I loved Ed Asner and had the pleasure of working with him three times. I directed him twice and he graciously did a play reading of mine (see above photo). He was a total mensch, a pleasure to work with, and had a wicked sense of humor. The last time I saw him was just before the pandemic at another memorial and in a room filled with comedy writers he was the funniest. I didn’t write a full tribute because I really didn’t know him all that well. Usually, I like to share some personal stories and provide a perspective you won't find elsewhere. But in this case, I’d just be repeating what everyone else said. Suffice it to say, he lived a good long life and spread joy and humanity wherever he went. I don’t know about your Facebook news feed, but mine is filled with people who all had their pictures taken with Ed. I think in 91 years he met everybody in show business. And they all loved him.
Get vaccinated.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by Hurricane Ida. It’s times like this you put aside politics.
Get vaccinated.
Interesting how the Mets players are turning on the fans. And Mets fans are pussycats compared to Red Sox and Phillies fans.
Get vaccinated.
Big shocker that Mike Richards was fired as Executive Producer of JEOPARDY and WHEEL OF FORTUNE. I’m now waiting for the axe to fall on some of the Sony executives who let this whole fiasco happen.
Get vaccinated.
In a new poll the Dodgers are now the most hated team in baseball. Take that Yankees! LA rules!
Get vaccinated.
Who bets on NFL pre-season games? Good luck with that.
Get vaccinated.
Elaine Welteroth exits THE TALK. Who is Elaine Welteroth?
Get vaccinated.
Hey, the network Fall Season is about to begin!!!! Yawn.
Get vaccinated.
When you and your friends discuss series you’re currently watching, how many of them are broadcast network shows? I’m guessing none.
How many idiot “COVID-is-a-hoax/anti vaxer/anti mask” radio talk show hosts have to die of COVID before people wise up? So far, four.
Get… you know the rest.
Ken, this may seem off-topic, but in your opinion should people get vaccinated?
ReplyDeleteStuttering John once asked Asner if he was "pro-abortion." He replied, "Yes. And as I look around, I see some missed opportunities."
ReplyDelete"How many idiot “COVID-is-a-hoax/anti vaxer/anti mask” radio talk show hosts have to die of COVID before people wise up? So far, four."
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty more where that came from. And each time, I laugh my ass off, just like they laughed at the vaccinated.
Elaine Welteroth exits THE TALK. Who is Elaine Welteroth?
ReplyDeletealso, too: What is THE TALK?
actually I know what The Talk is, I guess my question is: Why is THE TALK? Why is THE VIEW?
Clapton just put out an anti-vax song. I knew he was an asshole in 1970.
ReplyDeleteNeil DeGrasse Tyson just observed: In case anyone is curious…
ReplyDelete"Right now in the USA, every ten days, more than 8,000 (unvaccinated) Republican voters are dying of COVID-19. That’s 5X the rate for Democrats."
So I guess the Republican Party is a death cult, egged on by Fox News and OAN.
Much like the Yankees used to do, the Dodgers are scooping up all the best players from other teams - Betts, Scherzer, Pujols (just kidding about the last one). And how sweet would a one-game play-in between the Yanks and BoSox be?
ReplyDeleteBTW, Mets and Yankees fans are just as nasty as Phillies fans. Nothing worse than going to CBP when the Mets are in town and good.
Elaine Welteroth started out working for Teen Vogue, she eventually became beauty editor (first Black woman to have that title), then editor-in-chief before the print version shut down. After that, she started doing television, both in front of the camera and in production.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I mention this is because usually roles like a regular on The Talk go to women who have already been on television frequently (and now Jerry O'Connell, I guess), not people outside that industry. And bringing in people from other industries isn't a bad thing (remember when two of the three primary What's My Line panelists, Dorothy Kilgallen and Bennett Cerf, were a Broadway columnist and a New York publishing editor?).
Regarding the Mets: Is it the players turning on the fans? I thought it was the other way. Mets fans are actually booing their own team if the players srtike out. If the player hits a home run, they cheer. If the same player strikes out, they boo him. Those "fans" deserve to be condemned. I recently gave up on the Cubs for this season (due to management more than anything) but I haven't booed anybody. Cubs fans are used to players striking out, especially this year, but no one boos anyone. (Unless I've completely misunderstood this whole Mets thing.)
ReplyDeleteDo you think there are any readers of this blog who haven't gotten the vaccine? Everyone here in the comments always seem pretty intelligent. Interesting about Neil DeGrasse Tyson's observation. But hey, the less Republicans vaccinated, then potentially the less Republican votes. Survival of the fittest.
It is necessary to be personal:
ReplyDeleteI'm a '50s kid (DOB 9/30/50) from Chicago, South Side Irish Catholic (Go Go White Sox!).
I'm old enough to remember Polio; our family observed "Sunday with Sabin", when we all went out to get our sugar cube with the Sabin vaccine (a packed gymnasium, lines out to there, we're all doing our bit).
My parents, Depression kids, remembered epidemics and quarantines from their childhoods; they didn't have to be sold on vaccinations.
At the end of this month, I'll turn 71; over the many years I've gotten my share of jabs, for anything you can name.
My two Pfizers are just the latest in the line, and if my doctor says to get a third, I'm set to go (I'll need advance word, because my vaccination place isn't exactly convenient to public transportation, but that's my problem ...).
However -
- It seems that the Catholic Church (the faith of my upbringing) has in recent years developed an extreme right wing, which of late has evinced a ferocious opposition to anti-COVID vaccinations, supposedly because among the ingredients used are stem cells recovered from aborted fetuses (I have no idea how much factuality there is here; what I can recall from my youth is that the Catholic Church has never been against vaccines before (subject to correction)).
That RC hard-right wing actually predates COVID; it seems to date from the election of Pope Francis, whose Jesuit background offends "traditionalists" - but that's another story ...
I'm kind of sorry I brought this up; this ties in with a lot of anti-Biden sentiments, from hard-line "Catholics" who say that the President's family should be cut off from the Sacraments for their liberal stances (and they don't stop with Joe and Jill - I've seen Francis called "Antipope" in more than a few places).
Just one of the reasons that I'm not a churchgoer these days - and that's another story ...
Feel free to delete this one if it makes you uneasy ...
This has been a tough year for fans of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. We've lost Gavin MacLeod, Ed Asner, Allan Burns and Cloris Leachman. I remember when Gavin died, Ed tweeted that he lost a brother and a friend and that he and Betty White were the only ones left.
ReplyDeleteNow it's Betty and she is closing in on 100. Good for her. Go Betty.
I was just a boy when MTM was on, but my mother loved that show and I would watch it with her when she was home on Saturday night. When the last episode was broadcast, she made sure that there were no social engagements. That show as her Saturday night fun.
Now it's no big deal. You can watch it online for VOD. Even a few years after 1977, you could record it with a VCR. But then, you had to be there, so to speak. I will miss Ed Asner. He had a long and varied career and he was active until the end. What more can you ask for?
Ken, congratulations on being the new host of Jeopardy!
ReplyDeleteI apologize, did everybody else get a postcard asking if they would...
Never mind.
Eric Clapton did get vaccinated. He had a bad reaction involving numbness in his hands and was afraid he'd never play again. So I cut him more slack than Van Morrison, who has become a conspiracy-spreading asshole with no excuses.
ReplyDeleteI can't track it down right now but I remember reading that Ted Williams used to spit on spectators who annoyed him. Met fans beware!
JEOPARDY! is currently re-running Buzzy Cohen's week, which I take as a good sign that he's going to be the permanent host.
No, they always return the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season. Buzzy hosted it. So it's not any indication about his chances to be named permanent host.
DeleteI understand that the Department of the Interior is considering putting right-wing radio talk hosts on the endangered species list. Maybe Darwin was right.
ReplyDeleteI watched Only Murders in the Building last night. My biggest issue with it is that it's on Hulu. How do I tell anyone to watch a show on Hulu?
ReplyDeleteBetty White has outlived all her co-stars on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW *and* all her co-stars on THE GOLDEN GIRLS. HOT IN CLEVELAND up next?
ReplyDeletewg
I'm a big fan of your blog so please take this in the friendliest way possible: Stop with the "get vaccinated" preaching. It's getting tiresome, it won't change anyone's mind, and it just makes you sound smug. I actually rolled my eyes and stopped reading your post halfway through. And I'm saying that as someone who is vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteSince Ken brought up 'series we're currently watching' for $200, I wanted to mention 'Only Murders in the Building' on Hulu. Was really looking forward to this. After the first 3 episodes, I'm interested in other opinions. Anybody else watching?
ReplyDeleteHere is the story about Williams spitting on fans. He never spit directly on fans. And this was a one time incident. http://www.espn.com/classic/s/moment010807-williams-spit.html I have a feeling if he played some where else besides Boston and probably New York and Philadelphia the problems with reporters would not have arisen. His career didn't start out with him having problems with reporters. I forget now why the problem occurred.
ReplyDeleteI guess no one wants to sit next to Jerry O'Connell on The Talk.
ReplyDeleteI'll refrain from talking about idiot anti-vaxxers and evil Republicans, only because everything to say about them has already been said by commentators more erudite and high-profile in media than I could ever be.
ReplyDeleteI will ask this however: Is Mayim Bialik, even if she doesn't get the JEOPARDY host job, up for a three-way? I'll pay for dinner and everything.
This is probably more appropriate to Saturday's blog, but I had the opportunity to meet Ed Asner and didn't take advantage of it. He was at the memorial for Paul Sills. If that name is not familiar to you Sills was one of the founders of The Second City, The Compass Players and the Playwrights Theatre Club of which Asner was a member.
ReplyDeleteAfter the memorial there were so many people surrounding Ed trying to talk to him or get an autograph that I figured I would let the crowd die down before I made an attempt. Unfortunately, he left very soon after that and I missed my chance to say, Hello. I've regretted that to this day. R.I.P. Ed.
M.B.
@Ere I Saw Elba. I agree about the idiot anti vaxers but all republicans are evil? Huh, I guess I never realized that my Grandfather who was conservative and fought for civil rights and helped and loved all people no matter their politics was pure evil. Thanks for the realization, I guess?
ReplyDeleteTo a couple of today's posters: I'm also watching Hulu's Only Murders. I'm interested to see how it goes. While I have some quibbles, it's also given me some genuine laughs.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Ed outside of his work as Lou Grant or Up or the guest roles he did on other shows, but I always knew that he was a legend. It's nice to hear that he was a sweetheart because I always felt if I met him I'd be so intimidated by him because he did look gruff and like he'd rip your heart out. Good to know that if I met him I'd like him instantly.
ReplyDeleteMr Levine
ReplyDelete“My heart goes out to everyone affected by Hurricane Ida. It’s times like this you put aside politics.”
Sorry for their hardship. But, too often, those— not you—who most decry the “Soon-ness” — or even the existence—of post-tragedy political talk are usually the wealthy and their minions who profited from the events leading up to the tragedy. They wish to delay and distract, and prevent solutions until folks forget: the gun massacres; the “climate change” droughts, fires, floods, winds, and freezes; the intentional COVID mishandling
James Van Hise
“So I guess the Republican Party is a death cult, egged on by Fox News and OAN”
The GOP, Fox, and its sponsors
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/these-are-fox-news-leading-advertisers
would rather their own viewers/voters die than they themselves admit complicity
Chuck9/01/2021 8:31 AM
“I recently gave up on the Cubs for this season (due to management more than anything)”
Only this season? No offense, but with current ownership (Ricketts) and broadcaster (Sinclair),
fans should ask What Price World Series? Treason Coups Vote Suppression Covid
Lemuel9/01/2021 7:20 AM
“Clapton just put out an anti-vax song. I knew he was an asshole in 1970.”
This alone should not automatically disqualify Slow Hands from the Jeopardy short-list,
schedule permitting. Though Wikipedia does say,
Clapton admitted to raping and abusing wife Pattie Boyd Harrison Clapton
And during a 8/5/76 concert opined:”I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Keep Britain white.”
@ Kendall Rivers
ReplyDeleteI said nothing about your grandfather or any other Republicans of previous generations. Get a grip on yourself.
Besides Betty White, three recurring cast members from "Mary Tyler Moore" survive: Lisa Gerritsen, who played Cloris Leachman's daughter and appeared in the first scene of the first episode in 1970; John Amos, who was Gordy, the WJM weatherman; and Joyce Bulifant, who portrayed Gavin MacLeod's wife.
ReplyDeleteDear Ken-
ReplyDeletePreach all you want about the vaccine.
Anthropologists will be reading your blog someday and they'll say, "Levine did all he could to remind people to get the vaccine."
Ultimately, all we can do is to speak up.
Hey Ken. I love your blog. I've been reading since 2009. Nearly 12 years. It's been a great source of fun nostalgia combined with some "inside baseball" on the shows I grew up with. Especially since 2016, it's been a nice non-political break from the garbage president and all that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm vaccinated! So I know you'll like that. I never thought there'd be something that would make me want to stop reading your blog. But... Just want you to know that all your "get vaccinated" comments come across like religious nut who can't help but pepper their social media posts with Bible quotes. I got vaccinated to protect my health, and of course I encourage others to do the same. But I didn't do it to join a cult or to prove I'm a good liberal (I do that in other ways), and all the "get vaccinated" comments are coming across as culty and, actually, political.
So this is the first time I didn't finish one of your non-baseball posts. (As much as I like inside baseball, I'm not that into actual baseball.) If I keep seeing it, I'll stop reading for good. Please give me a break from the vaccine wars the same way you gave me a break from Trump. And I'm vaccinated! (for emphasis)
Just FYI, a ridiculous observation about Ed Asner. I'll be a 60 year-old gay man next year. I exchanged texts with my similarly-aged gay friends, about his death - because we ALL watched "MTM" every Saturday night, in the 70s. Every damn one of them said, "I had a huge crush on Lou Grant." It's just funny. Ed Asner created a hard-assed newsman, who appealed to gay teenagers. Kinda amazing...
ReplyDeleteActually, keep chanting "GET VACCINATED." I am so sick of this Right Wing bullshit.
ReplyDeleteEven my 90 year-old, retired, Presbyterian-minister father is saying, "WHAT THE HELL?"
We ALL know what's happening...the Right Wing Republican politicians are catering to the people who will vote for them. The nut jobs. That's how PITIFUL the Republicans have become. They'll sell their souls, and the lives of their voters.
I spend half the year in Texas, and what's happened there over the past few days is disgusting. How far are we going to let this go?
ReplyDeleteAndrew Riche
“Especially since 2016, [Ken Levine’s blog’s] been a nice non-political break from the garbage president and all that.”
Fred (me)
Our indulging in non-political breaks allows politicians to celebrate their criminal, and even fascist, sides. Avoid politics at your own risk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SEGpTu8sVKI
Andrew Riche
“Just want you to know that all your "get vaccinated" comments come across like religious nut who can't help but pepper their social media posts with Bible quotes.”
Fred
An inapt simile. It was comic repetition of important scientific advice that, unfollowed, has killed 630k and ruined the health and finances of millions.
Andrew Riche
I got vaccinated to protect my health, and of course I encourage others to do the same.
I got vaxxed to protect myself AND everyone, including my multi-transplant kin. Free crullers — and lesser “encouragements” — haven’t much worked. Vax mandates are 8 months overdue. Other mandates have long existed in schools, in the military, and for immigrants
Andrew Riche
But I didn't do it to join a cult or to prove I'm a good liberal (I do that in other ways), and all the "get vaccinated" comments are coming across as culty and, actually, political.
Fred
COVID, and Masks and the Vax, are only political when the GOP and its outlets lie about the former, and oppose the latter.
Andy
So this is the first time I didn't finish one of your non-baseball posts. (As much as I like inside baseball, I'm not that into actual baseball.) If I keep seeing it, I'll stop reading for good.
Freddy
By bailing, you missed Mr Levine’s time-sensitive big cash giveaway
Mr Riche
Please give me a break from the vaccine wars the same way you gave me a break from Trump. And I'm vaccinated! (for emphasis)
Mr Niche
You visit the blog for entertainment; Covid victims can be entertainers, some of whom you may’ve actually met.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_deaths_due_to_COVID-19
https://www.wonderwall.com/celebrity/stars-who-died-coronavirus-covid-19-3022682
To Chuck- I'm a Cub fan as well, in my case going back to the Leo Durocher days. While both Cub and Met fans are used to seeing their players strike out, what hasn't been pointed out here is that in this latest kerfluffle, both sets of fans have had to endure the SAME PLAYER striking out so much- Javier Baez. Cub fans had long gotten used to Baez swinging at pitches in the other batter's box or ones that bounced before they got to him. THey never booed, they said a few choice words and had another beer. Javy is now playing with his best friend in New York and the two of them along with another player got together and decided they do a things down gesture. Genius! I say sarcastically. That Javy was supposed to be the player acquired at the deadline to ensure a Met playoff appearance but instead the team has collapsed, is why they boo him and his 40% strikeout rate. "Javy being Javy" does not play well in New York and by the way is no longer wanted in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteGet Vaccinated. If no one likes reading that, then don't. This shouldn't even be an issue.
@Kendall Rivers
ReplyDeleteI took Ere I Saw Elba's reference to "evil Republicans" as being about Republicans who are also evil. I'm certain he wasn't saying that all Republicans are evil.
"Who bets on NFL pre-season games?"
ReplyDeleteFolks who are trying to recoup their losses from betting on the Washington Generals.
This week's events in Texas reminded me of what the great George Carlin once said on the subject.
ReplyDelete"Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don't want to know about you. They don't want to hear from you. No nothing. No neonatal care, no day care, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you're preborn, you're fine; if you're preschool, you're fucked."
A reminder -- once readers start attacking each other I start deleting. Play nice, guys.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous Wendy M. Grossman said...
ReplyDeleteBetty White has outlived all her co-stars on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW *and* all her co-stars on THE GOLDEN GIRLS. HOT IN CLEVELAND up next?"
Which means Betty may hold the World Record for "Tontines Won." She has two, and is up for a third. That's unheard of! (Actually, if you count Life With Elizabeth, and why wouldn't you, she has ALREADY won three!)
Keep telling people to get vaccinated Ken.
ReplyDeleteEd Asner had a great career and like Harry Morgan he even worked with Elvis! He appeared in "Kid Galahad" and Elvis' last acting role "Change of Habit" which also starred Mary Tyler Moore. This was one year before Mary's show began. Elvis played a doctor (typecasting!!!) and Mary played a Nun. Just some useless trivia.:)
The mention of CHANGE OF HABIT reminded me of the anecdote that Elvis used to say he (how can I put this?) "had a fling" with every one of his leading ladies, except one. And Mary Tyler Moore always said she knew which one.
ReplyDeleteHis stepbrother claimed he said that but it wasn't true. Elvis wasn't involved with Shelley Fabres, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Ann Mobley, Donna Douglas. I think it was just Ann Margaret and Tuesday Weld. Elvis and Mary didn't have onscreen chemistry. You didn't believe Elvis and her would hook up. Mary said Elvis would call her ma'am. That's not sexual chemistry. Lol
ReplyDeleteG-eus-et V-eus-accin-eus-ated.
ReplyDelete(There it is in "M-eus-urray", for you snowflakes who are annoyed by "Get Vaccinated"!)
“His stepbrother claimed he said that but it wasn't true. Elvis wasn't involved with Shelley Fabres, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Ann Mobley, Donna Douglas. I think it was just Ann Margaret and Tuesday Weld.”
ReplyDeleteIf Elvis did not have a fling with Juliet Prowse, then she lied about it.