Thank God Newhart was Spared

Did you watch the 58th annual Primetime Emmy Awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences last night?

If not, then you have NO idea what the title of this post actually means.

Katie and I did watch, but only until Tony Shalhoub beat out Steve Carell for "Best Actor in a Comedy Series". This was a crime. Not that "Monk" isn't a great character, but Steve Carrell makes "Michael Scott" both cringe-worthy and sympathetic at the same time. Not an easy feat. Just ask Ricky Gervais.

And don't even get me started about Megan Mullaney's win for "Will & Grace". Puh-leeze. Anyway, fed up AND tired, I went to bed.

I should have stayed with the show until the end because my annoyance would have been relieved at 11PM. Then I would have seen "The Office" take home an Emmy award for Best Comedy!

(L to R: Steve Carell, B.J. Novak, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson)

The win is announced here. Also, check out the video clips on the right-hand side of the screen. The cast is seen on the red carpet before the Emmy's began.

Here are Jenna Fischer ("Pam Beesly") & John Krasinski ("Jim Halpert") before the show:

I am officially declaring that "Pam Beesley" is one of my TV crushes, along with Abbie Carmichael and Kaylee Frye.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this show?

Congratulations to the cast and crew of "The Office".

Hands

Jenna has always enjoyed listening to the story of her birth day. She has always been particularly amused with the idea that her hand - her entire hand - was not big enough to wrap around my index finger.

Not that she didn't try to do so.

Even in her first days of life she was a stubborn little girl, and she would grasp my finger with all her might, seemingly trying but never quite succeeding at touching the tips of her fingers to the tip of her thumb, encircling my finger with her hand.

Jenna turned 14 yesterday.

Her hand fits quite nicely in mine.

What Do You Want?

And now, a little Friday humor...

A little boy comes down stairs to go to school. His mother says, "Look, I can't drive today, you have to walk." He goes, "Mooooommm!" She says, "You have to walk!" So, as he's walking to school he sees a naked woman standing in the window of her house. She's rubbing her breasts and going, "I want a man! I want a man! I want a maaaannnn!" The kid can't believe it. Off to school he goes.

Next day he comes down stairs to go to school. His mom goes, "C'mon! Hop in the car." He goes, "No, ma. I think this walking is good for me. I'm gonna walk." He walks down the street and sure enough, same naked woman in her window, rubbing her breasts saying, "I want a man! I want a man! I want a maaaannn! The kid's just blown away.

The third day, his mom goes, "You want to..." He says, "No, no, mom, I'm walkin'." So, he walks to school, but this time the naked woman is in the window with a naked man and they're making mad, passionate love. The kid can't believe it! He drops his books and he runs back home and he runs up to his bedroom and he pulls open the window and he takes off all his clothes and starts rubbing his chest and he goes, "I want a bike! I want a bike! I want a biiiiikkkkeee!"

Thank you very much. I'll be here all week. Enjoy the veal.

We All Know Shatner's Nuts...

This is Betty White.

Isn't she sweet?

Nope.

Betty White stole the show at the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. That's right - Betty White. Sweet, loveable Betty White, stole the show away from everyone around her.

We'll get back to how she did so in just a minute. First, a brief history.

Ms. White has made me laugh for years. First as sardonic, man-hungry,gourmand "Sue Ann Nivens", the host of The Happy Homemaker Show, in The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 1977. White won two Emmy Awards for her role in this hugely popular series.

I also watched her on Match Game from 1973 to 1982. Match Game has the distinction of being my favorite game show ever and I would bet money that the entire cast was bombed during each taping of the show.

While I did not follow Ms. White to her long stint on "The Golden Girls" I have no doubt that she was just as sweet and loveable as ever.

Don't you believe it.

Betty White has a sarcastic streak a mile wide. Her double entendres are masterful. And, at 84 years old she has turned her appearance as a sweet old lady into comic gold.

As she took the podium she said "Isn't it sweet that all you young comedians get together to tell naughty stories?" Then, as she was sailing on the granny vibe, she turned to the audience in mid-rant and said:

"We all know Shatner's nuts. But George Takei's the only one who's tasted them!"

Watching with Fingers Crossed

Summer TV is a wasteland.

Therefore, to stave off network boredom (and between reading books and crossword puzzles) Katie and I have been watching lot movies on Turner Classic Movies this summer.

Last week we decided to watch a movie that, while I had heard of it before, I had never seen it. Armed with a large bowl of popcorn we sat down to watch "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - based on the Oscar Wilde novel of the same name.

Our interest in this film was threefold:

• It starred George Sanders, whom we had just watched in "Foreign Correspondent" and we really enjoyed his work.
• It also starred Angela Lansbury who, at 18 years old, would earn her 2nd Oscar nod for her role in this film
• Finally, it was described as a "moody, innovative thriller; far ahead of it's time"

Sounded perfect to us.

The story is this: A nineteenth century aristocrat named Dorian Gray strikes a strange bargain with the artist who paints his portrait. While Dorian remains eternally youthful and angelic in appearance, his portrait reflects his true character, one where his decadent lifestyle and acts of debauchery show up in hideous physical detail.

And what detail it is.

This movie is perfect. Absolutely marvelous. I will not ruin ANY aspect of this film by describing the "thrills" or "shocks". For those, you must sit and watch the movie for yourself.

But I will say this.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you were watching a scary movie and even though you covered your eyes to avoid the "scary part" you kept your fingers open so you could peek at the screen? I haven't had the impulse to do that in over 25 years. But I did during Dorian Gray.

Stop laughing, you weasels!

I did NOT cover my eyes.

But I had the impulse to do so.

Damn spooky movie.

But I loved it.

Odds 'n Ends

The world has seen fit to fill my free time with stuff to do. Stuff that has kept me from blogging. I know that you're all very sad at the idea that I haven't posted anything new since mid-July. In no particular order, here are the thoughts and musings that have crossed my mind for the past few weeks:

Lately Jenna has been dressing in a Goth style, with pink or blue bangs in place to compliment the safety pins stuck in her (always black) shirts. When I took her to camp a few weeks ago she introduced me to 5 young women, all friends of hers that were dressed in various shades of what I described above. All of these girls were very polite to me before they began to talk amongst themselves. While I waited to sign-in at camp I couldn't help but overhear what Jenna and her Goth-clones were discussing. Their topic? The books they were reading. It seems the more I teach Jenna the more she teaches me, too.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Superman Returns" opened weeks ago, to mixed reviews. While we plan on seeing "Pirates" before it leaves the theater I am less hopeful that I will see "Superman" before it arrives in stores on disc. I used to love the movie-going experience but I am more and more disappointed with theaters. People who bring an infant in a baby carrier to ANY movie are becoming more and more prevalent. People who STAY in the theater even when their kid is crying/fussing/making noise are downright rude yet all-too common. Popcorn should not cost 8 bucks. When a movie is listed to start at 2:05 that should mean that the MOVIE starts at 2:05 - NOT the 20 minutes of commercials before the film. And can't ANYONE make an original movie anymore? Doesn't anyone enjoy the art of filmmaking as well as possess the skill to competently write, produce, edit and direct a feature film? Does everything have to be marketed to death? The more I see what is at my local multi-plex, the more glad I am to have Turner Classic Movies.

Katie and I spent 26 hours in the Berkshires this weekend but, man, what a great 26 hours. The highlight of an already awesome trip was getting back "home" on Sunday night, looking up at the night sky and seeing a BAZILLION stars. I haven't seen a night sky like that since I lived in Bryantville.

Toni and I FINALLY have a meeting date to sit down and watch the first full edit of "The Six Fifty-Seven" on August 28th. It seems like forever since we've actively worked on this project. I hate having to wait for others to do work that I would have rather have done myself months ago. Nevertheless, I am very eager to get a look-see at the endless project. I know that the cast was brilliant; we'll have to see if the director was, too.

After much downtime I have once again started working on "Chasing Superman". Hopefully Chase's adventures will see a conclusion by year-end.

But enough about me; how are YOU doing?