BW Manilowe

From Deadine: The SAG (SAG-AFTRA) Awards Will Now Be Presented on Sunday, April 4, So As Not to Compete with the Grammys The Grammys will be held on March 14th. Blame it all on the stupid COVID-19 virus (against which I’m supposed to get my first vaccination tomorrow, BTW).

I think Quarterflash had more than 1 hit, as well. I recognized at least 4 song titles on their Wikipedia singles discography. I was gonna say Linda Ronstadt, because I’d heard, multiple times, she had to have her nose reconstructed, apparently multiple times, due to heavy Coke snorting, but she, in no way, can be considered a “one-hit wonder”.

Regarding the bolded: The first TV show I know of Elisabeth Moss having a regular, or semi-regular, gig in was NBC’s The West Wing (she played Zoey, the youngest daughter of President Josiah [Jed] Bartlet & his wife, First Lady Dr. Abigail [Abbey] Bartlet), which I wouldn’t necessarily call an R-rated show. Maybe PG-13/TV-14 at best. She then moved on to AMC’s Mad Men, which may be borderline R. Her current Hulu show, The Handmaid’s Tale, I would probably call R-rated though. I would agree all 3 shows are “prestige” shows, however.

I’m sure they made arrangements; especially in the super brief time since Siegfried’s illness was announced. As far as I know, a number of the animals are now part of an outdoor attraction at the Mirage called something like The Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy, & have been for years now. I would assume the animals already there would stay there & perhaps those still at the house would join them, or go somewhere else they’ll be equally well taken care of. 1 of my longtime best friends, whom I saw Siegfried & Roy’s Mirage Las Vegas show with, at least twice, lives in Vegas (my parents saw them once, from front seats & the elephant took a dump onstage during the show, near their seats) & will hopefully keep me posted on developments with the remaining animals they had at home as they become known. Considering how close Siegfried & Roy apparently once were, though maybe not as much recently (& not necessarily because of their ages or Roy’s injury), I really didn’t expect Siegfried to live terribly much longer after Roy died (he lasted 8 or 9 months); sort of like how the elder President Bush died fairly soon after his wife, Barbara, preceded him. RIP Siegfried & Roy... SARMOTI & thanks for the memories!

I read that Lasorda had a heart attack at home. Also, Cozi TV (normally a digital subchannel—the ones listed as the channel number followed by a decimal point & a number 1 or above) is airing a tribute to the late Tanya Roberts today, starting at 3PM Eastern/2PM Central (they normally air a 3-hour block of Charlie’s Angels episodes from 3-6PM Eastern/2-5PM Central on Saturdays, anyway). The trailer I saw said it would include the first episode with Tanya’s character, Julie, as an Angel, which is a 2-part episode. So it’s probably Tanya’s introductory CA episode & another with her character. Cozi TV streams on YouTube TV & Hulu, & I think it’s on at least certain cable companies; check local listings for other ways to watch, if interested

USA Today just sent out a notification on my iPhone (just before Noon Eastern) saying that former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has died at 93. More info to come...

Don’t forget: ION Television starts running repeats, in order, with the Pilot, at 9AM Eastern/8AM Central. If you get this after that time, no worries! They’re running eps until 3AM Eastern/Central tonight/tomorrow morning. Then picking up where they left off (I think either ep 118 or 119) on SUNDAY morning at 9AM Eastern/8AM Central.

As I remember, it used to be a Breyer’s product. I wonder why Good Humor makes it now?

From NBC4 Los Angeles: Food Network Personality Kerry Vincent Dead at 75 Kerry Vincent was the Food Network’s stern Aussie-born Judge/Show Host (she later moved to the US & she & her husband, Doug, lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma/the Tulsa area) on Food Network Challenge & many/most of the network’s shows relating to cakes, baking, & bakeries over the years, although she apparently hadn’t appeared on the network since a gingerbread-related show that might’ve only aired as recently as 2019. She was also a Hall of Fame cake artist, author, & known for pioneering several unique techniques in sugar craft. Tulsa designated October 6th “Kerry Vincent Day” in her honor, for her contributions to the city. She also co-founded the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. She was 75 & died of an undisclosed illness (the obit linked is quoted as saying she was a very private person about anything but cake, & she didn’t want her illness made public; it also said she was no longer in any pain & that there would be no services at her request).

In the “Delinda’s Box” episode (where Delinda was kidnapped by a guy called “Chips”, I think, & left buried underground in a box [modeled after a real-life 1970s kidnapping], or at least the idea was for Ed to think she was in the underground box all the time, until he paid the ransom), what the heck was “Chips” pissed at Ed for? I don’t think they explained that very well. It just seemed like some random guy, who may or may not have had some connection to Ed, decided he was gonna kidnap Delinda, make fun of Ed & Jillian’s choice of the name “Delinda Deline” for her, & then at least make Ed think she was buried in an underground box until he ransomed her (& Ed would apparently get killed by a tracking device he was forced to wear, after paying the ransom), though she was later seen being held above ground in the hideout belonging to “Chips” & his cohorts. It was easier to figure out why Ed was kidnapped by that plumbing contractor, put into a bathtub & cuffed to the faucet (he refused to pay the guy for bad work) than why “Chips” kidnapped Delinda.

The show seems to alternate between E! & USA Network.

Honestly, I don’t think so. They had to start cutting the budget around S6 & definitely in S7 (which is why there was so much focus on the campaign trail & so many characters who started out as Bartlet staffers, ride or die, left the White House & his administration to help get the next guy from their political party elected to succeed Bartlet, & then didn’t appear in every episode of the season like they had previously because they were trying to focus on the Vinick campaign 1 week, the Santos campaign the next, as I remember. They had to cut the budget to even get an S7, & the original cast members who were still with the show by then had to agree to not appear in at least 1 ep apiece that last season, in order to keep the cast salaries (they’re normally paid per ep) down. The longer a show remains on the air, the more it costs to produce; especially when it comes to cast salaries, which start out at a certain level & get higher every so often, depending on how big the actor is, to start with, & how long they stay with the show/the show stays on the air. And, in the case of a show like Hawaii Five-0, which (perhaps unexpectedly, to many) ended a pretty successful, 10-season run last April, if the show’s filmed completely on location, the longer you film on location, the more expensive it gets to film as well. But you pretty much need to film something set in Hawaii, or another tropical location, actually in Hawaii (or the other tropical location involved) because it’s hard to duplicate Hawaii successfully on the Mainland or anywhere else outside of Hawaii or the other tropical location.

I signed up for that new Discovery + streaming network which debuted yesterday (January 4th); programming content is made up of older (maybe current as well; I’m not sure yet) episodes/seasons of shows previously seen on the various channels (& there are a lot of them) under the “Discovery Channel” corporate ownership umbrella, plus original content produced specifically for Discovery +. Subscription pricing is $4.99/Month with ads, $6.99/Month without ads; a 1-week free trial is available. I’m going through the programming offerings, I noticed they include 3 seasons worth of I Found the Gown. I also noticed Discovery + has, I think, every, or almost every, iteration of the SYTTD franchise that has ever been produced: The Atlanta edition & almost all the foreign editions; the Bridesmaids edition; the Prom edition; the America edition; Big Bliss; Randy Knows Best; Say Yes: Wedding SOS; Hayley Ever After: The Dress; Randy to the Rescue, & a Discovery + original, Say Yes to the Dress: In Sickness and in Health, which is a new show with Randy & Hayley Paige helping brides still have their weddings despite the rampant pandemic affecting the country (& the world). They don’t have the Say Yes to the Dress: Ireland version & maybe 1 more, though. I think I listed all the versions of the franchise they have though. Regarding the “mothership”, Say Yes to the Dress, when you click on the show icon with Randy’s pic, you get a message saying the show will be streaming 24/7 on its own channel (a channel within the Discovery + streaming platform, like TLC, Animal Planet, Food Network, etc.), by January 29th... a whole channel devoted just to that show! Clicking the SYTTD icon also gets you 8 eps of a show called Bride Gone Styled, “hosted” by people other than Randy, anyone else from Kleinfeld, or Hayley Paige; it must’ve been a prototype for the show. It looked, to me, more like What Not to Wear, though, & I think the female host may have been Stacy London, but I’m not sure.

With respect, Del Monte’s canned pudding is/was just called “Pudding Cup” (I Googled the name because I knew Hunt’s made Snack Pack); Hunt’s made, & still makes, Snack Pack pudding. I think Jell-O may be the best pudding of this type though. I remember the Morton Frozen Donuts. My mom got them at least once, maybe more. I can’t remember if they were good or not, compared to a donut shop version.

Here’s her obit from Variety. She was actually, like, the second major celebrity I did a March of Dimes Telethon (then called a “Telerama”) with, after The Virginian’s James Drury (who died earlier this year... I think). It was in Montgomery, Alabama, I’m pretty sure (remember this was almost 50 years ago... seriously dating myself here), back in either 1971 (they had me do some stuff before my actual year, to try me out), or 1972. Like mostly every celebrity I worked with, she was really nice. She signed a picture of herself for me with a *really long* autograph (I don’t remember what it said), while a lot of other celebs would either sign something “generic”, like “Best Wishes” & their name, or just their name. I like to hope I “connected” more, somehow, with the celebs who signed something that wasn’t just a “generic” autograph sentiment or their name. The standard question, whenever Gilligan’s Island comes up, is usually “Ginger or Mary Ann?” (“Mary Ann or Ginger?”)... For me, it’s definitely Mary Ann. I think this makes Tina Louise (ironically, the cast member who wants to have the least to do with Gilligan’s Island) the last surviving cast member of the show. Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong.

From Deadline: Joe Clark Dies; High School Principal Who Inspired ‘Lean On Me’ Was 82 Morgan Freeman played him in the movie. John Legend & others were working on a TV adaptation.

Well, at least the Deadline obit mentioned his wife, nieces & nephews, sisters-in-law & brother-in-law. The Wrap obit doesn’t mention survivors, Variety mentioned his wife, grandchildren, & nieces & nephews. I suppose it’s possible they should’ve said “grandnieces” & “grandnephews”, since he had nieces & nephews & the former are the children of the latter (I learned that by writing about the birth of actress Emma Roberts’ son earlier today—she’s Oscar winner Julia Roberts’ niece & that means Emma’s son is Julia’s grandnephew. Emma’s father, by the way, is Julia’s brother, Oscar nominee Eric Roberts).

Regarding the bolded: Me too. It’s not the same kind of drama, necessarily, but I’m still mad that Las Vegas ended with an unresolved cliffhanger. Danny & Delinda (he runs the casino/resort where the series is set, her father used to own/run the hotel & is a former CIA operative on the run because he’s suspected of killing the father of 1 of his employees who abused the employee when she was a child) were expecting a baby & getting married in at least a double ceremony with Sam & Vic (I think that was his name). Sam is the resort’s casino host (in charge of getting all the mega rich gamblers, or “whales”, to come gamble at her resort & she mostly spares no expense to make that happen); Vic is her ex-brother-in-law & (I think) they’re trying to buy/buy back the resort (Vic’s late brother/Sam’s late ex-husband briefly owned the resort at 1 time). Delinda started having pregnancy complications & we never found out if anybody got married or what happened to the baby.

Maybe this isn’t as weird as I think, but is it unusual that Willliam Link’s survivors include his grandchildren, but not his children? I mean, he had to have children to get the grandchildren, right? I wouldn’t think the children predeceased him (but it should be mentioned, if so). Maybe there were family-related issues & they weren’t speaking at the time he died. I know it’s none of my business, but I noticed it & it piqued my curiosity.

Of course it’s not done. There’s 3 whole days left for it to mess with us, & I’m sure it will.

From CNBC: Pierre Cardin, Groundbreaking Fashion Designer and Master Marketer, Dies at 98

And I don’t think they ever did find out, did they?

I did a lot of March of Dimes-related publicity as the National Poster Child (Poster Girl), when I was in the Atlanta area, with Phil Niekro. He was a very nice guy.

If you don’t recognize the name Kathleen Kennedy (from that Kennedy family generation, anyway), she was the Kennedy sister nicknamed “Kick”, who later died in a plane crash. She has a namesake niece, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, whose parents were Former Attorney General/US Senator Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy & his wife, Ethel. She is a Former Attorney General of the State of Maryland. Sadly, 1 of her 4 daughters, Maeve Townsend McKean, & Maeve’s young son, Gideon, died in a drowning accident earlier this year (2020).

So far, it’s still on Apple TV (which I currently have a free year of thanks to recently buying a new iPhone)/iTunes. So you can still add your favorite eps/the whole series to your preferred Apple device. I also heard, the other day, that 1 of the streaming devices (I think either Roku or Fire, but I forget which) which wasn’t carrying HBO Max was to start carrying it either this past or this coming Thursday.