EP200: Episode 200!

Ken celebrates his 200th podcast with a super-sized episode featuring highlights, surprises, rarities, giveaways, laughs, and more.  Join in the fun!

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Veteran's Day

For Veteran's Day, ME-TV is airing the last MASH episode along with interviews we did six years ago.  It'll be on from 7-10 PM on the West Coast.  Check your local listings.  I can't tell you what channel ME-TV is on because it's different for each carrier.  

For so many reasons I'm proud of my association with MASH but especially because the show reminds people of the Korean War and the courageous men and women who fought there or made the ultimate sacrifice.  I think without MASH the Korean War would now just be a tiny footnote in history, if even that.  I'm honored that I could help keep that flame alive.  

How much of me you'll actually see  on the show-- I suspect very little.  Five seconds here and eight seconds there.  Don't blink.  But to my surprise, I am on the promo.  I say something profound like "a lot of people watched this show."  

Most of the talking heads will be the actors.  And that makes sense of course.  When they're on the screen the audience isn't going "Who's that dork?"   In my case, they're already saying it because I'm on the promo.

Some final thoughts:  As a member of the US Army Reserves I take pride in my military service but recognize it was nothing compared to going overseas and fighting in a war.  To military personnel past and present, I salute you and this country owes you a great debt of gratitude.  And for the first time in four years, I celebrate you and not apologize for what our country had become.  You deserve way more respect and just know that starting January 20th you'll get it.  

Happy Veterans Day. 

Misc-Takes

In no order of importance, here are some random thoughts:  

I wish I knew who, but someone from North of the Border compared Canada to the USA.  He said, “Living in Canada is like having an apartment over a meth lab.”  

I never watch movies set in arctic conditions.  I so hate cold weather that even watching others brave brutal sub-zero conditions is uncomfortable for me.  Are there genres you can’t watch for the same reason?   Meanwhile, it was warmer yesterday in Minneapolis than Los Angeles. 

I really miss restaurants.  But not enough.

Months ago there was absolute hysteria over COVID and now people won’t even wear masks.  

So now Trump's Chief of Staff and the advisor overseeing his campaign legal challenges have both contracted the coronavirus.  If Alanis Morissette is reading, that is ironic.

I have a lot of leftover Halloween candy this year.  No, it won’t go to waste.  

Thanksgiving won’t be the same this year without 20,000 college students stranded at O’Hare for two days.  

“A lawsuit without provable facts showing a statutory or constitutional violation is just a tweet with a filing fee.” —Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.  

And to that end comes this commentary from Keith Olbermann.  I couldn't have said it any better or more curmudgeonly myself. 

If they keep moving movie release dates back, pretty soon they’re all going to become period pieces.  

When do you think Melania's going to file for divorce?  January 20 or 21st? 

Gee, the NBC pandemic sitcom didn’t fly.  Who the hell wants pandemic entertainment?  Earlier this year networks feverishly snapped up a bunch of pitches for pandemic projects.  I can imagine a meeting taking place now.  “Well, we miscalculated with pandemic pilots.  Let’s turn our attention to something the public really wants to see.  How about “losing health insurance” sitcoms?  Buy seven of ‘em.”  

It’s idiotic for MLB to give Cy Young Awards to pitchers who started like ten games.  

By the way, the World Series is not settled.  Tampa Bay is demanding a recount on Game 7.

I’m not usually star struck but one day in the Paramount commissary Sean Connery walked in.  My jaw hit the ground.   My favorite Sean Connery quote:  "I was the first actor to play James Bond.  I was also the last actor to play James Bond."

Another day in the commissary I was lunching with young writers and Tony Curtis came in.  None of them knew who he was.  And this was twenty years ago.  (Note:  Google him.  He was a big movie star.)

Why do actors get tattoos?  Won’t that limit the parts they can play?  Imagine in GONE WITH THE WIND having to explain why Scarlett O’Hara has a python on her arm. 

The two big winners last week: Joe Biden and Steve Kornacki

Now that I can breathe again for the first time in four years, some reflections on the past week.   Warning:  This is kind of a long one.  

First off, I only have myself to blame.  Everyone said don’t freak out on Tuesday night. There was going to be a Red Mirage.  Since Trump implored his base to only vote in person on election day, since those would be counted first, he would take big leads in battleground states.  Once the mail-in ballots were counted things would shift.  (And they did.  He was hoisted on his own petard.)   Intellectually, I understood that.  But watching the early results Tuesday night was like watching HOSTEL after being told it was a teen comedy.  Despite all the assurances from MSNBC (and James Carville who was Foster Brooks with better whiskey), I got 2016 PTSD flashbacks.  

That was my first mistake.  Number two was watching election coverage Tuesday night for eight straight hours. That was like being traumatized by HOSTEL then sticking around for HOSTEL 2.  And not turning off the TV just in case there was a “Making of HOSTEL” aftershow.  

I’ll never make that mistake again.  

I started the night watching CNN.  It was like being in a video game but louder and more frenetic.  Blaring fanfares, in-your-face graphics, Wolf Blitzer, and John King at the Magic Wall.  Prior to Tuesday night I was a big fan of John King and the Magic Wall.  But when they would go to him prior to election night, it was for two minutes.   John would cram ten minutes of information into those two, but then it would be done.  He was a jello shot.  

Tuesday night, however, it was wall-to-wall Magic Wall.  A relentless data dump.  I felt like I was someone just learning rudimentary English listening to Gus Johnson call a basketball game on the radio.  It was exhausting.  Not that he didn’t know his stuff, but counties were zooming in and out, and graphics and numbers and comparisons to Hilary Clinton’s performance in 2016, and who’s over-performing and under-performing, and the top of my head felt like a Jiffy Pop bag ready to explode.  Slow down!  Or take a breath.  

But what really pissed me off was when he’d show Virginia as red and say it should go blue, votes from Goober County aren’t in, but who knows?  They might not.  Virginia could surprise people and flip red.  That’s what makes this night fun.

NO!  There is no FUN this night.  This isn’t March Madness where Weber State beats Duke and you go, “Huh.  Didn’t see that coming.”  This is literally the fate of Democracy and the United States of America.  Get your FUN elsewhere.  

That would be interrupted by blaring fanfare and percussion, a giant graphic filling the screen with an ELECTION UPDATE.  Then they show a graphic of Trump and Biden.  At the top of the screen it says “Nevada.”   Under Trump’s photo it has his percentage at 93% and Biden’s is at 6%.  I’m thinking, Jesus, we’re fucked.  Then underneath the percentages are the actual votes.  Trump: 82, Biden 9.  WTF?!   

And all of this hysteria was just in the first hour.  

By the way, did you know that CNN’s Dana Bash was once married to John King for four years?  They had a child together.  I just assume when they had sex that John was still wearing that black suit.  

I decided to see what the broadcast networks were up to.  CBS was in love with swirling cameras on jibs floating all over the set.  Like someone tied a camera to a moth.  I could only do five minutes.  

Maybe it’s because I’m from a different age, but when it came to network news there was CBS and NBC.  ABC was the station that had THE FLINTSTONES and BRADY BUNCH.   I’ve never taken ABC News seriously.  If you want to eat healthy you don’t go to Shakey’s.  So I skipped ABC entirely.  

I didn’t watch Fox News for the same reason I don’t join Scientology or leave snacks in the backyard for visiting extra terrestrials.  

If I was going to watch NBC I figured I might as well watch MSNBC.   They were less frenetic than CNN and I felt like I was with my peeps.  Interesting that Rachel Maddow anchored the coverage and once-golden-boy, Brian Williams was relegated to the projection desk.  “NBC projects Oklahoma goes to Donald Trump.  Now back to Rachel for the next forty minutes.”

Rachel conveyed sanity and perspective.  Again, my fault for ignoring all the times she and her co-anchors implored me to relax and be patient.  

The highlight of the MSNBC coverage was Steve Kornacki at their Magic Board.  I love his enthusiasm.  Kornacki is the nerd in High School who got a girlfriend.  As knowledgeable as King but less polished and refreshingly goofy.   He maybe got four hours sleep in total last week.  I suspect he’s going to emerge from this coverage as the star.  

Late into the night, Biden gave a “just wait and relax” speech, and then Trump gave a truly horrifying insane victory speech from the White House to a crowd of maskless, brainless toadies who gave him a standing ovation as he spewed one shameful lie after another, standing at a podium with 200 American Flags behind him (probably stolen from local public schools).  

To both MSNBC’s credit (and CNN’s), their hosts and analyst ripped the shit out him, said he had reached a new low, which is now the reaction every time he speaks.  I thought it was interesting when he tried the same thing the next day in the briefing room, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and ABC cut away from his speech about two minutes in when they could see it was just a blizzard of reprehensible lies.  Think about that:  All three networks cutting away from the president of the United States.  

So I went to sleep suicidal that first night.  I woke up at 4:30 and checked the website to see that Biden had pulled ahead in Wisconsin & Michigan.  Ohmygod!  James Carville (the happy drunk relative at every family function) was right.  

For the next few days I avoided TV coverage.  I’d check websites every few hours.  And day by day things started looking better.  He took Michigan and Wisconsin.  When Biden turned the corner in Pennsylvania I actually was able to keep food down.   Like everybody, waiting was frustrating.  But I took comfort in knowing that meticulous vote counting would make it harder for Trump to challenge, and the wait must’ve been extra torture on Trump.   Reports were that everybody close to him was afraid to tell him the reality of the situation.  I might’ve done it this way:  “It looks like you’ll no longer be president with all the privileges that come with that, and instead you’ll lose your empire and spend the rest of your life in prison.  But the good news is a new SHARK TANK airs tonight on ABC.”  

The announcement Saturday morning was GLORIOUS.  And with Biden winning by quite a margin and record popular vote, the Genie is out of the bottle.  All the celebrations over the weekend, victory speeches Saturday night (which reminded me of how real presidents act), congratulations from world leaders — the country and world has spoken.  Trump’s baseless legal challenges will go nowhere, as all of his legal challenges the last two weeks have.    It’s over.  Finally.  We can turn our attention to healing, justice, decency, stability, empathy, and stopping this pandemic.

As someone said on Facebook:  One plague down and one to go. 

RIP Alex Trebek

So sorry to hear of the passing of Alex Trebek.  He was 80.  For the millions of us who watch JEOPARDY every day, he was a part of our family.  I never actually met him in person but did attend numerous tapings of the show and got to see how he interacted with crew, contestants, and audience members.  Just the fact that during commercials, instead of stepping away or taking a break himself, he always went out to the audience and answered questions says something about who he was.  

Staff members of the show (many who have worked there for over 30 years) adored him, and that tells you something else.  

Over the last few years there were times when taping five shows a day was an ordeal.  He would do this a day after chemo sometimes when his body was wracked with pain and exhaustion.  And yet, he never let any of that show on the air.  He was the ultimate professional, the ultimate trouper.  

I'm sure the show will go on.  And I'm sure their successor has already been chosen and has done practice shows in anticipation.  I suspect it will be Ken Jennings, who would be a great choice.  But whoever they get, they have tough shoes to fill.  However, Alex always put the game over his own ego so the task will be that much easier.  

He worked up until the very end.  He warmed our hearts with his humility, intelligence, empathy, and humor.  He made a very difficult job seem easy.   And today -- this very moment -- more than ever, I think we appreciate how much those qualities are valued.  

"The greatest game show host in history."   Who is Alex Trebek?

Biden wins!

And so does Democracy.  And the planet.   Thank you. 

Weekend Post

 After all the craziness of this past week, I thought you might want a brief escape. 

My 10 minute play was performed by the 15min Theatre Festival Incheon, Korea this summer, and they did a dance interpretation of it. The result was amazing.  Get these kids on DANCING WITH THE STARS or KOREA'S GOT TALENT.   

The premise: When two strangers make eye contact for 15 seconds one of two things will happen -- they'll either wind up in a fight or in bed. 

The choreography and rehearsal that went into this was awesome.   I feel guilty that I wrote the actual play in three hours (it was part of a one-day play festival the Ruskin Theatre in Santa Monica used to hold every month before the pandemic).

It's about eight minutes that will really lift your spirits.  Enjoy. 

NOTE: If you're looking on your phone you might have to go to the webpage view option.   Some have said there's no video.  There is video on computers and iPads.   It plays.  I've tested it.

Playwright _ Ken Levine

Translation _ Ju Hoon, Shin

Adaptation / Director _ Jeonghyun Henry, Yang 

Choreography _ Duck Young, Kim

Dramaturg _ Ji Soo, Jung

Assistant Director _ A-Hyun, Jo

Dancer _ Tae Kwan, Jeon and Moon Ju, Kim

Voice Actor _ Woo Sang, Lim and Ji sook, Kim

Production _ Theatre Company Cheongnyeondan

Host _ The 15min Theatre Festival X INCHEON

 

 

 

Friday Questions

Ready for some Friday Questions?

Dusty starts us off.

I'm watching How I Met Your Mother and there's a clear point where Alyson Hannigan is pregnant. Every scene she's sitting behind a table or holding a prop in front of her belly. They also did a bit where she was so offended by a joke that she refuses to hang out with the gang and isn't on for a few episodes. What are your favorite ways you've seen or used to cover an actress being pregnant and then going on maternity leave?

When Shelley Long was pregnant on season 3 of CHEERS, very early on (before she was showing) we had her go on a European trip with Frasier.  We would film one scene from the trip each week after the audience had left.  I think this went on for four or five weeks.  We then banked those episodes. 

Once Shelley started showing a little we did all the tricks — hiding her with trays, etc.

My favorite was the episode where she somehow got trapped underneath the floor and we just saw her head.  

When we couldn’t hide the baby bump anymore she toddled off to Europe. 

Chakkuri queries:

I noticed that the song “Isn’t It Romantic” occasionally was played, sung and hummed in “Cheers”, “Frasier” and “Wings.” Was this a favorite tune of the producers?

No.  They were free.  Paramount owned the rights to those songs so any Paramount show could use them without paying a license fee.  You also heard “Moonlight in Vermont” a lot.

From MellaBlue:

I've been watching old episodes of WKRP -- a show I've always loved but always forget how much until I watch it. Anyway, I've noticed that a lot of writers and crew people show up throughout the show as various bit characters. My question is do those writers/crew members need to be unionized? Do they get paid scale? Or is this just a handy way to save some money on a show that was constantly under the threat of being canceled?

You can act in an episode once under the Taft-Hartley Law without having to join SAG.  More than that you do have to join the union. 

However, from what I understand, if a writer is “producer” level or higher, the show has to pay a substantial penalty fee if the writer is in an episode.  This is to dissuade producers from just hiring themselves and making a little extra cash.

This rule was not in play when I was a show runner.  I never put myself into a show though because I didn’t want to take a job away from a real actor. 

Finally, from Chuck:

Should the National League keep the Designated Hitter, or get rid of it?

They should get rid of it, but they won’t.  Having the pitcher bat adds a whole level of strategy that makes the game more fun.

The National League resisted for years but had to cave this past ridiculous season.  And now the genie is out of the bottle.

Why won’t it be back?  The Players Union.  The Designated Hitter allows for each team to have one more high salaried ballplayer on their books.  Older players who can still hit but no longer field can still command big bucks as a DH.

Baseball keeps changing the rules and it’s never to improve the quality of the game.  It’s to generate more money. 

What’s your Friday Question?  

EP199: Meet Director Katy Garretson Part Two

Katy Garretson is a DGA award nominated sitcom director.  This week we talk about actors testing directors, difficult shows, and delve into her podcast, Mojo Girl Madness.  Some great stories and Hollywood dish.  

 

Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!

The day after

Like everyone else, I'm just waiting. 

SAVE THE COUNTRY

At least it's finally here.  For those of us who waited four years for this, I can't impress enough upon you the importance of voting.  I would like to think that ultimately democracy, compassion, empathy, intelligence, science, justice, and just plain decency will win out.  

If you haven't already, please vote... for BIDEN/HARRIS.

SAVE THE COUNTRY (by Laura Nyro)

Happy Birthday Matt

Happy Birthday to my "World Champion" son, Matt.  Now adding loving husband and father to his resume.  I'm so proud of the outstanding young man you've become, and I'll try not to call you so often for tech support.  I said I'd try.

Love you always, my son.

Dad

On another note to you dear readers:  VOTE.

Weekend Post

This is a weird Halloween because of the pandemic.  Usually I go up north to take my granddaughter trick-or-treating, but I can't this year.  And she's not going out.  

I'm hoping that since it is Halloween, even the idiots who believe COVID-19 is a hoax will wear a mask.  At least for one night.  

But certainly, Trick-or-Treating will be curtailed nationwide (or at least in communities that believe in science).  And it'll be hard to bob for apples with a mask on.  

I've always liked Halloween.  Not to where I decorate the house and walk around drenched in fake blood all day, but I do enjoy it.  It's the start of the extended holiday season.   Although this year that will be a very different holiday experience.  No big family gatherings for Thanksgivings (which might be a blessing for some families and save a lot of ugly arguments), no holiday parties. and with our nation so divided it's anyone's guess as to whether we'll have goodwill for all.   Christmas shopping will be primarily done on line.  Shopping malls will really suffer.  Those poor old drunk Department Store Santa Clauses will be out of luck.  

No Macy's Parade this year.  No Rose Parade. No snow storm stranding thousands of a travelers in O'Hare for two nights.   No half million people jammed into Times Square.  Thank God at least we'll still have Ryan Seacrest.  

Homes will still be decorated I assume.  Chinese restaurants deliver so Jews will be covered.  Hollywood takes a big hit this holiday season.  December and the summer are their big cash cow seasons.  Gone is the Christmas tradition of studios raising ticket prices.  

We'll all adjust and get through it.  Those of us lucky enough not to have contracted the virus.

But in the back of my mind, I can't help thinking so much of this could have been avoided had we had a real leader who addressed the problem instead of lying about it for his own self-interest.  

Vote for Joe Biden, if for nothing else than to act upon this pandemic and really give us something to be thankful for next Thanksgiving. 

Friday Questions

Wrapping up October with Friday Questions.  What’s yours?

DBenson starts us off:

How accurate was "Frasier" in presenting a radio station? In retrospect, it seems a little odd that they'd have so much original and seemingly unsyndicated programming (Did they play music at all?). Recalling a WKRP episode where Venus was recruited by a station that just needed a local voice to plug into nationally programmed playlists, that being the expanding reality back then.

Radio was mostly local in those days, which is why radio was soooooo much better in those days.

As for the technical aspects of the radio station, FRASIER was not very accurate but they were way better than WKRP in that department.  FRASIER at least was modeled after a real radio station — KABC in Los Angeles.  

Engineers are not also producers in large market stations like Seattle.  Normally there is a producer in a separate booth who screens the calls.  The engineer plays the commercials and controls the volumes. 

The host has a computer screen that tells him who the callers are, where they’re from, and a thumbnail of what they want to talk about.  It was that way back in the '90s.

Rarely does the engineer go on the air as often as Roz did.  If she did she would have to be AFTRA and the station would have to pay her as an announcer. That wouldn't happen.  

The host can’t just break whenever he wants.  He has a log that tells him when commercial breaks or other format elements need to be introduced (like traffic and news).

All that said, no one other than radio people might be bothered by these minor inconsistencies.  Creative license is certainly justified.

Now WKRP was ridiculous.  No headphones, the way they played the music — bore little relation to any real radio station.  But like you, I enjoyed the show.  So what if it wasn’t accurate? 

Do You Do any Wings? asks:

Do former (or current) radio broadcasters make better podcasts?

On the whole I’d say they present themselves better.  Content is king in podcasts, but broadcasters have more polish.  Speaking for myself, when there are episode where I just talk for a half hour it sure comes in handy that I’ve had many years of hosting talk radio shows and doing baseball play-by-play.  I’m comfortable just turning on a live mic and talking. 

Subliminally, I suspect audiences feel more comfortable knowing they’re in good hands. 

But harping on a point, if the subject matter isn’t interesting, the most polished broadcaster in the world can’t make it worth listening to.

Curt Alliaume wonders:

What did you do during the early years when you were breaking into the industry and looking for writing work? How did you search and how much time did you dedicate daily to finding jobs?

Originally, I was still a disc jockey.  I was working in San Diego and would drive up to LA every weekend to write with David Isaacs. 

When that job ended I moved back to Los Angeles and looked for a day job.  I would have taken anything that didn’t require nights or weekends.  I landed a job at the KIIS Broadcasting Workshop, a broadcast school.  The money was crappy, but it allowed me to keep my head above water and write with David several nights a week and every weekend.  I would have worked at Sears selling car batteries if that was the only job available.  Writing was my main job. 

David had a daytime job at ABC in the (now obsolete) film shipping department. 

And finally, from Kendall Rivers:

As you may already know there were two streaming reunions of Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond two shows which you were involved which I thought was funny and was wondering what you thought about them if you've seen them.

Well, since they’re usually fundraisers for Democrats, I LOVE them. 

But seriously, they’re fun, and it’s great to see these casts together again.  It’s also a nice way to thank the fans of these shows. 

I wonder how much money a BIG WAVE DAVE’S reunion would bring in? 

And on that note, VOTE.  Thanks much.

EP198: Meet Director Katy Garretson

Katy Garretson is a DGA award nominated sitcom director.  She discusses the craft and unique challenges a woman faces in television directing.  She also shares a story about a “lost” episode of FRASIER.  It’s a story I didn’t even know.  You can find her podcast at Mojo Girl Madness.

Listen to other podcasts similar to this on iTunes!

Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!

Comments on comments

 As sort of a follow-up to yesterday, for the most part I try not to make this blog political.  Lately, of course, that hasn’t been the case.  The stakes are just too high, and quite frankly, it’s hard to ignore (try as we might).  

But that has had a ripple effect in the comments section.  Normally, I love comments.  You guys often have great insights.  And posting comments makes this blog feel more like a little community.  All that is good.

For the last couple of years I’ve had to moderate comments.  Several reasons for that.  First of course, is trolls.  Still not sure why they bother.  It takes them several minutes to compose and send and me literally one second to delete.  My solace is they must care what I say otherwise why would they keep coming back?  And they do.  So when I see a troll comment my only thought is, “wow, I must be popular.”  

But I have some other rules.  I don’t allow readers to attack each other.  I’m not going to call out anyone by name, but there are a couple of people who lately do it continuously.  I would hope that by rejecting their comments they would stop, but they don’t.  I would think that when I do post their comments that aren’t incendiary that would send a message as well.  It hasn’t so far.  

Bottom line:  Play nice kids.

I also delete a lot of political comments.  Now this may seem unfair since I occasionally post political essays.  But you’ll notice when it’s clearly a political post I disable comments for that day.   Here’s why, and remember — it’s MY blog.  For this I've been accused of "politically bullying" or being insecure -- okay, but on this one topic I'll take the hit.  We're not debating issues or different beliefs in how to improve the country and our lives.  We're talking good vs. evil. 

The comments section can turn ugly real fast.  That’s not the purpose of the feature.  And yes, I’ve deleted comments supporting Trump.  I’m under no obligation to be fair and balanced.  But I’ve also deleted anti-Trump comments, even though they support my position because I don’t want to start an ugly thread.  

If you want your voice heard when it comes to politics — VOTE.  

And other than politics and attacking each other I look forward to hear what you’ve got to say. 

Final thoughts on the World Series

Not to belabor my point from Monday, but analytics may have cost the Tampa Bay Rays the World Championship.  I'm thrilled that the Dodgers won, but as a baseball fan I couldn't believe that Rays' manager Kevin Cash pulled Blake Snell after giving up a scratch base hit in the 6th inning.  He was the best pitcher on the planet on this particular night.  He had completely dominated the Dodger hitters (and that's saying something with that bunch).  

But the manager had a game plan, and all these relievers, and instead of just saying "The hell with the numbers, this guy is pitching a masterpiece, I'm going to ride him as long as I can," he pulled him for a reliever who quickly gave up two runs.  And the ballgame.  And the series.

Now I'm sure he has seventeen reasons to justify that move -- from pitch count to facing the line-up a third time, to statistics that say his bullpen matches up better, but that's all bullshit.   It's the World Series.  An elimination game if they lose.  And the best pitcher in baseball on the mound with a 1 run lead in the 6th inning.   

Look, managers are second guessed all the time.  They make moves -- sometimes they work and sometimes they backfire.  As Yankees announcer, John Sterling would say, "That's baseball, Suzyn."  My issue is that the decision was so calculated based on numbers, not the big picture.  

Take nothing away from the Dodgers.  They deserved to win the World Series.  You gave them an opportunity, they took advantage.  They were a clutch hitting team and their bullpen rose to the occasion.  They came back in the NLCS to beat the Braves after being down three games to one.  They rebounded from that crushing loss to the Rays Saturday night.   They have enormous talent and (no analytic stat for this:) heart.  But they sure got a gift.  

The celebration was somewhat marred by the announcement that Dodger third baseman, Justin Turner, tested positive for COVID.  Hope he's okay and hope he didn't spread it to too many others.  Not a lot of social distancing and masks on that field.  But it brings up a hypothetical question.  Let's say the Rays had won that game.  Both teams would be tied with three wins apiece.  Tonight would be the winner-take-all Game Seven.  But wouldn't the Dodgers have to quarantine?  That's what happened during the season when players contracted the virus.  Games were cancelled.  So would the World Series end in a tie?  Or would they come back and play one more game two weeks later (assuming no other players get it)?  The commissioner, Rob Manfred (who was roundly booed every time he spoke) caught a huge break.  

Ultimately, congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers.  As Vin Scully taught us fans many years ago, "it never comes easy with the Dodgers."  On the other hand, it makes it that much sweeter when they do succeed. 

Election sensory overload

 Is it just me?

I am sooooooooo fucking exhausted by this election already, and it’s still a week away.   What crazy stupid thing is Trump going to say or do today?  Who will he insult?  What crisis will he cause out of nothing?  What blatant lie will he tell that sets back the progress of fighting this pandemic?   What utter insanity and chaos will he create?  

And what new “bombshell” will the media undercover?  What new revelation?  What new poll?  The endless analysis.  The mounting death toll.  The dire warnings (that half the idiots in this country ignore).  The map projections.  The constant pleas for campaign donations.  The barrage of TV ads.  Social media overload.  

And just to make it clear, I don’t agree with Trump that people are tired of hearing about the Coronavirus.  We’re tired of hearing how safety guidelines are ignored.  We’re tired of no leadership.  We’re tired of the upheaval and loss of jobs  this pandemic has caused.   Check that — the upheaval and loss of jobs that Trump has caused.  

And we’re tired of ignorance.  If all the non-mask wearers caught the virus and left the rest of us alone I’d be fine.  I’d say, they all should all attend a 2020 version of Woodstock.  But their negligence and carelessness spreads the virus to people who otherwise wouldn’t get it.  They put health care workers at risk.  They kill their family members.  So I’m tired of those stories.  And I know there are way more of those stories in the future.  Many that could have been prevented.  

So thank God for the World Series.  And the cooking channel.  And home improvement channel.  Even the golf channel.   I know I’m exhausted when I find myself watching GOLDEN GIRLS instead of Rachel Maddow.  

And we’re still a week away.  God help us. 

Why I don't love analytics

One of the wackiest endings of any World Series game occurred Saturday night when the Tampa Bay Rays scored the tying and winning run on a base hit by a walk on player and two blunders by normally solid fielders.   I'm a Dodger fan but I guess more of a baseball fan because I loved it.   

The unpredictability of it was jaw dropping.  And in such a big moment.  As Rays' radio announcer, Andy Freed said on the air (and I'm paraphrasing): "We should save 'unbelievable' for moments like these."  

But here's my point.  The big hit was delivered by a walk on player only up there because there was no one else left on the bench.  The Dodger pitcher was their all-time leader in saves.  So what would the analytics tell you?   For all the numbers and all the analysis, the game of baseball defies expectations.  

How many times in the World Series have we seen unlikely heroes?  For every Mickey Mantles and Willie Mays, there is also a Scott Podsednik, Jim Leyritz, Pat Borders, Luis Sojo, Kurt Bevacqua, Carlos Ruiz, Tony Womack, Brian Doyle, Steve Pearce, Christian Colon, David Freese, David Eckstein, Francisco Rodriguez, Mickey Hatcher, Rick Dempsey, Gene Tenace, Donn Clendenon, Don Larson, and now Brett Phillips (who hadn't batted in 17 days).    And I bet I'm leaving out four or five other World Series heroes. 

It's a form of collusion now since all teams use the same analytics.  A free agent may have hit 25 home runs last year but if his OPS is under a certain number no one wants him.  Forget that he was a model player, a mentor to young players, and a pillar of the community.  His OPS was too low.  Or a pitcher's WIP was too high.  

And yet, it's the intangibles.  Nerves under pressure, anticipation, preparation, and just dumb luck.  Analytics can predict many things, but until they can predict dumb luck they should just be used as a tool and not the yardstick by which all decisions are made.  

The argument is made that young people are into analytics and Major League Baseball is slavishly trying to lure that coveted demographic.  But consider this:  what should be a World Series game ending for the ages was seen after midnight on the east and in the key 18-34 demographics it was beaten by SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.  So MLB is not exactly captivating Millennials.   

How many of you, even baseball fans, are hearing about this Saturday night finish for the first time?  

Last night the Dodgers came back to win.  Clayton Kershaw, the team's ace and future Hall-of-Famer, started a little shaky.  Worked out of a huge jam and then settled down.  In the 6th inning he retired the first two batters on two pitches.  And was lifted for a rookie pitcher who had struggled but has great potential.  What the fuck?   The kid got some outs (thankfully for the manager and organization), but what does it say about the faith they have in Clayton Kershaw?   I can't imagine the Dodgers taking Sandy Koufax out in the 6th inning after getting two outs on two pitches and leading by two runs.  You can say "OK Boomer" but I contend the game was more fun and exciting.  And some people must've liked it because World Series games were seen by 40 million people instead of three or four. 

And on an unrelated note, Happy Birthday to my writing partner, David Isaacs.  Happy 39th. 

Weekend Post

We had a couple of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER Friday Questions this week.  So I thought I'd keep the topic alive.  Barbara Billingsley played June Cleaver on that classic 50s sitcom. As a kid I marveled at how she cooked and cleaned and always wore a party dress and pearls.  My mom never did.  But for years it was an honor to be mistaken for Barbara's TV son.

I guess that requires an explanation, huh?

Okay, that means a look back at my checkered radio career...

After being fired from KMEN San Bernardino in late ‘73 I sat out of work for six months. Apparently no one wanted a wise-ass disc jockey with a light voice. I couldn’t even land a gig doing all-nights in Fresno. Ironically, when I did get an offer it was to do evenings at WDRQ, Detroit. So I wasn’t good enough for market #100 but I was fine for market #4.

More on my actual adventures in Detroit in future posts but today I want to concentrate on my name. No rock station would let me use my actual name (Levine sounded too… uh, “Red Sea Pedestrian”). And in general disc jockeys had very generic names. Johnny Mitchell. Steve Clark. Bob Shannon. Take any two simple first names and slam them together.

Needless to say, to audiences these disc jockeys were interchangeable. In some cases stations changed personnel but just kept the name. So Bill Bailey could be the afternoon man but over the course of three years that could be four different guys.

In Bakersfield and San Bernardino I was Ken Stevens. When I got the job in Detroit I decided to make a change. I took the moniker Beaver Cleaver.

Why?

I wanted something distinctive. I wanted something memorable. The first time the listener heard, “Hi, this is Beaver Cleaver” I wanted him to say "What the fuck?!"   Any major program director will tell you -- if you can get the audience to say "What the fuck?!" you've won. 

It was a name everybody knew from the TV show. I figured a lot of people would wonder if I was Jerry Mathers (who played the Beav). This might even prompt some discussion in various Detroit high schools. How often did you discuss disc jockeys in your high school?

I also liked that the name was easy to say. As opposed to Illya Kuryakin, my second choice (although it would have been fun to hear jingle singers trying to sing Illya Kuryakin).

I’d like to take credit for being the first disc jockey to do something like this, but the truth is I wasn’t. Art Ferguson debuted on KHJ in 1967 as Charlie Tuna. At the time Charlie the Tuna was the cartoon mascot of the Starkist Tuna ad campaign. Whether it was Art’s idea or a program director I thought it was genius.

One other side benefit to “Beaver Cleaver” was that I could use it for double entendres. Remember this was for a teenage audience. I came on the first night and said, “This is the grand opening of the Beaver.” Yes, it was juvenile but my goal was to make noise. I'm sure I got some more "What the fucks?!" with that one. 

Anyway, it worked. People did take notice and remember. A few years ago I was having lunch with Tom Hanks. He was saying he grew up in the Bay Area and I mentioned I was a disc jockey in San Francisco at that time. “Who were you?” he asked. When I told him his eyes lit up and immediately he said, “Beaver Cleaver! KYA! Boss of the Bay!” I don’t think he would have remembered the name I used in Bakersfield.  (I bet you can't either and you just read it fifteen seconds ago.)  

So I used that handle at WDRQ and future stops as a DJ. Later that year I was hired by K100 in Los Angeles. (A year before I couldn’t get arrested in Fresno.) The station was owned by Bill Drake & Gene Chenault, the architects of the KHJ Boss Radio format that was the rage of the 60s. I was brought in to do evenings, following the Real Don Steele. It was a dream job except I hated the program director. When I say he was clueless, here’s how clueless:

The day I was slated to debut the station had all of the other jocks hyping my arrival. The PD stopped in the booth and midday guy, Eric Chase jokingly asked if I was going to have Wally and Lumpy join me my first night. The PD said, “What are you talking about?” Eric said, “Wally and Lumpy – the Beav's brother and his dufus friend.” The PD was completely confused. Eric said, “Y’know, from the TV show. From LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.” The PD’s eyes widened in horror. “There’s a TV show?!”

How the fuck could this moron not have heard of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER?

So he calls me into his office panicked. There were already promos on the air. What if we got sued? I tried to calm him down. “If we get sued,” I said, “it’s the best thing that could ever happen to us.” Now he was really perplexed. I reasoned that in the highly unlikely event we were sued this would become a big story. The local TV stations would probably cover it. K100 would get more free publicity than it could ever imagine. I would stop using Beaver Cleaver and the station could invite listeners to come up with my new name. Fortunately, owner Bill Drake thought that was brilliant and I was allowed to keep calling myself Mrs. Cleaver’s Beaver.

For the record, I was never sued. And continued to use the name until 1980. By the way, Frank Bank, who played “Lumpy”, is now Jerry Mathers’s investment adviser.