I loved Schitt’s Creek, but it occurs to me I haven’t seen the final season. Abbot Elementary is fantastic, and I really love the verbal zingers on The Goldbergs.
I LOVE sunny! But I had no idea it was still making new episodes! I lost track of it, and also the Dee actress has been in a couple other things over the years, including The Mick, which I LOVED.
Awkwafina is on our list, already watched Somebody Somewhere, the other one I haven’t heard of.
I hear you re the need for comedy in the face of real life’s drama. For me it’s action movies and spy thrillers that bring me comfort. I’m working on an essay about this, actually! It will be a chapter in my book, so I’m working out a draft for Substack.
I actually had written a paragraph about how all the actors (sans DeVito) have starred/co-starred on other TV series in the past decade. Dee on The Mick and Hacks, Dennis on The Mindy Project and A.P. Bio, Mac and Charlie on Mythic Quest. But I took it out to keep it from being extra long.
I shall add a few of these to my watch list. I’m sure you’ve seen Ted Lasso which is sweet and hilarious. I just started watching the 3rd season of The Great last night and forgot how sneakingly funny it can be.
It's official....you're fabulous! There's not a single thing I'm even remotely interested in in this post (or know anything about), but I still wouldn't miss any word!! I enjoyed the trailers, very helpful for those, like me, who knew nothing about these shows...and, would probably spend time with "The Other Two," if only to see what ANY (not necessarily these two) SNL writers would create, and see how funny it might be.
I stopped everything, though, on the Nora clip, when she and the elf, in bed, suddenly brought up Bath & Body Works! Ahhhh, it's Semi-Annual Sale (for the next two weeks)!!! There are a couple of sets I'm waiting to go down to 75% off, but if they don't, I'm not about to use my two freebies I've accumulated, 'cause you know, I...................oh, right....Steve......OK, I'm back!
That's also telling, though....anything in pop culture....if sitcom writers are dropping it into scripts, they must feel it's a big thing. I imagine the writer's room is filled with fine fragrance mist trading, and folks trading notes on just how hideous the new Plumeria re-package is (it's not; it smells pretty good, and the packaging is cool).
I've even mentioned that phenomenon on Thursday Office Threads, comparing Substack to late '90s, just-starting eBay. For its early years, people were like, "Online auction site??! You're crazy! Who ever heard of such a thing?!" In the early years of the century, though, eBay started to be dropped into sitcom scripts.....not MAKING eBay a thing, but simply reflecting that, organically, it had become a popular enough thing to work it into scripts. Apparently, BBW is entering that pop culture arena. Good.....it isn't just ME and "my dirty little secret" of dozens of shower gels and body creams!😱
'Stack will be a similar thing. Now: "I'm sorry, a WHAT that I should subscribe to? A newsletter? I don't think so!" But, I think we're on the ground floor of what will become ubiquitous shortly. Your job? See if any of these above shows have ever mentioned 'Stack in dialogue, and alert us if/when they do!!
I loved seeing that "Eight is Enough" opening....made me curious as to who wrote and sang that theme! Again, well done, maestro!
I also get a kick out of your unique love of BBW. Wait, that's a different acronym.:) It goes to show that we all have our unique idiosyncrasies. I don't think I've ever stepped foot inside a Bath and Body Works store!
Give it a shot, Steve! As I've gabbed to some of the gals there, I don't need to smell like flowers, but smell like cookies?!? I can SO do that!!! "Fresh Coconut and Cotton"? OK! Plus, as a writer, I find it fascinating between what "the boys in the lab" come up with and what the marketing team ends up with calling a particular scent!
And, then there's the scent notes! For one of my early fave scents (about 2 years ago I "joined"), Sleighrides and Snuggles, one of the scent notes was "Sun-kissed Icicles"! Now, we ALL remember how good THOSE smelled as a kid, right? It's a gas.....a hobby, and as a lifelong collector (stamps, coins, rocks, baseball cards, records, autographs, ticket stubs, books, ad infinitum), this sort of scratches that itch (of course, that could just be my new shower gel).
Funny, you should mention that Eight Is Enough clip. I ended up down a Willie Aames rabbit hole on YouTube. He actually had a band that played on a lot of talkshows back in the late 70s and early 80s. So you can definitely write up a music piece for Front Row, just using actors from that iconic TV series.
I don't think I remember Willie recording. I'll have to look into that! Just did....yep. One single on a Columbia affiliate, Lorimar Records, 1979, a ballad, "You're the Only One That I Ever Needed" b/w "Why Don't You Answer," a gooey disco thing. Amazing I never got it. I was smack dab at the Houston record store then. Had he had an album, I'm sure I would've known about it and gotten it. But, one single....one'n'done!
His Willie Aames & Paradise might have been the one on talk shows, but the single is billed strictly to Willie, and it's more likely CBS gathered musicians to form a band behind him just for the talk show circuit to push the single. Had the single done anything (I'm sure it was contracted), they'd let him record an album.
By '79, such TV teeny actors had recorded albums, like Scott Baio, Donny Most, Jimmy & Kristy McNichol, and others! So, by the time Willie rolled around TV to records was a thing!
I don't know what Willie's story is, beyond the acting as a young adult, and being a devout Christian. His music career, as far as I've been able to glean (besides a band with whom, I guess, he played various rooms for years), consists of just one lone single in '79.
I've never been a recording artist, but I come close to actually tying his output! What do you know about his story (musically, anyway)? I guess I should read more of his bio, which I haven't...just was looking for🎶, per Steve's earlier mention.
Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023Liked by Steve Goldberg
Besides acting & singing, he was a cruise ship director for several years before giving acting another shot. If memory serves, he met his current wife after she sent him a fan letter, and they wrote each other for years.
Wow, pretty interesting, and slightly....uh, bizarre! A cruise ship director?! And, that fan letter thing has happened to some other (or a couple other) entertainers, I seem to recall! As Arte Johnson's "Laugh In" character used to say, "Vedddddy intellesting!"😊
About '78 or '79, Baio recorded his album on Scotti Bros. Records (dist. by Atlantic). When I got to L.A. (from Houston) in '80, my lone shot at trying to latch onto a label gig was interviewing, one day, at Scotti Bros. Like most, their office was on upper Sunset. I was 25.
I had no idea what I wanted to do (or what I COULD do), and the exec, bless his heart for not laughing in my face or simply tossing me out, must've thought I was crazy! I just knew who Baio was, had and liked his album, and knew that, as a tiny label, I might have a shot! You've heard the phrase young and foolish?🤡👈
I have watched and enjoyed all of these. Still have some episodes left in The Other Two...Molly Shannon is always magic. And haven't checked out the new season of Somebody Somewhere yet. Late to the party...for Party Down. Just started watching it. I crave more sitcoms, a lot of new ones don't hit the right notes.
Loved Party Down when it first aired. Had a mad crush on Lizzy Caplan. Would like to watch the new season but can't pay for another streaming service. It'll appear on one of the others soon enough. Have you watched Abbott Elementary?
Love this post...but just have to correct one thing. ;) Netflix definitely existed in 2005, b/c that's when I was working there. Ha! They weren't doing streaming yet, but the business has been around since the late '90s.
I loved Schitt’s Creek, but it occurs to me I haven’t seen the final season. Abbot Elementary is fantastic, and I really love the verbal zingers on The Goldbergs.
I LOVE sunny! But I had no idea it was still making new episodes! I lost track of it, and also the Dee actress has been in a couple other things over the years, including The Mick, which I LOVED.
Awkwafina is on our list, already watched Somebody Somewhere, the other one I haven’t heard of.
I hear you re the need for comedy in the face of real life’s drama. For me it’s action movies and spy thrillers that bring me comfort. I’m working on an essay about this, actually! It will be a chapter in my book, so I’m working out a draft for Substack.
I actually had written a paragraph about how all the actors (sans DeVito) have starred/co-starred on other TV series in the past decade. Dee on The Mick and Hacks, Dennis on The Mindy Project and A.P. Bio, Mac and Charlie on Mythic Quest. But I took it out to keep it from being extra long.
Oh yeah, we loved AP Bio and Hacks as well!
My (ahem) "younger" coworkers have figured out how to use the monitors in our breakroom for streaming. "Sunny" is almost always on.
See- that’s another benefit of longevity. Eventually the younger generation become fans keeping it forever in the zeitgeist!
I shall add a few of these to my watch list. I’m sure you’ve seen Ted Lasso which is sweet and hilarious. I just started watching the 3rd season of The Great last night and forgot how sneakingly funny it can be.
I still need to watch season3 of Ted Lasso. And “great” suggestion on The Great. That one has slipped through the cracks.
Can’t wait for the fab collab on Somebody, Somewhere. Might have to go back and rewatch part of season 1. Duplass Bros have not disappointed here
I should probably do that too...key word being “should.”
It's official....you're fabulous! There's not a single thing I'm even remotely interested in in this post (or know anything about), but I still wouldn't miss any word!! I enjoyed the trailers, very helpful for those, like me, who knew nothing about these shows...and, would probably spend time with "The Other Two," if only to see what ANY (not necessarily these two) SNL writers would create, and see how funny it might be.
I stopped everything, though, on the Nora clip, when she and the elf, in bed, suddenly brought up Bath & Body Works! Ahhhh, it's Semi-Annual Sale (for the next two weeks)!!! There are a couple of sets I'm waiting to go down to 75% off, but if they don't, I'm not about to use my two freebies I've accumulated, 'cause you know, I...................oh, right....Steve......OK, I'm back!
That's also telling, though....anything in pop culture....if sitcom writers are dropping it into scripts, they must feel it's a big thing. I imagine the writer's room is filled with fine fragrance mist trading, and folks trading notes on just how hideous the new Plumeria re-package is (it's not; it smells pretty good, and the packaging is cool).
I've even mentioned that phenomenon on Thursday Office Threads, comparing Substack to late '90s, just-starting eBay. For its early years, people were like, "Online auction site??! You're crazy! Who ever heard of such a thing?!" In the early years of the century, though, eBay started to be dropped into sitcom scripts.....not MAKING eBay a thing, but simply reflecting that, organically, it had become a popular enough thing to work it into scripts. Apparently, BBW is entering that pop culture arena. Good.....it isn't just ME and "my dirty little secret" of dozens of shower gels and body creams!😱
'Stack will be a similar thing. Now: "I'm sorry, a WHAT that I should subscribe to? A newsletter? I don't think so!" But, I think we're on the ground floor of what will become ubiquitous shortly. Your job? See if any of these above shows have ever mentioned 'Stack in dialogue, and alert us if/when they do!!
I loved seeing that "Eight is Enough" opening....made me curious as to who wrote and sang that theme! Again, well done, maestro!
I also get a kick out of your unique love of BBW. Wait, that's a different acronym.:) It goes to show that we all have our unique idiosyncrasies. I don't think I've ever stepped foot inside a Bath and Body Works store!
Give it a shot, Steve! As I've gabbed to some of the gals there, I don't need to smell like flowers, but smell like cookies?!? I can SO do that!!! "Fresh Coconut and Cotton"? OK! Plus, as a writer, I find it fascinating between what "the boys in the lab" come up with and what the marketing team ends up with calling a particular scent!
And, then there's the scent notes! For one of my early fave scents (about 2 years ago I "joined"), Sleighrides and Snuggles, one of the scent notes was "Sun-kissed Icicles"! Now, we ALL remember how good THOSE smelled as a kid, right? It's a gas.....a hobby, and as a lifelong collector (stamps, coins, rocks, baseball cards, records, autographs, ticket stubs, books, ad infinitum), this sort of scratches that itch (of course, that could just be my new shower gel).
Funny, you should mention that Eight Is Enough clip. I ended up down a Willie Aames rabbit hole on YouTube. He actually had a band that played on a lot of talkshows back in the late 70s and early 80s. So you can definitely write up a music piece for Front Row, just using actors from that iconic TV series.
I don't think I remember Willie recording. I'll have to look into that! Just did....yep. One single on a Columbia affiliate, Lorimar Records, 1979, a ballad, "You're the Only One That I Ever Needed" b/w "Why Don't You Answer," a gooey disco thing. Amazing I never got it. I was smack dab at the Houston record store then. Had he had an album, I'm sure I would've known about it and gotten it. But, one single....one'n'done!
His Willie Aames & Paradise might have been the one on talk shows, but the single is billed strictly to Willie, and it's more likely CBS gathered musicians to form a band behind him just for the talk show circuit to push the single. Had the single done anything (I'm sure it was contracted), they'd let him record an album.
By '79, such TV teeny actors had recorded albums, like Scott Baio, Donny Most, Jimmy & Kristy McNichol, and others! So, by the time Willie rolled around TV to records was a thing!
You could probably wring 3-4 posts out of Aames' story alone. It's quite a ride.
I don't know what Willie's story is, beyond the acting as a young adult, and being a devout Christian. His music career, as far as I've been able to glean (besides a band with whom, I guess, he played various rooms for years), consists of just one lone single in '79.
I've never been a recording artist, but I come close to actually tying his output! What do you know about his story (musically, anyway)? I guess I should read more of his bio, which I haven't...just was looking for🎶, per Steve's earlier mention.
Besides acting & singing, he was a cruise ship director for several years before giving acting another shot. If memory serves, he met his current wife after she sent him a fan letter, and they wrote each other for years.
Wow, pretty interesting, and slightly....uh, bizarre! A cruise ship director?! And, that fan letter thing has happened to some other (or a couple other) entertainers, I seem to recall! As Arte Johnson's "Laugh In" character used to say, "Vedddddy intellesting!"😊
I could write about how the movie "Zapped" with Willie and Scott Baio was enjoyed by this 15 year old teen! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084945/
About '78 or '79, Baio recorded his album on Scotti Bros. Records (dist. by Atlantic). When I got to L.A. (from Houston) in '80, my lone shot at trying to latch onto a label gig was interviewing, one day, at Scotti Bros. Like most, their office was on upper Sunset. I was 25.
I had no idea what I wanted to do (or what I COULD do), and the exec, bless his heart for not laughing in my face or simply tossing me out, must've thought I was crazy! I just knew who Baio was, had and liked his album, and knew that, as a tiny label, I might have a shot! You've heard the phrase young and foolish?🤡👈
I’m handing off that project to the great Brad Kyle!😎
I have watched and enjoyed all of these. Still have some episodes left in The Other Two...Molly Shannon is always magic. And haven't checked out the new season of Somebody Somewhere yet. Late to the party...for Party Down. Just started watching it. I crave more sitcoms, a lot of new ones don't hit the right notes.
Loved Party Down when it first aired. Had a mad crush on Lizzy Caplan. Would like to watch the new season but can't pay for another streaming service. It'll appear on one of the others soon enough. Have you watched Abbott Elementary?
Nope, but if you recommend Abott, I may give it a try. :)
Love this post...but just have to correct one thing. ;) Netflix definitely existed in 2005, b/c that's when I was working there. Ha! They weren't doing streaming yet, but the business has been around since the late '90s.
Dang it! Of course; I forgot about the DVD rental side of it...duh! But that’s why I have volunteer fact checkers like you on staff!🤓
Yep, I used to get those floppy, red paper envelopes in the mail for my Netflix fix 2 decades ago!