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Whoops! Someone Goofed: The Original “Jesus Christ Superstar” Box Set is Out of Stock at Amazon

Roger Friedman
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Whoops! Someone Goofed: The Original “Jesus Christ Superstar” Box Set is Out of Stock at Amazon

“Jesus Christ Superstar” is live right now on NBC, and the result is that the original box set– digitized– has shot up to number 12 on iTunes. So you can download it.

But if you want it physically–the CD set– you’ll have to wait. Someone at Universal Music goofed. According to amazon, the original version of the box set on CD and the 2012 remixed version are on back order. What? Didn’t anyone think to get ready for tonight’s show? Apparently not.

The good news is that the NBC recording is available on amazon, with John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Brandon Victor Dixon, et al. The production is quite terrific, from the actors and singers to the whole look of the show. What a pleasure to hear live music.

I don’t we ever appreciated John Legend’s voice so much. (His own songs are not this uptempo.) I neve realized he has a texture not unlike Ella Fitzgerald but he can sing rock too! Dixon, of course, and the great Norm Lewis, are Broadway stars. Barielles could get a hit single out of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” Back in 1970, Yvonne Elliman sang it on the album (She went onto stardom with the Bee Gees and “Saturday Night Fever”.) Helen Reddy had the hit single. (And PS I have the original box of vinyl, in pristine shape.)

Steve Bochco, Winner of 10 Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Shows Like “Hill Street Blues,” “LA Law,” Dies at 74

Roger Friedman
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Steve Bochco, Winner of 10 Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Shows Like “Hill Street Blues,” “LA Law,” Dies at 74

Hollywood lost a real legend today with the death of Steve Bochco at 74. He created “Hill Street Blues,” “LA Law,” and “NYPD Blue” among other classic shows. Bochco changed television with his ensemble dramas and won 10 prime time Emmy awards. He will be sorely missed. He was a tremendous influence on everyone who worked with him and came after.

Bochco’s importance cannot be minimized. With just those three shows he changed the whole landscape of what award winning drama was supposed to look like. “Hill Street Blues” thirty five years later still holds up better than ever. In the case of “Hill Street” and “LA Law,” NBC relied on Bochco to fill their 10pm time slots with appointment TV in the way “Game of Thrones” or “Walking Dead” is now.

Bochco only used the best actors and directors, many of whom he met at Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University. It was when he brought “Hill Street to GRant Tinker and MTM (Mary Tyler Moore) Productions that his star soared. And Bochco brought unforeseen value to MTM, which was famous up til then for their quality sitcoms. Bochco’s success propelled Tinker to the presidency of NBC. It was a heady time for all of them.

RIP Steve Bochco. Anyone interested in the history of TV in the 80s and 90s, and Bocho’s shows in particular should read his self-published memoir, Truth is a Total Defense, available on amazon.

Also read this very good piece about Bocho and his stem cell donor by Chris Gardner from 2014.

White Stripes Rocker Jack White Gives Columbia Records Its First Number 1 Album Since Last September

Roger Friedman
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White Stripes Rocker Jack White Gives Columbia Records Its First Number 1 Album Since Last September

The number 1 album of the week is Jack White’s “Boarding House Reach.” The collection by one half of the rocking White Stripes sold 126K copies of CDs and paid downloads. It had just about no streaming, as streaming has become almost the sole province of hip hop, rap and modern R&B.

What makes White’s achievement all the nicer for Columbia Records is that it’s their first number 1 album since LCD Soundsystem’s self titled album sold around 85,000 copies upon release last September 1st. Prior to that. Arcade Fire’s “Everything Now” was released on July 28 and hit the charts at number 1 on August 3rd.

The Columbia label hasn’t been seen much on the charts otherwise, although other Sony labels like Epic and RCA have had a lot of action in the last year with Camila Cabello and Justin Timberlake, among others. Columbia had a huge run of luck with Adele’s “25” two years ago, but since then has struggled while releasing lots of catalog material by Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and so on. Nice to have some new music for a change!

Not Funny: Marvel’s Deadpool Points Gun at Teddy Bear in Twitter Message from Company Founder Stan Lee

Roger Friedman
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Not Funny: Marvel’s Deadpool Points Gun at Teddy Bear in Twitter Message from Company Founder Stan Lee

Marvel founder Stan Lee has released four photos— called “Easter eggs”– for the upcoming release of “Deadpool 2” starring Ryan Reynolds.

One of them is a photo of Deadpool pointing a gun at the head of a teddy bear. This must be funny somewhere but seems odd considering the current gun control debate.

Lee’s site says: “The Marvel Cinematic Universe and associated films are full of “Easter Eggs.” It’s a huge part of what ties the movies together and gives them the depth and scope that they deserve. You can throw all of the explosions and fancy choreographed fight scenes that you want into the pot, but it’s definitely the small things that some hardly notice that makes the “true believers” feel like they are apart of a comicbook culture that ‘s living and thriving.”

The other photos are less alarming. Interestingly, the teddy bear picture isn’t on Marvel or Deadpool sites, just Stan Lee’s. All the other promo material for “Deadpool 2” is irreverent, funny, witty, glib, good stuff. But this picture– not funny and really inappropriate. Here are the other pictures:

Spielberg Triumphant Return to Top of the Box Office, “Empire” Star Taraji P. Henson Also Scores Victory

Roger Friedman
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Spielberg Triumphant Return to Top of the Box Office, “Empire” Star Taraji P. Henson Also Scores Victory

The weekend box office has a lot of nice Easter eggs for everyone.

Steven Spielberg made a triumphant return to the top of the heap with “Ready Player One.” SS scored $41.2 million for the three day weekend, and a total of $53.2 million since Wednesday when previews began. It’s Spielberg’s biggest opening since “Jurassic Park” and “War of the Worlds.” In between he made Oscar fare like “Lincoln” and “The Post.” It wasn’t like he sloughing off!

The other nice box office news is that Taraji P. Henson led “Acrimony” to a $17 million weekend. Wow!
An Oscar nominee for “Benjamin Button” and the star of “Hidden Figures,” Taraji has spent the last few years having fun on Lee Daniels’ hit TV show “Empire” as the wily Cookie. But she is the real deal for movies and this proves it. “Acrimony” is a Tyler Perry movie, and the biggest one in five years that doesn’t feature his trademark Madea character. I haven’t seen “Acrimony” but Taraji looks pretty serious from the photo. In real life, she is so much fun and one of the nicest people ever. Bravo!

Good news part 3: Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” has made $5.9 million in 2 weeks in limited release. This wonderful, whimsical film deserves all the love it gets. I can’t wait for more people to see it.

Frank Stallone, Brother of Sylvester Stallone, Denounced for Attacking Parkland Survivor Student on Twitter

Roger Friedman
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Frank Stallone, Brother of Sylvester Stallone, Denounced for Attacking Parkland Survivor Student on Twitter

Frank Stallone was more known to us in the 80s and early 90s before he faded into obscurity. He’s the brother of Sylvester Stallone.

Today Frank Stallone is being unanimously criticized for for this message he Tweeted about David Hogg, 17 year old activist thanks to the mass shooting (and killing of his friends) at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida: “This David Hogg pussy is getting a little big for his britches. I’m sure someone from his age group is dying to sucker punch this rich little bitch. Watch him run home like the coward he is. He’s the worst rep for today’s youth headlining grabbing punk”

Frank Stallone doesn’t matter to anyone. He’s not important. (Sylvester Stallone, I assure you, doesn’t represent these ideas.) But there it is– what a segment of the population to whom Laura Ingraham appeals think about the brave, outspoken Parkland students who’ve actually spoken up about a mass murder that took place in front of their eyes. THEY do matter. These are Roseanne’s people, which is what makes the success of her show– and her idiotic, ill informed Tweets– so much more dangerous.

Internet archivists are reposting a newspaper clip from 1986 mocking Frank. He was accidentally hurt in a gun store during a demonstration and sued the owner for $1.2 million. He calls Hogg a “pussy” but Frank was the pussy, as it turns out. And this was in BEVERLY HILLS, not exactly the Wild West or mean streets of Brooklyn. LOL

Madonna Donates $2 Mil to Charity, Including $1.3 Mil to African Children’s Hospital, $250K to Kabbalah Center

Roger Friedman
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Madonna Donates $2 Mil to Charity, Including $1.3 Mil to African Children’s Hospital, $250K to Kabbalah Center

EXCLUSIVE Madonna is still giving big chunks of money to the controversial Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. In 2016 she donated $250,000 to the cult that has taken millions from her over the last 20 or 30 years.

According to the new Form 990 for Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation, that was about 1/10th of the total money Madonna made in charitable grants. Altogether she gave away $2 million– way up from previous years.

More than half the total– $1.3 million– went to Raising Malawi, her other foundation. That money went to the building of a children’s hospital in Malawi, Africa– the first time Madonna’s years of traveling to Madonna and adopting children there has actually produced a tangible effect. So that’s good news.

She also gave $250,000 to Creating Hope International in Dearborn, Michigan. Their mission is to “assist local organizations that work at the grass roots level in Afghanistan and India, helping people improve their lives and communities.”

Ray of Light also gave a measly $5,000 to Madonna’s pal Rosie O’Donnell’s important foundation for kids learning theater, and $10,000 to cancer research at the TJ Martell Foundation. She also sent $10,000 to the Community Foundation in Flint, Michigan, which still doesn’t have clean water. As usual, even though her biggest following is in the gay community, Madonna gave zip to AIDS research, etc, nothing to Elton John’s AIDS Foundation or amFAR.

But the $1.3 million for the children’s hospital in Malawi is a big deal, especially after past projects fell through or the money disappeared. So kudos for that.

“General Hospital” Celebrates 55th Anniversary by Firing 40 Year Vet Kin Shriner, No Plans for a New Deal with Genie Francis

Roger Friedman
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“General Hospital” Celebrates 55th Anniversary by Firing 40 Year Vet Kin Shriner, No Plans for a New Deal with Genie Francis

ABC’s “General Hospital” celebrated its 55th anniversary yesterday by firing a 40 year vet, Kin Shriner. The actor had been playing Scotty Baldwin on and off since 1977.

“General Hospital,” ABC’s last soap, is clearly going through a huge budget tightening. In January they tossed Genie Francis, also a 40 year player as Laura Spencer, one half of the famous Luke and Laura.

Over the last few weeks there was hope Francis was returning to the show because she had a public lunch with executive producer Frank Valentini. After I received emails about this I called Francis’s agent, who told me in fact there was no offer and there are no deals. Francis, meantime, has been posting photos from a trip to Paris. Living well is the best revenge.

One way to kill soaps is by undermining their base, and turning off older fans. ABC already did this with “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” The idea is to strip off fan favorite actors and make the fans angry. The ratings drop and then the network has an excuse to cancel the show. It seems like ABC is moving in that direction.

It’s cheaper for them to run a talk — maybe from Roseanne or someone like that — than to produce a soap.

Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” Makes $27Mil in 3 Days, Second Biggest Opening Weekend So Far of 2018

Roger Friedman
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Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” Makes $27Mil in 3 Days, Second Biggest Opening Weekend So Far of 2018

“Ready Player One” made $15.2 million Friday night. Adding the Wednesday-Thursday shows that came to $12 million means the Steven Spielberg movie will post a $50 million plus weekend by tomorrow night.

This also means that “Ready Player One” beats “Fifty Shades of Freed” and “A Wrinkle in Time” and is second only to the phenom “Black Panther” so far for 2018 openings.

“Ready Player One” is Spielberg’s biggest opening weekend in a very long time. His last openings on this level were “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” with $100 million in 2008 and “War of the Worlds” in 2005 with over $60 million.

Warner Bros. has to be thrilled. They’ve got a tentpole now since “RPO” should generate two sequels. Author of the book Ernest Cline is working on “Ready Player Two” right now. Even if Spielberg just produces the next two they’ll come with his imprimatur. After so many disappointments with the DC Comics movies, the studio can bask in this glow.

Dear Roseanne Barr: Here’s Your President 100 White Interns, 2 Who Are Not — Is This Your Audience, Too?

Roger Friedman
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Dear Roseanne Barr: Here’s Your President 100 White Interns, 2 Who Are Not — Is This Your Audience, Too?

Roseanne Barr is Donald Trump’s official celebrity backer now. She drew 18-22 million viewers with the return of her show largely based on her squawking about Trump.

Dear Roseanne: here is the class photo of the spring 2018 White House interns with Donald Trump. They are all white with the exception of a black man and an Indian or black woman. That’s a ratio of 100 to 2. Is this your audience, too? Pictures so speak a thousand words. This is the way Donald Trump sees America. But this doesn’t represent our popular in any way? Are you aware of that.

This shameful in 2018. Even George and Martha Washington, flanking this loaf of unenriched white bread, know better by now.

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