best Actress.
The movie was filmed on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
All in all, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a standard issue pious woman falls in love with unpious man, a trope we've seen from The African Queen to the Elvis Presley flick Change of Habit.
What makes this go round at this topic work as well as it does is the chemistry between Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. The affection Allison and Sister Angela build towards as the film progresses is palpable. (But not acted upon. A monitor from the Catholic National Legion of Decency made quite sure of that. Because in the book, the Marine and the nun do get it on.)
There was one ad-libbed scene where Kerr and Mitchum threw themselves into each other's arms, kissing passionately. This did not make it into the film.
Mitchum was very amused that Kerr would cuss up a blue streak while in her nun outfit.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison may not be anything new but it does what it does very well.
This past weekend, David Tennant hosted the BAFTA awards for the 2nd year in a row. Your Friday Video Link this week is David's opening the show with a powerful and energetic performance of the the Proclaimer's "500 Miles".
Wanna see it again? Your Friday Video Link #2 features David at the 2025 BAFTAs with his epic introductory music number plus a bunch of cool things David Tennant said and did before and during the awards ceremony.
Your Friday Video Link #3 is David Tennant opening the 2024 BAFTAs.
David has a dog who is so gosh darn cute!
There's a lot of crap going in the world but it is a better world with Tennant in it!
I’ve been under some pressure from my wife and son to see my doctor.
All because it hurts when I do things.
Like walk.
Or stand up.
Or sit down.
“David, you need to go to the doctor.”
“Dad, you need to go to the doctor.”
I saw no need to go to my doctor because I knew what he would tell me.
“You’re overweight and you need to exercise.”
Why do I need to pay good money to hear what I already know.
I used to be big on going on walks. I would take a loop or two around the block. Those walks were good therapy, both physical and mental.
But it started to hurt to take those walks. I would feel excruciating pain in my lower back and in my hips.
Mostly because my frame is carrying about 1/6th of a metric ton of weight.
I don’t eat right, I don’t sleep right, I don’t get enough physical activity. My body is royally fuckked up and it’s all my fault for not taking better care of it.
Gee, I really thought I would be dead by now.
If I was a horse, I would've been put out my misery by now.
But my family seems to think otherwise. As Jed Leland said in Citizen Kane, "They've got some dang fool idea about keeping me alive."
A recent measurement of my blood pressure convinced even me into making an appointment to see the doctor.
I’m not sure exactly how blood pressure works but I’ve seen enough medical shows on TV to know that both numbers are not supposed to be triple digits. I called the doctor’s office but I made it a point not to see my regular doctor who has become cranky in his old age. I was more than willing to see any of the other doctors at that practice.
Here’s what the younger doctor had to say: “You’re overweight and you need to exercise.”
Well, duh!
But the doctor was sufficiently alarmed by my blood pressure to seek medicinal relief.
I’m on a prescription for blood pressure medication.
The doctor, bless ‘em, also tried to get me a medicinal leg up on my weight loss with a prescription for a generic version of Ozempic on the basis that I am very close being diabetic.
My insurance will not pay for it because I’m not actually diabetic yet.
Go figure.
So I am making a renewed effort to pull down some pounds the old fashioned way.
Even it feels like my hips are going to break off.
To that end, I'm hooked up with a free app provided through my employer called "Hinge Health" which guides me through a series of exercises to promote better performance in my hips, knees and back. I've been on this program for a week and I can sense some small amount of improvement. It still hurts to walk, stand and sit but just a little bit less.
Anyway, I will not be relying on the medical miracles of big pharma to shed myself of the extra person affixed to my frame.
I hoped to let a day or so go by without a post about that god damn moron Donald Trump but his recent post on Twitter (fuck you, Elon, I'm not calling it "X"!) was most disturbing and demanded my attention.
"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."
If that sounds too articulate and too poetic for Trump's normal grade school syntax, it is a quote attributed to Napoleon.
The quote in French is "Celui qui sauve sa patrie ne viole aucune loi" which translates to "He who saves his fatherland violates no law."
Presumably this quote was said right before Napoleon declared himself as Emperor of France and gave a big old "Fuck you" to any government or law that said otherwise.
Whatever it's validity, the message of the quote is clear, that a leader should NOT feel compelled or constrained by the rule of law if they act in service to save their country.
The White House felt good enough about Li'l Donnie's quote on Twitter to add it to his official photo and post it to the White House Twitter account.
Below are some validated quotes from dictators through history and dang if they don't fall in line with Trump's post.
But what the fuck exactly does Donald Trump think he's saving the country from?
We know from his unhinged rantings at his rallies and his late night Truth Social posts that he sees America as some kind of continous post apocalyptic dumpster fire that only he can save us from.
It is a Napoleon Complex of the highest order that Trump is contemplating to usurp power to save us from the demons of his own deranged delusions.
His delusions may well have a real cost for the rest of us.
Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase will be about this past Sunday's TV special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live.
Before we get to the special itself, a few words about the lead up to it.
Starting last year during NBC's coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics where so much broadcasting real estate was given to remind anyone and everyone that SNL's 50th anniversary was nigh upon us.
Interviews with athletes shared space with appearances by SNL cast members who were flown to Paris to comment on the Olympics and to be asked questions about SNL's 50th anniversary which was nigh upon us.
Over the intervening months, the build up to the SNL 50th anniversary special kept increasing in intensity and ubiquity. News shows and talk shows not just at NBC featured SNL cast members past and present.
Friday night featured a 4 hour concert event including a medley of Lonely Island tunes led by Andy Samberg and Lady Gaga.
In the absence of Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga performed his half of the classic "Dick In a Box".
That's her in the photo below with the gift box prop strapped to her waist.
If the link below is still active, you can see the whole medley including a returning Chris Parnell joining Andy for "Lazy Sunday" as they convey via a very aggressive rap just where the best cupcakes can be found in NYC.
On Sunday just before the show itself, there was a red carpet event as celebrities arrive for the big show.
Oh my God! This is way too much attention!
As for the show itself....
Instead of a sketch, the cold open is a performance of "Homeward Bound" by Paul Simon who performed that song on SNL in 1976 with George Harrison. This time Paul is joined by Sabrina Carpenter whose vocals were very welcome as Paul was clearly struggling. (Paul Simon has admitted to hearing loss which makes it hard for him to sing.)
Steve Martin does the monologue ("traditionally the weakest part of the show") where Martin Short does what he always does to insert himself in someone else's spotlight. A problem Steve deftly solves by summoning ICE agents to deport Marty back to Canada.
John Mulaney joins Steve to comment on the many people who have hosted SNL and out of just under 900, only 2 have committed murder. (Mulaney clearly meant long ago hosts Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson but since Alec Baldwin was in the audience, well... awkward!)
Time to get busy with some sketches.
We got another bizarre "Domingo" sketch and the return of "Black Jeopardy" with Tracy Morgan on hand as a contestant named Darius and Eddie Murphy as "Tracy Morgan" whose impression of Morgan was scarily spot on.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did one of those standard Q&A bits with the audience where conveniently place celebrities ask questions.
This bit includes an appearance by that steely eyed smoldering sexy man beast known to us mere mortals as Adam Driver.
And a DOG!!!! (Oh, who's a good dog!!!)
Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost were joined by Seth Meyers and Bill Murray.
Murray ranked every anchor in “SNL” history — in front of Jost. (Spoiler: Jost didn’t make the list.)
The segment also saw the return of a very-pregnant Cecily Strong (I think her due date is right this very minute) as the very pregnant “Girl You Wish Hadn’t Started a Conversation at a Party". Who's the father of Party Girl's baby? Bobby Moynihan's Drunk Uncle, of course.
We got a new "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" still using that perfect melodious narration by the late Phil Hartman
If John Mulaney's around, we've got oursevles a musical sketch. And this one is a time travelling epic that begins with a hot dog vendor (Mulaney) in 1975 greeting a couple of newcomers (Pete Davidson and David Space) who have arrived in NYC to make their dreams come true. Mulaney leads them through a musical journey forward in time with songs derived from The Lion King (with Nathan Lane), Little Shop of Horrors (with Scarlett Johansen and Paul Rudd) and Hamilton (featuring my good friend Lin Manuel Miranda). We even get a reprise from Les Miserables with Keenan Thompson as the Diner Lobster and Cecily Strong as the waitress.
Aubrey Plaza has been largely absent since the January 3rd death of her husband. So it was an emotionally fraught moment to see her introduce Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard's cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Andy Samberg joined with Bowen Yang to for a Digital Short to demonstrate the ubiquity of anxiety among SNL cast members over 5 decades.
We got a sweet pre-taped bit with original cast member Laraine Newman visiting stage 8H and wistfully reflecting on those early years of the show, a poignant moment punctuated by the clueless ineptitude of Pete Davidson's Chad.
Just like a regular 90 minute episode of SNL, this double size special (3 hours and 23 minutes! Whoa!) was hit or miss with other sketches. The return of "Scared Straight" (with Keenan Thompson, Jason Sudeikis, Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell) and "Debbie Downer" (with Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Fallon and Robert DeNiro) came late in the show when we're all exhausted and these sketches seemed to be trying too hard to create a viral moment.
We're back with some sweet nostalgia as Garrett Morris introduces Tom Schiller’s "Don't Look Back in Anger", the classic black and white short film that posits an elderly Jim Belushi who has outlived the entire original cast. (The cruel irony was that Belushi was the first original cast member to die.) The show ends with a powerful if flawed musical performance by Paul McCartney. Did the 50th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live live upon to the hype? I will say "no" in that NOTHING could live up to that level of hype. But all in all, I will count the SNL50 special as a win with genuine laughs and heartfelt emotion and if it wasn't always good, well, over 50 years, that's also part of the deal for SNL on any given Saturday night.
Well, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.
Next week, it's the first season finale for High Potential. (For real this time.)
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
.jpg)
