Happy Half New Year!
Yes folks 2023, or as I sometimes refer to it, WB50, is halfway done. I hope it hasn't been too trying of a year for you. There are always new beginnings and sad goodbyes, and we've had our share so far.
Now that summer is here, I'll let you know our tentative programming plan.. We'll publish next week, probably take off the 16th, publish the 23rd, and maybe the 30th. On the first weekend of August, we'll have a special edition that I think you will all get a big kick out of. One more after that, then we take our summer hiatus, with the caveat that if there is anything I must get off my chest, I'll come back sooner.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer.
For now, let's get into some stuff going on around here...
TELEVISION- NO G_TS NO G_ORY!
The producers of Wheel of Fortune announced this week that Ryan Seacrest, quite possibly the most overexposed person on television, will take over as host, replacing the retiring Pat Sajak who is hanging up the mic after 41 years come a year from September.
I have nothing personally against Seacrest, I'm sure he's a nice enough fella, but you can't turn on the TV without seeing his mug on it. And it seems like he's the one everyone turns to when they need to replace a legend. To wit:
-He replaced Casey Kasem as host of American Top 40 on the radio. (Actually he replaced Casey the second time Casey left AT40, the first time it was Shadoe Stevens from Hollywood Squares who took over.)
-He replaced the guy who replaced Regis Philbin as the host of the ABC morning show Live. Michael Strahan replaced Regis, but Seacrest replaced Strahan.
-And of course he replaced the legendary Dick Clark as host of New Year's Rockin Eve. The show still bears Clark's name, but Seacrest is the host.
Now he replaces Sajak, in a move that from where I'm sitting took about as much thought and imagination as deciding how much milk to put in your cereal in the morning.
Jeopardy at least tried out a bunch of different personalities to replace their own legendary host Alex Trebek. We can, (and I have) argued whether or not the Ken Jennings/Mayim Bialik combo has worked out, but at least I feel like that was a bit out of the box. This is as far in the box with the lid nailed on as you can get.
Hell, I'm old enough to remember when Sajak got the unenviable task of taking on late night talk show deity Johnny Carson with his own CBS show. Back then there were two editions of Wheel, a daytime version produced by NBC, and the one that airs at 7:30 which is syndicated. Sajak hosted both, but when he got the talk show, they replaced him on the daytime version with Rolf Benirschke, a former NFL placekicker that even a football fan like me had never heard of.
Talk about outside the box! That took guts.
Alas, neither Sajak's talk show or Rolf's career as a game show host lasted, so maybe the higher ups had that in mind when they decided to give the gig to Seacrest. Seacrest is the Webster's dictionary definition of the term "safe choice."
And in what can only be categorized as a miscarriage of justice, apparently Vanna White is saying she hasn't gotten a raise since 2005, making a paltry $3 million (in comparison to Sajak's rumoured $15 million. I mean, when I think of Wheel of Fortune, I think of Vanna before I think of Sajak and certainly Seacrest.
I just hope Vanna gets her $$$ without having to go to the Supreme Court, otherwise she may end up owing the show money. (More on that later)
Last week, in my piece about the new Beatles song coming out later this year, I mentioned that a song had been created using AI, a mashup of Drake and the Weeknd, without either artists permission. Apparently the Weeknd has other issues on his plate, namely this show he's on with Johnny Depp's daughter.
MORE TELEVISION-The Idol
I had read this show as a "trouble plagued production". I also read that there were several scenes of deviant sexual behavior.. So as a public service to you, my readers, and not wanting to put any of you through such trauma, I took it upon myself to watch a couple episodes.
There are some spoilers ahead if you think you are inclined to tune in, which trust me, I don't think you'll want to...
Lily-Rose Depp plays Jocelyn, a mega pop star who is dealing with the death of her mother amongst other trials and tribulations. (Think the early 2000's Brittney Spears). She meets Tedros (played by the Weeknd, but going by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye) at the nightclub he owns. They hit it off immediately, getting busy in one of the club's stairwells. He turns out to be a combination of Yoko Ono, Col. Tom Parker and David Koresh, moving in to her mansion, dictating her schedule and of course banging her nine ways to Sunday.
Yes, there is plenty of sex between Jocelyn and Tedros, with some of the worst dialogue I've heard since I went to see Showgirls back in 1995. (At least Showgirls contained what Ace called the greatest movie quote of the century-I can't repeat it here, Here is the Quotes section from Showgirls IMDB page, go about 15 down, James Smith's quote)
The problem for me is that there aren't many characters on the show I can get behind. I guess I'm supposed to feel bad for Jocelyn, but I'm not sure if it's Depp's not pulling it off, or if I'm not buying it, but I just can't. I actually really like some of the Weeknd's music, I ranked I Feel It Coming, as my favorite song of the 2010's in fact, but yeah, he might want to get back in the studio and cut a new album forthwith to save his reputation.
It's also possible I'm getting too old for this shit. But I'd be really surprised if the youngins found this entertaining. It's really not worth your time.
THE SUPREME COURT- Big Decisions
There were a few big decisions that came down from the Supreme Court this week, I'm gonna deal with two of them, the one regarding Affirmative Action in college, and the one ending President Biden's College loan forgiveness program.
On Thursday, the court voted 6-3 (along party lines) to strike down Affirmative Action programs at Harvard and North Carolina. The new ruling overturned a 2003 decision that said race could be considered a factor on the admissions process so that universities could maintain diverse campuses.
There was a time when I thought that affirmative action was an outdated premise. That we had made enough progress in making sure all of us got a fair shot at a better life that we didn't need these kind of programs.
But the fact is we need them now more than ever, and the idea that everyone is on a level playing field is laughable.
I mean they literally threw Felicity Huffman and Aunt Becky from Full House in the slammer because they bought their way into college. Yes, they got caught because they were particularly ballsy, but what about all the other rich and famous gaming the system? If that doesn't show you how bent the system is, I don't know what else would.
And as far as the debt forgiveness plan being scrapped, well, that's a bit more complicated. I have no problem with people with loads of college debt getting out from under that. The thing is, it sounded like the Biden administration was using a provision in the Pandemic Relief act to push through an executive order, and the court was saying that was giving too much power to the executive branch? If that's the case, (and I'm not sure it is) I can almost agree with that. I'd rather see congress pass a bill to relieve college debt. I'm not naïve enough to think that would happen.
But there are a lot of people out there who are saying "Take out a loan you have to pay it back.." who are getting millions of dollars in tax breaks, and government bailout money and they should really stick a sock in it. All the folks in Congress who took PPP loans and didn't pay them back? Some of them are the loudest critics of student loan forgiveness.
More and more, the Court is ruling in favor of the little guy less and less. And when you have Samuel Alto and Clarence Thomas getting wined and dined by people they end up ruling in favor of, that just seems like the plot of a bad movie. But it's happening. It's why when they say you're vote don't count, they are full of $hit.
BASEBALL- Cohen Addresses the masses.
Mets owner Steve Cohen took to Twitter the other day to announce he would hold a press conference before Thursday's game.
I was glad he did it. Some were questioning the wisdom or even the point, but I contrast him with the folks at MSG, particularly the Knicks, who upper management never speaks to the media. That a'int right.
Now I know there were people that weren't going to be happy unless he threatened that heads were going to roll, or even more severe, served up either Billy Eppler or Buck Showalter on a platter right then and there. Most of us knew THAT wasn't going to happen, but maybe a little more urgency was expected?
I think he did a good job. He said the onus was on the players, but also acknowledged that he believed they were playing hard and hadn't given up. He also said that he still wants to hire a president of baseball operations, someone between him and Eppler. I'm guessing that someone is former Brewers GM David Stearns, who he needs to wait out till his contract expires after this season.
Cohen isn't the problem here. We wanted someone who was going to come in and spend money and he has, probably even more than he wanted to. The players are underperforming, pretty much all of them, but I don’t think any of them aren’t trying.
Except Starling Marte.
The other night, I mean, right after Cohen’s presser, the Mets loaded the bases in the 7th inning, and Marte grounded into a rally killing double play in which he didn’t seem in any particular hurry to get down to first base. Then in the 9th, Brewers pitcher Devin Williams walked Brandon Nimmo to load the bases. The score was 3-2 Brew Crew and again the tying run was 90 feet away.
Marte struck out on three pitches. Two of them were out of the strike zone. It was like he had somewhere else to be.
I have very rarely been as angry at a player as I am at Marte. He dogged it that night and that’s unacceptable. I respect the fact that Cohen is not going to call out players publicly orfire GM’s and managers on a whim ala George Steinbrenner, but he may want to have a chat with Marte, find out if he really wants to be a Met. Didn’t seem like it to me the other night., and if that’s the case, get him out of here, and if it means throwing some more $$ in there to get better prospects like they did with Eduardo Escobar, so be it.
America turns 247 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday to our country!! Enjoy the holiday
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
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