This is an great treat, most especially if your lovers of Kukla, Fran & Ollie. But not limited to that. It’s my annual posting of their April Fools' Day program from 1950, over 74 years ago. (I say “over,” because oddly the date of the broadcast is not April 1, but March 31. I have to assume that April Fools' Day that year fell on a weekend, and so they were weren’t on the air that day. This is a particular delight for me because it not only features my favorite Kuklapolitan who is rarely on the show, Cecil Bill, but it’s one of the longest appearances I’ve ever seen for him. He comes on about the 11:00 mark, in costume for April Fools Day. And he even gets to sing a song! Now, that might not sound like much, but you have to realize that Cecil Bill only speaks with the words “Toi-te-toi-toi…” And that holds for the lyrics of a song he sings. Cecil Bill is quite nuts. And when I visited the 50th anniversary tribute to Kukla, Fran & Ollie about 20 years ago at the Chicago Historical Museum, I discovered something that Burr Tillstrom did to reinforce that lunacy, which was quite clever – something I never noticed before through the TV, but finally saw close up in person. That’s because they had all the Kuklapolitan puppets on display. And looking at Cecil Bill (which was a joy for me…), I noticed that Tillstrom hadn’t painted his mouth on where someone's mouth would normally be. Instead, he made it a crescent that was angled a bit and ever-so-slightly off to the side, askew, not centered directly under his nose. So, without exactly knowing why, unless you paid extremely close attention, Cecil Bill would seem somehow…off. And if you look closely in the video, you’ll see what I mean. He jumps around a lot in his song, and is covered with a big coat, so you can’t always see his mouth clearly, but you’ll notice what I’m talking about. Or you can just check out the good fellow here below, second from the left -- Fun, too, in this episode is Fran gets a chance to impersonate Ollie in a song, and clearly is enjoying herself with it. But then, the whole show is fun.
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For reasons unknown to Man, NBC News and MSNBC have hired former RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDanniel as a commentator. And no, this is not a parody article from The Onion. This is real, and it’s hard to imagine what NBC is thinking. The obvious attempt at an answer answer is that, her being a former RNC chair, this supposedly adds important and valuable substance to the network. Except that’s no answer. After all, MSNBC already has a former RNC chair on their staff, and Michael Steele not only does a solid job, but they even gave him his own show. And MSNBC also has a former Republican White House Press Secretary -- and not only gave Nicolle Wallace her own show, as well, but they even expanded to two hours daily, the only single-host show on their weekday schedule that long. And two regular MSNBC analysts are conservative journalist Charlie Sykes and conservative operative Tim Miller. All of them give significant insider analysis of today’s Republican Party. MSNBC even has former GOP Governor John Kasich on staff as an analyst. So, not only does NBC not need another Republican analyst – let alone show host – and not need another former RNC chair, but they absolutely don't need someone who enabled Trump and his fascism so much that Ronna (“Don’t call me Romney”) McDaniel literally changed her name for him! Even more to the point, no credible news organization needs to hire someone who very possibly could be indicted as a co-conspirator for Jan. 6 Insurrection to overthrow democracy. And no, that's not just me voicing a baseless opinion. Your honor, I offer Exhibit A -- The only positive part of this story is that a Wall Street Journal article says MSNBC president Rashida Jones "told employees the cable network has no plans to have McDaniel on the channel." This came about after MSNBC anchors and producers voiced concern. Though good for MSNBC, assuming this policy holds (and though there’s no reason to doubt it won’t, though no reason to doubt it will, it’s just wait-and-see) there is no similar disclaimer from the larger, more-watched parent division of NBC News. There are so many horrible problems with this “What on Earth were they thinking???) decision. But high on the list, even beyond credibility, is that when you reward someone who enabled Trump and his fascism so much that she changed her name for him – not to mention made phone calls with Trump to pressure Republican officials in Michigan not to certify the state’s election results -- it only encourages others, knowing there is a major $300,000 payday waiting for them to legitimize their actions. Do not expect one whiff of honesty on behalf of democracy from Ronna (Romney [sic]) McDaniel. That wasn’t her brand running the RNC, there’s no reason to expect her to change what’s worked for her now. When she appears in any segments on NBC News, I will be switching away when it is on the air. If it turns out that she does end up on MSNBC, the same holds. In fact, from all that I’ve been reading of the unbelieving outrage on social media, I’m far from alone. Indeed, some people have even written off the two channels until this disastrous hire is reversed. A friend wrote to me wondering if McDaniel is “ready to come over from the dark side?" I was surprised and disappointed by the naivety of the question, since he is a smart, insightful person, to whom “naïve” would never be ascribed. No, I don’t believe for one second that Ronna (Romney [sic]) McDaniel is planning to come over from the dark side. She has much, much, much too much personally invested in defending herself and her actions for the past seven years. You don’t suddenly flip 180-degrees overnight and say, “Erp, y’know, I was wrong enabling fascism for seven years and trying to overthrow democracy and the government, and should never have changed my name to appease Trump. Boy, was that stupid!!” Even if every rare while she said, “Well, on occasion, maybe Republicans possibly were somewhat a bit wrong on this point,” that would be meaningless, since it would overlook all the time she spent supporting fascism, lying and supporting the Jan. 6 Insurrection, to the degree of being at risk of indictment. Even if she spent 80% of her time on NBC criticizing GOP criminal actions and efforts against democracy, it still would leave enabling Trump and fascism 20% of the time. Which is 20% too much. Defending Trump and fascism to any degree is like being “only a little pregnant.” You refute fascism and you refute the racist, congenital lying, anti-Semitic, adjudicated rapist, adjudicated business fraud, malignant narcissist Trump, period, full stop, because otherwise you leave your support open, and allow it to fester, grown and infect. It’s like putting a bandage on someone’s broken arm and saying you fixed the problem. People don’t change what they’ve invested their life to, 180-degrees overnight – especially for something so devil” and dishonest. That’s something that takes many years of soul searching and introspection – or being in prison and having nothing to so all day but think, “Oh, my God, what have I done to my life?????!!” And then begin weeping uncontrollably. To think maybe, possibly, she will suddenly come over from the dark side overnight is having one’s “being polite” gene malfunctioning, And worse, this isn't just someone who enabled and defended Trump for seven years -- but someone who is at risk of being indicted as a con-conspirator for trying to overthrow the government, being caught on a recording with Trump trying to pressure the Republican chair in Michigan and another member of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to certify the results there. If she had even a whiff of thinking she’d should “come over from the dark side,” her first stop would be to knock on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office to be a cooperating witness and save herself from jail time. Not go on TV to admit her crimes. And this is who MSNBC hired as a commentator!! More to the point, if anyone had just the slight question whether Ronna (Romney [sic]) McDaniel might possibly “come over from the dark side,” all they need do is check out her appearance yesterday as a guest on Meet the Press. Come over from the dark side?? Oh, heavens, please. McDaniel wouldn't even acknowledge that President Biden won "fair and square," the best she could offer was only that the results were "certified." Worse, she then said “I must push back” and insisted there was on “uncertainty” about the results – sure there was, because Trump and his enablers lied to Republicans about it, and because she herself pressured state officials with Trump not to certify official results!! – adding that we must all agree that elections should be safe. Well…they are safe! Trump’s team tried to prove otherwise, and lost 60 court cases. Trump’s own head of election security told him directly how safe the election was. And Trump fired him. And she was just getting warmed up. There was this following exchange with host Kristin Welker – McDANIEL: Voters right now in this country are going to be making a choice is November, and they don’t care about 2020. WELKER: A lot of people say that it’s fundamental to our country’s democracy. McDANIEL: I think they’re thinking about inflation, the border, crime… Let that sink in a moment: McDaniel just totally dismisses Jan 6! Literally says the public “doesn’t care” about the Insurrection, storming the U.S. Capitol, about the violence, the deaths, the beating of police, the noose for vice president Pence, and about Trump and his conspirators, including herself, trying to overthrow the government!! Yet even at this, even putting aside the Insurrection to overthrow democracy as if it was unimportant, she goes into her default Lying Mode and tries to flim-flam viewers into ignoring the reality that inflation is down (in fact, lowest in the world), crime is down (in murders, violent crime and home crime), and House Republicans voted down a border bill. As she pushes the GOP lie. And this not even Day One yet, she’s just there on NBC as a…"guest". Following her appearance on "Meet the Press," Lynn Cheney posted a tweet which said, "Ronna facilitated Trump’s corrupt fake elector plot & his effort to pressure MI officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome. She spread his lies & called 1/6 'legitimate political discourse'” That’s not 'taking one for the team.' It’s enabling criminality & depravity. " Come over from the dark side??! Ms. McDaniel is like a possum. She’s a nocturnal animal. She lives on the dark side. And she’s already burrowing deeper to avoid the light. Ronna (Romney [sic]) McDaniel is an enabler and defender of fascism, who has regularly lied for seven years, pressured state officials not to certify the election at risk of being indicted as a co-conspirator, and bent over backwards so far for Trump that she changed her name for him. And the powers that be at NBC News, for reasons that are both inexplicable and reprehensible -- apparently blissfully unaware about her history defending fascism, lying and participating in the Insurrection -- because being aware and just not caring would be (even before the history of democracy in the United States is written) irresponsibly too pathetic... -- hired her as an analyst. It's a DVR Day, it seems. This probably isn't for everybody, but for a personal reason I want to mention it, and for documentary film buffs, you'll definitely want to know about it. But even if you don't want to watch it, or only want to check it out for 20 minutes or so, there is a fascinating story about it being made. I got a PBS email the other day about a documentary that will be broadcast on PBS tonight (Friday), which caught my eye for a specific reason. It’s called Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros. The documentary is about this famous family-run restaurant in France that has had three Michelin stars for 55 years. The reason it stood out for me is that Lest Troisgros was probably my parents’ favorite restaurant, and they would travel far out of their way to get there every year on trips to France for probably decades. They even became sort of “letter buddies” with the family. I absolutely know how they dearly would have loved to see this (and be thrilled it was even made). Though I then saw it’s running time. four hours! Putting aside how on earth could someone make a documentary about a restaurant that long, as much as I wanted to see it, that struck as too long for even my deep interest. But then I looked it up to see who made it. And this bowled me over even more. It's made by a man named Frederick Wiseman. That may mean nothing to most people, but it’s amazing to me for two reasons. The first is that he’s one of the most acclaimed documentary filmmakers ever. For perspective, in 2014, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the renowned Venice Film Festival. And in 2016, he got an Oscar from the Motion Picture Academy. He’s made 54 documentaries. And always used a special style, with no narrator, letting the action and reality tell the story. The first film of his I saw was Hospital 1970. His second film, Titicut Follies (made in 1967) was selected two years ago (in 2022) for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The point is he’s legendary. But still, I thought, how could this film be possible? It must be an old movie he made long ago that I never heard of. So, I looked him up -- and that’s the second point that amazed me. I was stunned to learn that Frederick Wiseman is not only still alive, but that in fact he did make this last year…when he was 93!! So, I definitely will watch. Probably not in one sitting. But that’s the good thing about being about to record a movie on the DVR. Without having seen it, the best I can offer for those uncertain about checking it out is that, for fans of the series The Bear, this is the real thing. At a very high end. Like the episode with 'Cousin' who briefly apprentices at a high-end restaurant and learns the importance of meticulous detail and caring. It airs on PBS in Los Angeles tonight (Friday), from 9pm to 1am. My guess is that's the time it airs in the East. In Chicago, it runs from 8pm to midnight. So thems who are interested can record it and watch at your leisure. After all, you can always record it, and watch the first half-hour and see if you want to keep watching… Given that the documentary is four hours, I can't imagine that a trailer will give much of a sense of the substance of the film. But this is a nice, four-minute featurette with Frederick Wiseman talking about how the documentary came to be, intercut throughout with scenes from the film. And what the heck, here's the trailer as a bonus -- or for those who'd rather watch it instead of the featurette. Clearly there's much more to the documentary than this hors d'ouevre, but this does show the craft. Set the DVR for Turner Classic Movies tonight if you haven't seen this movie -- or perhaps even if you have, but not for a long time since it first aired on television over 50 years ago. The movie is Duel -- and for some people, that's enough. For others who don't know it, this is one of the most acclaimed TV movies, not just for its quality, and not just for its technique, but also because it was the very first full-length movie directed by a young man who instantly became Someone to Keep an Eye On. That would be Steven Spielberg. The movie stars Dennis Weaver, who was a pretty solid TV name at the time. And it's written by Richard Matheson, based on his short story. (Among his many credits are the novel and screenplay for the film Somewhere in Time, and the famous Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," where William Shatner thinks he sees a demon on the wing of the airline he's in.) But of course, it's Spielberg today who is the attention-getter. Duel is about road rage, inspired by a real-life experience that Matheson had. In the simplest terms, the plot is that Dennis Weaver accidentally annoys the driver of a semitrailer tanker, who takes it personally and chases after him through the Southern California Desert. But what makes the film so special and riveting is how it's told. There's almost no dialogue, and we never see the truck driver -- at most, just his feet and flashes of his body. As such, he becomes an almost mythic evil. We don't know why he has such fury at Weaver (nor does Weaver), he is unrelenting in his effort to run Weaver down, unconcerned with the threat to anyone who might get in the way, and as the riveting tension builds, and the pace and quick cuts intensify, Weaver is pushed to an almost primal state of fear and survival. The TV movie was so well-regarded that Universal released it theatrically in Europe, and even in limited run in the U.S. Because the TV version was 74 minutes, additional footage was shot to extend it to 90 minutes. From the timeslot that TCM has it in, I suspect this is the theatrical release. Duel airs tonight (Friday) on Turner Classic movies at 9 PM in Los Angeles, and midnight in the East. Probably 11 PM in the Midwest. This is the trailer. It doesn't do the movie justice -- though it does do a respectable job getting some of the idea across. I don’t watch HBO’S Curb Your Enthusiasm from Larry David all that much. Periodically. But I’ve been watching it a bit more this year now that it’s the show’s final season. I had an odd thought after the second episode, and it’s been supported enough now through the fifth. So…I think this is the direction the show is going. It’s only a folderol observation, of course, but – It’s weird (although also funny) that this final season appears as if it might be headed towards ending the same way that Seinfeld did – in a courtroom, with the star on trial for flaunting local laws. Early on in the season, Larry goes down to Atlanta, it’s a hot day, the mother of a main character lives there and is standing in line to vote. And Larry hands her a bottle of water. Almost immediately, a nearby police officer sees this, comes over and arrests him. (As you may recall, in an effort to suppress voting, prompted in large part, I believe, by long lines in minority districts, Georgia changed its election laws a couple years ago, making it illegal to give food or water to people in line to vote.) In the next episode, Larry’s lawyer sets up an easy plea deal for him, and he’s happy to pay the fine and leave town. But for reasons too long to get into, he’s sort of become a folk hero to people who understandably hate the law – and who think Larry did this intentionally as a social protest (which he didn’t…). And so, he was sort of backed into a corner to plead “not guilty” and be seen as a folk hero. The case is now in the hands of the court to set up a date for the trial. And that’s where we stand. They keep referencing the trial, so this isn’t a story line that’s going away. They certainly may resolve it before the last episode. But since it’s a running plot point, that’s the story you tend to hold for the finale. And more to the point, holding it for the last episode would be a direct bookend of the Seinfeld end. While I don’t know what they’ll do, of course, if I had to bet, it would be that they’re saving it for the last episode, and specifically as a nod to Seinfeld which Larry David, of course, co-created and for which he co-wrote that last episode. Which was so famously reviled. (I understood the annoyance, and wasn’t crazy about the episode, but I sort of liked what they did.) And being Larry David, I just have the sense that he would love throwing everyone’s dislike of the Seinfeld finale back in their faces. We’ll see… I truly don't know what's going on with SNL. Their opening sketch was entirely about (once again, as they've done week after week after week) trashing President Biden as old. Never mind that they still haven't done one quip on the show about Trump (who is the same age) echoing Adolf Hitler or saying he wants to be a dictator. Or showing dementia.
The sketch included referencing him as the guy "people call 'Sleepy Joe.' " No, "the people" don't call him that -- Trump, they guy who was found liable for the equivalence of rape, calls him that! These days, though the show can be funny, I fast-forward through it, hoping it finds its compass. By the way, to be clear, I don't mind SNL doing "Joe Biden is old" jokes. (Though this went far beyond that and was not only an entire sketch -- but came at the very opening of the show.) What I personally mind and find inexplicable -- knowing that democracy is quite literally at stake, and especially since their core audience is young, the segment of the public least likely to engage in politics and vote -- is them not yet even referencing that Trump has echoed Hitler or said he wants to be a dictator. And virtually nothing on Trump being just as old and |
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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