Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans, John Lennon once noted ("Beautiful Boy"). We realize that every week but never more so than this week. We keep planning to weigh in on an animated series, have been planning to for weeks now, and each week something else pops up.
C'mon baby light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
(Where you at now? Where you at now? Where you at now?)
So, how come we ain't gettin' no higher?
(How come we ain't gettin' no higher?)
-- "Superstar" written by Lauryn Hill, Johari Newton and James Poyser
Is there anything more tired than The Water Cooler Set? Disclosure: We have two friends working on FOX's new series OUR KIND OF PEOPLE. We told them we'd cover the show around the sixth episode or so. They were fine with that. Then we were speaking to one of them on the phone Saturday and were informed that the show might not last that long. Huh?
The ratings aren't the reason. The reviews are. "We've got 22% approval on ROTTEN TOMATOES."
ROTTEN TOMATOES, the bastion of The Water Cooler set. And as Lauryn Hill might say, "Everything you drop is so tired."
OUR KIND OF PEOPLE is actually a good show. We know because we watched. We told our friend we'd watch and weigh in and warned we'd offer our true opinion. (We still have an actor who does not speak to us anymore because he maintains our negative review killed his show.)
What's the show about? Angela (Yava DaCosta) returns to Oak Bluff to claim a home her late mother's left her. She brings her daughter Nikki (Alana Kay Bright) and Patricia (Debbi Morgan) along with her. She's determined to make her mark with a hair salon. But the people of the town, led by Olivia Sturgess Dupont (played by L. Scott Caldwell) move to reject her. Olivia uses Leah Franklin Dupont (Nadine Ellis) to humiliate Angela. A Fraklin and a Dupont, Leah is a product of the two most powerful families in Oak Bluffs. She's not content being a product, she wants to be running things -- and not just the lady's social club. In the first episode alone, besides humiliating Nadine in front of everyone at a gala, she also informs her father Teddy Franklin (Joe Morton) that he's retiring and she's taking over the company.
At the gala, she reveals that Angela lied when she said her late mother was a business woman, she was actually a maid (which Angela knew) and a maid who ended up arrested for selling drugs (which Angela did not know). There's a lot Angela doesn't know, a lot that's been kept from her. But she's a smart woman and, once back in Oak Bluffs, she can piece together bits and pieces from her memory. Including figuring out that her father whose name she was never told is . . . Teddy Franklin. She's Leah's sister.
That's a lot for one episode and, believe it or not, there's actually even more that took place. We note that because this is a fast moving show with twists and turns.
It's a soap opera, absolutely. Sad to break it to The Water Cooler Set but pretty much everything on TV these days is. As we noted years and years ago, it was MTM, in the 80s, that grasped continuing elements would help viewers tune in and they added those elements to sitcoms (CHEERS) and dramas (HILL STREET BLUES). As a result, pretty much every series now has continuing elements. But if you don't like the genre, then you don't like the genre. However, not liking the genre doesn't justify your attacking the show. You're supposed to be reviewing the series, after all.
It's strange to us, as the same Water Cooler Set rushes to applaud one male-led, male dominated series after another, that we're the only ones noting that this well made series is female-led and wondering if that's why it's being attacked? Not only is it female led, but this is a series with an African-American cast. Is that the reason for the attacks? One hour long drama with an all Black cast on FOX is apparently one too many. And this is the only all Black cast on TV this fall. Queen Latifah stars in CBS' EQUALIZER, for example, and does a good job but the cast also includes, among others, Adam Goldberg. The CW's ALL AMERICAN is headed by Daniel Ezra but it's not an all Black cast.
So we're talking one show and that's apparently too much for The Water Cooler Set.
C'mon baby light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
(Where you at now? Where you at now? Where you at now?)
So, how come we ain't gettin' no higher?
(How come we ain't gettin' no higher?)
How come we ain't getting' no higher? Because deluded idiots in The Water Cooler Set think they can get away with blatant racism and sexism. Joe Morton is always worth watching and he's doing a great job in OUR KIND OF PEOPLE. You know Emmy winner Debbi Morgan isn't disappointing. Morris Chestnut plays Leah's husband Raymond and he's doing a great job as Yaya Da Costa and Nadine Ellis. So why is The Water Cooler Set sneering at the show like they're Olivia Sturgess Dupont?
They should be applauding this well made, well acted show. They should be noting how refreshing it is to see this show. Instead, they slam it. And pretend it's something other than sexism and racism at play.
Yeah, we're not as stupid as The Water Cooler Set wishes we were. IFC and SUNDANCE are supposed to be 'independent' channels which basically means -- all male sitcoms all the time. We're not supposed to notice that, are we? TWO AND A HALF MEN, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, go down the list. The only female led series the channels have carried in the last years? THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW -- which THE SUNDANCE CHANNEL briefly carried.
Again, that's not sexism, right? It never is, right? It just 'happens.' Kind of the way deed restrictions just happened and just happened to keep out certain communities, right?
Patterns aren't accidents.
C'mon baby light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
(Where you at now? Where you at now? Where you at now?)
So, how come we ain't gettin' no higher?
(How come we ain't gettin' no higher?)
Tired? Aaron Mate's getting pretty damn tired. And then some. He tries to pretend that, since he left, DEMOCRACY NOW! has gotten worse. But this is the program, while he was with it, that sold war on Libya. Does Aaron think he owes Libyans an apology? Or is he proud of the open air slave markets?
We try not to pick on Aaron. We actually try not to pick on anyone that's not a politician, believe it or not. But Aaron makes it so hard. Last week, he showed up on Jimmy Dore. And he really shouldn't have. That's probably on Jimmy. Jimmy bought into the whole nonsense of Aaron being a truth teller. (He wasn't on Libya.) So he got Aaron offering excuses for Ryan Grim. The worst part of the segment was that it was about Hunter Biden and how the laptop e-mails -- now verified by a POLITICO reporter -- document corruption.
Jimmy, Jimmy, oh, Jimmy, Jimmy -- as Madonna once sang.
Aaron Mate is not the guest to bring on to discuss Hunter Biden. In October of last year, he spent his time on THE KATIE HALPER SHOW downplaying the scandal and insisting it wasn't important -- see this Iraq snapshot.
So, no surprise, last week he was insisting it wasn't any big deal -- corruption wasn't any big deal, that this happens all the time. Really? When did you write about it if it happens all the time? Oh, that's right, never. And who the hell are you to waive through corruption. Seriously, Aaron, f**k the hell off.
Corruption is wrong. And we're not going to waive it by. What Hunter Biden did was outrageous, unethical and, yes, criminal.
Aaron's fond of spending time talking about how Hunter's a good guy and he doesn't care if Hunter did this or that. We do care and it does matter. Yes, Hunter's being a crack head is an issue as well. He was whacked on crack while his father was running for president. That would be the same Joe Biden who is responsible for outrageous laws as part of the 'war' on drugs that have led to mass incarceration. It does matter if the man who has pushed through drug laws that have destroyed lives has a son who does crack. It does matter.
And let's drop back to March 19th of this year, when Nicholas Reimann (FORBES) reported:
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday five White House staffers were "no longer employed" over their use of marijuana as part of a vetting process for security clearance, as the Biden administration comes under fire over reports that numerous young staffers have been penalized for past marijuana use (including in states where it’s legal) even though they were told they wouldn’t be.
The man who's son was doing crack in 2020 got rid of staffers who had done pot in the past.
Only an idiot or a fool would say this doesn't matter
Aaron's been of some value on Russia-gate. Not as much as he pretends, but he's been of some value. We didn't need him to call out Russia-gate. And, unlike Little Aaron, we were calling it out when the war on Russia really began (hint, Aaron, that was when Barack Obama was president -- Aaron was so timid when it came to Barack, remember?). But Aaron did some good work on Russia-gate. We'd like to leave him alone. But when he opens his uninformed mouth and starts wanting to tell the world that corruption doesn't matter, we can't afford him.
We care about We The People. We care about the truth. That puts a fence between Aaron and us, we're on one side and Aaron's on the other.
He's the one causing the problem. All we're doing is calling it out.
C'mon baby light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
(Where you at now? Where you at now? Where you at now?)
So, how come we ain't gettin' no higher?
(How come we ain't gettin' no higher?)
Which brings us to TCM and the awful host Ben Mankiewitcz. When is TCM going to fire him? They need to, they really need to.
Look, we've done all we can. We got him out of those ugly suits that didn't fit. His neoliberal propaganda that he was squeezing into programming commentary? We got that stopped. But there's only so much that two TV critics can do. Ty passed on an e-mail from TCM viewer Joan who was ticked. We were ticked too. We had seen it as well.
How come we ain't gettin' no higher?
Because of useless nonsense like Ben Mankiewitcz. A film was about to air, GILDA LIVE. Before it aired, Ben took it upon himself to explain that Gilda Radner was an alumni of the TV show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and went on to note many films that various other alumni had made. We found that interesting. The list was a long one and it noted one film after another by an alumni of SNL -- by a male alumni of SNL and only males.
Now the year GILDA LIVE was released, 1980, saw Jane Curtin star in a film that's become a streaming staple: HOW TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF LIVING. That comedy caper stars Jane, Susan Saint James (the two would later star in the long-running sitcom KATE AND ALLIE) and Jessica Lange (who went on to become a film star, went on to win one Tony Award, two Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards). But Ben didn't mention it. That year, 1980, Laraine Newman did her third film. Her first was the cult classic AMERICAN HOT WAS (1978), followed by 1980's WHOLLY MOSES and, same year, Woody Allen's STARDUST MEMORIES. Jane and Laraine are original NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS but they're women so Ben ignored them. Equally true, that same year, 1980, saw Gilda star in Buck Henry's FIRST FAMILY with Bob Newhart, Madeline Khan, Richard Benjamin, Harvery Korman and others. That didn't get mentioned -- nor did any of Gilda's other films.
But there was Ben bloviating over the filmographies of various SNL men on and on.
This was Gilda's moment but Ben turned it into an all male salute to SNL. It was disgusting. It was unneeded. And it was offensive.
It's not 1992. Ben's out of date and he needs to go if he can't adapt.
Otherwise, we ain't never going to get any higher.
And ditching common sense won't help us any. Meaning, when Liz Cheney goes on 60 MINUTES, as she did last night, and announces she was wrong to oppose marriage equality? Too. Damn. Little. And too. Damn. Late. In 2013, Liz was on record opposing marriage equality. There's no excuse for that. In 2007, she became an aunt when her sister Mary and Mary's spouse Heather had their first child. In 2009, the two women had their second child. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, Mary and Heather legally married. All of that was before Liz decided she could support marriage equality. She was not only being a bitch to the many in the LGBTQ community she didn't know, she was being a bitch to her own sister, to her own niece and nephew.. There's no excuse for it. And Heather Poe was right to publicly call Liz out in real time. Liz does love to jump on popular bandwagons. If her 'change of heart' is sincere, there are plenty of LGBTQ issues she can work on as a member of Congress. We doubt she will do so because she's not a leader and she a retrograde reductionist which means, yes, everything she drops is so tired.