Tuesday, April 15, 2025

The WILL & GRACE game (Ty)

 

Back in 2024, Marcia came up with the WILL & GRACE game.  How you play is you list, off the top of your head, all of the guest stars on that 11 season sitcom -- 8 seasons in its original run and 3 more seasons in its reboot.  See Marcia's  "Sitcom with the most name guest stars: Will & Grace (and I can name 133) ."  After Marcia played it others followed -- see Stan's ''HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER 1 ," Rebecca's  "have you tried to list all the guest stars on 'will & grace'?" and Kat's "Prayers for Ann Wilson and my try at the WILL & GRACE game."  No one's tried it at THIRD yet so let me be the first.



1) Parker Posey
2) Joan Collins
3) Gregory Hines
4) Wanda Sykes
5) Blythe Danner
6) Suzanne Pleshette
7) Debbie Reynolds
8) Veronica Cartwright
9) Sidney Pollack
10) Beau Bridges
11) Geena Davis
12) Mary McCormack
13) Sara Rue
14) John Slattery 
15) Steven Weber
16) Bernadette Peters
17) Lee Majors
18) Michele Lee
19) Chita Rivera
20) Ben Platt
21) Eileen Brennan
22) Minnie Driver
23) John Cleese
24) Alec Baldwin
25) Natasha Lyonne
26) Ed Burns
27) Woody Harrilson
28) David Schwimmer
29) Harry Connick Jr.
30) Ellen DeGeneres
31) Orson Beane
32) Gene Wilder
33) Lanie Kazan
34) Madonna
35) Jennifer Lopez
36) Janet Jackson
37) Jeff Goldblum
38) Will Arnett
39) Roseanna Arquette
40) Lesley Ann Warren
41) Jack Black
42) James Earl Jones
43) Jason Biggs
44) Seth Green
45) Cher
46) Demi Moore
47) Michael Douglas
48) Glenn Close
49) Sharon Stone
50) David Schwimmer
51) Elton John
52) Kevin Bacon
53) Britney Spears
54) David Folely
55) Eric Stoltz
56) Clark Gregg
57) Katie Couric
58) Al Roker
59) Matt Lauer
60) Matt Damon
61) Macaulay Culkin
62) Patrick Dempsey
63) Taye Diggs
64) Stone Phillips
65) Molly Shannon
66) Piper Laurie
67) Patton Oswalt
68) Tim Curry
69) Neil Patrick Harris 
70) Leslie Jordan
71) Jeremy Piven
72) Penn Badgley
73) Corey Parker
74) Joel McHale
75) Megyn Price
76) Ken Marino 
77) Dan Bucatinsky
78) Wendy Jo Sperber 
79) Nicolette Sheridan
80) Candice Bergen
81) Hal Linden
82) Bebe Neuwirth 
83) Tracey Ullman
84 and 85) Hall & Oates
86) Andy Richter
87) Patti LuPone
88) Lily Tomlin
89) Buck Henry
90) Kristin Davis
91) Mira Sorvino
92) Stuart Townsend
93) Sharon Osborne
94) Tom Everett Scott
95) John Edwards (psychic, not politician)
96) Alan Arkin
97) Rip Torn
98) Julian McMahon 
99) Adam Goldberg
100) Camryn Manheim 
101) Demi Lovato
102) Anne Meara
103) Sandra Bernhard
104) Jon Tenney
105) Emily Rutherford
106) Dan Futterman
107) Barry Bostwick 
108) Nick Offerman
109) Robert Klein
110) Cheyenne Jackson
111) Ryan Phillipe 
112) Jon Cryer
113) Chris Parnell
114) TR Knight
115) Chelsea Handler 
116) Lucie Arnaz
117) George Takei
118) Matt Bomer
119) Barry Manilow
120) Chris Penn
121) Aileen Quinn
122) Lea DeLaria
123) Andrea Martin
124) Bruno Campos


And that's all I got.

I can't remember the figure skater at Will's first b-day on the show when they go to Champions On Ice and all Will wants is some pop corn but he can't even get that. I could cheat and look it up but I don't want to.  I'm going to try it again in a few weeks and see if I can come up with some more.


 

 

 

10 Best TV shows

Looking for something to stream?  It's April, here's our top ten of the best programs so far this year.

 

1) REACHER

2) MID-CENTURY MODERN 

3) THE RESIDENCE

4) PRIME TARGET

5)  PARADISE

6) LONG BRIGHT RIVER

7) MATLOCK

8) ELSBETH

9) THE NEIGHBORHOOD

10) YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS

 

 

Book List

books 

 Book coverage continues in this community.  For earlier lists of books covered see 2021's  "Books," 2023's "Books" and 2024 "Book List"


Books reviewed in the community this year.


1) "bob hope should be a lesson" -- Rebecca reviews Richard Zoglin.  


2) "Shattered Love: A Memoir" -- Marcia reviews Richard Chamberlain's insipid autobiography. 


3) "Help! My Apartment Has A Dining Room Cookbook: How to Have People Over Without Stressing Out" -- Trina reviews a cookbook.


4)  "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism" -- Ava and C.I. take on Eoin Higgins bad book.


5) "Sly's awful books proves Questlove a liar" -- Stan reviews Sly Stone's memoir. 


6) "THE LIFE AND HARD TIMES OF HEIDI ABROMOWITZ (Jess)" -- Jess reviews a humor book by Joan Rivers.


7) "STAN LEE LIED: YOUR HANDY GUIDE TO EVERY LIE IN THE ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS" -- Isaiah reviews a book documenting truths. 

 

8) "Rachel Ray's Garbage in the Kitchen" -- Trina reviews Rachel Ray's RACHEL RAY'S 365: NO REPEATS.

 

9) "BLACK BAG (great film) and Spielberg book" -- Stan reviews Richard Schickel's  STEVEN SPIELBERG: A RETROSPECTIVE

 

10)   "Matteo Lane's Your Pasta Sucks: A 'Cookbook'" -- Trina reviews Matteo Lane's new book.



2025 passings

ceme

 

 

 


In 2025, we'll continue to note passings that we see as significant -- as we did previously "2024 passings" and  "2023 passings."



"David Lynch" -- Stan notes the passing of a director.


"Joan Plowright" -- Marcia notes the passing of an actress 


"Movies and Leslie Charleson" -- Stan notes the passing of daytime actress Leslie Charleson. 


"Roberta Flack" and "Roberta Flack was one of a kind amazing" -- Kat and Elaine reflect on the art of Roberta Flack. 

"Gene Hackman" -- Stan covers the passing of a two time Academy Award winner.


"Shattered Love: A Memoir" -- at the start of the year, Marcia reviewed Richard Chamberlain's autobiography.  He passed away at the end of the March and a lot of readers e-mailed to say Marcia's review works as a good obit.

"Angie Stone" -- Betty covers the passing of the queen of neo soul.

 

"Jay North" -- Kat covers the death of a child actor from the 50s. 

 

"Clem Burke" -- Kat covers the death of a drummer. 


"MATLOCK, REACHER, MID CENTURY MODERN, Val Kilmer" and "More on Kilmer and ABC killed SHIFTING GEARS"  -- Stan covers the passing of an actor.

Hegseth's feeling stuff

Highlighting a group post:

 


This edition's playlist

 

1) Joni Mitchell's JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES -- VOL. 3: THE ASYLUM YEARS (1972 - 1975).

 

2) Diana RossTHANK YOU

 

3) Diana Ross' ROSS (1983).

 

4) Joni Mitchell's NIGHT RIDE HOME.


5) Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER.

 

6)   The Rolling Stones' HACKNEY DIAMONDS.

 

7)  Cher's FOREVER.


8) Aretha Franklin's A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE.


9) Green Day's  'SAVIORS.'

 

10)  Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo's BLACKBIRD: LENNON - MCCARTNEY ICONS.



 

Highlights

a park painting 11
 

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.  

 

"Does Musk make all his children rub their heads on..." most requested highlight by readers of this site.

 

"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Tim Walz: Circ..." -- Isaiah's latest comic.

 

Kat's "Kat's Korner: Lenny Kravitz let's it ride on a new classic" -- Kat's latest album review.

 

""The Snapshot,"   "The Snapshot," "The Snapshot." "The Snapshot,"  "The Snapshot," 
"Musk, Disney, Donald Duck, The Little Red Hen and more,"  "A cranky old White man yelling may please the Crackers, but we -- Black people -- find it disturbing,"  "Gretch The Wretch," "Crazy Tim Walz and Crazy MTG,"  "Idiot of the Week," "Two idiots -- Chump and Walz,"  "no respect for the rule of law," "he's wounded and the sharks begin to circle,"  "Go Chump, Eat Rump," "Very disturbing." "He is not to be trusted,"  "The Convicted Felon needs to be in assisted living," "Does Walz not grasp the hypocrisy of his own townhalls?,"  "Who thought this out? Tell me it was someone other than Tim Walz,"  "While he's all over serving other reps' constituents, who's serving his?,"  "He's everywhere -- but his home state," "THIS JUST IN! SMELLIN' LIKE A FELON!," "Crazy man needs to get his ass back to his own state,"  "And the SignalGate goes on, yes, the SignalGate goes on," "He breaks a kid's toy and acts like he didn't,"  "We are all Richard Quest as Chump wrecks the world," "Chump wrecks the economy," "Chump again disrespects American troops," "The largest tax increase since the Revenue Act of 1968,"  "Liars Chump and MTG." "Crazy Nancy Mace throws another tantrum." "Tiny balls Junior needs to resign,"   "The worst thing that ever happened to this country," "wthlf?," "the world's on to rashida tlaib's con job," "the whole world laughs at donald chump," "i'm praying for impeachment,"
"The Forgotten Miss Sassy," "Trashy racist Katrina vanden Heuvel and other closeted Socialists," "Tim Walz, STFU," "Idiot of the Week," "Genius of the week?,"  "The YOUTUBE Gossip boys wasting everyone's time,"  "Science grab bag on black holes," "We fight just well on our own without those White Socialist betrayers and liars,"  "White girl Rashid Tlaib helps Chump erase Black History,"
"Who will the little MAGA nuts blame now?,"  "I don't think the idiot Chump realizes just how personal this is," "Gretch The Wretch, the spineless Wretch," "Tabitha covers it all,"
"Grifter Nina Turner has always been anti-immigrant," "Musk and other racists," "Musk -- born a loser, die a loser,"  "No accountability, no gratitude," "Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt goes oink-oink," "Catty Boys prepare to throw down over a US Senate seat," "BlueSky that says it all," "There is no such thing as 'conversion' therapy," "When he starts talking about feeling things, look for the female victims," "The Secretary of Defense gets more paranoid when he drinks," "Pete wanted to talk," "He's the Otis Campbell of the Chump administration," "He sees dead people . . . and Communists!" and "THIS JUST IN! HEGSETH SPEAKS!" -- news coverage in the community.  


"Sheet-Pan Sausage and Veggies with Lemon Butter in the Kitchen," "Balsamic Chicken in the Kitchen," "Easy Quiche Lorraine in the Kitchen," "Easy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas with Yogurt in the Kitchen,"  "Matteo Lane's Your Pasta Sucks: A 'Cookbook'," "Salad Pasta in the Kitchen" and "Pasta al Limone in the Kitchen" -- Trina serves up some recipes.



"THE AMATEUR," "general hospital,"  "My top ten favorite episodes of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW,"  "THE SIMPSONS, AMERICAN DAD, BOB'S BURGERS and FAMILY GUY," "Weekend box office," "ABC renews and cancels (and Joan Rivers),"  "More on Kilmer and ABC killed SHIFTING GEARS," "Jay North," "SyFY shows I loved"  and "If you missed it, Terrence Howard's just made a big confession" -- TV and movie coverage in the community.

 

 

"Clem Burke,"  "If you don't know about Fleetwood Mac, don't write about them" and  "Bruce Springsteen,"  -- music coverage in the community.

 

 

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Media: Stop the insanity

 Where is Susan Powter when we really need her to scream, "Stop the insanity!" 


tc2

 

In the nineties,  infomercials were filmed in studios and not on the front lawn of the White House .  And in that decade, vengeful fools were found on TV as a lead character in shows like WHO'S THE DUMMY, they weren't sitting at a desk in the Oval Office.

 

Retribution and revenge.  Donald Chump is driven by it.  He governs from it.  
 
We marvel over those claiming to be Christian -- especially evangelicals -- who maintain they've read THE BIBLE but have no clue who, per THE BIBLE, is responsible for delivering retribution.  Guess what?  It's not Donald Chump.  
 
Chump's not a religious man nor is he an intelligent person.  The Chinese philosopher Confucius -- as viewers of REVENGE surely remember -- said, "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."  Repeat that saying to Chump and you'll most likely get a blank stare reflecting  utter incomprehension.
 
The mind can't grasp the need for a second grave and, heaven knows, the body can't dig one -- not as obese and out of shape he is and do we need to touch on his age?
 

Stop the insanity indeed.  


But while Susan's not coming back, SUITS is. 


Or at least some equivalent of a bowl of soggy cereal emerged with the name SUITS LA.

 
 
 
 
While focused on Harvey and Mike's relationship, Suits shines. Torres, Rafferty and Meghan Markle (as paralegal Rachel) glow as well and keep the show chugging along. But it hits a pot hole nearly every time Rick Hoffman shows up as Louis.

Hoffman's not a bad actor. He's not even giving a bad performance. He's playing a total dick and he's completely believable. But he's written meaningless. After Glenn Close's tour de force as Patty Hewes (on Damages), any show featuring a malevolent attorney was always going to have to work a lot harder but the writers at Suits don't really seem to be trying. So Louis' blackmailing Mike with fake results of a drug test (and Mike getting the better of Louis) never seems that threatening or suspenseful.
 
 
 Seven years later, we still liked the series:
 
 
 Critical awards and audiences.  Shows that value women can win both.
It's a lesson SUITS should be learning right now.  The seventh season saw multiple cast losses -- the soft eyes of Meghan Markle (who left the show to marry someone -- you might have heard about that wedding over the summer), the soft ass of Patrick J. Adams and, most of all, the loss of the amazing Gina Torres.  Some may argue Adams' Mike was more important as the young sidekick to Gabriel Macht's Harvey.  But it was Torres' Jessica who clashed with Harvey and had a deeper friendship.

Those are some serious losses.  The new addition this season?  Katherine Heigl as Samantha Wheeler.  She and Macht already have strong chemistry.  She's also playing a character unlike anyone SUITS has offered so far.  Most of all, she's delivering a riveting performance.
 
 
For nine seasons the show zipped along with a great cast and tons of twists and turns.
 

By contrast, SUITS LA is murky, slow and not worth watching. 

 

SUITS LA has a sad cast -- sad seeming at least.  Where is the joy?  Obviously far beyond the range of Stephen J. Annell.   The only thing that might be more tired than the performances?  The writing.
 
 
This show is so bad you can't even say that it's to SUITS what GOLDEN PALACE was to THE GOLDEN GIRLS.  You can't say that it's to SUITS what AFTERMASH was to M*A*S*H.  That's because both GOLDEN PALACE and AFTERMASH were more watchable than SUITS LA is.
 
 
What were they thinking when they served up this slop?
 
It's a question you can also ask of Zac and Gavin, the hosts of THE VANGUARD who give Socialists a bad name with their fact-free commentary and contradictory assertions that, on a good week, sometimes manage not to completely reveal the depth of their hypocrisy.
 
It's good that they have such deep hypocrisy since everything else about them is shallow.
 


November 5th, Convicted Felon Donald Chump was re-elected president.  And how have you used your time since then?


If you're Zac and Cody of THE VANGUARD, you've pulled on your cock in public and that's about it.


THE VANGUARD is sort of like two Taylor Lorenzes instead of one.  Two vapid and uneducated gossip queens instead of just one.  

There have been 129 posted segments of THE VANGUARD since November 8th (three days after the election).  And surely the two Socialists have been all over Donald Chump, right?

Wrong.  
 
53 segments found the boyz sucking up to Kyle Kulinski, Krystal Ball, Glenn Greenwald and others in their circle jerk instead of addressing anything remotely resembling a real issue or need.
 

You know what's worse than that?
 

76.

 
That's the number of segments Silly & Billy have done attacking THE YOUNG TURKS.

 
Now hosts Cenk and Ana were Socialists once upon a time -- back when Silly and Billy praised TYT.  Back then, the DSA Bible JACOBIN even let Ana host their podcast.  And, of course, back then Cenk and Kyle Kulinski decided the best way to get Socialists elected into Congress was to form Justice Democrats as a cover for Justice Socialists.  And of course, they were backed by the notorious Trumper Peter Thiel.  This really does matter and it goes to The Politics of Destruction and how political extremists can easily flip from left to right.  But VANGUARD boyz never impart any important lessons like that.  No, they just provide gossip. 
 

So the 76 segments THE VANGUARD did gas bagging over TYT served no real purpose other than gossip.

 
Most of the recent segments about TYT was gossip revolving around or deriving from Francesca Fiorentini.  For months, she's been THE VANGUARD top topic due to making statements such as  stating she was afraid of Cenk.  And other gossip.

 
Gossip.

Not news.
 

Nothing political either -- not even if you cite the old adage: The personal is political.  Just gossip.


During this 76 segment period, Francesca finally got fired by TYT.  That wasn't surprising, but being kind, we posted her video talking about that at THE COMMON ILLS.  


One video.


One video was sufficient.

 
Why are Zac and Cody obsessed with TYT?  More to the point, as alleged adults, why aren't they concerned with anything else?

 
Is this a Socialist Circle Jerk where they work overtime to clear Kyle by constantly indicting Cenk?


If not, the only thing they're 'accomplishing' is making TYT look better because while Zac and Cody focus endlessly on attacking TYT, TYT can rightly assert that, from time to time, they talk about actual issues.  They don't do it well.  They never did.  They were just as offensive when they were supposedly on our side as they are now.  They're not deep thinkers and they aren't entertainers. 

Maybe Zac and Gavin's similarity to Cenk and Ana explains the boyz TYT obsession?

 
For those late to the party, Francesca had a public debate with Cenk that did not go well in the last five months.  Also during this time period, she publicly spoke out against Ana and, again, she stated she was scared of Cenk.  


She got fired.  It's not the end of the world nor was it surprising that TYT dropped her.


What was surprising was that she got dropped instead of having the courage and dignity to walk away. 
 
 
Ben Jealous and Benny Carollo had both already left TYT and for good reason.  They were also public about the whys of the departures.  THE VANGUARD covered the departures repeatedly over and over.
 

So shouldn't someone put on their thinking cap and leave behind their sympathetic nods to ask  Francesca why wasn't TYT's  transphobia and racism enough to make you walk?  
 
She stayed for years.   She only left when she was fired.
 
How pathetic is that?
 

And Zac and Cody, how pathetic are they?  
 
 
People are being deported from this country, Chump is purging our education systems and museums of Black history and women's history and LGBTQ+ history.  He is talking like a madman of seizing the land of foreign countries.  He is refusing to follow court orders.  He's carrying out a ton of crazy and illegal activities.

And where is THE VANGUARD?
 
 
Serving up another year's worth of segments telling viewers Cenk and Ana are bad bosses!'
 

At this late date, how is that even news?
 
 
 And when it comes to Francesca's firing?  If you were working the counter at Burger King and you did a video on your boss and you insulted them and you said you were scared of them and you mocked them, exactly how long do you think you'd have that job?
 

Silly and Billy -- Cenk's name for the two boyz -- can't stop making fools out of themselves.  


Unlike the two toddlers, we don't have to redeem ourselves with regards to TYT.  Our souls are intact because we never mistook TYT for an informative program or one worth watching or one worth praising.
 

But Zac and Cody did.  Is that why they're overcompensating with this obsession over the TYT work place?


It was cute in the last months watching them talk to Mehdi Hasan about Mehdi's Jill Stein interview.  We praised Medhi for that interview.  
 
 
But wasn't it strange watching the boyz grovel over Mehdi?  Didn't it bother anyone that only months before, Zac and Gavin were pimping Jill Stein.  Just like Kyle had.  Yeah, they came on board in a luke warm manner for Kamala but only after they pimped everyone else.  They were for Cornel West.  And then they were for Marianne Williamson.  And then they were for Jill Stein.  In less than 18 months, that's what they served up.  

That's how shallow Zac and Cody are.  There is no thought deeper with those two than one of them burping and the other, after sniffing the air, asking, "Did you have Mexican?"  

Food and gossip, that's all they can really handle as they veer from one half-thought to the next trying to recall the words to their bittersweet nursery rhyme.
 

Grasp that Richard Nixon had an enemies' list while Donald Chump works from an enemies roll -- an enemies' ledger -- yet we've got THE VANGUARD serving up the 'hot goss' like their E! buzz mavens.

 

 Stop the insanity. 



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