Planet M-113 / Star Date 1513.1

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Those headlined, rather cryptic, Space / Time fun facts were gleaned from the log of James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the original U.S.S. Enterprise 1701; mission details and relevant data securely cached within the “Memory Alpha computer mainframe”; also backed up by this Earthbound, longtime fan’s gleaming DVD; aptly labelled Season 1 / Episode 1 / Disc 1.

This first mission program is aka George Clayton Johnson’s screenplay titled, The Man Trap, which debuted / encored (respectively)…

• Old Earth Date: Thursday, 08 September 1966 at 20:30
• Just Last Night: Thursday, 08 September 2022 at 20:30

ASIDE: Time Warps do become extra special whenever two Julian Calendars perfectly align.

All of which did afford this Sci-Fi geek a golden opportunity to live / relive that Star Trek buzz; doing so in my dual role; (respectively) as a 20th century budding hippie and 21st century fuddy-duddy (self-deprecating humor?)

Yes, indeed, “both of us” are pleased to report that, on both evenings, the Sci-Fi escapism was… was… well… what can I say? It all was (still is) inescapable; precisely the panacea, which Captain Kirk’s sidekick, Ol’ Doc “Bones” McCoy, would’ve prescribed to chase away a bad case of the blues / blahs; all (dis)courtesy of the global pandemic and global warming, not to mention, the dual threat of a worldwide nuclear conflagration and an at the drop of a red MAGA cap, domestic coup.

Which brings us, now, to the Enterprise maiden voyage mission debriefing? In deference for any of my readers, who’ve yet to see this episode, I won’t get into a tell-all. However, it’d not be revealing too much to leave you with the following teaser…

From a technical standpoint, let’s deconstruct episode one’s opening scene; enhanced by five actors’ flawless choreography, the director’s clever camera angling and the film editor’s post production skills. All in all, a group effort that allows us, the viewers, to see thru three Trek characters’ eyes; i.e., how Dr. McCoy, Capt. Kirk and Crewman Darnell keep on experiencing (fantasizing?) (hallucinating?) unique, vastly different, visual perceptions of (shapeshifter?) character Nancy Crater.

Beyond that… my link to the Mission Debriefing Wikipedia Essay will get labeled SPOILER ALERT. In other words, avoid clicking onto it if you dare to boldly go where you’ve never gone before; to assertively “set sail” on your maiden voyage off to Episode One; to, at long last, experience the 56 years ago birth of Series Creator Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek Multiverse.

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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Advertisement

Borg Queen Trump

Subtitle: Resistance is Futile?

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Perhaps you rarely, if ever, venture anywhere near the strange new worlds found within the Star Trek multiverse? If so, that’d place you amongst the few who’ve yet to view the The Best of Both Worlds; screenplay writer Michael Piller’s season three and four, two parter; still ranked by many fans as that franchise’s greatest story ever told.

To bring any non-Trekkers up to warp speed, a Wikipedia essay will both provide the storyline and “flesh” out who (what) the Borg are. By the by, I’m labeling this link SPOILER ALERT (my last-ditch caveat to anyone who might now be considering a first time viewing).

Of course, one needn’t be a Sci-Fi fan to know that Star Trek storytellers are renown for utilizing their futuristic narratives to draw parallels; to exquisitely expose / cast aspersions on the perpetrators / perpetuators of present day, indefensible, malignant societal scourges.

And, speaking of scourges, aka PTD’s (Politically Transmitted Diseases), let’s check out a few similarities to deplorable un-American present day, realities; namely…

How Donald J. Trump bears a striking resemblance to the Borg Queen.

Both entities are autocratic head cases. Externally they have folically challenged scalps and, internally, boast mucked up / scrambled brains. Worse yet, they command massive, ever-growing legions of cultists / drones; all hellbent on assimilating / enslaving each and every free spirit they encounter. In the end, all that’s left is their human wreckage; a retrograde society built, solely, upon the dismal, rickety foundation of mandatory, “resistance is futile”, no questions asked / allowed, mindless compliance.

Without giving away too much of The Best of Both World’s plot, eventually, acting Captain William Riker finds himself just about to issue his futile, last-ditch, save planet Earth / humanity orders; on the verge of commanding helmsman Ensign Wesley Crusher to kamikaze the U.S.S. Enterprise D into the enemy Borg cube / starship when… when…

Well, I did vow not to tell all…

Suffice to say, with heavy heart, I can apply such scenes to America’s glum 2024 “future”; predict that the never punished Donald J. Trump will run for his second term; where win or lose, humanity loses.

In other words… where Borg Queen Donny…

• In defeat, will order his “human” drones to burn down America
• In victory, will deploy his Space Force army to attack America

“The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.”

Google Search • Read More Here (BTW, Space Force was Trump’s own cockamamie creation).
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Whatever the 2024 outcome, freedom lover Tom CANNOT and ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT live like that; all of which not only succinctly sums up my resolve… correction… my flat-out defiance of all things Trump… but could also, easily, become my own epitaph.

Indeed, once the rolled out Trumpian tanks near my hometown’s city limits; the very nanosecond that rumbling racket is within my earshot, that’d mean there’d be no hope left. At that juncture, futilely so, I’d block their path; i.e., lie right smack dab in the middle of Michigan Avenue; double daring that lead tank commander asshole to smash my atoms into the asphalt.

Call that my own William Riker Moment, too, for, obviously, my one, soon-to-be corpse could no more halt a tank than an Enterprise D head-on crash could ever halt a Borg Cube.

The only good part of such scenarios? Be screenplays Sci-Fi or Real Life, the well written ones can and oft do offer up unexpected plot twists; in the political context, that could be courtesy of a willy-nilly patchwork of Republicans who, for fleeting moments, might manage to muster the facade of decency, heroism and patriotism.

After all, on January 6 and 7, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence did flat-out defy Borg Queen Donald J. Trump; flip off his tyrant boss’s orders to unconstitutionally install him and demolish American Democracy; in essence proving…

Resistance Is NOT NECESSARILY Futile!

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Get Well Stephen Colbert (et al)

This IS Final(?) Jeopardy!

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Today’s Category: Late Night TV

Today’s Clue…

In ADDITION to Stephen Colbert, James Corden,
Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers & Jimmy Fallon all
hosting talk shows, they have THIS in common.

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Players, you have 30 seconds to express
your response in the form of a Question…

(Anyone opting to actually “compete”, should
think up that Question prior to scrolling down.)

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What is being fully vaxxed
YET, contracting Covid-19?

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TRUE Jeopardy Notation insists we punctuate our responses with a “?”, HOWEVER, there can be no question re the medical ramifications; i.e., while the vaccines are successfully preventing serious and deadly consequences, humans can STILL become coronavirus infected; STILL easily infect others.

And that STILL fully validates this layperson’s contention, from the very onset of this godforsaken plague:

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Only a WORLDWIDE MASK MANDATE can help ensure
we expeditiously snuff out & bury the coronavirus; i.e.,
avoid an apocalyptic scenario where one, maybe more
of its variants void the vaccines; to snuff out & bury us!

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There can be no question that sicko / psycho Donald J. Trump’s politicization of the pandemic has infected and spread throughout the vast body of his MAGA Maniacs / Morons / Malcontents (and beyond); thereby resulting in their all too damned common, cavalier attitude…

…their absolutely indefensible, “offhand, indifferent, casual, dismissive, insouciant, unconcerned; supercilious, patronizing, condescending, disdainful, scornful, contemptuous, couldn’t-care-less, devil-may-care” state of chronic insanity!

Quoted synonyms courtesy of the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus
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Upon closer scrutiny of this entire mess, matters pan out as the following, grave, glaringly obvious, public health threat…

• Bad enough… within the entertainment industry, ALL five of those mentioned TV personalities enjoy a vast circle of friends/contacts; far more so than average folks such as you and I do.
• Even worse… those friends/contacts also enjoy a vast circle of friends/contacts.
• Worst of all… it’s a near certainty that at some point, some of these infected people will come into contact with immunocompromised and unvaxxed individuals.

It’s at that juncture where the potential for needless suffering / dying enters the big picture.

Returning to the earliest of our pandemic days… we witnessed Colbert, Corden, Kimmel, Meyers and Fallon responsibly sheltering/isolating (e.g., doing their talk show shtick sans LIVE audiences; Zoom interviewing their guests.

More to the point… these hosts and guests, alike, had been just as witty, personable and entertaining as ever. Sure, I do get it, it’s no fun for comedians / entertainers to not cop that buzz; all courtesy of their applauding, cheering, hooting, whooping it up, LIVE audiences; HOWEVER…

In the end… the operative word becomes LIVE; as in keeping humanity ALIVE.

The time has come for these five entertainers to cease needlessly Jeopardizing humanity (case in point, Colbert’s covid has even spread to his house band’s impresario, Jon Batiste. Need I say more?) YES, I do need to say more. They must lead by example; demonstrate to the rest of humanity how to behave in a responsible, respectable manner.

In other words… Guys, PLEASE, set aside your egos; resume performing from your covid bunkers with only the bare minimum, production crew contingent. If this is any help, try harboring in your heads, hearts and souls the sentitments popularized by singer Vera Lynn; the lyrics which solemnly vow…

“We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day”

Song Composers Ross Parker and Hughie Charles • Complete Lyrics [HERE]
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Granted, my authoring a 700 word count blog, devoted to TV talk show hosts, may, superficially, seem silly. However, one cannot understate the beneficial impact this quintet (in particular Colbert, Meyers and Kimmel) has been making upon the national political discourse; how their speaking truth to power via “jokes”, serves a far more significant purpose.

Such courageous comedians are heightening the awareness / enlightenment of their Stateside audiences; the very people who, don’t normally pay close attention to the ever-present dangers; the grave threats to liberty and democracy; such as those posed by the STILL unpunished, insurrectionist and fascist X-Prez Trump and his entire freak show entourage.

Long pensive sigh… I now conclude this post, just as I’ve done for the past two+ years…

Now More Than Ever… PLEASE… EVERYBODY…

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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APB: Fugitive Last Seen in Oregon

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Warning: Avoid Links to Evade Spoilers

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Even after a half century+, this now in his late sixties man still views producer and screenwriter Roy Huggins’ The Fugitive as my all-time favorite, nineteen sixties era TV drama. This won’t be the first time I’ve blogged about this superbly scripted and convincingly cast show and won’t likely be the last; mainly due to fresh, compelling, discussion angles frequently presenting themselves

When The Fugitive made its ABC (American Broadcasting Company) network debut, its Tuesday 10 p.m. slot was way past my bedtime. However, approximately midway thru its four-season run, I did manage to “grow into the show” (as it were) and, in a heartbeat, become a fast fan.

Who could not feel instant sympathy for the protagonist, Dr. Richard Kimble; i.e., considering how, while still in deep mourning, re the tragic death of his wife, Helen, he’d been wrongfully accused of being her murderer and, worse yet, convicted. True, his incarceration would only be brief, but that was due to his new “home” being situated on death row.

Only the en route to Indiana’s Big House, train derailment could pop open the handcuffs that conjoined Kimble and police Lt. Philip Gerard; offer the courtroom railroaded doctor an abrupt stay of execution; free him to pursue the actual killer (the one-armed man later identified as Fred Johnson), whom Richard had actually eye-witnessed fleeing the scene of the crime.

And, right then and there, the oft hot pursuit begins; Johnson fleeing Kimble; Kimble fleeing Gerard.

Even tho all of this intrigue does play out in TV land, with art renowned for frequently imitating life, the glaring ramifications could “only” serve to WISELY and WIDELY open my youthful eyes.

Most viewers could sense Huggins also taking a stand against real life imprudent jurisprudence and, via extension, showcasing capital punishment, already inhumane, in itself, as morphing into something even more contemptible, when (no spoiler re that link –>) judicial travesties condemn, to death, the falsely accused.

Hell, were such wrongful death jury trials ever convened, it’d be tough not to return a guilty verdict re each errant arresting officer, negligent crime scene investigator, overzealous district attorney and thoughtless juror.

Transitioning, now, to our second and last discussion angle….

Yesterday, the MeTV Network had aired Season 4’s Episode 28; Titled: The Shattered Silence; the very storyline that had ALMOST condemned Kimble to a “life” on the lam; i.e., till he EITHER died of old age OR Gerard wound up recapturing / dispatching him to death row’s doorstep. The following quotation will fill in the rest of the particulars…

“The [ABC] network was simply going to end the series with a regular episode without any kind of denouement, as network executives were totally oblivious to the concept that a television audience actually tuned in week after week and cared about the characters of a TV series. The timing of the broadcast was unusual. Rather than ending the regular season, the finale* was held back while suspense continued through the summer reruns.”

Fugitive Producer Leonard Goldberg / *original finale air dates 08/29 and 09/05/1967

Fortunately, the ABC (empty?) suits / bean counters, eventually funded the filming of the tie-up-the-loose-ends, two part episode, titled The Judgment; resulting in an advertiser’s bonanza; statistical data below:

“Part two of the finale was the most-watched television series episode up to that time. It was viewed by 25.7 million households (45.9 percent of American households with a television set and a 72 percent share), meaning that more than 78 million people tuned in.”

Wikipedia

Oh, btw, a reminder, just to keep viewers, new to the Fugitive Franchise, guessing; the airing of a finale does not, necessarily, guarantee a screenplay with a storybook ending.

However, for those of you, who are really, Really, REALLY content to settle for yesterday’s S 4 Ep 28, epilogue; i.e. when/where Kimble was last seen heading off into the Oregon hills; still desperately and doggedly hunting down the one-armed man Johnson, you’ll need to avoid watching The Judgment; slated to air on 4/11 & 4/18/2022 @2 a.m. Daylight Savings Time in the Eastern U.S. time zone (for some viewers, temporal adjustments will likely be necessary).

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Related Reading: The Fugitive’s Fascinating Facts

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Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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MeTV Axed Columbo! YIKES!

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The headline pretty much sums up the crime that went down last night; and on a Sunday, too!

The Big Q: Does the MeTV brass really, Really, REALLY know WHO they are going up against?

Word on the street has it that Lt. Columbo has already been moonlighting in another precinct; i.e, over at the Cozi TV network.

And this viewer suspects that the Lieutenant will wind up kicking MeTV ass; hauling in higher Nielsen Ratings than whatever shows his former “bosses” counterprogram.

BTW, my admiration for this series, in part, focuses upon how, in spite of the violent nature of the crimes this sleuth investigates, the screenplay writers had rarely resorted to gratuitous gore; i.e. they had, indeed, refrained from painting the town red / crime scene blood red.

Now, to borrow Columbo’s classic catch phrase…

Just one more thing…

MeTV, do you really expect Columbo fans to believe you cannot scare up a scant 90 minutes per week to keep us happy? I mean how about axing Svengoolie? Each of his hackneyed presentations of unscary, yawner flicks burns up 120 minutes.

Oh, and just one more thing…

You guys have made a huge mistake. While I fully realize that your decision to axe Columbo was based upon YOUR BELIEF that you’ve rerun this series so deep into the ground that it buried itself… well… let’s just say that if you ever apply that same logic to all the shows you rerun, similarly, you’d soon need to bury your entire network.

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Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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At Long Last UnLost?

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Earlier this a.m., courtesy of the MeTV network, this Sci-Fi aficionado found himself savoring some Sixties Era programming, at its finest; namely, Lost In Space; Season 3’s Episode 2, which is titled: Visit to a Hostile Planet.

That decidedly unfriendly planet, in actuality, turns out to be Earth; that unplanned stopover caused by repeated attempts to purge the Jupiter 2, interstellar spaceship’s malfunctioning engines of hazardous, atomic fuel impurities; all of which triggers a beyond the speed of light / hyperdrive generated time warp; which, in turn, sends the Space Family Robinson (plus pilot Major West and pissant Dr. Smith) into a spinning outta control, wild ride.

So, are these seven castaways, in reality, at long last, UnLost? Alas, it’s only upon landing when they, rather abruptly, discover the inconvenient truth that they’ve been hurtled approximately fifty years into Earth’s past.

Well, with the all too predictable exception of the despotic, narcissistic Dr. Zachary Smith, who, on cue, plots to conquer Earth (via the exploitation of space-age technology), the rest of the crew wisely understands the perils of remaining amongst these 1947 Era Michiganders; who do, indeed, deem the Jupiter 2, the very flying saucer that it appears to be and its silvery space-suited occupants to be hostile alien invaders, who (minus Smith) they are not.

So paranoia driven are these armed to the teeth, loaded for bear locals, that with no provocation, at all, they start taking potshots at their “enemies”. Of course, John Robinson, Don West and Robot B9 only escalate the tensions when they’re left little choice but to defend themselves; their space age weapons’ laser beams even starting a short-lived lumberyard fire.

All in all, props to the imaginative nature of this episode’s screenplay writers; namely, Peter Packer and series creator Irwin Allen. They did manage to successfully tap into the 40s and 50s era UFO craze; as well as capture the spirit of Orson Welles’s interpretation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Kudos, too, to director Sobey Martin for his dramatic flair, keen sensibilities and prolific work (on a multitude of Allen’s soundstages).

The concerted efforts of all the above mentioned LIS personnel, in essence, did briefly rescue Lost In Space, which by the third (and final) season, could’ve been aptly re-titled Lost In Inanity.

LIS’s problems actually began surfacing / snowballing soon after its debut season; starting with whomever Allen had delegated the task of creating frightening, out of this world looks for the extraterrestrial characters. My gawd, I’ve seen far more scarier Halloween masks / costumes than those televised, comical, plastic head coverings. And don’t even get me started on how actor Stanley Adams (portraying character Tybo), got stuffed into that giant carrot costume.

Beyond that, was Allen’s bad decision to let Dr. Smith (actor Jonathan Harris) morph FROM the loathsome evil saboteur / mercenary / villain TO the scared by his own shadow, sniveling, screaming, whining wimp. Also, the storylines dwelt on Smith and Will Robinson (actor Billy Mumy) far too frequently; thereby squandering countless opportunities for character development re the rest of the cast; consequently failing to, more regularly, showcase the talents of the unforgivably underutilized actors Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen and Angela Cartwright. And, snubbed, too, were the countless guest star actors who never got to see their names when the show credits rolled on by, at each episode’s end.

And, so long as we’re on the subject of endings…

The End

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Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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A World of Diff ‘tween “The” & “A”!

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After spending 460 days doing his talk show in locked down, pandemic necessitated isolation, Stephen Colbert made his grand re-entrance to NYC’s Ed Sullivan Theatre, last night, to perform before a live and in-person, full audience; all in attendance enjoying (relative) safety; thanks to everybody being fully vaxxed.

To have been an eyewitness to such a momentous occasion certainly did prove there’s a world of diff ‘tween “The” Late Show” and “A” Late Show (the latter rebranding had served as the subtle reminder that not all was (is) well in our homeland / home world).

Such a viewing experience (even from my own living room) proved the much needed mood elevator. So much so, I even managed to beat Mr. Colbert to the punch (punchline) of one of his jokes; namely this news clip enhanced wisecrack…

S.C.: President Biden’s trip abroad will end with his much anticipated showdown, on Wednesday, with Russian President (and cover model for Maritime Murders Monthly) Vladimir Putin. This meeting could be awkward ‘cause earlier this year Biden called Putin a ‘killer’. This weekend Putin was asked about his homicidal tendencies [clip rolls]…

Interviewer: Mr. President, are you a killer?
Putin: (chuckling menacingly) Over my tenure, I’ve gotten used to attacks from all kinds of angles; and from all kinds of areas; under all kinds of pretexts and reasons; at a different caliber and fierceness; and none of it surprises me.

S.C. Punchline: Sooooo… uh… that’s a yes?

CBS Late Show • June 14, 2021

While both predictable Putin and his non-surprising, non-response (tossed word salad) proved a certifiable downer, to have been reminded that I can still think in a humorous vein also did me a world of good.

Analog recording Colbert’s first night back on Broadway, had been well worth the twenty minutes spent [1] hunting down an old (suitable for tape-over) VHS cassette and [2] another five minutes taken to reconfigure the wiring of the hodgepodge of my aged and ailing video gear.

While I’m certain that for Colbert / his entire staff, their reclamation of their Late Show studio / stage has been reward enough, I don’t believe that goes far enough.

Seeing how each and every one of these role models / morale boosters have so valiantly soldiered on throughout the pandemic, at the very least, President Biden should pin medals on these civilians’ uniforms.

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Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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Of Wee Value, Wee Hours TV

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Introduction: TV broadcasters are either wise or otherwise. If you are the former, you have my praise. If you are the latter you have my pity. Anyway, the following blog is meant for both TV workers and watchers and, for the most part, does not speak well of the otherwise and their of wee value, wee hours TV programming. Enjoy?

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To hearken back to my earliest TV viewing experiences (starting c1958), by and large, this was the era of level-headed, well-meaning broadcasters, who were still innovating / inventing their content on the fly; their sensible broadcast day’s schedule running (approximately) from sunrise to midnight.

Yep, upon the arrival of folklore’s witching hour (or, if you’d rather, the devil’s hour), TV station managers either opted for the Test Pattern and Tones motif or, upon pulling the transmitter plug, went the Analog Snow Blizzard route; as it were.

To sum up bygone TV in one word: Promising

In a few more words? This nascent medium was actually striving to provide entertaining, educational and ethical content. That Seal of Good Practice placard, which they frequently and proudly focused their bulky cameras onto, did stand for newscasts, which did strive for well-balanced news reportage and well-crafted dramatic / comedic narratives. True, such stories (be they presented by anchorpersons or actors), were known, at times, to feature bad guys, but, true to that Seal, they were never portrayed in the role of heroes.

Granted, especially advertisement-wise, such wisdom did not always prevail; e.g., commercials flat-out lying about the “harmlessness” of smoking tobacco; (hence the above italicized qualifying word “strive” and its derivative).

Anyway, last night, regrettably, I had neglected to press the “sleep” button on my TV remote. Hence, this early a.m. I found myself being (mis)guided back to consciousness by an unconscionable infomercial; one which, in a nanosecond, fortunately, went in one eyeball / eardrum and out the other.

Once my curiosity was wide awake, I channel surfed for a brief spell; soon confirming what I had already known; namely, inveterate, avaricious broadcasters can be counted on to cram-pack their post Devil’s Hour schedules with programming that’s worthwhile only to them; worthless to the vast majority of their viewers.

To sum up contemporary late night TV in one phrase: Promises Broken

Hell, once the devil’s hour nears, we can expect the barrage of infomercials to insult our intelligence and assault our sensibilities. What else can we expect from sponsors whose moral compasses frequently spin out of control; faster than their breakneck, sales pitch spin.

Deep down, most of these broadcasters know this business strategy is wrong. Why else would they precede infomercial presentations with disclaimers for the express purpose of disavowing their association with offensive sponsors and their shoddy wares?

You can bet your bottom dollar that there are legions of lawyers (ex-ambulance chasers?) on retainer; way behind the cameras; all burning the midnight oil; aimlessly scurrying and scampering around their underground war rooms; not unlike coked up, horny rats banging their blockheads against the cinder block walls; all the while striving to find the precise words and phrases to cleverly cover their boss’ considerable asses.

All of which doth beg a few questions:

• Just how, pray tell, can infomercials, oft barren of entertainment, educational and ethical values ever live up to that bygone TV era’s Seal of Good Practice?
• Would not TV viewers find yesteryear’s Test Patterns and Tones, maybe even that very, Analog Snow Blizzard far, Far, FAR more compelling than infomercials?
• Would it not be financially advantageous for broadcasters to simply pull their transmitter plugs at the devil’s hour? (Doncha think burning up fewer kilowatt hours, alone, could compensate for lost, ill-gotten revenue?)
• How can broadcasters even sleep at night when they simultaneously disown sponsors, yet, regularly air out their stinky ads over the transmitter airwaves, ANYWAY?

All things considered, I know I’ll sleep much more soundly if, from now on, I make a conscious effort to avoid the rude awakening of TV infomercials; i.e., by always remembering to engage my TV remote’s “sleep” button prior to my zonking out.

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Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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Regurgitating An Apt Analogy

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In the wee hours of 01/21/21, NBC-TV’s Late Night host, Seth Meyers, via his always-tell-it-like-it-is exposé, A Closer Look, successfully articulated the mixed emotions that most critical thinkers have been experiencing while attempting to assess the nascent, post Trump tableau.

Said Seth…

“Even amid this moment of collective relief, the nation is still in the midst of several unprecedented calamities; none of which will magically disappear anytime soon. It’s a little like getting rid of the last guy at a party; you’ve spent four years yawning and stretching and hinting that he should get out, and, when he finally leaves, it IS a relief; until you remember you still have to clean up all his puke; and he, like, puked everywhere!”

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Stay Publicly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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“Forever in our hearts, always our inspiration.”

Last evening, Alex Trebek’s five, yet to be shown, final Jeopardy! episodes, taped mere days prior to his demise, began playing out. This transcendental episode (originally slated to air on December 21, 2020) began with his opening, impromptu, soul searching, holiday message:

“You’ll recall that about a month ago, I asked all of you to take a moment to give thanks for all of the blessings that you enjoy in your lives. Now, today, a different kind of message. This is the season of giving. I know you want to be generous with your family, your friends, your loved ones. But today, I’d like you to go one step further. I’d like you to open up your hands and open up your hearts to those who are still suffering because of COVID-19. People who are suffering through no fault of their own. We’re trying to build a gentler, kinder society and if we all pitch in, just a little bit, we’re gonna get there.” [Watch Clip/Read More]

Alex Trebek • Air Date: January 4, 2021

If humanity is paying attention, such much needed wisdom will resonate and endure long after Alex’s final Final Jeopardy!, come Friday.

By next Monday, a series of select host candidates will begin auditioning to determine who, amongst the 7.8 billion of us, might come close to filling Trebek’s size infinity shoes.

Let’s hope that his successor will know, instinctively, that Alex is irreplaceable; may sense a momentary “blinding” by the aura / afterimage of his brilliance; perhaps even feel somewhat haunted by him while making each entrance onto the Jeopardy! stage.

Should the eventual new host be lacking such qualities, it’d be fair to suspect that (s)he has been miscast. And, so long as I’m hinting at this, anyway, let me add that the time is ripe for a game show, of this stature, to break the glass ceiling; namely, the Sony Pictures Television production company execs should select a savvy, suave woman to preside over the game.

Returning, now, to the rolling of last night’s closing credits…

For a fleeting moment, I had this wild notion; how great it’d be to rebroadcast the entire 36+ year run of Trebek’s Jeopardy!; perhaps, as an alternative to Pat Sajak’s / Vanna White’s Wheel of Fortune, which on most network schedules, precedes Jeopardy!

I’ve always found playing along with W of F’s contestants far less challenging and educational. Hey, don’t brand me an intellectual snob; my educational background, would rarely, if ever, crown me the Jeopardy! champion. Anyway, that’s not my point.

What is relevant, here, is that each episode of Jeopardy! serves as a teaching moment; can function as motivation for us to discover more about the world we don’t know. After all, we don’t stop learning until the day each of us takes our final breath. And for all we know, it may not end even then!

Of course, my aforementioned wish for that Trebek replay must remain just that. After all, the new host must be afforded the unencumbered opportunity to build upon Alex’s rock solid foundation. Most assuredly, he would’ve wanted it that way!

And that said, the show’s closing credits will sum up everything even better than I; namely, via their dedication to Alex Trebek:

“Forever in our hearts, always our inspiration.”

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Stay Publicly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

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