The best week of the year in Los Angeles is always this one, the final seven days of the year. More property taxes and obligations are on tap for me in January but here in the waning days of December I can bask in the glory of the city that Zorro once called home.First of all, the town is practically empty. Most people from the industry are gone, terrorizing the help in Hawaii and Aspen. There’s very little traffic. You can actually make the fifteen minute drive between Brentwood and LAX on the 405 Freeway in only forty minutes. It’s like you’re flying! Hard to get into restaurants? Not this week. Spago will even make reservations for people they don’t know. And at 7:00 not 10:30. (Unfortunately, their chefs are probably in Aspen and Hawaii.)
Los Angeles is so deserted I heard of a friend who found a parking place at the Grove shopping mall. But that’s still just a rumor.
For industry guild folks there are free screenings of movies and better yet, free screeners. In the hopes of snaring nominations from any organization that gives out awards (even the WGA), studios let eligible voters and guests see contending movies gratis. It’s also their way of giving back to the community.
Most of the city’s attention this week is on the upcoming Rose Parade and Bowl. If you have six friends over to your apartment to play poker, the Rose Queen and her court will come and speak to your group.
Highlight of the Rose Bowl festivities is the Lawry’s Beef Bowl. Lawry’s is the greatest prime rib restaurant in the world (a more popular attraction to Japanese tourists than Disneyland). Every year they invite each team (this year Oregon vs. Wisconsin) and feed them as much prime rib as they can eat. Usually the winning team tops out at around 630 pounds of beef. During the Rose Bowl, you’ll notice half the players sleeping the bench. That’s why.
The Rose Parade is Wednesday morning. Today some idiots will start staking out spots along the parade route. Every local channel will broadcast the parade. KTLA gets a 50 share, everyone else gets a 2. Why these other stations still bother is beyond me. KTLA coverage begins at like 3:00 a.m. Five hours of watching people paste flowers on floats and the idiots from today freezing. KTLA will begin replaying the parade immediately upon its conclusion. Then they replay it again. And again. Sometime around January 15th they return to regular programming.
I still miss longtime hosts Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks. Mark & Leeza do an excellent job, but the parade is all about tradition and Bob & Steph are both still alive and can read teleprompters, so for my money they should still be there (pretending to like marching bands and sniping at each other).
Then on New Year’s evening all the locals will go out to dinner, have to wait 45 minutes for a table since the Wisconsin rooters got there first, and things will return to normal.
So for my fellow Angelinos – enjoy it while you can!
16 comments :
No offense to the Rose Bowl Parade, but as a Midwesterner I've always wondered why it's been carried live on two different networks (3 if you count Univision) for decades now. Don't get me wrong, I like floral themed floats as much as the next guy, but what's the story on how it gets that much air time? There has to be a story about how that got started, anyone know?
I remember a similar post from last year, so forgive me if I unwittingly make the same comment. I remember Loren Greene and Betty White hosting the Rose Parade, quite appropriate since it's a colorful festival.
Have to disagree with Lawry's. My take on the best prime rib spot is the aptly named House of Prime Rib in San Francisco. I even like their creamed spinach (probably because it's about 40% bacon).
Enjoy your quiet time! The best of the worst parade commentators: Dr. Mary and Frasier Crane!
The best way to watch the Rose Parade is to DVR it, then fast-forward through the highlights when you wake up at noon on New Year's day.
Very simply it was to promote tourism and growth. The Valley Hunt Club wanted to show the rest of the nation how great it was here in California. Showing flowers and clear skies to the snowbound back east was their way of saying "Lookie what we've got." Of course back in the late 1800's southern California was still wide open. In a way, they were almost TOO successful.
As for why it's on multiple networks I can't say. My best guess is that The Tournament of Roses Parade is an institution and a holiday tradition. As someone on the west cost, I've often asked the same question about the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Unless they get a new balloon who cares? But it is also a tradition.
M.B.
Here's a FRIDAY QUESTION on Saturday.
You've mentioned in the past how being in the army helped you write for M*A*S*H. You've also talked about you and other writers using real life situations in their scripts. But surely there were times when you had to write about something with which you were NOT familiar. e.g. I've never heard you mention a sibling. (Maybe you did and I missed it) But, if you don't have a brother how did create such brilliant dialog between Frasier and Niles? I seriously doubt that you're an alcoholic, ex-jock, yet you were able to successfully write for Sam Malone. You're not an asshole, but you wrote dialog for Becker. Etc.
Bottom line: What tips do you have for dealing with subjects you don't know about?
M.B.
I had business in Beverly Hills the day after Christmas and decided to stop at a restaurant on my way back to the bus stop. It was totally empty. The Head Waiter explained that business there was typically dead between Christmas and New Year's. I wound up with a banquet room to myself, three servers, and they filled my hat with mints as I left
The wonder is there aren’t many more live broadcasts, and even fictional films, produced with the Rose Parade as a backdrop. A group of skilled stand-ups, professional roasters, or improv actors in character, could all provide superior entertainment with the floats and celebrity attendees -all appearing for free- in the background.
I remember when Stephanie Edwards was first replaced there has a huge push back from viewers and the station manager summoned her to his office and accused her of staging the viewer protests because he didn't think that anyone would care who the hosts were. I believe he relented only in giving her a secondary role in covering the parade, at least for a time.
From Wikipedia
“Eubanks appeared in Michael Moore's 1989 documentary Roger & Me. The film documented Moore's attempts to track General Motors CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the economic devastation resulting from the company's closure of eleven manufacturing plants in Flint, Michigan. Eubanks, a native of Flint, was interviewed about his views on the downsizing, and was filmed telling an off-color homophobic, anti-Semitic joke:
MOORE: [In regards to The Newlywed Game containing racy/sexual content] Bob was right. He didn't say "breasts" and I considered apologizing for implying that his show wasn't wholesome family entertainment.
[cut to:] EUBANKS: You know why Jewish women don't get AIDS? Because they marry a**holes, they don't screw them. Pardon me.
According to Moore in the film's DVD commentary, Eubanks attempted to denounce the film with the Anti-Defamation League for containing anti-Semitic content, despite the fact that he himself contributed the sole moment of anti-Semitic content present in the film.”
So so so true. Actually got over Coldwater Canyon from Studio City to Beverly Hills in under a half hour, during morning peak times. An LA miracle!
Been rewatching the first Season of Cheers this week and man, does it still hold up. Shelley Long and Ted Danson have such great chemistry. Did they screen test together or was it just a miracle of casting? Not discounting their immense talent of course. It’s clear they are having a LOT of fun as well. Just love Coach too. So, clever and funny for a “dumb” character. It’s also nice that none of the jokes are cruel, with the exception of the Diane / Carla relationship which is understandable. No small feat.
A sitcom at it’s best!
Maybe it's because the picture is so small, but for a second I thought that Rose Bowl Queen was Arianna Huffington.
Are you sure it is the winning team that tops out at 630 lbs?
If you live in LA, why do you need to go to Hawai'i? For the weather?
I LOVED that episode!
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