I just came across this much-too belated video. Belated meaning it's from February 15, 2015. But belated or not, it's well-deserved. I've mentioned my friend Jeff Melvoin here several times, most notably for his work on the great series, Northern Exposure, though he's done a whole lot more. And last year he was given the Morgan Cox Award by the Writers Guild of America. That's for service to the Guild by a member, which in Jeff's case is largely centered on him creating and running the Showrunners Training Program, to help develop the people who are in charge of television series. Jeff comes to this from a great deal of experience. He began as a reporter for Time magazine, but eventually switched careers. He was on the writing staffs of such shows as Remington Steele, Hill Street Blues and Northern Exposure (serving in various producing capacities, as well), and eventually became a writer and the showrunner in charge, as executive producer of Picket Fences, Alias, and Army Wives. He also wrote and was executive producer of a couple of TV movies, Intrigue and Outpost. And more. Among his other important credentials are being a Cubs fan and not just a fan of the Chicago Bears, but opening his home, known on the occasion as Melvoin Stadium, for watching the games, at least when he's not pissed off at the team for sucking eggs and losing. His parents and mine were friends for many years back in the Chicago suburbs, and I even worked with his sister one summer with the oft-mentioned Ravinia Music Festival -- though I didn't realize it until a few years ago when I was looking through an old program, and they listed the office staff. I don't suspect that any of this played a part in Jeff getting the Morgan Cox Award, though I like to believe so. Much the same way that I believe Jeff gave J.J. Abrams a career boost when Jeff took over from him as showrunner for Alias. This video below will not likely be of the highest interest to most people, but because I've mentioned Jeff enough here, and because he's such a wonderful guy and so well-deserving, I thought some people might be interested in seeing of whom I speak. Besides, it's only seven-minutes long, including the very funny introduction. (Side note: when Jeff thanks his wife and mother, the camera on cuts only to his mother. But earlier in the video it does cut several times to an unidentified woman in the audience, and that's the wonderful Martha, who deserves far more time than Jeff...) Doing a fun job Introducing Jeff is the writer Bill Lawrence, who created the series Spin City and one of my all-time faves, Scrubs. But then it's Jeff''s turn. And now you'll know, this is him --
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It's been a quiet week. It also has been bitterly, bitterly cold and it gets really quiet when it's that cold." The host provides a few thoughts on the joys of ice fishing and the benefits of sobriety, and memories of staying with a Catholic "storm family."
Here's the latest 3rd & Fairfax podcast from the Writers Guild of America. Not much fanfare is needed for this one. Just a simple description should suffice.
This week's guest is Adam McKay, the co-writer of such movies as The Big Short , Anchorman, and Talledega Nights (all of which he directed), as well as the Broadway play, You're Welcome, America: a Final Night with George W. Bush (which he also directed), and co-founder of the "Funny or Die" website with his partner Will Ferrell. He is interviewed by Judd Apatow, whose writing credits include The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Funny People, all of which he directed, as well. He also directed the recent Trainwreck. It follows a discussion of the Writers Guild recent 101 Funniest Screenplays list, and some conversation about the upcoming WGA Awards.
If you'd rather jump directly to the Adam McKay interview, click here and scroll ahead to around the 17-minute mark.
This morning, if you can cast your memory back all the way there, a few hours, I wrote a piece about how the legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie hated his racist landlord, Fred Trump, as it happens the father of Donald -- who has publicly stated that "My legacy has its roots in my father's legacy." During the day, something was nagging at me, and finally I realized what. It all had reminded me of an article I'd written here a two years ago about the Koch Brothers and their father -- and it too, oddly enough, touches on folksingers, as well. (In fact, it was the folk song aspect that prompted me to post it.) So, I thought it appropriate to revisit that piece. Here it is. The Nuts Don't Fall Far from the TreeI'd always loved this song, and it's amazing how much resonance it's taken on today, 51 years after it was written as a political satire. And today, I don't think it can be played enough, to put the proper perspective on something deeply relevant today. I'll get to that in a minute. The John Birch Society was a lunatic. extreme right-wing anti-Communist fringe group that reached its peak in the 1950s and early 1960s, so deeply out of touch with reality that even most Republicans tried to distance themselves from the crazies. (This was a time when there were moderate and even liberal Republicans, mind you.) So over-the-edge wingnut was it that the folk music group the Chad Mitchell Trio not only recorded a song making fun of Birchers, but it was even reasonably popular. There is no subtlety to it, where you have to read between the lines. It's all laid out there bluntly (and hilarious) to scathing ridicule. The song was written by the Michael Brown, who among his other songs was the equally funny and pointed, "The Ballad of Lizzie Borden," written for the famous show New Faces of 1952. (Another up-and-coming songwriter who wrote for that show was a fellow named Sheldon Harnick.) [NOTE: here's a link to "Lizzie Borden."] Why is it so relevant even today? The John Birch Society was co-founded by a fellow named Fred Koch. If that last name is familiar to you, it's because he's the father of David and Charles Koch. So, here then from 1962 is "The John Birch Society." Where the Koch Brothers come from. In an article published in The Conversation by Will Kaufman of the University of Central Lancashire in England, he notes a fascinating bit of history -- that the great populist songwriter Woody Guthrie, who of course famously wrote "This Land is Your Land," once signed a two-year lease for the Beach Haven apartments in Brooklyn, and because of its racist policies grew to hate his landlord, whose name is signed at the bottom of Guthrie's lease, Fred Trump...the father of Donald. Certainly one can't visit the sins of the father on the son. But as Mr. Kaufman notes, "Recalling these foundations becomes all the more relevant in the wake of the racially charged proclamations of Donald Trump, who last year announced, “My legacy has its roots in my father’s legacy.” So, how much of that legacy is part of what Donald Trump proudly considers his own becomes a question not without reason to ask. In the article here, well-worth reading in its entirety, Professor Kaurman lays out in detail some of Fred Trump's history of racism, including owning white-only properties, and also bilking the federal government from FHA loans and subsidies for urban housing by overestimating his property by $3.7 million. (Keeping in mind that this was in the post-war years, that value today is probably around $40 million. And was clearly part of the foundation of the Trump family fortune.) One of the most interesting part of the article is previously unpublished writings by Woody Guthrie which Will Kaufman came across at the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I'm sure this would be a lot more fun if one was British and knew the long-running soap opera EastEnders and its actors. But even without that it's thoroughly entertaining -- which speaks volumes of how enjoyable it must likely be over there to people who know what's what and who's who.. Not to worry, this isn't the soap opera itself, so you won't be lost trying to figure out what's going on. It's something else entirely. There's a very big, annual charity telethon broadcast on the BBC in the U.K. called Children in Need. And as far as I can tell, from what little detective work I could manage, every year the cast of EastEnders puts together a hugely elaborate musical production number, whether or not all the actors are especially-accomplished with singing, let alone dancing. But that seems to be some of the fun, watching actors a bit out of their element throwing themselves into such a big production all for a good cause -- and mostly it's quite well done. And did I say elaborate? They really put a major effort into this. I've watched several of the videos from different years (and will post a few others), and they're a joy. This is one of my favorites. It's a a tribute to the West End theatre district, and I'll leave it to your discovery what shows are included. I believe this came from the 2008 broadcast. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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