tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post9221864431777309121..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Friday Questions By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16134790555149561812020-04-01T17:05:31.309-07:002020-04-01T17:05:31.309-07:00Ken, hi.
Here is my Friday question. I hope I am ...Ken, hi.<br /><br />Here is my Friday question. I hope I am in the right place to leave it. <br /><br />I was wondering after Gary Burghoff had given his notice on M*A*S*H, was any consideration given to introducing a brand new character to the ensemble to be the new company clerk before the role was given to Klinger?<br /><br />The Irene Lorenzo character on "All In the Family" before this, and especially Dennis Franz as Lt. Buntz on "Hill Street Blues" later on, are two great examples of how new blood could inject some new life into an aging series. <br /><br />Thank you<br /><br />Paul D.<br />Paul D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07366338178512430028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62894964254395521402020-03-30T00:31:02.555-07:002020-03-30T00:31:02.555-07:00@Marty Fufkin: Literal and actual LOL. I confess, ...@Marty Fufkin: Literal and actual LOL. I confess, I had wondered. My true crime "pet case", if you will, has always been the Yorkshire Ripper (as well as the "original" down London way). So yeah, every time you posted, I noticed and thought "Wow, dude, you must have an even weirder sense of humor and propriety than *I* do!"<br /><br />It has never occurred to me until now that his name is a combination of two former Beatles, thanks for that!<br /><br />Cheers, thanks a lot,<br /><br />StormStormnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39065051780346801972020-03-29T18:00:42.293-07:002020-03-29T18:00:42.293-07:00I was in the Peace Corps. It isn't like the m...I was in the Peace Corps. It isn't like the movie.<br /><br />Also, because of this crazy virus, ALL Peace Corp volunteers from around the world, have been brought home. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16880646894752760905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78420336703813056852020-03-28T08:36:31.515-07:002020-03-28T08:36:31.515-07:00A Friday Apology. I occasionally post comments and...A Friday Apology. I occasionally post comments and ask questions here. When coming up with a name, I've been honoring my Beatle fandom and combining the names of Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe. I post either as Stuart Best or Pete Sutcliffe. Just found out that someone named the latter is also a notorious mass murderer. Just letting you know the actual origins of my fake name. I wasn't being creepy. I don't think you ever answered any of Pete's questions. Now I know why. (Or maybe they were actually boring questions.)Marty Fufkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88135029792068738372020-03-28T07:43:20.087-07:002020-03-28T07:43:20.087-07:00Ken, reading your response to cd155’s question abo...Ken, reading your response to cd155’s question about a coronavirus related episode got me thinking. In the last eight days I’ve been in three online social events, and the potential for a sitcom episode seems pretty clear. Besides the usual dialogue between established characters, there are the situations that are unique to a group video chat: the fact that there’s basically only one mic for say nine people, awkward lighting that makes people look strange, two people who are physically together sharing the same setup trying to have a side conversation and inadvertently drowning everyone else out, people absent-mindededly studying their image and making faces because they forget they’re still visible, if there’s alcohol involved then people getting louder and hijacking the conversation, etc. etc. Plus there’s the practical advantage that like the call-ins to Frasier’s radio show, people do not have to actually share the same physical space to interact. As with the one-off episodes of MASH (real-time action, interviews) it would be a break from the usual format but still maintain continuity. Plus the screen would just show the video chat screen. It may not actually be possible, but what the hell.estivhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12736355730705116526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7051510775441908172020-03-28T00:10:41.984-07:002020-03-28T00:10:41.984-07:00Friends ranked in the top ten ratings for all 10 y...Friends ranked in the top ten ratings for all 10 years it was on the air. It was never in any danger of being canceled. April Actonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08707055428014367953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66748607335557081022020-03-27T22:24:20.477-07:002020-03-27T22:24:20.477-07:00@Tommy Raiko: I recall a number of comedic perform...@Tommy Raiko: I recall a number of comedic performers — particularly New York-based talk show hosts — openly stating in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 that they weren’t sure they could ever try to be funny again. But things were largely back to normal in terms of entertainment consumption within a couple of months. By the end of the year, a person who was just emerging from 3 months of living in a cave could watch non-news TV shows and probably have no idea of what had happened.Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22774268489054162112020-03-27T18:34:14.017-07:002020-03-27T18:34:14.017-07:00Mark -
If you haven't already seen it, check t...Mark -<br />If you haven't already seen it, check the "Turlington's Lower Back Tattoo Remover" commercial for women whose tramp stamps have not aged well. It aired on SNL in 2004 and is posted online at vimeo.com. Sue T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53936494142800186162020-03-27T15:15:19.060-07:002020-03-27T15:15:19.060-07:00If I remember correctly, Friends was losing its au...If I remember correctly, Friends was losing its audience around the time of 9/11, and in the aftermath of the tragedy, ratings for it peaked drastically, basically rescuing the show from cancellation. If I remember correctly, that is.kitano0https://www.blogger.com/profile/06824983309821731821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23072721067891949202020-03-27T14:46:50.630-07:002020-03-27T14:46:50.630-07:00I share your skepticism about people changing as a...I share your skepticism about people changing as a result of this, Ken. Even if this lasts a year (God forbid) people tend to have short memories.VincentSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31508204305294737292020-03-27T14:20:55.430-07:002020-03-27T14:20:55.430-07:00@tavm:
One!two!tell me who are you THE BEARS!
Thre...@tavm:<br />One!two!tell me who are you THE BEARS!<br />Three! four! tell me who's gonna score THE BEARS!Lemuelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44557058709920405082020-03-27T12:07:44.661-07:002020-03-27T12:07:44.661-07:00Nice to see a pic of Tom and Rita from 35 years ag...Nice to see a pic of Tom and Rita from 35 years ago, before they married and are now surviving from that disease that I will not mention...tavmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74554415107495235892020-03-27T11:10:39.962-07:002020-03-27T11:10:39.962-07:00"I remember after 9/11 people predicted that ..."I remember after 9/11 people predicted that American audiences will change forever and no more will they want to see stupid trivial entertainment."<br /><br />That's interesting. Obviously, I'm not in the entertainment industry, so don't know what industry folks thought of the effect of 9/11 on audience preferences. But for what it's worth, I don't recall a lot of predictions that folks would go away from trivial entertainment. I <i>do</i> recall some predictions that folks would shy away from "disaster-porn" movies with cities wantonly destroyed (a la Independence Day, etc.) and certainly some of that happened, but movie-makers have adapted their storytelling and audiences are there for well-executed uses of those disaster tropes...Tommy Raikonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68649879542535218742020-03-27T10:34:50.666-07:002020-03-27T10:34:50.666-07:00Spielberg has said that Raiders of the Lost Ark is...Spielberg has said that Raiders of the Lost Ark is the one movie he made that he can watch and enjoy as though someone else made it, without picking it apart. Thomas Mossmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00678349322403895276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-12936918138483944772020-03-27T09:55:16.672-07:002020-03-27T09:55:16.672-07:00Friday question:
I see actors with tattoos on the...Friday question:<br /><br />I see actors with tattoos on their arms and necks and wonder if some don't lose work because of it. Sure, shirts can cover them up but if the part requires going without a shirt would some folks say in some instances that it's just not worth the bother of covering them up with makeu, or digitally removing them, and decide to hire someone else?<br /><br />Those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s probably don't have them because we saw the WWII tattoos on old sailors that just looked horrible twenty or thirty years later....Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911783621907246350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18940088742138662852020-03-27T09:49:40.441-07:002020-03-27T09:49:40.441-07:00Question about credits: Bebe Neuwirth was added to...Question about credits: Bebe Neuwirth was added to the opening credits for Season 10 of "Cheers" and taken off for "Season 11", was that based on number of appearance she was going to make in the final season being lower than the previous year? And were there any negotiations involved in that change? (and FWIW, I can think of two other cases where an actor's name was added to the opening credits of a sitcom and then removed the following season -- James Gregory on "Barney Miller" and Pat Carroll on "The Danny Thomas Show").J Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56723377396151636252020-03-27T09:42:12.200-07:002020-03-27T09:42:12.200-07:00There was a Jean Arthur, John Wayne movie, 'A ...There was a Jean Arthur, John Wayne movie, 'A Lady Takes a Chance', that came out during World War II and opened with a bit of text asking the audience to remember way back when everyone could get all the flour and butter they wanted. At the time, I thought it was wish fulfillment. Now I realize it might have been a disclaimer.Kaleberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05283840743310507878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1923857646731909832020-03-27T08:15:50.197-07:002020-03-27T08:15:50.197-07:00Peter, this is at least the third time you've ...Peter, this is at least the third time you've asked Ken about Woody Allen's book. I'm sure he's gotten the message by now. Lord knows the rest of us have. You really, really, really, really want Ken to talk about Woody Allen's book. He gets it. We get it. Are you going to pester him about it every day until you wear him down? Geez. Take your medication and chill.Wesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84091618222397201842020-03-27T08:13:20.822-07:002020-03-27T08:13:20.822-07:00A couple of weeks ago, Landon Spradlin, an evangel...A couple of weeks ago, Landon Spradlin, an evangelical pastor in Virginia, said the fears around Coronavirus are just mass hysteria created to hurt Trump.<br /><br />Three days ago, he died of Coronavirus.<br /><br />No further comment required. Troy McClurenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5872149681638063502020-03-27T07:31:04.053-07:002020-03-27T07:31:04.053-07:00Thanks for answering my question! Thanks for answering my question! Troy McClurenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19446205765582060882020-03-27T06:53:01.725-07:002020-03-27T06:53:01.725-07:00Please review Woody Allen's new book.
There a...Please review Woody Allen's new book.<br /><br />There are the fawning wannabes who praise him and those who rip him apart<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/books/review-apropos-of-nothing-memoir-woody-allen.html<br /><br /><br />I would like to hear what you think of it.<br /><br />Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25928808780069195332020-03-27T06:35:44.910-07:002020-03-27T06:35:44.910-07:00Why not a snarky blog on how Hollywood is reacting...Why not a snarky blog on how Hollywood is reacting to this situation?<br /><br />Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7080203808820282122020-03-27T06:26:16.218-07:002020-03-27T06:26:16.218-07:00(Ken's quote)
I remember after 9/11 people pr...(Ken's quote)<br /><br />I remember after 9/11 people predicted that American audiences will change forever and no more will they want to see stupid trivial entertainment. How long until DUCK DYNASTY, HONEY BOO BOO, TEMPTATION ISLAND, THE OSBOURNES, THE KARDASHIANS, Jessica Simpson, Jenny McCarthy, 2 BROKE GIRLS, and FEAR FACTOR came along?<br /><br />(end Ken's quote)<br /><br />Ken: I was right there with you. Here's what I learned:<br /><br />By and large, after a traumatic experience, Americans want comfort food. A Big Mac, a tub of Thrifty ice cream----whatever.<br /><br />Leadership matters. George W. Bush blew his chance at an FDR moment by urging that life get back to normal ASAP. He didn't call on us to sacrifice or listen to our better angels. He told us to go to the mall.<br /><br />Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it?<br /><br />So if I had to bet on Aaron Sorkin returning to TV or Honey Boo Boo, I'd pray for Sorkin, knowing we'd get Boo Boo.Michael Hagertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10854329436921975104noreply@blogger.com