YOU CAN SELL SHIT AND GET THANKS. THAT’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE YANKS

 

What is the point of so-called “Reality TV”?  It teaches us absolutely nothing about reality, real life or humanity.

Greedy self-absorbed individuals with questionable intelligence and minimal, if any, self-respect, self-control and common sense are put in staged situations and told to “act outrageously”.  All we learn are that people are stupid and will do anything for attention and money.

We can learn more about reality and humanity from one episode of a scripted drama or comedy than in an entire season of any Reality TV garbage.

While the motto of the father of Reality TV programs is “Outwit, Outplay and Outlast”, the real motto of this genre is “Embarrass, Humiliate and Abuse”. Reality TV has absolutely no worth or value – no educational value, no entertainment value, no “socially redeeming” value.

Back in 2008 USA TODAY did a cover story on reality tv with interviews of panels of “stars” from various shows of the genre.  When a panel from cable channel VH1 was asked about the most memorable moments from their shows, Flavor Flav said, “One of the most memorable moments in the history of reality TV was when that girl shit on my floor.”  Someone else responded, “No, I’d say it’s Mini-Me pissing on the carpet” from THE SURREAL LIFE.  Need I say more?

A result of this vile genre is the creation of a new breed of “celebrities” – self-important narcissistic buffoons with no talent who are merely “famous for being famous”.

One of the best descriptions ever of Reality TV and the making of its pathetic “stars” into “celebrities” appeared in an episode of the BBC tv show JUDGE JOHN DEED, starring Martin Shaw as the judge, over a decade ago.  In “Popular Appeal” an angry contestant in a British show called “The Dungeon” kills another competitor on camera, and the show's producers face charges of manslaughter in Deed's court. The prosecution contends that they acted recklessly and engineered conflict in order to get higher ratings.  A psychiatrist working for the station that airs the show testifies that the producers purposely look for psychologically flawed “contestants” who can be easily manipulated and angered, which clearly represents what Reality TV producers do in “real life”. 

Judge Deed, speaking to the producer of the TV show after the jury has returned its verdict, correctly observes –

“Celebrity: the pursuit of the talentless by the mindless. It's a common disease of the twenty-first century. It pollutes our society, and diminishes all who seek it and all who worship it, and you must bear part of the responsibility for foisting this empty nonsense onto a gullible public.”

Just to be clear, when I refer to “reality tv” I am not talking about legitimate talent contests or home improvement shows likes those on HGTV or DIY.  You know what shows I am talking about.

Television can change the world.  Pioneers like Norman Lear and the creative staff behind M*A*S*H changed the world for the better in the early 1970s.  And same-sex marriage would not have become legally accepted without Ellen DeGeneres and shows like WILL AND GRACE and MODERN FAMILY.  Today reality tv garbage is resulting in the decline and deterioration of our society.

In her excellent and spot on blog post “The Danger of Reality TV” Canadian Rhonda Scharf correctly observes -

“The reality of reality shows is that they effectively affect our society. Television tells us what is normal and accepted and eventually it worms its way into our subconscious. 

These messages are wrong. They instill a workplace mentality of winning at all costs. They have no compassion, no understanding, and no reality about the world we actually live in.”

A news item from 2012 reported –

“The Girls Scouts are warning of the dangers of reality tv after a study by the Girl Scouts Research Institute concluded that reality shows are having a negative effect on young women.

The study found that reality television ‘more frequently portrays girls and women in competition with one another rather than in support or collaboration. This perpetuates a 'mean-girl' stereotype and normalizes this behavior among girls.’

The study concluded: ‘Teen girls who regularly view reality tv accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives, and measure their worth primarily by their physical appearance.’"

Reality TV is a result of, and a major contributor to the ongoing continuance of, the “dumbing down of America”. 

Want to know how truly dangerous Reality TV is?  It is partially responsible for the death of the Republican Party and for putting the absolute worst person possible - a mentally unstable narcissistic sociopath and cartoon clown who is completely unfit to serve in any elected position of power – in the White House.  Of course, I am talking about Donald J Trump.  By giving undeserved credibility to Trump via THE APPRENTICE Reality TV can claim credit for the substantial damage done to America and American democracy by the Trump presidency.

TAFN

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MARGARET

 

Thanks to PBS Americans are familiar with the various actresses who played Agatha Christie’s iconic character Miss Marple in the British television adaptations of the novels – Joan Hickson, Julia McKenzie and Geraldine McEwan. 

But I. and my generation. was first introduced to Miss Marple in the four films in the early 1960s starring Dame Margaret Rutherford (MURDER SHE SAID, MURDER AT THE GALLOP, MURDER MOST FOUR, and MURDER AHOY), and in an uncredited cameo in 1965’s THE ALPHABET MURDERS starring Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot. 

Rutherford is also remembered as Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII of Grand Fenwick in THE MOUSE ON THE MOON and for her 1963 best supporting actress Oscar turn as The Duchess of Brighton in THE VIPs. 

Rutherford went into acting rather late in life, making her stage debut at the Old Vic in 1925 at age 33.  She achieved West End prominence as Miss Prism in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at the Globe Theatre in 1939.  In 1941 she was the bumbling medium Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's BLITHE SPIRIT at the Piccadilly Theatre, a role which Coward wrote for her.  She was also in the film adaptations of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and BLITHE SPIRIT. 

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961 and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967.

What makes Margaret Rutherford a topic for discussion is not her professional career but her personal life and family history.

Her father, William Rutherford Benn, suffered from mental illness.  During his honeymoon he had a nervous breakdown and was confined to an asylum.  In March of 1883, after being released on holiday, he bludgeoned his father, Congregational minister Julius Benn, to death with a chamber pot.  He later tried to kill himself by slashing his throat with a pocketknife.  Benn was confined to the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.  Several years later he was released, reportedly cured of his mental affliction.  He changed his name to Rutherford and returned to his wife Ann.

Margaret Rutherford was born in 1892 in Balham, the only child of William Rutherford Benn’s second wife Florence.   As an infant Margaret and her parents moved to India.  She returned to England when she was three to live with an aunt in Wimbledon after her pregnant mother committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree.  Her father also returned to England and was confined once more to Broadmoor in 1904.

She married character actor Stringer Davis in 1945 and the couple appeared in many productions together, including all the Marple movies and THE MOUSE ON THE MOON.  They were happily together until Rutherford's death.  Davis nursed Rutherford through periods of depression, often involving stays in mental hospitals and electric shock treatment.  In the 1950s, Rutherford and Davis unofficially adopted the writer Gordon Langley Hall, then in his twenties.  Hall later had a sex-change operation and became Dawn Langley Simmons, under which name she wrote a biography of Rutherford in 1983 

Rutherford suffered from Alzheimer's disease at the end of her life and was unable to work.  She died on May 22, 1972, at age 80. 

Before I go, here is some Miss Marple trivia: 

* While it was thought Agatha Christie did not approve of Rutherford’s portrayal of Marple, Christie dedicated her novel THE MIRROR CRACK'D "To Margaret Rutherford in admiration".

* Joan Hickson, who starred as Marple in the 1984 to 1992 BBC adaptations of the original Miss Marple novels, played a housekeeper in the first film in which Margaret Rutherford played Marple.

 * Before she updated the Marple retired school teacher detective character to the perhaps more famous Jessica Fletcher, Angela Lansbury was Jane Marple in the 1980 film THE MIRROR CRACK’D, whose cast included Rock Hudson, Liz Taylor, Kim Novak, Tony Curtis and Pierce Brosnan.  And Helen Hayes assumed the role in two tv movies.

* A few years ago, it was reported that The Walt Disney Company had acquired the movie rights to the Miss Marple character, and is planning a contemporary adaptation to be set in the US with Jennifer Garner as Marple.  However, I have heard nothing on this since.

TTFN

I'M JUST A BROADWAY SEQUEL

 

The movies are famous for sequels.  Some are actually as good as or better than the original, but many are at best unnecessary and at worst an insult to the original.  While there are often revivals, Broadway Musicals are not known for spawning sequels.

There has been no “West Side Story – The Next Generation”, “Return of the Music Man”, “Cabaret II – Back to Berlin”, or “Guys and Dolls and a Baby”.

There were two actual Broadway Musical “sequels” in the early days of the genre. 

The1906 George M. Cohan musical “Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway” had a 1907 sequel titled “The Talk of New York”. 

The first Pulitzer Prize winning musical, 1931’s “Of Thee I Sing” with book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind and music and lyrics by the Gershwins, begat the less successful 1933 sequel “Let ‘Em Eat Cake”.

During my lifetime, which began in the 1950s, there have been, to my knowledge, three musical sequels with the same characters and similar situations as the “inspiration” that take place after the story of the original production.

The first is “Bring Back Birdie”, obviously a sequel to the classic “Bye Bye Birdie”, which had 31 previews and only 4 performances (the original had 607) back in early 1981 at the Martin Beck Theatre.  It reunited the creative team of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams and librettist Michael Stewart.  Chita Rivera reprised her role as Rosie, but Albert and Mae Peterson, Dick Van Dyke and Kay Medford in the original, were played by Donald O’Connor and Maria Karnilova.  There was no sign of the McAfee family from the original, the patriarch of which was played by Paul Lynde.

In the sequel, 20 years after the end of the original, Albert, now an English teacher, is offered $20,000 if he can find Conrad Birdie, who has disappeared into obscurity, and persuade him to perform on a television show.  Albert takes a leave of absence and locates Conrad, now overweight and the mayor of Bent River Junction, AZ.

I was in the audience for one of the 35 performances.  There was an unsuccessful try at updating the innovative “Telephone Hour” production number idea using videos.  And Donald O’Connor considered attempting to reprise his “Singing in the Rain” off the wall back flip during one of his solo numbers, but thought better of it considering his age.  Despite its short run, Chita Rivera was nominated for a Tony and a Drama Desk Award as Best Actress in a Musical for BBB2.  The original “Bye Bye Birdie” was nominated for, and won, many Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Direction, and Best Choreography.

Ken Mandelbaum writes in his book, “Not Since Carrie, 40 Years of Broadway Flops” – “’Bring Back Birdie’ may rank as the worst Broadway musical ever to be created by top-level professionals.  The book was tasteless and ridiculous.”

I met BBB librettist Michael Steward, who also wrote the books for “Hello Dolly” and “42nd Street”, when he was a guest lecturer on one of my post-tax season transatlantic crossings on the QE2 back in the 1980s.  I saw the original “Bye Bye Birdie”" during its Broadway run, but with “Match Game” host Gene Rayburn and not Dick Van Dyke.  I also saw the inferior Broadway revival of a few years back.

“Annie”, which first promised Broadway audiences in early 1977 that “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow”, had not one but two attempts at a sequel.

The first was “Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge”, which opened at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC in December 1989 to “universally disastrous reviews”.    Wikepedia reports that “extensive reworking of the script and score proved futile, and the project was aborted before reaching Broadway.”

The second attempt was made in 1993, with a completely different plot and score.  “Annie Warbucks” opened off-Broadway at the Variety Arts Theatre, where it ran for 200 performances.  It never made the transition to Broadway.  I did not see either sequel.

The third Broadway Musical sequel, which did briefly make it to Broadway, was “The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public”, which had 28 previews and 16 performances in the spring of 1994.  The original’s creative team returned for the sequel, including Tommy Tune as co-director and co-choreographer.  It told the tale of the best little whorehouse in Las Vegas.

Miss Mona, madam of the original Chicken Ranch, is coaxed out of retirement to take over the Las Vegas brothel “Stallion Fields”, which has been seized by the government and is being run by the IRS in hopes of recovering $26 Million in back taxes.  Mona is once again at odds with a zealous right-wing politician trying to close the “house” down.

The New York Times review indicated that, while it had all the glitz one expects from Las Vegas, and even had Siegfried and Roy (portrayed by one actor – half Siegfried and half Roy), “What is ain’t got is fun”.

Dee Hoty, who played Miss Mona, was nominated for a 1994 Tony as Best Actress in a Musical.  I also did not see this fiasco.

While “Lorelei”, which I did see, opens and ends years after the original “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” story takes place, it is not so much a sequel as a revival of GPB, created to capitalize on the popularity of Carol Channing after “Hello Dolly”.  So it doesn’t count.  In the show Lorelei remembers her earlier Atlantic crossing while embarking on another after many years of marriage.

“Lorelei” opened January 27, 1974, at the Palace Theatre and ran 320 performances.  It had updated lyrics by Comden and Green and a new book by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent with a few scenes and songs thrown in to book-end the original show and score.  In addition to Carol Channing, the show also featured Peter Palmer (Broadway’s “Little Abner”), Dody Goodman, and Lee Roy Reams, who would many years later appear again with Carol in one of the revivals of Dolly.

So, there you have it – Broadway’s experimentation with sequels.  Did I miss any?

TAFN

THIS I BELIEVE - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CURRENT AMERICAN POLITICAL SITUATION

 

This I very seriously and sincerely believe to be true - in the history of our country no one single individual has done more damage to America, the American people, American values, and American democracy than Donald J. Trump.

Trump lost the 2016 Presidential election, a fair and honest election, by 2,868,686 (2.9 Million) votes.  Clinton received 48.18% of the popular vote and Trump received 46.09%.  It was clearly obvious that the majority of Americans did not want Trump in the White House in 2016 - 10.7 Million more Americans voted against Trump than voted for Trump.  But he was put in the White House by the outdated Electoral College.

The Electoral College was created for a variety of reasons, some of which no longer exist.  But one of the reasons was to prevent an unqualified and irresponsible demagogue from taking office.  It clearly failed in this purpose in 2016.

Trump also lost the 2020 Presidential election, another fair and honest election, by 7,052,770 (7 Million) votes.  Biden received 51.31% of the popular vote and Trump received 46.86%.   Yet Trump continues to this day to, despite all the evidence to the contrary, erroneously contend the election was “stolen” from him via massive election fraud.  And has, as proven by the January 6^th Committee, waged a campaign to illegally invalidate the election results, by any means, to remain in power.

Trump was the most ignorant, incompetent, corrupt, and totally self-absorbed President in US history.  The main legacy of the Trump Presidency is the emboldening, empowering and “legitimizing” of racism, bigotry and white supremacy.  The damage done by the Trump Presidency will be felt for years to come.

I truly believe that Trump is a totally worthless piece of excrement, completely devoid of intelligence and humanity, who does not possess a single redeeming positive human value or quality.  He has never performed a single totally unselfish positive act in his entire adult life.  He is the textbook example of a narcissist and a sociopath.

Just as he was in business, as a politician Trump is nothing but a con man.  But he is proof that a con man doesn’t have to be smart as long as his “marks” (in this case the “MAMA morons”) are dumber than he is.

I also very seriously and sincerely believe that the greatest threat to the future of America, the American people, American freedom and democracy, and true American values is today’s Republican Party.

Today’s Republican Party and its leadership, at all levels, have embraced Trump and his lies, is controlled by the racist and repressive Religious Right, and has been bought and paid for by the NRA.  It has totally abandoned all honor, integrity and credibility.  And it has totally abandoned true conservative and traditional Republican policy and philosophy.  The current agenda of the Republican Party is directly contrary to true conservative and traditional Republican values, policy and philosophy. 

It is vital for the future of America and American democracy than that EVERY intelligent and patriotic American with a conscience – whether liberal, progressive, moderate, conservative, or libertarian – take the NO GOP PLEDGE:

“I pledge to NEVER vote for ANY Republican candidate for ANY office at ANY level – local, state or national – in ANY 2022 election.”

And we must continue to vote against ALL Republican candidates in ALL elections at ALL levels until the current leadership of the Republican Party is completely replaced and the Party officially opposes, denounces and disavows Donald J. Trump, his lies, "Trumpism", and the agenda of the racist and repressive "Religious Right. 

I, once again very seriously and sincerely, believe that if Republicans gain control of Congress and state legislatures in November it will be the beginning of the end of America as we know it.

The future of America is in your hands!

TAFN

THINGS NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU

 

Here are several things no one ever told you.

There has been a long-standing tradition of making successful television shows out of popular Broadway plays and theatrical movies, from THE NAKED CITY, TOPPER and MR LUCKY to MASH, THE ODD COUPLE, and ALICE.  A while back Hollywood began to reverse the trend, making inferior films based on successful television series.

The first tv series based on a play and/or movie was MAMA, based on the 1944 play and 1948 movie I REMEMBER MAMA.  The show ran on CBS from July 1, 1949 to July 27, 1956.  The cast included a young Dick Van Patten of EIGHT IS ENOUGH.

The second series taken from a play and/or movie was THE FRONT PAGE, starring real life journalist John Daly (who would later become famous at the host of WHAT’S MY LINE) as newspaper editor Walter Burns.  It had a brief run from September 29, 1949, to January 26, 1950.

The third movie turned into a television series was THE LIFE OF RILEY, a successful radio comedy that was made into a movie in 1948.  Both the radio show and the movie, and eventually the tv series, starred William Bendix as Chester A Riley.  But Bendix was not tv’s first Riley. 

Television’s first Chester A Riley was none other than “honeymooner” Jackie Gleason.

William Bendix was supposed to have starred in the initial television version, but Bendix's RKO Radio Pictures movie contract prevented him from appearing. 

The first series was telecast from October 4, 1949 to March 28, 1950.  It won television's first Emmy, for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television". According to Wikepedia it came to an end because the producer and the sponsor, Pabst Brewing Company, reached an impasse on extending the series for a full 39-week season.

The show returned on January 2, 1953, with a totally new cast that now included William Bendix as Chester A and Marjorie Reynolds as Mrs. Riley, and lasted for 6 seasons.  I remember watching it as a child.

Speaking of first actors to appear in a role and Jackie Gleason – Audrey Meadows, who became famous as Alice Kramden on the iconic HONEYMOONERS tv show, was not the first actress to portray Alice on tv.  The original Alice Kramden, to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph, when “the Honeymooners” first appeared as a regular series of skits on the DuMont Network's "Cavalcade of Stars" was Pert Kelton.

Kelton appeared in the original 10 to 20-minute sketches.  She was abruptly replaced by Audrey Meadows as a result of blacklisting - the practice of denying employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals during the mid-20th century because they were accused of having Communist ties or sympathies, a practice that grew out of Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt.  Instead of acknowledging she was being blacklisted, the producers explained that her departure was based on heart problems.

Kelton is most famous for her Broadway role as Mrs. Paroo, the Irish mother of Marian the Librarian and young WInthrop, in Meredith Willson's Broadway musical THE MUSIC MAN, a role she reprised in the 1962 film version of the show.

FYI – Broadway legend Elaine Stritch played Trixie, the burlesque dancer wife of Ed Norton, for one sketch before being replaced by Joyce Randolph.

And another FYI – Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel and aide in his Communist witch hunt was lawyer Roy Cohn, who later became Trump’s mentor and lawyer when he was starting out in the real estate business and who was a great influence on Trump.

TAFN

IS A PUZZLEMENT

 

OOPS – a day late, but not a dollar short.

 

For years I have found myself faced with many questions – longing for answers.

 

Some answers are self-evident. Why do fools fall in love?  Well, after all, they are fools, aren’t they?

 

I have determined the answer to some questions based on history and experience. When will they ever learn? Probably never.

 

Some questions will probably never be answered. What’s it all about, Alfie? A totally unnecessary remake could shed no new light on the question.

 

With some questions only time will tell. Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?  I found out for me the answer is “yes”.  

 

Some are no longer relevant. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Joe went to his “final audit” in 1999.

 

And I have given up on others. Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?  Easy enough to find out – but who cares? Actually, I don’t have a “headboard” as I sleep on a convertible couch.

 

There are still questions that haunt me.

 

I, too, wonder how are things in Glocca Morra.  But I have yet to pay a visit to the Emerald Isle. 

 

I would really like to know what the mama saw. All I know is that what the mama saw it was against the law.

 

I also want to know what Billy Joe MacAllister and friend threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge when they were seen by Brother Taylor.

 

And while we are at it – I always did wonder why Mr. Baker’s secretary had to leave Harper Valley.

 

Since first writing this "bobservation" one question has been answered.  A long-time 1040 clients told me what Billy Joe MacAllister and his friend were throwing off the Tallahatchie Bridge when they were sighted by Brother Taylor.

 

Here is what Bobbie Gentry told an interviewer -

 

"It's in there for two reasons.  First, it locks up a definite relationship between Billie Joe and the girl telling the story, the girl at the table. Second, the fact that Billie Joe was seen throwing something off the bridge -- no matter what it was -- provides a possible motivation as to why he jumped off the bridge the next day."

 

I suppose that, like “what the mama saw” in the Paul Simon song, there was no specific item in mind when the song was written.

 

The song was so popular that nine years after its release, in 1976, Warner Bros adapted it into a movie, directed and produced by Max Baer, Jr (aka Jethro Bodine) and starring Glynnis O’Connor and Robby Benson. In the screenplay, and its novelization, Billy Joe kills himself after a drunken homosexual experience, and the object thrown from the bridge is the narrator's ragdoll.

 

FYI, according to Wikepedia -

 

“The song ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ was originally intended as the B-side of Gentry's first single recording, a blues number called ‘Mississippi Delta’, on Capitol Records. The original recording, with no other musicians backing Gentry's guitar, had eleven verses lasting seven minutes, telling more of Billie Joe's story. The executives realized that this song was a better option for a single, so they cut the length by almost half and re-recorded it with a string orchestra. The shorter version left more of the story to the listener's imagination, and made the single more suitable for radio airplay.”

 

But I still want to know why Mr. Baker’s secretary had to leave Harper Valley.

 

TAFN

WEDDING BELL BLUES

 

BOBSERVATIONS is going back to being a “normal” weekly blog.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
I was recently reminded of the time I attended the wedding of Sylvester Stone, the Sly of Sly and the Family Stone, and actress-model Kathy Silva.  I was one of 21,000 wedding “guests”. 
 
Sly and the Family Stone was one of the bands highlighted in the movie of the 1969 WOODSTOCK outdoor concert in Bethel Woods NY (not too far from where I live now).  The band’s hits included “Everyday People”, “Dance to the Music”, “Higher”, and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”.
 
The wedding was held at a Sly and the Family Stone concert in Madison Square Garden on June 5, 1974.  Living across the river in Jersey City NJ I often attended rock concerts at the Garden in the 1970s.  This was the only time my seats for a concert were on the Garden floor.  Folding chairs were set up in rows, with a center aisle, on the floor facing the stage, and I do believe my seat was within the first 10 rows.
 
Soul Train host Don Cornelius was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies.  The opening act was Eddie Kendricks.  As I remember it (it was almost 50 years ago), after Kendricks’ performance and a brief intermission Sly and his family, and a minister and ushers (I do believe Geraldo Rivera was one of the groomsmen), came onstage and bridesmaids, carrying golden gilded palms, preceded Kathy down the center aisle and up on to the stage and the wedding was performed.  The Family Stone’s set followed.
 
I was not invited to the reception that followed the concert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  I recently read online that the wedding did not last - Stone and Silva divorced just two years later in 1976.
 
Click here for a short video of the wedding ceremony and some of the reception.
 
I did attend another celebrity wedding (and reception this time) in Beverly Hills years later (that of my cousin Billy to Annette O’Toole) – a normal one with a lot less guests.  But that is another story.
 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
FYI, going forward BOBSERVATIONS will be published every Monday beginning September 11^th.
 
TAFN