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December 14, 2001

I'M ON A DEADLINE and I didn't have anything in particular I wanted to post here, so I thought I'd throw together a quick update.  The photo above was selected just because I thought it was kinda neat, and because I somehow neglected to say anything here upon the passing of George Harrison.

I wasn't the only one who took scant notice.  Had the events of 9/11 not already plunged a lot of folks into a state of ongoing mourning — and made us thoroughly conscious of our own, meager mortalities — the death of another fourth of The Beatles would have been a major kick in the karma.

As I look at the above photo, I can't help but think what Ed Sullivan must have been thinking as it was taken...something along the lines of, "The people I have to put up with to keep my show high in the ratings."  From all reports, America's Master Showman — at least on Sunday nights on CBS — had no special affection for any of the zillions of singers and comedians and jugglers and performing anthropoids who traipsed across the stage where Mr. Letterman now works.  Ed just loved the success and the money and especially the fame.  When, in one famous network match-up, Steve Allen went head-to-head against him on NBC, a lot of TV reporters wagered heavily on Steverino.  After all, it was Steve, the man who could do anything — sing, do jokes, play piano, write songs, etc. — against Ed, the man who couldn't even introduce Jack Carter without it coming out "Jack Carson."  (My fave of all the reported Sullivan gaffes was the time he described an actress as "currently starving on Broadway.")

Sullivan was an appallingly amateurish host, but that was an indicator of his greatest skill: He was a survivor.  When he first started hosting The Toast of the Town — later redubbed The Ed Sullivan Show — just about everyone on TV was appallingly amateurish.  Ed just had the tenacity and drive that allowed him to stick around, long after the professionals had encamped.  It was almost charming that he never got any better.

But he hung in there.  He beat The Steve Allen Show because, I suspect, he had the greater need to succeed.  After all, Allen knew that if his show got cancelled, there'd be another Steve Allen Show along, sooner or later — and there was.  (There were several, in fact.)  Sullivan, it is said, lived with the belief that his show was his one shot at being a famous, well-paid TV star.  He believed — probably accurately — that once it went off, he'd be back to being just another sports/Broadway columnist in the increasingly less-lucrative newspaper industry.  So he fought like mad, trampling over competitors to book the biggest stars, the hottest acts...which led to the night The Beatles graced his stage.

In the Billy Crystal movie, Mr. Saturday Night, the comedian character he played had the misfortune to be booked that night to precede John, Paul, Ringo and George.  This meant facing an audience of hysterical teen-age girls who resented every second anyone not from Liverpool was on stage.  Well, that happened...to my friends, Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, who were the luckless comedy team on that evening's show.  Charlie can still wake up in a cold sweat, recalling the worst challenge any comics ever faced.

But it made them a part of history...for something changed in America that night.  When Elvis graced the Sullivan line-up — from the waist up — the change commenced, and when The Fab Four sang "She Loves You" or "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" or whatever they performed that night, the transformation was complete.  The youth of the day had won, and the world would be all about them from that moment on...with the music of The Beatles often playing in the background.

I have no idea how much George Harrison had to do with this revolution, though I doubt he was carrying pictures of Chairman Mao.  Perhaps he was just one of those historical figures who was fortunate enough to be near the epicenter when the Earth moved.  Everyone seems to feel that John and Paul were the heart and brains of the band, not necessarily in that order.  Perhaps Mr. Harrison was just a good musician.  His solo albums — which I seem to have liked more than a lot of rabid Beatles fans did — would bear that out.  But, hey, he financed a couple of the better Monty Python projects and even put in a cameo in The Rutles...and I don't recall anyone ever saying anything bad about him.  For that alone, we should weep for the man...that is, when we're not weeping for the sad fact that The Beatles, and therefore a lot of us, are now old men.  Physically, at least.

THIS TIME, I'd like to call your attention to the Spinsanity piece, which finds errors of candor and omission in the above article by Mr. Scheer and the piece I recommended last time by Molly Ivins.  Still, all three pieces make some valid points.  I suspect Enron is one of those scandals which, like Whitewater, will be kept alive, not out of any thirst for justice but because it's politically useful to some.

Spinsanity is becoming one of my favorite sites — one that often mirrors my own point of view is that most folks on both sides of the political aisle are at least a little full of manure.  How many sites besides mine have you seen that will direct your attention to articles by Robert Scheer and William Buckley?

OVER AT THE Telecharge website, whereupon one can theoretically, occasionally purchase tickets for The Producers on Broadway, they currently have the following two announcements up:

THE FIRST DATES AVAILABLE FOR ORCHESTRA SEATS ARE IN AUGUST, 2002!

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are currently contracted for performances only through March 17, 2002. At this time, the producers do not know if Nathan or Matthew will renew their contracts beyond this date. JUST A REMINDER - All sales are final and there will not be any refunds or exchanges.

When the show first opened, there was rampant speculation as to which Big Stars they'd bring in to replace Nathan and Matthew.  Now, I'm wondering: What do they need Big Stars for?  If they're sold out 'til next August and not giving refunds no matter who assumes the leads, why spring for someone who's going to expect a piece of the gross?  Better to save those folks for whenever they start having empty seats...some time in 2003, maybe later...

THEY RECENTLY RAN IN Salon Magazine a rather clumsily-conducted interview with Kurt Vonnegut that still managed to yield some wonderful quotes.  My favorite — and this is one of those lines I'll probably be quoting myself often — is the one at the end of Mr. Vonnegut's reply below:

What is the purpose of life?

Well, I have a son who writes very well. He just wrote one book; it's called "The Eden Express." It's my son Mark, who is a pediatrician and who went crazy and recovered to graduate from Harvard Medical School. But anyway, he says, and I've quoted him in a couple of my books, "We're here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

I believe you need a Salon subscription to access the whole piece.  This is another reason why that's well worth it.

WE'LL HAVE A major update of this website up on December 18 as my combination Christmas/First Anniversary gift to you all...lots of newly-posted articles and departments.  And now, I have to get back to that script...

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