Saturday, March 30, 2013
The Telephone Hour. 2.
A fascinating thing, at least to me, happened as I was continuing my research for the second part of this article about Shelley Berman and Bob Newhart.
I went to Shelley Berman's Wikipedia page, and found this:
On his website, comedy writer Mark Rothman discussed the history of comic "telephone" monologists:
"As far back as the 1920's George Jessel was doing phone conversations with his mother in vaudeville, with the opening line "Hello Mama? This is Georgie." In the 30's and 40's there was this radio comedienne named Arlene "Chatterbox" Harris, who did telephone monologues to one of her "friends." ...She was featured doing one of them on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show that featured many old radio entertainers... In the 50's, a great comedienne, Betty Walker, made about a zillion appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, doing essentially the same kind of act as Arlene Harris, talking to her friend Ceil. Only it was intensively Yiddishified... Whereas Arlene Harris was white bread, Betty Walker was challah... All of this pre-dated Shelley Berman. Even Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who were contemporaries of Berman's at Second City, engaged in telephone dialogues, with very similar styled material. And who's more brilliant than them?"
I found myself being quoted.
The day after I posted the first article.
I didn't do it.
I wouldn't know how to do it.
Boy, things get around fast these days.
Anyway, Shelley Berman was never destined to have the kind of success that Bob Newhart has had on television.
He could never have carried a sitcom, the way Newhart carried three of them.
Newhart was always unflappable.
A cool performer in a cool medium.
Berman was and is an insecure, somewhat mean-spirited hothead.
Not the kind of performer you'd want to invite into your homes on a weekly basis.
There is evidence to back this up.
Evidence that I saw firsthand at the time.
Evidence that Marc Maron was too young to see, or maybe even know about.
Because he was either an infant, or still a gleam in his father's eye.
So he didn't ask Berman about it.
In March of 1963, there was a documentary run on NBC on a Sunday Night, as part of the Dupont Show of the Month series.
It was called "Comedian Backstage"
Shelley Berman allowed a camera crew to follow him around for 24 hours on a day when he was working in a nightclub in Florida.
Everything was going swimmingly until they showed him, in the middle of his act, doing one of his telephone monologues, when, of all things, a telephone rang offstage.
You could see the brutally pained look on Berman's face as he gallantly finished his monologue.
He left the stage to enthusiastic applause, and in the wings, threw the biggest hissy fit I have ever seen.
He took that cradle of the wall phone and nearly smashed it to bits.
He immediately started yelling at every member of the backstage crew mercilessly.
It was a better show than the one he put on stage.
He looked like the world's most awful human being.
As I, a fifteen year old, maybe Thirty Seconds Over Show Business, was watching, my first thought was "His career is over."
Apparently, he had total approval as to the documentary's content.
But he was so short-sighted that he didn't see any problem with airing that part of it.
Remember Vaughn Meader?
The comedian who had an act handed to him because of his uncanny resemblance to, and impression of John F. Kennedy?
When Kennedy was assassinated, his career was officially over.
This alone eliminated him from a long list of suspects.
This was only months after Berman's documentary aired
And Berman experienced an almost similar fate.
His career took a major hit.
One he never really recovered from.
Oh, he got work, but mainly as a straight actor on TV dramas.
Nothing major.
And he was still welcome as a panelist on game shows.
But he was no longer any kind of major comedy draw.
With some comedians, it's better to hide your personality.
The only consolation is that nobody could seriously consider him to have shot JFK.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Thursday, March 28, 2013
The Telephone Hour.
I'm taking an excursion from writing about the MeTV shows that I watch.
I will return to them anon.
I'm doing this because I listened to a podcast yesterday that was so strange in its ontent that I had to yell "Stop the presses!" to myself, and NOT write about "Make Room For Daddy" at this time, and replace it with this entry.
The great comedian, Marc Maron, hosted this podcast, and his guest was the great comedian Shelley Berman.
I have been in Shelley Berman's presence a few times, and found him to be a most unpleasant man to be around.
Maron, in segueing into the pre-recorded interview with Berman, also expressed that Berman was unpleasant, daunting, nervous, and nervous-making.
And he was all of that in this interview.
What he also was, was compelling.
Maron is about sixteen years younger than I am, thus his experience with Berman's comedy was rather limited to recently listening to his albums, which are brilliant.
Berman is undoubtedly a very bitter man.
This bitterness was expressed quite frequently during the interview, which lasted about an hour.
For those of you also about sixteen years younger than me, Berman's act, which he performed in major nightclubs and TV variety shows, consisted exclusively of telephone monologue sketches, where he put his hand up to his ear to simulate being on the phone.
And the material was brilliant, and brilliantly performed.
Now, who else can we say this about?
Class?
Does the name Bob Newhart ring a telephone?
It had and has with Berman.
He tried to put it in the past, but it seemed obvious to me that Berman resented, and still resents Newhart for "Stealing his act"
And the much greater subsequent success that Newhart experienced throughout his career.
Berman copped to past resentment, but not current.
All because Newhart used an imaginary phone in his hand and did monologue sketches with it.
And as we all know, Berman invented the telephone monologue, and was the first to give it national exposure.
Sure he was.
As far back as the 1920's George Jessel was doing phone conversations with his mother in vaudeville, with the opening line "Hello Mama? This is Georgie."
In the 30's and 40's there was this radio comedienne named Arlene "Chatterbox" Harris, who did telephone monologues to one of her "friends"
The only reason I know about this is that she was featured doing one of them on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show that featured many old radio entertainers.
And she performed one of them. Brilliantly.
Then, in the 50's, a great comedienne, Betty Walker, made about a zillion appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, doing essentially the same kind of act as Arlene Harris, talking to her friend Ceil.
Only it was intensively Yiddishified.
They talked about marriage and children, and how impossible it was to maintain both.
Whereas Arlene Harris was white bread, Betty Walker was challah.
Betty Walker's catchphrase was "Ceil....Ceil....Ceeeee--ullll!!!!
Really, really funny.
Also brilliant.
All of this pre-dated Shelley Berman.
Even Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who were contemporaries of Berman's at Second City, engaged in telephone dialogues, with very similar styled material.
And who's more brilliant than them?
So Berman did not exactly corner the market on the telephone, or brilliance.
Yes, Newhart worked in a very similar style to Berman, but his material was completely his own, and completely original.
So who does Berman think he is?
Alexander Graham Bell? Don Ameche?
Who?
Next time, the real lowdown on why Berman's and Newhart's careers went in divergent directions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
I will return to them anon.
I'm doing this because I listened to a podcast yesterday that was so strange in its ontent that I had to yell "Stop the presses!" to myself, and NOT write about "Make Room For Daddy" at this time, and replace it with this entry.
The great comedian, Marc Maron, hosted this podcast, and his guest was the great comedian Shelley Berman.
I have been in Shelley Berman's presence a few times, and found him to be a most unpleasant man to be around.
Maron, in segueing into the pre-recorded interview with Berman, also expressed that Berman was unpleasant, daunting, nervous, and nervous-making.
And he was all of that in this interview.
What he also was, was compelling.
Maron is about sixteen years younger than I am, thus his experience with Berman's comedy was rather limited to recently listening to his albums, which are brilliant.
Berman is undoubtedly a very bitter man.
This bitterness was expressed quite frequently during the interview, which lasted about an hour.
For those of you also about sixteen years younger than me, Berman's act, which he performed in major nightclubs and TV variety shows, consisted exclusively of telephone monologue sketches, where he put his hand up to his ear to simulate being on the phone.
And the material was brilliant, and brilliantly performed.
Now, who else can we say this about?
Class?
Does the name Bob Newhart ring a telephone?
It had and has with Berman.
He tried to put it in the past, but it seemed obvious to me that Berman resented, and still resents Newhart for "Stealing his act"
And the much greater subsequent success that Newhart experienced throughout his career.
Berman copped to past resentment, but not current.
All because Newhart used an imaginary phone in his hand and did monologue sketches with it.
And as we all know, Berman invented the telephone monologue, and was the first to give it national exposure.
Sure he was.
As far back as the 1920's George Jessel was doing phone conversations with his mother in vaudeville, with the opening line "Hello Mama? This is Georgie."
In the 30's and 40's there was this radio comedienne named Arlene "Chatterbox" Harris, who did telephone monologues to one of her "friends"
The only reason I know about this is that she was featured doing one of them on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show that featured many old radio entertainers.
And she performed one of them. Brilliantly.
Then, in the 50's, a great comedienne, Betty Walker, made about a zillion appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, doing essentially the same kind of act as Arlene Harris, talking to her friend Ceil.
Only it was intensively Yiddishified.
They talked about marriage and children, and how impossible it was to maintain both.
Whereas Arlene Harris was white bread, Betty Walker was challah.
Betty Walker's catchphrase was "Ceil....Ceil....Ceeeee--ullll!!!!
Really, really funny.
Also brilliant.
All of this pre-dated Shelley Berman.
Even Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who were contemporaries of Berman's at Second City, engaged in telephone dialogues, with very similar styled material.
And who's more brilliant than them?
So Berman did not exactly corner the market on the telephone, or brilliance.
Yes, Newhart worked in a very similar style to Berman, but his material was completely his own, and completely original.
So who does Berman think he is?
Alexander Graham Bell? Don Ameche?
Who?
Next time, the real lowdown on why Berman's and Newhart's careers went in divergent directions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
More Dobie Wih a "B".
Aside from what I said about "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" last time, there were other things that I didn't get around to.
Such as fifty years worth of perspective.
And its unique, groundbreaking use of music.
I think it was the first series that punctuated its humor with music cues.
And it did it quite effectively.
Zelda Gilroy squiggling her nose at Dobie, causing him to involuntarily squiggle back,
was perfectly punctuated musically.
It was the direct antecedent to Samantha squiggling her nose to a music cue on "Bewitched"
The main thing about fifty years of perspective on this show, much like the perspective on
most of the MeTV shows, is the use of the IMDB page on the Internet, to attempt to discover what became of some of the actors who appeared on these shows.
Never has so much IMDB use been as prevalent as when I am watching Dobie Gillis.
That show provided my first adolescent fantasies.
The "Many Loves" that Dobie experienced consisted of all these young, nubile, stunning actresses who appeared as his potential love interests.
And in my imagination, mine.
It was the first show that I can remember that really stirred up the loins.
Only one of these actresses became really famous.
Tuesday Weld.
The rest of them, I learned from scouring the IMDB, reached either obscurity, death, or a ripe old age.
An age at least ten years older than myself.
This saddens me.
On an almost daily basis.
I have found none to be younger than their mid-seventies.
These young women that this young adolescent lusted after, I would have no reason to lust after any more.
Particularly if they turned out to be dead.
Remember the actor who played David Puddy?
One of Elaine Benes's boyfriends on "Seinfeld"?
He's now starring on some CBS sitcom or other right now.
Well, it turns out that one of those young nubile, stunning actresses on Dobie Gillis
gave birth to the actor who played Puddy.
She is Puddy's mother.
If anything would cause one to lose their lust, it's thinking about how one is, in fact lusting after Puddy's mother.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Such as fifty years worth of perspective.
And its unique, groundbreaking use of music.
I think it was the first series that punctuated its humor with music cues.
And it did it quite effectively.
Zelda Gilroy squiggling her nose at Dobie, causing him to involuntarily squiggle back,
was perfectly punctuated musically.
It was the direct antecedent to Samantha squiggling her nose to a music cue on "Bewitched"
The main thing about fifty years of perspective on this show, much like the perspective on
most of the MeTV shows, is the use of the IMDB page on the Internet, to attempt to discover what became of some of the actors who appeared on these shows.
Never has so much IMDB use been as prevalent as when I am watching Dobie Gillis.
That show provided my first adolescent fantasies.
The "Many Loves" that Dobie experienced consisted of all these young, nubile, stunning actresses who appeared as his potential love interests.
And in my imagination, mine.
It was the first show that I can remember that really stirred up the loins.
Only one of these actresses became really famous.
Tuesday Weld.
The rest of them, I learned from scouring the IMDB, reached either obscurity, death, or a ripe old age.
An age at least ten years older than myself.
This saddens me.
On an almost daily basis.
I have found none to be younger than their mid-seventies.
These young women that this young adolescent lusted after, I would have no reason to lust after any more.
Particularly if they turned out to be dead.
Remember the actor who played David Puddy?
One of Elaine Benes's boyfriends on "Seinfeld"?
He's now starring on some CBS sitcom or other right now.
Well, it turns out that one of those young nubile, stunning actresses on Dobie Gillis
gave birth to the actor who played Puddy.
She is Puddy's mother.
If anything would cause one to lose their lust, it's thinking about how one is, in fact lusting after Puddy's mother.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Friday, March 22, 2013
That's Dobie With A "B".
Now that I'm done trashing MeTV over Valerie Harper, I'm going to begin a series of articles about show that I regularly Tivo on MeTV.
I'm going to begin with "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"
It was a show that I really liked as an adolescent.
I still like many aspects of it, fifty years later.
I've never seen a show that indulged in catchphrases as often as this show:
"I gotta kill that boy some day. I just gotta"
"Gee, like, you're all heart."
"Surely you jest"
"You nasty, nasty boy!"
"It's only you, Maynard"
"So, my young Barbarians...."
"Class.......dismissed!!!"
After being called "Dopey" Dobie would retort "That's "Dobie" with a "B"
"I just came back from downtown, where they were tearing down the old Endicott Building"
"They're showing a great picture at the Bijou: "The Monster That Devoured Cleveland"
"You're a real human being"
"I was a first Sergeant in the BIG war. WW2. WITH the good conduct medal"
I know that most actors don't like line readings, but think about how much less funny it would have been if the word WITH had not been emphasized.
"You rang?" was the direct antecedent to Squiggy's "Hello"
It was set up exactly the same way and was conscious theft.
Dobie, to Zelda, in a dead-on Jack Benny impression: "Now, cut that out!"
Most of these catchphrases were used in virtually every show, and were undoubtedly part of its charm.
The dialogue was always well paced and intelligent.
What wasn't intelligent, but equally well paced, perhaps too frenetically paced, especially as the series went on, were the stories.
They were usually not just dopey.
They were particularly dopey.
That's "Dopey" with a"P"
More about "Dobie Gillis next time
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
I'm going to begin with "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"
It was a show that I really liked as an adolescent.
I still like many aspects of it, fifty years later.
I've never seen a show that indulged in catchphrases as often as this show:
"I gotta kill that boy some day. I just gotta"
"Gee, like, you're all heart."
"Surely you jest"
"You nasty, nasty boy!"
"It's only you, Maynard"
"So, my young Barbarians...."
"Class.......dismissed!!!"
After being called "Dopey" Dobie would retort "That's "Dobie" with a "B"
"I just came back from downtown, where they were tearing down the old Endicott Building"
"They're showing a great picture at the Bijou: "The Monster That Devoured Cleveland"
"You're a real human being"
"I was a first Sergeant in the BIG war. WW2. WITH the good conduct medal"
I know that most actors don't like line readings, but think about how much less funny it would have been if the word WITH had not been emphasized.
"You rang?" was the direct antecedent to Squiggy's "Hello"
It was set up exactly the same way and was conscious theft.
Dobie, to Zelda, in a dead-on Jack Benny impression: "Now, cut that out!"
Most of these catchphrases were used in virtually every show, and were undoubtedly part of its charm.
The dialogue was always well paced and intelligent.
What wasn't intelligent, but equally well paced, perhaps too frenetically paced, especially as the series went on, were the stories.
They were usually not just dopey.
They were particularly dopey.
That's "Dopey" with a"P"
More about "Dobie Gillis next time
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Halo Around Valerie Harper.
I mentioned last time about the dastardly, horrendous, unthinkable thing that MeTV did to
Valerie Harper last week.
As most of you know, Valerie Harper is dying from a rare form of brain cancer.
So, and I can't believe that this is unrelated, MeTV decided to launch "Valerie Harper Week" on the Mary Tyler Moore reruns that they show.
They don't carry "Rhoda", or, knowing them as well as I do now, they would be running "Rhoda" twenty-four hours a day until she dropped.
About a couple of years ago, I met Valerie Harper for the first and only time.
My wife and I had gone to a Thai restaurant in Stamford Connecticut.
At the very next table was undoubtedly Valerie Harper, along with an older woman, who turned out to be an old friend of hers whom she appeared with in the chorus of the original cast of "The Music Man" on Broadway.
I immediately engaged her in conversation, not only because of our common background, but because when I was running "She's The Sheriff", her show, "Valerie", was shooting on the very next soundstage.
We were, in fact, neighbors, yet we had never actually met.
It took being three thousand miles and twenty three years into the future for that to take place.
She was fired from that show by the studio, Lorimar, and replaced by Sandy Duncan.
Valerie promptly sued Lorimar for wrongful termination, and collected a cool two million for her troubles.
I had been having my own troubles with Lorimar, and expressed the joy that most of the people who worked on the lot had for her.
We all loved that she won the suit.
So, for the entire next hour, we virtually all had dinner together, and she was totally delightful.
Looking back at the timeline, she had already been going through her first bout with the brain cancer.
But there was no indication that her spirits were dampened.
Shortly after that, she opened on Broadway in the play "Looped".
I saw it, and wrote a glowing Report Card about it.
I really don't think it was colored by my personal encounter with her.
She immediately responded with a thank-you note.
A totally class act.
Which is why she, in fact anybody, deserved better treatment than she received on MeTV.
Here's what they did:
During the promos for "Valerie Harper Week" on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", they showed clips of Valerie as Rhoda.
And in all of these clips, they smeared Vaseline around the corner of the screen, creating a halo effect around Valerie.
This was their way of saying "We all know she's going to die soon, so we are going to be melodramatic about it to keep you aware of this and get you to watch".
This halo effect is not unprecedented in the history of television.
When Michael Landon wa dying, and knew he was dying, he made one last appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
And they used that same Vaseline on the lens halo effect on Michael Landon.
It was very dramatic, along with being very tacky and cheesy.
But it was merely an artistic choice.
A rather ill thought-out one, but they probably meant well.
With MeTV and Valerie, not only was it tacky and cheesy, but also extremely exploitative.
Not that she would probably care at this point, but I care.
And no one should be subjected to this sort of thing.
This is the kind of stuff you save for the memorial reel at next years Emmys.
And not a moment sooner.
Particularly when there is blood still coursing through her veins.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Valerie Harper last week.
As most of you know, Valerie Harper is dying from a rare form of brain cancer.
So, and I can't believe that this is unrelated, MeTV decided to launch "Valerie Harper Week" on the Mary Tyler Moore reruns that they show.
They don't carry "Rhoda", or, knowing them as well as I do now, they would be running "Rhoda" twenty-four hours a day until she dropped.
About a couple of years ago, I met Valerie Harper for the first and only time.
My wife and I had gone to a Thai restaurant in Stamford Connecticut.
At the very next table was undoubtedly Valerie Harper, along with an older woman, who turned out to be an old friend of hers whom she appeared with in the chorus of the original cast of "The Music Man" on Broadway.
I immediately engaged her in conversation, not only because of our common background, but because when I was running "She's The Sheriff", her show, "Valerie", was shooting on the very next soundstage.
We were, in fact, neighbors, yet we had never actually met.
It took being three thousand miles and twenty three years into the future for that to take place.
She was fired from that show by the studio, Lorimar, and replaced by Sandy Duncan.
Valerie promptly sued Lorimar for wrongful termination, and collected a cool two million for her troubles.
I had been having my own troubles with Lorimar, and expressed the joy that most of the people who worked on the lot had for her.
We all loved that she won the suit.
So, for the entire next hour, we virtually all had dinner together, and she was totally delightful.
Looking back at the timeline, she had already been going through her first bout with the brain cancer.
But there was no indication that her spirits were dampened.
Shortly after that, she opened on Broadway in the play "Looped".
I saw it, and wrote a glowing Report Card about it.
I really don't think it was colored by my personal encounter with her.
She immediately responded with a thank-you note.
A totally class act.
Which is why she, in fact anybody, deserved better treatment than she received on MeTV.
Here's what they did:
During the promos for "Valerie Harper Week" on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", they showed clips of Valerie as Rhoda.
And in all of these clips, they smeared Vaseline around the corner of the screen, creating a halo effect around Valerie.
This was their way of saying "We all know she's going to die soon, so we are going to be melodramatic about it to keep you aware of this and get you to watch".
This halo effect is not unprecedented in the history of television.
When Michael Landon wa dying, and knew he was dying, he made one last appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
And they used that same Vaseline on the lens halo effect on Michael Landon.
It was very dramatic, along with being very tacky and cheesy.
But it was merely an artistic choice.
A rather ill thought-out one, but they probably meant well.
With MeTV and Valerie, not only was it tacky and cheesy, but also extremely exploitative.
Not that she would probably care at this point, but I care.
And no one should be subjected to this sort of thing.
This is the kind of stuff you save for the memorial reel at next years Emmys.
And not a moment sooner.
Particularly when there is blood still coursing through her veins.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Me Are Usually Amused.
Within the last couple of months or so, I found a new station on my cable service.
One that I had not known existed until then.
It turns out that it has been around since the end of 2010 nationally.
I don't know when it reached my cable company.
But it reached me a couple of months ago.
It is called MeTV.
And it has since been cluttering up my Tivo all over the place.
Because it offers up classic old television shows.
Mostly from my youth.
Some of which I never got to see because they were on past my bedtime.
Some of which I never got to see because there was something else I preferred watching at the same time.
And some times it was a tough decision to choose the other one.
But some of them are my favorite shows of all time, and have not been regularly shown for years:
Sergeant Bilko, Car 54 Where Are You?, Naked City, Route 66....
And seeing them again, but now on my big 60 inch flatscreen, is a completely joyous experience.
There is a completely different perspective, watching these shows, most of which were made over fifty years ago.
Oh, there is also the usual crap that I didn't watch then, and wouldn't watch now, but there is enough really good stuff, and good stuff to talk about, that I will probably continue to watch it religiously, and write about the shows there frequently.
They also do this very nice thing that they advertise that they are proud of:
They show all the end credits of all of their shows, in the original sized letters.
Not any of that marginalized, miniaturized, unreadable stuff they do nowadays on major networks.
And in their ads for how proud they are to show their credits, they include MY credit for"Laverne and Shirley"
Thank you MeTv.
But they're not perfect.
No, not perfect.
Not even close to perfect.
It's not that the channel is not in HD.
Hell, none of these shows were in HD to begin with.
No, they do other things that are less than perfect.
Like, they keep showing all those reverse mortgage commercials, and Viagara or Viagara equivalent commercials, Funeral Insurance, or Walk-in Bathtub commercials.
Commercials designed for their target audience: Old people.
Of which they are constantly reminding me that I am becoming one of.
Yes, you can fast forward through them on the Tivo, but you still get the message.
Another thing that they do that is less than perfect is that they make cuts in these shows mercilessly.
So they can shove in more of those old people commercials.
I watched an episode of "The Odd Couple" on there last night.
It was an episode that featured Wally Cox in a small but hilarious role.
I was there. I saw it.
It was not long before he died, and it afforded me the opportunity to meet him.
What they did was, they cut his ENTIRE PART.
Oh, in one scene, you could see him in the background, briefly.
They turned him into no more than an extra.
Wally Cox.
And they jiggered the end credits so that he didn't get one.
Maybe that saved them a few bucks on residuals.
But this is nothing,
NOTHING, compared to the dastardly, horrible, reprehensible thing they did to Valerie Harper all of this past week.
Like she doesn't have enough problems.
I'll get into that next time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
One that I had not known existed until then.
It turns out that it has been around since the end of 2010 nationally.
I don't know when it reached my cable company.
But it reached me a couple of months ago.
It is called MeTV.
And it has since been cluttering up my Tivo all over the place.
Because it offers up classic old television shows.
Mostly from my youth.
Some of which I never got to see because they were on past my bedtime.
Some of which I never got to see because there was something else I preferred watching at the same time.
And some times it was a tough decision to choose the other one.
But some of them are my favorite shows of all time, and have not been regularly shown for years:
Sergeant Bilko, Car 54 Where Are You?, Naked City, Route 66....
And seeing them again, but now on my big 60 inch flatscreen, is a completely joyous experience.
There is a completely different perspective, watching these shows, most of which were made over fifty years ago.
Oh, there is also the usual crap that I didn't watch then, and wouldn't watch now, but there is enough really good stuff, and good stuff to talk about, that I will probably continue to watch it religiously, and write about the shows there frequently.
They also do this very nice thing that they advertise that they are proud of:
They show all the end credits of all of their shows, in the original sized letters.
Not any of that marginalized, miniaturized, unreadable stuff they do nowadays on major networks.
And in their ads for how proud they are to show their credits, they include MY credit for"Laverne and Shirley"
Thank you MeTv.
But they're not perfect.
No, not perfect.
Not even close to perfect.
It's not that the channel is not in HD.
Hell, none of these shows were in HD to begin with.
No, they do other things that are less than perfect.
Like, they keep showing all those reverse mortgage commercials, and Viagara or Viagara equivalent commercials, Funeral Insurance, or Walk-in Bathtub commercials.
Commercials designed for their target audience: Old people.
Of which they are constantly reminding me that I am becoming one of.
Yes, you can fast forward through them on the Tivo, but you still get the message.
Another thing that they do that is less than perfect is that they make cuts in these shows mercilessly.
So they can shove in more of those old people commercials.
I watched an episode of "The Odd Couple" on there last night.
It was an episode that featured Wally Cox in a small but hilarious role.
I was there. I saw it.
It was not long before he died, and it afforded me the opportunity to meet him.
What they did was, they cut his ENTIRE PART.
Oh, in one scene, you could see him in the background, briefly.
They turned him into no more than an extra.
Wally Cox.
And they jiggered the end credits so that he didn't get one.
Maybe that saved them a few bucks on residuals.
But this is nothing,
NOTHING, compared to the dastardly, horrible, reprehensible thing they did to Valerie Harper all of this past week.
Like she doesn't have enough problems.
I'll get into that next time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
4:57 pm.
First, let me express my gratitude for all the orders I've received for my novel, "I'm Not Garbo".
And for the gratitude you have all expressed to me in e-mails after having read it.
I don't think I'm giving much away here by mentioning that early on in the novel, Greta Garbo's agent has a meeting at Louis B. Mayer's office.
It is for 3:57 pm.
Garbo's agent knows all too well what that means.
He's not getting more than three minutes.
As with every other piece of writing I do, this was drawn from my own life.
Before my writing partner and I had landed on "The Odd Couple", we were still living in New York, and my father was still attempting to get our material to people who mattered.
My partner and I had collaborated on a screenplay.
It was a light comedy about guys our age.
We were in our early twenties.
My father told us that he could arrange a meeting for us with Otto Preminger.
You know. Otto Preminger.
The director who directed some wonderful movies from the 1940's into the early 1960's.
The director who was pretty well-known for being a tyrant.
The director who had directed a whole lot of overblown dreck after the early 1960's.
The director who had never really directed a good light comedy.
I include the boring "The Moon is Blue", which generated a lot of controversy, but no laughs.
And the less said about "Skidoo", the better.
This was the man my father thought might be interested in helming our light comedy about
guys in their twenties.
The thought terrified us.
The thought of meeting Otto Preminger terrified us.
But there was enough perverse curiosity there that we agreed to have the meeting.
At his office.
The meeting was scheduled for 4:57 pm.
His idea. Not ours.
And we knew what that meant.
We weren't going to get any more than three minutes with him.
And for those three minutes, we actually put on suits and ties.
We arrived at his office on Park Avenue.
We were shown in.
And there, behind the longest and biggest desk one could ever imagine, was the man himself.
"I understand you have written a screenplay", he said, as if we were being interrogated
by the Gestapo.
We handed it to him.
"I shall read it", he stated.
We didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
I mean, what if he liked it?
"Thank you for coming"
And at 4:59 and a half, we were out the door.
We were told later that he did not think it was for him.
Hell, we could have told him that going in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
And for the gratitude you have all expressed to me in e-mails after having read it.
I don't think I'm giving much away here by mentioning that early on in the novel, Greta Garbo's agent has a meeting at Louis B. Mayer's office.
It is for 3:57 pm.
Garbo's agent knows all too well what that means.
He's not getting more than three minutes.
As with every other piece of writing I do, this was drawn from my own life.
Before my writing partner and I had landed on "The Odd Couple", we were still living in New York, and my father was still attempting to get our material to people who mattered.
My partner and I had collaborated on a screenplay.
It was a light comedy about guys our age.
We were in our early twenties.
My father told us that he could arrange a meeting for us with Otto Preminger.
You know. Otto Preminger.
The director who directed some wonderful movies from the 1940's into the early 1960's.
The director who was pretty well-known for being a tyrant.
The director who had directed a whole lot of overblown dreck after the early 1960's.
The director who had never really directed a good light comedy.
I include the boring "The Moon is Blue", which generated a lot of controversy, but no laughs.
And the less said about "Skidoo", the better.
This was the man my father thought might be interested in helming our light comedy about
guys in their twenties.
The thought terrified us.
The thought of meeting Otto Preminger terrified us.
But there was enough perverse curiosity there that we agreed to have the meeting.
At his office.
The meeting was scheduled for 4:57 pm.
His idea. Not ours.
And we knew what that meant.
We weren't going to get any more than three minutes with him.
And for those three minutes, we actually put on suits and ties.
We arrived at his office on Park Avenue.
We were shown in.
And there, behind the longest and biggest desk one could ever imagine, was the man himself.
"I understand you have written a screenplay", he said, as if we were being interrogated
by the Gestapo.
We handed it to him.
"I shall read it", he stated.
We didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
I mean, what if he liked it?
"Thank you for coming"
And at 4:59 and a half, we were out the door.
We were told later that he did not think it was for him.
Hell, we could have told him that going in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Monday, March 11, 2013
Rumbling Preparation. Part 2.
It happened again this past Saturday Night.
In Brooklyn.
HBO aired one of its title fights.
And Michael Buffer was, as usual, the ring announcer.
I'd mentioned last time that I wondered if guys like Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon Jr.
made an actual living from uttering only a handful of words introducing the fights and announcing the results.
For Jimmy Lennon Jr., I'm still wondering.
For Michael Buffer, the mystery has been solved.
His entry over at Wikipedia indicates that he makes FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for an evenings
work.
This would seem to preclude the need for any kind of day job.
Why does he make FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for an evenings work?
Well, for one thing, he had the wisdom to patent the phrase "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"
And apparently this is worth it to the promoters of the fights and to HBO to pay him FIVE MILLION DOLLARS per event.
For "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"
And he only says it for the main event.
This comes out to A MILLION DOLLARS A WORD!
Seems a bit much, don't you think?
I mean, he's really good at his job, but really...FIVE MILLION DOLLARS?
For "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"?
Something's out of whack.
And with all this money going to Michael Buffer, this can't leave much for Jimmy Lennon Jr.
They're probably paying him in the dark.
I also had the same question about boxing referees.
I haven't the slightest idea if they make a living from this.
I know that baseball umpires make a decent if modest living from umpiring, as do basketball referees.
Football referees pretty much do it as a sideline.
But what about Boxing referees?
The closest I've ever come to first hand knowledge involves Hall of Fame referee Carlos Padilla Jr. He refereed tons of Championship fights.
Including the Ali-Frazier "Thrilla in Manila"
Some time after that fight, I was having dinner in the restaurant at the Union Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas.
I was finished with my meal, and the busboy, pushing his cart, came by to put my plates in the cart.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was Carlos Padilla Jr.
Either he was never paid much, or he blew it all at the crap tables.
But I'm pretty certain he didn't blow FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!
So I've now used the expression "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!" four times in this article.
I hope it doesn't mean I owe Michael Buffer twenty million dollars.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
In Brooklyn.
HBO aired one of its title fights.
And Michael Buffer was, as usual, the ring announcer.
I'd mentioned last time that I wondered if guys like Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon Jr.
made an actual living from uttering only a handful of words introducing the fights and announcing the results.
For Jimmy Lennon Jr., I'm still wondering.
For Michael Buffer, the mystery has been solved.
His entry over at Wikipedia indicates that he makes FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for an evenings
work.
This would seem to preclude the need for any kind of day job.
Why does he make FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for an evenings work?
Well, for one thing, he had the wisdom to patent the phrase "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"
And apparently this is worth it to the promoters of the fights and to HBO to pay him FIVE MILLION DOLLARS per event.
For "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"
And he only says it for the main event.
This comes out to A MILLION DOLLARS A WORD!
Seems a bit much, don't you think?
I mean, he's really good at his job, but really...FIVE MILLION DOLLARS?
For "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!"?
Something's out of whack.
And with all this money going to Michael Buffer, this can't leave much for Jimmy Lennon Jr.
They're probably paying him in the dark.
I also had the same question about boxing referees.
I haven't the slightest idea if they make a living from this.
I know that baseball umpires make a decent if modest living from umpiring, as do basketball referees.
Football referees pretty much do it as a sideline.
But what about Boxing referees?
The closest I've ever come to first hand knowledge involves Hall of Fame referee Carlos Padilla Jr. He refereed tons of Championship fights.
Including the Ali-Frazier "Thrilla in Manila"
Some time after that fight, I was having dinner in the restaurant at the Union Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas.
I was finished with my meal, and the busboy, pushing his cart, came by to put my plates in the cart.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was Carlos Padilla Jr.
Either he was never paid much, or he blew it all at the crap tables.
But I'm pretty certain he didn't blow FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!
So I've now used the expression "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!" four times in this article.
I hope it doesn't mean I owe Michael Buffer twenty million dollars.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Friday, March 8, 2013
Rumbling Preparation. Part One.
I am a huge and knowledgeable boxing fan.
I have been one since I was a kid.
My access these days to good professional boxing is the almost weekly events they have on
HBO and Showtime.
When I was a kid, my main access was the Saturday Night Fights on ABC.
Then, when each network had a major "Sports Spectacular" type of show, good professional
boxing gravitated to them.
But that died out, and now, it's almost exclusively HBO and Showtime on Friday or Saturday nights, with an occasional Pay-Per-View which I never pay for.
During the Saturday Night Fights era, usually held in Madison Square Garden in New York,
the man who introduced the fights and the fighters was a quintessential New Yorker who never made an introduction without sounding like he was reading it.
His name was Johnnie Addie.
Even though his introductions weren't colorful, there was something about him that was.
Witnessing Johnnie Addie do his job raised a question in this young adolescent's mind.
Did Johnnie Addie make an actual living from doing this?
I never heard of him having any other kind of job.
I know he also had the same job working wrestling matches.
This was during the days when I actually watched them, and honestly had no idea that they
were fixed.
So I guess Johnnie cobbled together some sort of living.
Later on, the ring announcer at Madison Square Garden was a man named John Condon, who was also the Director of Sporting Events there, so ring announcing was just a sideline for John Condon.
The other major ring announcer contemporary of Johnnie Addie's was Jimmy Lennon.
But he was primarily a West Coast guy.
Whenever there was a fight from L.A., Jimmy Lennon was the announcer.
So I never got to see that much of him.
He brought an elegance and class to ring announcing that Johnnie Addie simply did not have.
I also wondered if Jimmy Lennon had a day job. or was ring announcing was enough to pay the bills.
Jimmy Lennon was perhaps best remembered as the ring announcer in the "Rocky" movies.
This brings us to today.
Jimmy Lennon has passed on, and on Showtime, his son, Jimmy Lennon Jr., usually billed
as "the classy Jimmy Lennon Jr." is the go-to ring announcer there.
And he certainly is classy.
Just like the old man.
And the same questions persist.
Does he make a living purely from this?
If so, he must be making a whole lot of money by the word.
Because none of these guys say all that much.
Jimmy Lennon Jr.'s catchphrase introducing the main event on Showtime is, appropriately enough, "I-i-i-it's Showtime!!!"
This brings us to Michael Buffer.
HBO's go-to guy.
Also very classy.
And he brings a sense of drama to the proceedings.
He's the one who always says, before the main event, "L-l-l-l-et's get ready to rumble!!!!"
And the crowd goes nuts
I did some research on this article, and learned something very interesting about Michael Buffer.
I'll share it with you next time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
I have been one since I was a kid.
My access these days to good professional boxing is the almost weekly events they have on
HBO and Showtime.
When I was a kid, my main access was the Saturday Night Fights on ABC.
Then, when each network had a major "Sports Spectacular" type of show, good professional
boxing gravitated to them.
But that died out, and now, it's almost exclusively HBO and Showtime on Friday or Saturday nights, with an occasional Pay-Per-View which I never pay for.
During the Saturday Night Fights era, usually held in Madison Square Garden in New York,
the man who introduced the fights and the fighters was a quintessential New Yorker who never made an introduction without sounding like he was reading it.
His name was Johnnie Addie.
Even though his introductions weren't colorful, there was something about him that was.
Witnessing Johnnie Addie do his job raised a question in this young adolescent's mind.
Did Johnnie Addie make an actual living from doing this?
I never heard of him having any other kind of job.
I know he also had the same job working wrestling matches.
This was during the days when I actually watched them, and honestly had no idea that they
were fixed.
So I guess Johnnie cobbled together some sort of living.
Later on, the ring announcer at Madison Square Garden was a man named John Condon, who was also the Director of Sporting Events there, so ring announcing was just a sideline for John Condon.
The other major ring announcer contemporary of Johnnie Addie's was Jimmy Lennon.
But he was primarily a West Coast guy.
Whenever there was a fight from L.A., Jimmy Lennon was the announcer.
So I never got to see that much of him.
He brought an elegance and class to ring announcing that Johnnie Addie simply did not have.
I also wondered if Jimmy Lennon had a day job. or was ring announcing was enough to pay the bills.
Jimmy Lennon was perhaps best remembered as the ring announcer in the "Rocky" movies.
This brings us to today.
Jimmy Lennon has passed on, and on Showtime, his son, Jimmy Lennon Jr., usually billed
as "the classy Jimmy Lennon Jr." is the go-to ring announcer there.
And he certainly is classy.
Just like the old man.
And the same questions persist.
Does he make a living purely from this?
If so, he must be making a whole lot of money by the word.
Because none of these guys say all that much.
Jimmy Lennon Jr.'s catchphrase introducing the main event on Showtime is, appropriately enough, "I-i-i-it's Showtime!!!"
This brings us to Michael Buffer.
HBO's go-to guy.
Also very classy.
And he brings a sense of drama to the proceedings.
He's the one who always says, before the main event, "L-l-l-l-et's get ready to rumble!!!!"
And the crowd goes nuts
I did some research on this article, and learned something very interesting about Michael Buffer.
I'll share it with you next time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Whatever Happened To Anchovies?
I was going to write about this a couple of weeks ago, when it seemed like an aberration.
Now, it seems to be turning into an epidemic.
My wife and I love anchovies.
Particularly on Pizza and Caesar Salad.
After a rather disastrous experience at our local California Pizza Kitchen, where they do
not have one single anchovy in the entire place, we wised up and bought anchovies at the local supermarket,and brought them with us to the California Pizza Kitchen.
Now, the California Pizza Kitchen, like most restaurants, can be a satisfying experience if you know the menu, and know how to order from it.
The Pea and Barley Soup is first rate.
The Cobb Salad is excellent.
Then one time, we braved the elements and ordered the mushroom pizza.
It had a lot going for it.
It tasted good.
But that's when we found out that they didn't have anchovies.
So we decided that next time, we'd bring our own.
And so we did.
For the uninformed, there is no way you can open a can of anchovies in a restaurant without making a major mess.
Which is what we did.
But it was worth it.
The other thing about the pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen is that they don't seem to believe in pizza sauce.
You know. Marinara sauce.
So something was still missing on this rather good pizza which now had home-brought anchovies on it.
I then asked for a side of marinara sauce.
They brought it.
It was cold.
You know. This is how everyone likes marinara sauce on their pizza.
Cold.
I wasn't going to ask them to heat up the marinara sauce, because the pizza was already on the verge of cold.
So I begrudgingly ate the pizza with cold marinara sauce on it.
So okay.
That's the California Pizza Kitchen.
A place that thinks pineapple is a more suitable topping for pizza than anchovies and
hot marinara sauce.
But just today, we went to a much more traditional Italian restaurant, part of a chain
called Buca Di Beppo.
The food has always been first rate.
They always had anchovies for their excellent Caesar Salad and pizza.
No more.
They no longer have anchovies.
They should know better.
It's inexcusable.
And they're costing themselves money.
They would charge for anchovies on a pizza.
It's cheaper to get them at the supermarket.
How hard is it to keep a can or two on the premises?
I haven't heard anything about them becoming a health hazard.
If anything, I hear that they're good for you.
If there was something wrong with them, they wouldn't keep selling them in supermarkets.
We're now beginning to hoard them.
Because we don't know where the next abandonment will strike.
We will be armed whenever we go out, and there is the slightest chance we'd be ordering pizza or Caesar Salad.
And fully prepared to make the mess that accompanies it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Now, it seems to be turning into an epidemic.
My wife and I love anchovies.
Particularly on Pizza and Caesar Salad.
After a rather disastrous experience at our local California Pizza Kitchen, where they do
not have one single anchovy in the entire place, we wised up and bought anchovies at the local supermarket,and brought them with us to the California Pizza Kitchen.
Now, the California Pizza Kitchen, like most restaurants, can be a satisfying experience if you know the menu, and know how to order from it.
The Pea and Barley Soup is first rate.
The Cobb Salad is excellent.
Then one time, we braved the elements and ordered the mushroom pizza.
It had a lot going for it.
It tasted good.
But that's when we found out that they didn't have anchovies.
So we decided that next time, we'd bring our own.
And so we did.
For the uninformed, there is no way you can open a can of anchovies in a restaurant without making a major mess.
Which is what we did.
But it was worth it.
The other thing about the pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen is that they don't seem to believe in pizza sauce.
You know. Marinara sauce.
So something was still missing on this rather good pizza which now had home-brought anchovies on it.
I then asked for a side of marinara sauce.
They brought it.
It was cold.
You know. This is how everyone likes marinara sauce on their pizza.
Cold.
I wasn't going to ask them to heat up the marinara sauce, because the pizza was already on the verge of cold.
So I begrudgingly ate the pizza with cold marinara sauce on it.
So okay.
That's the California Pizza Kitchen.
A place that thinks pineapple is a more suitable topping for pizza than anchovies and
hot marinara sauce.
But just today, we went to a much more traditional Italian restaurant, part of a chain
called Buca Di Beppo.
The food has always been first rate.
They always had anchovies for their excellent Caesar Salad and pizza.
No more.
They no longer have anchovies.
They should know better.
It's inexcusable.
And they're costing themselves money.
They would charge for anchovies on a pizza.
It's cheaper to get them at the supermarket.
How hard is it to keep a can or two on the premises?
I haven't heard anything about them becoming a health hazard.
If anything, I hear that they're good for you.
If there was something wrong with them, they wouldn't keep selling them in supermarkets.
We're now beginning to hoard them.
Because we don't know where the next abandonment will strike.
We will be armed whenever we go out, and there is the slightest chance we'd be ordering pizza or Caesar Salad.
And fully prepared to make the mess that accompanies it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Saturday, March 2, 2013
A Very Sad Sunday Morning.
I was watching "CBS Sunday Morning" a couple of weeks ago.
This has always been a very classy program.
Charles Osgood is a very classy host.
It is usually quite upbeat, and a wonderful way to start your Sunday.
But a couple of weeks ago, they did a couple of stories, pretty much back to back,
that left me totally depressed.
They were stories that mourned the passing of two inanimate objects.
I had never seen either of these inanimate objects in person.
Nor did I realize that they were gone.
It took "Sunday Morning to show me and tell me.
One was the S.S. United States.
Our flagship of ocean liners.
I thought it was still functioning.
Still making regular crossings across the ocean blue.
It turns out that it has been sitting in mothballs in Philadelphia since 1969.
Was I the last person on earth to realize this?
They showed what it looks like now.
Paint peeling.
You could barely tell that it was ever painted.
It was like Gloria Swanson's mansion in "Sunset Boulevard"
Then they showed the ship in its heyday.
And boy, was it painted.
It was painted great.
They interviewed a guy who was the head of a restoration committee for the
S.S. United States.
And he wasn't holding out much hope.
I remember when it was first launched.
It was 1952. I was five. And full of hope.
Just like we all were in 1952.
And now, the S.S. United States is just a bucket of rust, most likely headed for the scrap heap.
That's how I started my Sunday Morning.
Then they segued to a segment about the Borscht Belt.
Because there is a show now playing Off-Broadway called "Old Jews Telling Jokes"
Now, you'd figure that this one would at least be upbeat.
And clips from the show were upbeat indeed.
But then, we were regaled with the information that most of the famous Borscht Belt
hotels were gone. Vanished. Destroyed. Rubble.
The flagship hotel of the era, the 50's and 60's, was the Concord Hotel.
Grossingers was a close second.
That's where the Headline entertainment and the best food was.
Grossingers was best remembered for hosting Liz Taylor's and Eddie Fisher's wedding
reception.
They're gone now too.
Just as gone as Grossingers.
And I had no idea that these hotels weren't still thriving.
Am I the last Jew on earth not to know this?
I never saw either of these hotels in person.
When my family made our summer excursions to the Catskills, we usually stayed in bungalow colonies.
That was the equivalent of steerage on the S.S. United States.
A few times, we stayed at the grade B Hotels, like the Nevele, the Laurel, and the Pines.
But we never got a whiff of the Concord or Grossingers.
Sunday Morning took a camera to the former site of the Concord.
It was a weedy, dirty, empty field, surrounded by wire fences, which, too, were falling down.
And I wept.
And I wept all the way through "This Week With George Stephanopolous"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
This has always been a very classy program.
Charles Osgood is a very classy host.
It is usually quite upbeat, and a wonderful way to start your Sunday.
But a couple of weeks ago, they did a couple of stories, pretty much back to back,
that left me totally depressed.
They were stories that mourned the passing of two inanimate objects.
I had never seen either of these inanimate objects in person.
Nor did I realize that they were gone.
It took "Sunday Morning to show me and tell me.
One was the S.S. United States.
Our flagship of ocean liners.
I thought it was still functioning.
Still making regular crossings across the ocean blue.
It turns out that it has been sitting in mothballs in Philadelphia since 1969.
Was I the last person on earth to realize this?
They showed what it looks like now.
Paint peeling.
You could barely tell that it was ever painted.
It was like Gloria Swanson's mansion in "Sunset Boulevard"
Then they showed the ship in its heyday.
And boy, was it painted.
It was painted great.
They interviewed a guy who was the head of a restoration committee for the
S.S. United States.
And he wasn't holding out much hope.
I remember when it was first launched.
It was 1952. I was five. And full of hope.
Just like we all were in 1952.
And now, the S.S. United States is just a bucket of rust, most likely headed for the scrap heap.
That's how I started my Sunday Morning.
Then they segued to a segment about the Borscht Belt.
Because there is a show now playing Off-Broadway called "Old Jews Telling Jokes"
Now, you'd figure that this one would at least be upbeat.
And clips from the show were upbeat indeed.
But then, we were regaled with the information that most of the famous Borscht Belt
hotels were gone. Vanished. Destroyed. Rubble.
The flagship hotel of the era, the 50's and 60's, was the Concord Hotel.
Grossingers was a close second.
That's where the Headline entertainment and the best food was.
Grossingers was best remembered for hosting Liz Taylor's and Eddie Fisher's wedding
reception.
They're gone now too.
Just as gone as Grossingers.
And I had no idea that these hotels weren't still thriving.
Am I the last Jew on earth not to know this?
I never saw either of these hotels in person.
When my family made our summer excursions to the Catskills, we usually stayed in bungalow colonies.
That was the equivalent of steerage on the S.S. United States.
A few times, we stayed at the grade B Hotels, like the Nevele, the Laurel, and the Pines.
But we never got a whiff of the Concord or Grossingers.
Sunday Morning took a camera to the former site of the Concord.
It was a weedy, dirty, empty field, surrounded by wire fences, which, too, were falling down.
And I wept.
And I wept all the way through "This Week With George Stephanopolous"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Thursday, February 28, 2013
And They Want Money For This.
Why I hate my local PBS station THIS month:
A couple of weeks ago, around 8:45 pm, I had to take my wife to the Emergency Room.
It turned out to be nothing serious. She was just feeling faint, and she's all right now.
The ER was just a couple of miles from my house.
There was a TV in the waiting room.
I asked the receptionist if I could have the remote to change the channel, so I could put on Rachel Maddow.
I couldn't find Rachel Maddow, but I did find a special on PBS: "Live From Lincoln
Center---"Ring Them Bells", a salute to Kander and Ebb"
You know. The guys who wrote "Cabaret" and "Chicago"
Great songwriters. It was hosted by Audra McDonald.
I started watching the first ten minutes, it was wonderful, and the usual questions entered my head.
This was NOT the same PBS station as I get in my house.
I have my Tivo set to get every episode of "Live From Lincoln Center", but as usual, I had no idea whether MY PBS station, the biggest one in the Detroit area, was showing it.
I hadn't checked ahead before leaving the house.
My wife was released, and we left, with my thinking that it was at least likely that the first ten minutes was all I was going to see.
We get home, and sure enough, MY PBS station is NOT showing Kander and Ebb.
They are showing a rerun of "The Spirit of St. Louis".
The biopic of Charles Lindbergh, with Jimmy Stewart.
You know.
The one that shows up on Turner Classic Movies at the drop of a hat.
'Cause they didn't want to spring for the dough for Kander and Ebb.
So once again, I was screwed.
And it wasn't scheduled for any other time.
But there seemed to be a silver lining.
I checked the Tivo guide, and right after "Spirit of St. Louis", there was an hour long Carl Reiner-Mel Brooks special about the inventing of the 2000 year-old man.
I knew that I had not seen this special, so this was somewhat of a sop.
I set the Tivo for that.
The next day, I attempt to watch the 2000 Year-Old Man special.
The first twenty-five minutes were taken up by the last twenty-five minutes of
"The Spirit of St. Louis"
So guess what I didn't have the last twenty-five minutes of?
Last week, my friend and great blogster Mark Evanier wrote about what looked like a great documentary called "Troupers".
It was about actors in their 80's who still have thriving careers.
It was airing on the local PBS station in Los Angeles.
Guess where it didn't and won't be airing?
They're going to get another earful from me during pledge week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
A couple of weeks ago, around 8:45 pm, I had to take my wife to the Emergency Room.
It turned out to be nothing serious. She was just feeling faint, and she's all right now.
The ER was just a couple of miles from my house.
There was a TV in the waiting room.
I asked the receptionist if I could have the remote to change the channel, so I could put on Rachel Maddow.
I couldn't find Rachel Maddow, but I did find a special on PBS: "Live From Lincoln
Center---"Ring Them Bells", a salute to Kander and Ebb"
You know. The guys who wrote "Cabaret" and "Chicago"
Great songwriters. It was hosted by Audra McDonald.
I started watching the first ten minutes, it was wonderful, and the usual questions entered my head.
This was NOT the same PBS station as I get in my house.
I have my Tivo set to get every episode of "Live From Lincoln Center", but as usual, I had no idea whether MY PBS station, the biggest one in the Detroit area, was showing it.
I hadn't checked ahead before leaving the house.
My wife was released, and we left, with my thinking that it was at least likely that the first ten minutes was all I was going to see.
We get home, and sure enough, MY PBS station is NOT showing Kander and Ebb.
They are showing a rerun of "The Spirit of St. Louis".
The biopic of Charles Lindbergh, with Jimmy Stewart.
You know.
The one that shows up on Turner Classic Movies at the drop of a hat.
'Cause they didn't want to spring for the dough for Kander and Ebb.
So once again, I was screwed.
And it wasn't scheduled for any other time.
But there seemed to be a silver lining.
I checked the Tivo guide, and right after "Spirit of St. Louis", there was an hour long Carl Reiner-Mel Brooks special about the inventing of the 2000 year-old man.
I knew that I had not seen this special, so this was somewhat of a sop.
I set the Tivo for that.
The next day, I attempt to watch the 2000 Year-Old Man special.
The first twenty-five minutes were taken up by the last twenty-five minutes of
"The Spirit of St. Louis"
So guess what I didn't have the last twenty-five minutes of?
Last week, my friend and great blogster Mark Evanier wrote about what looked like a great documentary called "Troupers".
It was about actors in their 80's who still have thriving careers.
It was airing on the local PBS station in Los Angeles.
Guess where it didn't and won't be airing?
They're going to get another earful from me during pledge week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Report Card---"Hyde Park On Hudson"
Gee, a really good movie where a first-rate actor plays one of our greatest presidents,
and it doesn't get nominated for anything?
All right.
Maybe it was no "Lincoln", but it was about FDR, who was no slouch.
Well, maybe he slouched, 'cause he didn't walk much.
And it starred Bill Murray, who is no slouch, even though he acted slouching.
"Hyde Park On Hudson" is a delightful movie.
It wasn't about the Civil War, but it was about civility.
About FDR entertaining the King and Queen of England, who were on a mission to elicit
Roosevelt's support for their war against Hitler.
It is quite entertaining and pleasurable to watch, and Murray, who looks nothing like
Roosevelt, still made you buy into it.
I said that I had one report card left, and this is it.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Extremely.
A+.
Compelling even?
Occasionally.
B+.
Is it controversial?
Not really, but it doesn't matter.
No Grade.
Is it a story worth telling?
Absolutely
A.
Is it good storytelling?
Very.
A.
Is it well written?
Very well written.
A.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
All of the above.
A.
Is it too long? Too short?
Just right.
A.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Yes, and yes.
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
It is predictable to some extent, but there are delightful surprises.
A.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
Only about how good Bill Murray was.
A.
Is it funny?
Often.
A.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
I could have waited to see it on HBO. Which will probably be soon.
C.
Is it impressive ?
Quite.
A.
Overall grade: A-.
This one deserved a Best Picture nomination over at least half that got them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
and it doesn't get nominated for anything?
All right.
Maybe it was no "Lincoln", but it was about FDR, who was no slouch.
Well, maybe he slouched, 'cause he didn't walk much.
And it starred Bill Murray, who is no slouch, even though he acted slouching.
"Hyde Park On Hudson" is a delightful movie.
It wasn't about the Civil War, but it was about civility.
About FDR entertaining the King and Queen of England, who were on a mission to elicit
Roosevelt's support for their war against Hitler.
It is quite entertaining and pleasurable to watch, and Murray, who looks nothing like
Roosevelt, still made you buy into it.
I said that I had one report card left, and this is it.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Extremely.
A+.
Compelling even?
Occasionally.
B+.
Is it controversial?
Not really, but it doesn't matter.
No Grade.
Is it a story worth telling?
Absolutely
A.
Is it good storytelling?
Very.
A.
Is it well written?
Very well written.
A.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
All of the above.
A.
Is it too long? Too short?
Just right.
A.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Yes, and yes.
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
It is predictable to some extent, but there are delightful surprises.
A.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
Only about how good Bill Murray was.
A.
Is it funny?
Often.
A.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
I could have waited to see it on HBO. Which will probably be soon.
C.
Is it impressive ?
Quite.
A.
Overall grade: A-.
This one deserved a Best Picture nomination over at least half that got them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Friday, February 22, 2013
Rothman's 2013 Oscar Choices. Part Two..
Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"
------------------------------------------
To me, it's a two horse race.
Daniel Day Lewis was wonderful as Lincoln.
So was Henry Fonda.
It was a great movie.
It's tough not to be great in a great movie.
Denzel Washington was really good in "Flight".
Just about anybody would have also been really good.
Hugh Jackman was absolutely compelling in a movie that was only absolutely
compelling when he was on the screen. Also, he had to sing, which he did awesomely.
Bradley Cooper was pretty good in "Silver Linings Playbook", but he did not blow me away.
Joaquin Phoenix is totally along for the ride. I barely noticed him in this movie.
I barely noticed the movie.
I've got it down to Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman.
The much higher bar was set for Hugh Jackman, so he gets my vote.
Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't see the little kid in "Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Of the other four, there was only one that I even liked.
Naomi Watts got that "Oh, wasn't her character brave and noble" nomination, and couldn't save a really bad movie.
Jessica Chastain apparently got Bin Laden all by herself. I wasn't sold or impressed.
Emmanuelle Riva was simply old and sick. If she's only 28, then you got something.
Jennifer Lawrence was spectacular in "Silver Linings Playbook", and she gets my vote.
Best Picture:
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"
Again, I saw everything except "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
There are only two that I would be enthusiastic voting for.
"Silver Linings Playbook" is not one of them. The field is too tough.
"Zero Dark Thirty" is less than good.
"Lincoln" is more than good.
I've expressed mu very mixed feelings about "Les Miserables"
I've expressed my very ill feelings about "Amour".
In a weaker field, I could picture myself voting for "Django Unchained"
It was nothing but fun.
"Life of Pi" was magnificent. I would not be sorry to see it win.
"Argo" was tremendous storytelling of a true story I didn't know about.
Great performances, and you leave the theater on an enormous high.
A two horse race. "Life of Pi", and "Argo".
And it's very close.
But I've got to give it to "Argo".
Good luck to all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"
------------------------------------------
To me, it's a two horse race.
Daniel Day Lewis was wonderful as Lincoln.
So was Henry Fonda.
It was a great movie.
It's tough not to be great in a great movie.
Denzel Washington was really good in "Flight".
Just about anybody would have also been really good.
Hugh Jackman was absolutely compelling in a movie that was only absolutely
compelling when he was on the screen. Also, he had to sing, which he did awesomely.
Bradley Cooper was pretty good in "Silver Linings Playbook", but he did not blow me away.
Joaquin Phoenix is totally along for the ride. I barely noticed him in this movie.
I barely noticed the movie.
I've got it down to Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman.
The much higher bar was set for Hugh Jackman, so he gets my vote.
Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't see the little kid in "Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Of the other four, there was only one that I even liked.
Naomi Watts got that "Oh, wasn't her character brave and noble" nomination, and couldn't save a really bad movie.
Jessica Chastain apparently got Bin Laden all by herself. I wasn't sold or impressed.
Emmanuelle Riva was simply old and sick. If she's only 28, then you got something.
Jennifer Lawrence was spectacular in "Silver Linings Playbook", and she gets my vote.
Best Picture:
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"
Again, I saw everything except "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
There are only two that I would be enthusiastic voting for.
"Silver Linings Playbook" is not one of them. The field is too tough.
"Zero Dark Thirty" is less than good.
"Lincoln" is more than good.
I've expressed mu very mixed feelings about "Les Miserables"
I've expressed my very ill feelings about "Amour".
In a weaker field, I could picture myself voting for "Django Unchained"
It was nothing but fun.
"Life of Pi" was magnificent. I would not be sorry to see it win.
"Argo" was tremendous storytelling of a true story I didn't know about.
Great performances, and you leave the theater on an enormous high.
A two horse race. "Life of Pi", and "Argo".
And it's very close.
But I've got to give it to "Argo".
Good luck to all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Rothman's 2013 Oscar Choices, Part One.
Please bear in mind that these are my choices.
Not necessarily who I think is going to win.
It's who I think SHOULD win.
Based on having seen most of the movies nominated.
I'll limit myself to six categories.
Three today, and three next time.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A VERY tough call.
Tommy Lee Jones was great in a role where it was easy to be great.
The writing was great. The part was great.
Christoph Waltz was wonderfully empathetic in what was arguably a leading role.
Philip Seymour Hoffman couldn't save "The Master" from being a disaster.
Alan Arkin was terrific in a great movie that would have been great without him.
Robert De Niro singlehandedly raised the level of a very good movie.
My vote goes to De Niro.
Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sally Field was wonderful in what could be deemed a leading role.
Anne Hathaway was quite touching in a pretty small part.
Jacki Weaver, I barely noticed.
Helen Hunt was in a movie I didn't see.
Amy Adams, I didn't notice at all. See Hoffman, Philip Seymour.
It's a one-horse race, and Sally Field is Secretariat.
Best Director:
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
-------------------------------------------------------------
There was a lot of bellyaching about who didn't get nominated in this category.
Some of it from me.
The Ben Affleck camp probably had a legitimate beef for "Argo"
The Kathryn Bigelow camp should just shut up.
My beef was about Wes Anderson for "Moonrise Kingdom", where his directing was all
over the screen.
Of the ones who WERE nominated,
David O. Russell apparently poured his heart into "Silver Linings Playbook", and certainly elicited some wonderful performances.
Ang Lee's work in "Life of Pi" was nothing short of astounding.
He uses the camera as a paintbrush.
"Lincoln" was essentially a written movie, and I have no idea what Spielberg added
to it.
Michael Haneke in "Amour" went to the John Cassavettes School of Not Shutting off the
Camera and Not Yelling "Cut!"
I did not see "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Ang Lee by a country mile, even if Wes Anderson was nominated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Not necessarily who I think is going to win.
It's who I think SHOULD win.
Based on having seen most of the movies nominated.
I'll limit myself to six categories.
Three today, and three next time.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A VERY tough call.
Tommy Lee Jones was great in a role where it was easy to be great.
The writing was great. The part was great.
Christoph Waltz was wonderfully empathetic in what was arguably a leading role.
Philip Seymour Hoffman couldn't save "The Master" from being a disaster.
Alan Arkin was terrific in a great movie that would have been great without him.
Robert De Niro singlehandedly raised the level of a very good movie.
My vote goes to De Niro.
Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sally Field was wonderful in what could be deemed a leading role.
Anne Hathaway was quite touching in a pretty small part.
Jacki Weaver, I barely noticed.
Helen Hunt was in a movie I didn't see.
Amy Adams, I didn't notice at all. See Hoffman, Philip Seymour.
It's a one-horse race, and Sally Field is Secretariat.
Best Director:
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
-------------------------------------------------------------
There was a lot of bellyaching about who didn't get nominated in this category.
Some of it from me.
The Ben Affleck camp probably had a legitimate beef for "Argo"
The Kathryn Bigelow camp should just shut up.
My beef was about Wes Anderson for "Moonrise Kingdom", where his directing was all
over the screen.
Of the ones who WERE nominated,
David O. Russell apparently poured his heart into "Silver Linings Playbook", and certainly elicited some wonderful performances.
Ang Lee's work in "Life of Pi" was nothing short of astounding.
He uses the camera as a paintbrush.
"Lincoln" was essentially a written movie, and I have no idea what Spielberg added
to it.
Michael Haneke in "Amour" went to the John Cassavettes School of Not Shutting off the
Camera and Not Yelling "Cut!"
I did not see "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Ang Lee by a country mile, even if Wes Anderson was nominated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Monday, February 18, 2013
Report Card---"Zero Dark Thirty"
For those of you who might recall, I really hated "The Hurt Locker", which won the Oscar
as Best Picture a few years ago.
Kathryn Bigelow was its director, and it is safe to say that I am not a fan of her work.
So I was really not expecting much as I approached watching "Zero Dark Thirty"
Nor did I get much.
It's the movie about how Bin-Laden was killed.
The kind of movie that you really have to have clout to make.
Who's going to say "No!" to her?
I would have.
She has already admitted that it is a "condensing" of the truth, which indicates a concession that at least some of it is bullshit.
With it all, I did not hate it nearly as much as I hated "The Hurt Locker"
But I certainly didn't like it much either.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Intermittently
C.
Compelling even?
Never.
F.
Is it controversial?
Nobody seems to have any trouble accepting what Bigelow lays out as gospel.
So no.
No Grade.
Is it a story worth telling?
Yes, but I have no evidence that it is worth fictionalizing.
F.
Is it good storytelling?
It is long, dreary, predictable storytelling.
F.
Is it well written?
It has its moments.
B.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Jessica Chastain has gotten the hype of the century.
James Gandolfini has an interesting cameo as Leon Panetta.
The direction is no great shakes.
C.
Is it too long? Too short?
Asked and answered.
F.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
It's believable in that we can assume that at least much of it happened the way it was portrayed. I didn't care one whit about the characters.
D+.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Asked and answered.
F.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
To reiterate what I said about "Les Miserables", I wasn't even thinking about it WHILE I was seeing it.
F.
Is it funny?
No.
F.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
My shit detector would have automatically and rightfully kept me away.
F.
Is it impressive ?
No. And if it isn't impressive, you've got nothing.
F.
Overall grade: D+.
This is the last movie that was nominated that I'm doing a report card on.
Next time, and perhaps the time after that, I will post my choices for the winners.
I still have one more report card to do, for a movie I thought deserved a couple of nominations, but it didn't get any, and will wait until after I post my choices.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
as Best Picture a few years ago.
Kathryn Bigelow was its director, and it is safe to say that I am not a fan of her work.
So I was really not expecting much as I approached watching "Zero Dark Thirty"
Nor did I get much.
It's the movie about how Bin-Laden was killed.
The kind of movie that you really have to have clout to make.
Who's going to say "No!" to her?
I would have.
She has already admitted that it is a "condensing" of the truth, which indicates a concession that at least some of it is bullshit.
With it all, I did not hate it nearly as much as I hated "The Hurt Locker"
But I certainly didn't like it much either.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Intermittently
C.
Compelling even?
Never.
F.
Is it controversial?
Nobody seems to have any trouble accepting what Bigelow lays out as gospel.
So no.
No Grade.
Is it a story worth telling?
Yes, but I have no evidence that it is worth fictionalizing.
F.
Is it good storytelling?
It is long, dreary, predictable storytelling.
F.
Is it well written?
It has its moments.
B.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Jessica Chastain has gotten the hype of the century.
James Gandolfini has an interesting cameo as Leon Panetta.
The direction is no great shakes.
C.
Is it too long? Too short?
Asked and answered.
F.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
It's believable in that we can assume that at least much of it happened the way it was portrayed. I didn't care one whit about the characters.
D+.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Asked and answered.
F.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
To reiterate what I said about "Les Miserables", I wasn't even thinking about it WHILE I was seeing it.
F.
Is it funny?
No.
F.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
My shit detector would have automatically and rightfully kept me away.
F.
Is it impressive ?
No. And if it isn't impressive, you've got nothing.
F.
Overall grade: D+.
This is the last movie that was nominated that I'm doing a report card on.
Next time, and perhaps the time after that, I will post my choices for the winners.
I still have one more report card to do, for a movie I thought deserved a couple of nominations, but it didn't get any, and will wait until after I post my choices.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Friday, February 15, 2013
Report Card---"Les Miserables"
I approached "Les Miserables" with lots o' caution.
I've had many opportunities over the years to see the musical on stage, and never availed myself of any of them.
It was my shit detector at work, I guess.
Also, save for the Oscar nominations, it got pretty rotten reviews.
My reaction was somewhat in-between.
I don't think it deserved its Best Picture nomination, or its rotten reviews.
It had much going for it, and some going against it.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Much of the time.
B-.
Compelling even?
Never.
F.
Is it controversial?
The only controversial element I've heard about is Russell Crowes singing.
I had no problem with it.
B+.
Is it a story worth telling?
It's always been a classic.
A+.
Is it good storytelling?
For the most part, except that it is virtually through-sung, like an opera.
For me, this diminishes the impact of the storytelling.
B.
Is it well written?
The music is wonderful. The dialogue doesn't get in the way of it.
A-.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe are wonderful. Anne Hathaway is too, but she's not around that long. It is shot as overwhelming spectacle, and certainly is overwhelming.
A+
Is it too long? Too short?
It is very long. Long enough that, unless you're in the darkness of a movie theater,
you start looking around for other things to do while it's running.
D-.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Considering that nobody stops singing. yes, and yes.
A-.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
I didn't know how it ended. Maybe I was the only one.
A-.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
I wasn't even thinking about it WHILE I was seeing it.
F.
Is it funny?
On rare occasions.
C+.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
No. And if I had gone, it would have been at least another fifteen, due to all the trips I would have made to the refreshment stand.
F.
Is it impressive ?
In a big way. That's what it's got going for it.
A+.
Overall grade: B-.
You could certainly see all the money spent on it on the screen.
I'm glad that none of it was mine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
I've had many opportunities over the years to see the musical on stage, and never availed myself of any of them.
It was my shit detector at work, I guess.
Also, save for the Oscar nominations, it got pretty rotten reviews.
My reaction was somewhat in-between.
I don't think it deserved its Best Picture nomination, or its rotten reviews.
It had much going for it, and some going against it.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Much of the time.
B-.
Compelling even?
Never.
F.
Is it controversial?
The only controversial element I've heard about is Russell Crowes singing.
I had no problem with it.
B+.
Is it a story worth telling?
It's always been a classic.
A+.
Is it good storytelling?
For the most part, except that it is virtually through-sung, like an opera.
For me, this diminishes the impact of the storytelling.
B.
Is it well written?
The music is wonderful. The dialogue doesn't get in the way of it.
A-.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe are wonderful. Anne Hathaway is too, but she's not around that long. It is shot as overwhelming spectacle, and certainly is overwhelming.
A+
Is it too long? Too short?
It is very long. Long enough that, unless you're in the darkness of a movie theater,
you start looking around for other things to do while it's running.
D-.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Considering that nobody stops singing. yes, and yes.
A-.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
I didn't know how it ended. Maybe I was the only one.
A-.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
I wasn't even thinking about it WHILE I was seeing it.
F.
Is it funny?
On rare occasions.
C+.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
No. And if I had gone, it would have been at least another fifteen, due to all the trips I would have made to the refreshment stand.
F.
Is it impressive ?
In a big way. That's what it's got going for it.
A+.
Overall grade: B-.
You could certainly see all the money spent on it on the screen.
I'm glad that none of it was mine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
A Major Announcement.
I know that I have done a lot of promoting of my paperback and my e-books on this site.
You probably know that as well.
Some of you might think that it has been shameless and relentless.
To quote Chuck Hagel in his recent hearings, I leave that judgement to history.
Anyway, I am going to explore that territory once again.
I have just had my first novel published.
You, my lovely and loyal readers, are the first to become aware of this.
The book is called "I'm Not Garbo".
It is a paperback, and not an e-book.
I refer to it as a fable about Hollywood.
Most of it takes place in the 1930's.
It is completely original, and unlike my previous books, none of it has been ransacked
from the blog.
It is all new material, that has never been available elsewhere.
I immodestly think that it is the best thing I have ever written.
An interesting fact about it is that the idea for it came to me in my sleep.
I was sleeping, and had a dream that I was sitting in the movies, watching this movie on
the screen.
It had a great cast: Nathan Lane, Lisa Kudrow, and Meryl Streep.
And I loved what I was watching.
Now, I had had dreams previously where I was watching a movie, and loving it.
Then, I'd wake up, having total recall of my dreams, and realize that what I had seen was complete gibberish.
But this one, the one with Nathan, Lisa, and Meryl, was actually terrific.
And I couldn't wait to start writing it as a screenplay.
What I dreamt ended up consisting of half-a-movie.
I then had to come up with the rest of the movie consciously.
It flowed quite easily.
The problem with doing it as a movie is that it would be quite expensive to make, and I
would most-likely lose creative control of it.
So I turned it into a novel.
And it's a better novel than it was a screenplay.
And it became "I'm Not Garbo"
It could eventually be bought as a movie, but this is most-likely the best opportunity
to witness my original vision of it.
If you are interested in obtaining a personally autographed copy from me, e-mail me at
macchus999@aol.com with your address, and I will give you all the pertinent information.
The book will not be available in stores.
You have my word that "I'm Not Garbo" is a major page-turner.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and now, "I'm Not Garbo" are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like either or both, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
You probably know that as well.
Some of you might think that it has been shameless and relentless.
To quote Chuck Hagel in his recent hearings, I leave that judgement to history.
Anyway, I am going to explore that territory once again.
I have just had my first novel published.
You, my lovely and loyal readers, are the first to become aware of this.
The book is called "I'm Not Garbo".
It is a paperback, and not an e-book.
I refer to it as a fable about Hollywood.
Most of it takes place in the 1930's.
It is completely original, and unlike my previous books, none of it has been ransacked
from the blog.
It is all new material, that has never been available elsewhere.
I immodestly think that it is the best thing I have ever written.
An interesting fact about it is that the idea for it came to me in my sleep.
I was sleeping, and had a dream that I was sitting in the movies, watching this movie on
the screen.
It had a great cast: Nathan Lane, Lisa Kudrow, and Meryl Streep.
And I loved what I was watching.
Now, I had had dreams previously where I was watching a movie, and loving it.
Then, I'd wake up, having total recall of my dreams, and realize that what I had seen was complete gibberish.
But this one, the one with Nathan, Lisa, and Meryl, was actually terrific.
And I couldn't wait to start writing it as a screenplay.
What I dreamt ended up consisting of half-a-movie.
I then had to come up with the rest of the movie consciously.
It flowed quite easily.
The problem with doing it as a movie is that it would be quite expensive to make, and I
would most-likely lose creative control of it.
So I turned it into a novel.
And it's a better novel than it was a screenplay.
And it became "I'm Not Garbo"
It could eventually be bought as a movie, but this is most-likely the best opportunity
to witness my original vision of it.
If you are interested in obtaining a personally autographed copy from me, e-mail me at
macchus999@aol.com with your address, and I will give you all the pertinent information.
The book will not be available in stores.
You have my word that "I'm Not Garbo" is a major page-turner.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and now, "I'm Not Garbo" are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like either or both, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Report Card---"Friends With Kids"
I approached this one very cautiously when I opened the DVD envelope it came in.
The advertising on the box featured the word "Hilarious!" prominently, and featured Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph in the cast.
It had the smell of "Bridesmaids" all over it.
And it was obviously a chick-flick.
A woman, Jennifer Westfeldt, wrote it, directed it, and starred in it.
The prominent roles were womens roles, exxcept for her love interest, who, because he
passionately wanted a baby, pretty much made him a woman as well.
But it didn't smell.
Like "Bridesmaids" did.
What it was, was one of the most pree-dictable movies you'd ever come across.
You knew where it was going on page four.
Two people, a young man and a young woman, best friends since they were kids, both are unattached, both professing their mutual lack of physical attraction towards each other (these are two very attractive people, by the way) both decide to have a baby together, because they both really want one, and neither have romantic partners. And they vow to each other that it won't get in their way of pursuing active social lives with others.
Now, where in the wide world do you suppose this might be headed?
I won't "spoil" it for you.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Actually, it is. Once you get past knowing where it's headed, the only issue remaining is "Are you enjoying the ride to its destination?" And I have to admit that I did.
B+.
Compelling even?
Occasionally. It approaches the subject matter intelligently, and there are very good arguments made.
B+.
Is it controversial?
Somewhat. For the reason listed above.
B+.
Is it a story worth telling?
I'm on the fence about that.
B.
Is it good storytelling?
In the context of what it is, yes.
B.
Is it well written?
Rather.
B+.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
I still don't like Kristen Wiig or Maya Rudolph. Jennifer Westfeldt is very appealing.
Jon Hamm puts in a nice turn as well. The direction is nothing but perfunctory.
B.
Is it too long? Too short?
No problem with the length.
A.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Yes, and yes.
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Asked and answered.
F.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
No.
C-.
Is it funny?
Not really. It rarely tries to be. Strange for a movie advertised as "Hilarious!"
C-.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
It would not have.
F.
Is it impressive ?
It was simply not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.
C.
Overall grade: B.
I walked away generally feeling more positive than negative about this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
The advertising on the box featured the word "Hilarious!" prominently, and featured Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph in the cast.
It had the smell of "Bridesmaids" all over it.
And it was obviously a chick-flick.
A woman, Jennifer Westfeldt, wrote it, directed it, and starred in it.
The prominent roles were womens roles, exxcept for her love interest, who, because he
passionately wanted a baby, pretty much made him a woman as well.
But it didn't smell.
Like "Bridesmaids" did.
What it was, was one of the most pree-dictable movies you'd ever come across.
You knew where it was going on page four.
Two people, a young man and a young woman, best friends since they were kids, both are unattached, both professing their mutual lack of physical attraction towards each other (these are two very attractive people, by the way) both decide to have a baby together, because they both really want one, and neither have romantic partners. And they vow to each other that it won't get in their way of pursuing active social lives with others.
Now, where in the wide world do you suppose this might be headed?
I won't "spoil" it for you.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Actually, it is. Once you get past knowing where it's headed, the only issue remaining is "Are you enjoying the ride to its destination?" And I have to admit that I did.
B+.
Compelling even?
Occasionally. It approaches the subject matter intelligently, and there are very good arguments made.
B+.
Is it controversial?
Somewhat. For the reason listed above.
B+.
Is it a story worth telling?
I'm on the fence about that.
B.
Is it good storytelling?
In the context of what it is, yes.
B.
Is it well written?
Rather.
B+.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
I still don't like Kristen Wiig or Maya Rudolph. Jennifer Westfeldt is very appealing.
Jon Hamm puts in a nice turn as well. The direction is nothing but perfunctory.
B.
Is it too long? Too short?
No problem with the length.
A.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Yes, and yes.
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Asked and answered.
F.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
No.
C-.
Is it funny?
Not really. It rarely tries to be. Strange for a movie advertised as "Hilarious!"
C-.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
It would not have.
F.
Is it impressive ?
It was simply not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.
C.
Overall grade: B.
I walked away generally feeling more positive than negative about this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Reporte Carte---"Amour"
"Amour" is this French picture that was nominated for Best Picture, as was it's leading lady, Emmanuelle Riva.
It has English subtitles, which meant I had to read along with it.
It begins with the police, or fire department finding Riva dead in her bed.
Now, you know the rest of the movie will be in flashback, because you don't nominate an actress for just lying in bed, dead.
And the rest of the movie is her husband trying to take care of this dying woman, not wanting to let go of her.
It is agonizingly slow and dee-pressing.
Appropriately, the Report Card scoring will be conducted by the late, great French filmmaker,
Francois Truffaut, in French.
I will provide English translation in parentheses.
You'll have to forgive M. Truffaut if his French isn't perfect.
After all, he has been dead for years.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Un petit peux. (A little bit.)
B+.
Compelling even?
Non. (No)
C-.
Is it controversial?
Un petit peux. Le determination pour euthanasie est toujours interessante.
(A little, Having to decide about performing euthanasia is always interesting.)
B-.
Is it a story worth telling?
Peut-etre. (Perhaps.)
B.
Is it good storytelling?
Non. Il ny'a pas un fin. (No. There is really no satisfying ending.)
D.
Is it well written?
Non. C'est simplistique et du minime. (No, it's simplistic and minimal.)
D-.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Les performances, c'est tres bien. Le camera "dwells" beaucoup, a la Cassavetes.
(The actors were very good. The shots linger way too long, like a Cassavetes movie.)
B-.
Is it too long? Too short?
Tres, tres extensive. (Very, very long.)
F.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Oui, et oui. (Yes, and yes.)
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Oui. Elle est morte. Nous savons la. (Yes. She's dead. We know that from the beginning.)
C'est un surpris parce que nous n'avons pas l'idee de la methode.
(It's surprising because we don't know how she dies.)
B.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
Non. (No.)
C-.
Is it funny?
Non. (No.)
C-.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
Pas de francs. (Not any money.)
F.
Is it impressive ?
Je ne pense pas. (I don't think so.)
C-.
Overall grade: C-.
Sacre bleu! (I really rather disliked this movie.)
Thank you, Francois. I'll try not to bother you again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
It has English subtitles, which meant I had to read along with it.
It begins with the police, or fire department finding Riva dead in her bed.
Now, you know the rest of the movie will be in flashback, because you don't nominate an actress for just lying in bed, dead.
And the rest of the movie is her husband trying to take care of this dying woman, not wanting to let go of her.
It is agonizingly slow and dee-pressing.
Appropriately, the Report Card scoring will be conducted by the late, great French filmmaker,
Francois Truffaut, in French.
I will provide English translation in parentheses.
You'll have to forgive M. Truffaut if his French isn't perfect.
After all, he has been dead for years.
On to the scoring:
Is it interesting?
Un petit peux. (A little bit.)
B+.
Compelling even?
Non. (No)
C-.
Is it controversial?
Un petit peux. Le determination pour euthanasie est toujours interessante.
(A little, Having to decide about performing euthanasia is always interesting.)
B-.
Is it a story worth telling?
Peut-etre. (Perhaps.)
B.
Is it good storytelling?
Non. Il ny'a pas un fin. (No. There is really no satisfying ending.)
D.
Is it well written?
Non. C'est simplistique et du minime. (No, it's simplistic and minimal.)
D-.
Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?
Les performances, c'est tres bien. Le camera "dwells" beaucoup, a la Cassavetes.
(The actors were very good. The shots linger way too long, like a Cassavetes movie.)
B-.
Is it too long? Too short?
Tres, tres extensive. (Very, very long.)
F.
Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?
Oui, et oui. (Yes, and yes.)
A.
Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?
Oui. Elle est morte. Nous savons la. (Yes. She's dead. We know that from the beginning.)
C'est un surpris parce que nous n'avons pas l'idee de la methode.
(It's surprising because we don't know how she dies.)
B.
Do you think about it after you've seen it?
Non. (No.)
C-.
Is it funny?
Non. (No.)
C-.
Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?
Pas de francs. (Not any money.)
F.
Is it impressive ?
Je ne pense pas. (I don't think so.)
C-.
Overall grade: C-.
Sacre bleu! (I really rather disliked this movie.)
Thank you, Francois. I'll try not to bother you again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
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