I was reading Ken Levine’s column last month. By sheer circumstance, I may have been one of the first people in the country to notice the now-famous Chuck Lorre placards:
Times Union Section: LIFE & LEISURE Page: D7 Date: Wednesday, October 1, 1997 `DHARMA & GREG’ HAS HIDDEN MESSAGE ROB OWEN TV/Radio writer
The new TV season is only in its second week, but already there has been a noteworthy sighting of minutiae — an insider’s joke during the end credits of ABC’s “Dharma & Greg.”
Roger Green of Albany telephoned last week to point out the producer’s credit for Chuck Lorre Productions that included lines of type running down the screen in less than two seconds.
Green videotaped “Dharma & Greg” and by freeze framing it was able to read the statement from the show’s executive producer, which included the following:
“I believe that the obsessive worship of movie, TV and sports figures is less likely to produce spiritual gain than praying to Thor.”
“I believe that the Laws of Karma do not apply to show business, where good things happen to bad people on a fairly regular basis.”
“I believe when ABC reads this, I’m gonna be in b-i-i-g trouble.”
A spokesperson for the show’s production company said this type of credit is unusual, but wouldn’t confirm whether it will be different each week.
But the lightning-fast statement concluded with this hint: “Please be sure to tune in again to this vanity card for more of my personal beliefs.”
Set your VCRs tonight for just before 9 p.m. and prepare to freeze frame.
I recall specifically that I taped the new show only because I was about to watch it when my good friend, the late Lillian Johnson, called right at 8:30. So I taped the show on the VCR. Then I watched it immediately thereafter and had a “what was that?” moment.
It was three weeks before I saw the phenomenon mentioned in Entertainment Weekly, so I’m going to assume I was among the first to note it.
See all of Chuck Lorre’s placards, for The Big Bang Theory. Two and a Half Men and Dharma & Greg here. Apparently, he wasn’t doing the messages for Cybill or Grace Under Fire.
Not so incidentally, I can’t help but think of Jenna Elfman whenever I hear about the Dharma Initiative on Lost. ROG
I have loved television for decades. I’m unapologetic about it. I don’t watch “only PBS and the History Channel” either. I like commercial, sometimes trashy TV. I can still tell you the nights certain programs were on forty years ago. I have books about the Dick van Dyke Show, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Colombo, Taxi, and JEOPARDY!, plus several general texts.
But a couple things have happened in the last couple years that seems to have lessened the allure of the tube. One was the writers’ strike. Ironically, I supported the writers on their position regarding the strike. But my TV mojo just got lost, just as it did for baseball after the 1994 strike, when it took about three years to get it back.
The other event took place in early December. I had recorded a number of television shows on my DVR that I had not had a chance to see. I was two weeks behind on the dramas (all on ABC). The comedies (all on NBC) were even further back; I had seen no 30 Rock, and the The Office and Earl were likewise five or six weeks behind, at least. The were a couple news programs, about three weeks of JEOPARDY! plus shows for Lydia to watch. The power in our house went out only for an hour on a Saturday night during an ice storm. But when the power surged back, it fried the DVR.
What I discovered is that I could watch the dramas on abc.com, and over a week or two, I caught up. Thank goodness for the Advent season, when those shows are either preempted or repeated. But going to find all of those comedies, presumably on hulu.com felt like…work. So, it’s likely I’ll just catch a couple December reruns and move forward with the new programs, though I have caught some Office webisodes.
My friend Fred and I once had this conversation about TV shows. Generally speaking, he doesn’t give up on a show. Once he starts it, he generally finishes the run, with rare exceptions. I am a bit more willing to cut my losses; American Idol and 24 are just two shows I watched then decided that wasn’t enjoying them enough, but I am sympathetic to his POV, and don’t abandon easily.
Still, I imagine that once the shows I’m watching now go off the air, I may not necessarily pick up new ones. (Yes, I said that last year, and I picked up Life on Mars, but at least that was a one-to-one replacement for Men in Trees.)
One of my shows, Boston Legal, is already gone. (BTW, what’s with those folks writing to TV Guide complaining how liberal the show is? One was shocked, SHOCKED that they made fun of Sarah Palin. Why didn’t they just CHANGE THE CHANNEL? Or wait a week or two, when the show was kaput?)
Two more shows, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money will soon be swimming with the fishes. This will leave Brothers and Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy (stop with the dead lover sex, FCOL!) and the aforementioned Life on Mars, plus the last season of Scrubs on ABC – starts tonight!, and the Thursday comedies on NBC. Once they go off the air, I may be down to news programs, JEOPARDY!, and in season, some sports events. That is, unless Lauren Graham gets another series. Oh, and can somebody tell me when GSN starts rerunning the JEOPARDY! episodes from November 2008?
This is not to say I don’t enjoy what I am viewing. I recommend that you watch at least the beginning of last week’s Bill Moyers Journal, where he celebrates “The Onion”; my favorite headline, “Housing Crisis Vindicates Guy Who Still Lives With Parents”. He also notes that today’s economic and militaristic crises were foretold in the 1933 Marx Brothers classic, “Duck Soup”: MRS. TEASDALE: Gentleman, I’ve already loaned Freedonia more than half the fortune my husband left me. I consider that money lost and now you’re asking for another 20 million dollars. Also on the show: John Lithgow on poetry and Arthur Miller.
I watched the Kennedy Center Honors and there is usually one transcendent moment. This is the one for me: LINK After which, you may wonder Who is Bettye LaVette? And why is this video NOT on CBS?
So, I’ll be curious just what, if anything, will pique my interest in five years. I took Mad Men season 1 from the library last week, but it has only a two-day window, and I ended up seeing none of it. I can imagine to decide to catch this season of The Office or 30 Rock on DVD, perhaps skipping over the episodes I happen to catch on air. What is clear, though, is with online access, DVD and the DVR, TV viewing has most certainly changed for me.
One more thing. The loss of the DVR meant I was watching my little portable b&w TV more often (I could have rewired the cable to the TV directly, but that would have been, you know, work to do and then undo. So I’ve opted order one of those coupons so I can get a discount on buying one of those over-the-air converters, just at a point when the digital TV subsidy program is running out of money. I ordered my coupon a couple weeks ago online, but apparently, they are to arrive via passenger pigeon. *** Postal Service lifts curtain on 2009 stamps, which will feature early, black-and-white TV shows: “Lucy and Ethel lose their struggle with a chocolate assembly line. Joe Friday demands “just the facts” with a penetrating gaze. A secret word brings Groucho a visit from a duck.” “Folks who grew up as television came of age will delight in a 20-stamp set included in the Postal Service’s plans for 2009 recalling early memories of the medium.” This I will buy. “Most of the commemorative stamps are priced at 42 cents, the current first-class rate. However, a rate increase is scheduled in May and the size will depend on the consumer price index.” “The Early TV Memories stamp set is scheduled for release Aug. 11 in Los Angeles.”
One of my racquetball buddies, possibly inspired by the success of the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, was interested to find out who played first base for the World Series winning 1950 Phillies. That would be Eddie Waitkus who played 154 games for the team.
But then I noticed that the left side of the infield, 3B Willie Jones and SS Granny Hamner, each played 157 games. In a 154-game season, how could that be? So I asked Baseball Almanac, because, you know, a librarian just NEEDS to know.
They played three tie games: April 21 at Boston, July 2 (2nd game) at Brooklyn, and August 24 (2nd game) at Chicago.
Ties?
So when they play a tie game, they have to play another one? And the ties didn’t show in the standings, but the individual achievements did?
The ties are supposed to show and it is more complex in respect to the achievements. Prior to 2007 tie games were replayed from the start. Since 2007 they are continued where they left off. If it was a tie before it became official, the stats do not count. If it was official then the stats do count.
So this apparently happened often, but I had just never came across it. Thanks! Someone asked: “I was looking for information on Levon Helm’s song “I Want To Know”. When I googled the song with the singer’s name, I found your blog. How would I find the information I was looking for? I LOVE your Bush countdown!”
As is often the case for a librarian, I get asked questions I’m not entirely sure of the meaning, yet I feel compelled to answer.
I Need to Know was a 1958 hit by Ray Charles and sounds like this. *** Next up: I found a reference to Roger Trafford (Actor, Larry the Lamb (1947) (TV) in your Ramblin’ with Roger, when I was trying to piece together some background of this man. I understood he was the voice over in the film Larry the Lamb. His name actually was Edward Arthur Johnson, born 1918, and he changed his name by deed poll to Roger Trafford. I am following up a very intriguing story, and would love to know what you have on this actor. Was he also on TV? Do you know where he lived, after leaving Nottingham? I believe he had a son. As he heads your piece about all the Rogers, I hope you can help.
Unfortunately, I found little more about Trafford or Larry the Lamb, which, BTW, is a UK program (or programme), so I’m hoping the wisdom of the Internet will come pouring down on me. Help! ROG
I must admit that it was my intention not to add any new shows to my list of programs to record on my DVR and (presumably) eventually watch. From a DVR at 0% on Labor Day, the machine got filled up to about 77% on Halloween weekend, and currently is is the mid 50% range.
As always, we have shows that are hers, hers, theirs, mine and ours.
HERS (the wife): Skating. Unfortunately, the ISU series, save for Skate America, is not airing on any TV network, broadcast or cable. Apparently, this is a particularly big deal since we’re leading into an Olympic year and it’ll be easier to handicap the skaters once you’ve seen them on the Grand Prix circuit. Also one of those home improvement shows on HGTV.
HERS (the daughter): Little Bear. A nice show on Noggin co-created by Maurice Sendak.
THEIRS: Dancing with the Stars. Even I know that 82-year-old Cloris Leachman stuck around longer than her talent would suggest based on her bawdy charm.
MINE: This Week/Meet the Press/ABC World News – current. Everything else is at least a week behind, including JEOPARDY!, CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Also watching: Boston Legal: yes, I know, but it’s the last season. There was actually a pretty good episode, one lacking with most of the supporting cast, in which Kyle Secor (Homicide) played the accused murderer and husband of Alan Shore’s former loves. Pushing Daisies: frankly, I thought this show was too whimsical last season to survive, but ABC brought back virtually everything except Men in Trees. I expect it to get canceled THIS season. BTW, some kind person sent me this link to video content they had received directly from ABC, a new “Inside with the Stars” of Pushing Daisies or here. Dirty Sexy Money: my unapologetic soap opera trash, and I liked Peter Krause from Sports Night and Donald Sutherland from so many things, most recently, Commander in Chief. Grey’s Anatomy: more tolerable since Grey and McDreamy have decided to actually have their damn relationship. Life on Mars: One of the adds to the list. Jason O’Mara has intrigued me going back to a short-lived show called In Justice in 2006. Since then he was a love interest in Men in Trees and an arsonist on The Closer. Additionally, I lived in NYC albeit in 1977, not 1973, but it feels right. Interestingly, this is a short-lived British show that moved to a Los Angeles setting with the cast above to a disastrous result. It now has the cast pictured here and a different venue. Brothers and Sisters: if you’ve ever had siblings…
OURS: With the exception of one Earl and one Office, we’ve watched NOTHING on this list- My Name Is Earl, The Office, and at the suggestion of my wife, an add, 30 Rock.
So I never complain about TV shows being pre-empted. There’s always something in the queue. Frankly, I looked forward to November 12, when the CMA Music Awards scuttled the entire ABC lineup for Wednesday.
And no, I’m not adding anything else. I’m sure there are perfectly good shows out there, like How I Met Your Mother (saw once) or Eli Stone or those geeky guys on that CBS Monday sitcom. I’m not going to get invested in Lost or Heroes or Desperate Housewives at this point. Hey, I added 30 Rock.
It’s been 10 years this week since the episodes of JEOPARDY! on which I appeared aired. I’m not going to do a play-by-play of that time, which you can find here, but to make some observations about what it’s meant to me. Oh, and give my Alex Trebek rant.
I should note that I wasn’t the first JEOPARDY! winner from the Capital District, or even the first champion in 1998. That honor goes to Linda Zusman, an Albany teacher.
Nor was I the most successful JEOPARDY! player, even in my own neighborhood. That honor goes to Paul Glaser, who won five games and made it to the Tournament of Champions in 2007. (Say, wasn’t that his wife Amanda who as on in October 2008?)
I did, however, have one advantage that added to my local notoriety, and it’s that old real estate credo: location, location, location. My shows were taped in September in Boston, rather than in southern California. This meant that WTEN-TV, Channel 10 in Albany, sent a reporter and crew to interview me. Some of the piece was shown in September, the rest in November when the JEOPARDY! show actually aired. The reporter, by the way, was Bianca de la Garza, who, perhaps not coincidentally, is a reporter in Boston. After I was interviewed by Bianca before I taped my episodes, I figured I was done. But no, Sharman Saccetti of Channel 18 in Elmira also wanted to talk with me. That station showed JEOPARDY! in Binghamton, my hometown. Sharman, who played a mock game of JEOPARDY! with Bianca and another reporter and appeared to be winning, subsequently had a stint at WTEN in Albany as well. I ALSO spoke to a reporter from Plattsburgh.
JEOPARDY! in Boston was also a big deal for both the program and Boston. The program set up a special area on its webpage, now partially defunct. Meanwhile, the Boston papers, including the Christian Science Monitor, all did stories. The September 19, 1998 Boston Globe story by M. R. Montgomery, “A Chance At Fame For $100, Alex: N.H. Woman Finds It’s Not Easy Being In ‘jeopardy!'” noted that 3,200 citizens roared for the new “Jeopardy!” set, for the assistant producer”. It also featured two photographs of me, one with two of my competitors, including the New Hampshire woman, Amy Roeder, and one with Amy, me and a JEOPARDY! staffer.
JEOPARDY! out of the house was so much a big deal that I discovered shells of Internet Movie Database posts about it in English and Italian.
After the shows aired – I’ll say this: I started a round thrice in my two games – I got mentioned in the paper along with Linda Zusman. then I got mention AGAIN as a run of Capital District residents succeed at the game. I even called a few of them.
Then I got quoted in the local paper a couple times. Once was during the Ken Jennings run. I said it at the time, and I haven’t changed my mind – the abolition of the five-day rule, while great for Ken Jennings and a few others, had a deleterious effect on the game. The season Jennings won most of this games, there was a three-game winner in the Tournament of Champions, and that was just WRONG. I also got quoted in a story about American Idol when a local contestant had to keep a secret about the results for over a month; I LOVED keeping the secret for seven weeks. But I wish that they had doubled the values of the clues a few seasons earlier.
Anyway, I’ll never say the word “charisma” ever again. Oh, yes: I work for the New York State Small Business Development Center. I’ve taken 10 years of grief for not mentioning THAT on the show.
My Trebek complaint: most contestants have pictures of themselves with Alex Trebek; my pic is a solo. And the reason is this; for reasons known only to him, he did the rabbit-ears thing with his fingers behind me! I know his only because I caught us in a monitor. I think it annoys me more now than it did then.
One of the perks is that people now think that I know stuff, whereas when I was merely a librarian with a Masters in Library Science, not so much. I wish future contestants well, especially a couple from the Albany area I know who have tried out; you know who you are.
Photo of the Wang theater in Boston used with permission of Brian C. Dominy.
