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NBC Renews Carson Daly, Ends Crazy Rumor About Alec Baldwin Talk Show

Roger Friedman
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NBC Renews Carson Daly, Ends Crazy Rumor About Alec Baldwin Talk Show

Late yesterday NBC swiftly announced the renewal of Carson Daly’s very late night show “Last Call” that follows Jimmy Fallon. This was meant to end the crazy speculation earlier in the day that actor Alec Baldwin might get his own show at 1:35am. It seems like that story began in the New York Times, of all places, and was immediately picked up by blogs who didn’t realize that a) Daly has a long term deal with NBC that includes hosting their number 1 show in prime time “The Voice” and b) The Times had been spun by a publicist who exaggerated Baldwin’s own deal with the network.

This came only hours after Baldwin said in an interview that he was “born to spit…on Rupert Murdoch.” The Times piece, published late in the day on April 9th, was either completely a “plant” or it was some kind of ploy by NBC– now fully engaged in using the media to conduct negotiations with its late night stars–to hasten Daly into a new agreement for the next season of his show. Either way, Alec Baldwin was never going to be hosting a late night show.

Broadway: “Matilda” Will Make Tony Award Race for Best Musical Tightest Ever

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: “Matilda” Will Make Tony Award Race for Best Musical Tightest Ever

“Matilda” opens tonight on Broadway, adding itself to “Kinky Boots,” the soon to close “Hands on A Hardbody,” and “Cinderella” (a new old show). That’s four musicals, all original (since “Cinderella” was made for TV originally), plus “Motown: The Musical,” which some original material to augment the jukebox of classic hits. “Hardbody” may be closing, but that doesn’t diminish its many achievements. That’s the best field of shows in a long time, frankly.

I saw “Matilda” last night and I can tell you–it’s not what you expect. Around 16 children between the ages of 9 and 14 are its stars. There are adults, principally Bertie Carvel, a man who plays a woman, and who is really spectacular. The other adults are Gabriel Ebert, Lauren Ward, and Lesli Margherita. They will all be “names” on Friday morning.

So will the girls who play Matilda. Last night, Bailey Ryon played the first act and part of the second until she fell and hurt herself. The capable Milly Shapiro stepped in, picked up and finished the show. Both girls took bows. They, and all the children in the show, are so exceptional it’s hard to believe they’re not small adults. They aren’t.

“Matilda” comes from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers. Matthew Warchus directs, and the set– which is like a giant world of Scrabble pieces for children– is from Rob Howell. The entire physical production, including school desks that rise out of the stage, is jaw dropping.  There’s one scene in which Karen Aldridge, playing Matilda’s librarian friend, sits on a cube as a fanciful scene unfolds in front of her. I thought, that woman must be thinking this is sort of amazing, as a complete fantasy appears before Matilda.

The show is dark, edgy, and not your basic family fare. It’s Roald Dahl without any sugar coating. Everything is played as if the kids are adults. No one is talked down to. Some kids in the audience loved it. Others looked like they needed a drink. In the second act, there’s a number that looks like 9 year olds are doing “American Idiot” crossed with “Spring Awakening.” But 90 plus year old legend Marge Champion, who I spoke to during the intermission, was aglow with praise. The choreography is mind bending. And these kids are doing it.

Did I mention the songs? What a year for songs– from Cyndi Lauper to Amanda Green to Berry Gordy and the Motown writers to Rodgers and Hammerstein. And Australian Tim Minchin has written some extraordinarily beautiful songs that are real songs. They’ll stick in your head. “Matilda” isn’t perfect. It’s a little too long, and gets some convoluted in the second act. But what a great job these people have done.

Tribeca Film Fest Juries Include Whoopi, Mira Sorvino, Paul Haggis, and Kenny Lonergan

Roger Friedman
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Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Haggis, Mira Sorvino, Kenny Lonergan and Tea Leoni are just some of the jurors for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The annual gathering begins next Wednesday and should be pretty exciting given the films and all the people participating. Once again Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro will have a hit on their hands. The Festival ends with a new print of Martin Scorsese’s classic “King of Comedy.” Hopefully we’ll be seeing Jerry Lewis at that event.

Here’s the whole release: The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by founding partner American Express®, is pleased to announce our diverse group of 42 influential industry leaders, including award-winning filmmakers, writers, producers, actors, journalists and entrepreneurs, that will be divided among the seven competitive Festival categories.

In addition, the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the six individuals who will serve as jurors for the Tribeca All Access (TAA) Creative Promise Awards, presented by the Time Warner Foundation. The winning projects will be announced during the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25. TFI also announced the three jurors for the Latin America Media Arts Fund, including the Heineken VOCES awards.

The seven TFF juries will award $180,000 in cash and prizes. TFF winners will also receive a work of original art by an acclaimed artist as part of the Tribeca Film Festival Artists Awards program, sponsored by Chanel. The winning films, filmmakers and actors in each category will be announced at the TFF Awards Night ceremony, streamed live on TribecaFilm.com on April 25.

Additionally, TAA will award  $20,000 — $10,000 for narrative and $10,000 for documentary. TFI will also award $130,000 in grants to Latin American film and video artists, including two $10,000 Heineken VOCES grants for Latin American filmmakers living and working in the United States.

Following is a list of the 2013 Festival and Tribeca Film Institute jurors and their respective categories.

World Competition Categories

The jurors for the 2013 World Narrative Competition are:

Kenny Lonergan: Academy Award®-nominated playwright, filmmaker and screenwriter. Credits include You Can Count On Me, Gangs of New York, and Margaret. His stage credits include Lobby Hero, The Waverly Gallery and This is Our Youth. He is a member of the Naked Angels Theater Company in New York.

Bryce Dallas-Howard: Multi-award nominated actress, director, writer and producer. Acting credits include The Help, 50/50, The Twilight Saga, Hereafter, Restless, Lady in the Water, The Village and the HBO adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. She directed the short film When You Find Me as part of Canon’s innovative and inaugural “Project Imagin8ion” campaign and directed one of five short films included in The Lifetime Original Movie event “Call Me Crazy: A Five Film.”

Paul Haggis: Academy Award®-winning filmmaker whose credits include Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima, Casino Royale, In the Valley of Elah and television including Thirtysomething and The Tracey Ullman Show.

Blythe Danner: Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress. Stage credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Betrayal, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, The Miser and The Seagull. Film work includes The Great Santini, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge and Meet the Parents.

Jessica Winter: Senior editor at Time magazine, directing coverage of the arts and culture. Her writing has appeared in Time, The New York Times, Slate, The Guardian and many others. Previously served as a juror at the London and Vancouver International Film Festivals.

The jurors for the 2013 World Documentary Competition are:

Whoopi Goldberg: Makes her directorial debut at in the 2013 TFF with the documentary I Got Somethin’ To Tell You. One of an elite group of artists who have won an Academy, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards.

Sandi Dubowski: Director and producer whose award-winning work has screened at Tribeca, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals; BBC, PBS, and ZDF-Arte; and in cinema release globally. Credits include Trembling Before G-d, A Jihad For Love and Budrus.

Joe Berlinger: Academy Award® nominated filmmaker and two-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and director. Films include Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and Crude.

Evan Rachel Wood: Critically acclaimed actress who has garnered Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominations. Credits include The Wrestler and HBO’s Mildred Pierce. Stars in the 2013 TFF selection A Case of You.

Mira Sorvino: Academy Award®-winning actress best known for Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Replacement Killers, Mimic and Norma Jean and Marilyn.

Emerging Competition Categories

The jurors for the 2013 Best New Narrative Director are:

Stu Zicherman: New York-based screenwriter, producer and director. Co-created the ABC’s Six Degrees and wrote and produced ABC’s What About Brian and FX’s Lights Out. Has written feature scripts for several major studios and made his feature directorial debut at the 2013 Sundance Film festival with the comedy A.C.O.D.

Ari Graynor: Film, stage and television actress and producer. Credits include the films For a Good Time Call, Celeste and Jesse Forever, 10 Years, Holy Rollers, Conviction and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and the television series The Sopranos and Fringe. Broadway credits include The Performers, Relatively Speaking and The Little Dog Laughed.

Naomi Foner: Academy Award®-nominated and Golden Globe-winning screenwriter, producer and director. Writing credits include Running on Empty, Losing Isaiah and Very Good Girls.

Radha Mitchell: Australian actress, Radha Mitchell who currently stars on the ABC series Red Widow is best known for her work in past feature films such as High Art, Man on Fire, Finding Neverland and Woody Allen’s Melinda & Melinda.

Tony Gilroy: Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter and director whose credits include Dolores Claiborne, Michael Clayton and the Jason Bourne series.

The jurors for the 2013 Best New Documentary Director are:

Taraji P. Henson: Academy Award® nominee for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Hustle & Flow, Date Night, Karate Kid, and Think Like a Man. Currently stars in the CBS hit Person of Interest.

Josh Radnor: Actor, writer and director best known for the Emmy Award-winning television series How I Met Your Mother. He wrote, directed and starred in Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts and next appears in Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight.

Jared Cohen: Founder and director of Google Ideas, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an author. His books include: The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business; Children of Jihad; and One Hundred Days of Silence. Previously served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and a close advisor to Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton.

Riley Keough: Actress whose film credits include The Runaways, The Good Doctor, Jack and Diane and Magic Mike.

Short Film Competition Categories

The jurors for the 2013 Narrative Short Film Competition are:

Sheila Nevins: President of HBO Documentary Films, is responsible for overseeing the development and production of all documentaries for HBO, HBO2 and Cinemax. She has overseen the creation of more than 500 documentaries and has earned dozens of awards, including, Primetime Emmys, News and Documentary Emmys, and Peabody Awards.

Kassem Garaibeh: Actor, comedian, and co-founding talent of Maker Studios, a network that includes over 10,000 channels on YouTube. Credits include his award-winning YouTube series California On and Going Deep.

Jessica Hecht: Stage and screen actress known for roles on Breaking Bad, Bored to Death, Friends and Law and Order. She appears in 2013 selections The English Teacher and Space Cadet, and is starring on Broadway in The Assembled Parties.

Chris Milk: Artist, music video director and photographer. Credits include Wilderness Downtown, Last Day Dream, The Johnny Cash Project and videos for Kanye West, U2, Arcade Fire and Gnarls Barkley. Co-creator of the 2013 TFF Storyscapes selection This Exquisite Forest.

Christine Baranski: Tony, Emmy, SAG and American Comedy Award-winning actress. Stage credits include The Real Thing, Rumors, Lips Together Teeth Apart, Boeing-Boeing, Hurlyburly and The House of Blue Leaves. Screen and television credits include The Good Wife, Cybill, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Chicago, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cruel Intentions, The Ref, Reversal of Fortune and Mamma Mia!

The jurors for the 2013 Documentary and Student Short Film Competitions are:

John Skipper: President of ESPN Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. Frequently appears on “most influential” lists in such outlets as Sports Business Journal, CableFAX Magazine, Business Week and The Sporting News.

Eva Longoria: Golden Globe-nominated and SAG and ALMA Award-winning actress, producer, businesswoman and philanthropist best known for ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

Bobby Flay: Acclaimed chef, restaurateur, Food Network star and cookbook author. Hosted and produced 3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay, The Next Food Network Star and is an Iron Chef on Iron Chef America.

Jason Silva: Television personality, media artist, filmmaker and techno-philosopher who has presented at TED Global, Google, The Economist Ideas Festival and at keynote events for Microsoft and IBM on the evolution of technology and its effect on humanity.

Danny Strong: Emmy Award-winning writer of HBO’s Game Change and is currently writing the two-part finale of The Hunger Games. Also an actor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls and Mad Men.

Abigail Breslin: Academy Award®-nominated actress best known for Little Miss Sunshine. Other credits include M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, New Year’s Eve, My Sister’s Keeper,  Zombieland, Rango and The Call. Forthcoming films include Haunter, Ender’s Game, Final Girl and August: Osage County.

Storyscapes

The jurors for the 2013 BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Award for Transmedia:

Jeff Gomez: CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, the world’s leading expert at expanding entertainment properties, premium brands and socio-political themes into highly successful transmedia franchises and international campaigns.

Frank Rose: Bestselling author, speaker and digital anthropologist known for his books The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories and Into the Heart of the Mind. Contributing editor to Wired magazine.

Thomas Allen Harris: Filmmaker whose videos and installations have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney, Corcoran Gallery and the London Institute of the Arts.

TAA Creative Promise Awards

The jurors for the 2013 TAA Creative Promise Award—Narrative are:

Rubén Blades: Panamanian-born musician, recorded over 20 albums, won eleven Grammys, acted in over 30 films. Ran for the Panamanian presidency in 1994. Was Minister of tourism there from 2004 through 2009. Holds degrees from Panama’s Universidad Nacional, Harvard Graduate Law School and received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

John Forte: Grammy-nominated recording artist, composer, music producer, educator and activist. Former Fugees. Co-producer of the 2013 TFF selection The Project.

Tea Leoni: New York-native and actress whose credits include Flirting with Disaster, Spanglish, You Kill Me, Bad Boys, Family Man and Tower Heist.

The jurors for the 2013 TAA Creative Promise Award—Documentary are:

Shola Lynch: Director, Producer and Writer whose documentary credits include Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed, and the recently released in theaters, Free Angela & All Political Prisoners.

Sol Guy: Culture ninja and social entrepreneur who has worked with Lauryn Hill, Outkast and P. Diddy. Co-creator and host of the series 4REAL and currently developing a new TV series, The Talent Show.

Rachel Dratch: Funny-lady best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, creating the characters Boston Teen Denise, Debbie Downer, Denise and Sheldon. Credits include Down with Love, Click and 30 Rock.

TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund

The jurors for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, including the Heineken VOCES awards are:

Julia Bacha: Brazilian media strategist and award-winning documentary filmmaker who highlights under-documented stories from the Middle East. Most recently directed and produced the short My Neighborhood, winner of a 2013 Peabody Award.

Carlos Gutierrez: Co-founder and executive director of Cinema Tropical.

Leonardo Zimbron: Latin producer best known for his films Efectos Secundarios, Bajo la Sal, Viento en Contra and Nosotros los Nobles.

Justin Timberlake Brings Three (3) Bodyguards to White House Show

Roger Friedman
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Justin Timberlake Brings Three (3) Bodyguards to White House Show

Last night’s PBS “In Performance: Memphis Soul” live show from the White House was a hit. But it was also pretty interesting, say attendees who got a sneak peak at the backstage stuff. For one thing, Justin Timberlake–who everyone liked a lot — brought not one, not two but three bodyguards. Three — into the White House’s very small, invitation only, checked by passport number guest list. He actually may have had more protection than the Obamas.

Timberlake also got to have more guests than any of the other artists, the actual stars of Memphis soul. He brought wife Jessica Biel, plus his mother, stepfather, and annoying publicist. But sources say Timberlake was relaxed and funny. “He’s very quick,” said one backstager. “We had a lot of fun.” Timberlake also didn’t grab the whole show. Considering that his album, “The 20/20 Experience,” has been number 1 for three weeks and has sold 2 million copies worldwide, Timberlake had no demands. He sang one song, supported the other players, and was extremely congenial.

There was also high praise for producer Ken Ehrlich, who’d been in China almost up until the show went into rehearsal. Everything came smoothly, the song selections and players were great. It was a real coup to get Cyndi Lauper to sing “Try a Little Tenderness.” She didn’t want to do it. But Ehrlich was right. She killed. Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite gave the show some heft, too. And Sam Moore singing “When Something is Wrong with My Baby” was the piece de resistance.

But those bodyguards. Really. I was recently at a small private movie premiere at which every actor had one. It’s too funny.

Ben Affleck Keeps His Lip Zipped in Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder”

Roger Friedman
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Ben Affleck Keeps His Lip Zipped in Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder”

Terrence Malick’s pretentious and terrible “To the Wonder” is finally opening on Friday. If you go, bring an alarm clock and set it to go off every seven minutes. Hardly a word is spoken in this film, and none of them by Ben Affleck. Malick is so far from being the genius who made “Days of Heaven” and “The Thin Red Line.” He didn’t show up for last night’s premiere in L.A. and he wasn’t there in Toronto last September when I published this piece. He sent his wife, Ecky. I’m quoting Rex Reed, who really got it: “Years seem to pass between scenes. To be honest, years seem to pass during scenes.”

From September 11, 2012:

At the North American premiere of Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder,” his third wife, Alexandra “Ecky” Wallace came to the podium on the stage of the Princess of Wales Theater (Toronto Film Festival) and said: “We thought about becoming Canadian citizens after 9/11. We have much to learn from you.”

Her statement made about as much sense as the two and a half hour movie that subsequently unfurled before us. “To the Wonder” is the second film in Malick’s Renaissance, following the mostly incoherent “Tree of Life.” But with this one, Malick is way out on a limb. He’s made a long, boring tone poem that has almost no dialogue, just an ethereal narration, no plot or story that can be understood without production notes in hand.

What did Ecky mean? That it’s safer in Canada? “We have much to learn from you” sounds like a line from a space alien movie. Considering that the Malicks don’t live anywhere near New York City, or even Pennsylvania, one wonders what their problem was. If they wanted to move to Canada, no one would have objected.

Terrence Malick used to be held in high esteem by cinephiles and filmmakers. His early movies, especially “Days of Heaven,” are considered classics. “Days of Heaven” was marked by Nestor Almendros’s gorgeous cinematography that emphasized the fields of gold in the mid western setting where Richard Gere came to overturn the marriage of Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard. In 1978, “Days of Heaven” was astonishing. And it was only 94 minutes long.

It would be twenty years– two decades–before Malick would return with “The Thin Red Line.” The movie divided audiences and critics, but because it was Malick, and Sean Penn headed up an eclectic cast, the reclusive, mysterious director was applauded. John Toll evoked Almendros’s work.

Seven more years passed, until 2005, when Malick gave birth to “A New World.” Beautifully shot, but incoherent and very long, the movie did poorly financially and critically.

You’d think that would have been it, but Malick crossed paths with an enthusiastic backer, William Pohlad. Bill Pohlad is a film producer who came to Holywood with the backing of his late billionaire father, Carl Pohlad. The Pohlads are the second biggest Pepsi bottler in America and own, among other things, the Minnesota Twins.

Pohlad, with deep, deep pockets, can afford to indulge Terry Malick in any pursuit. That’s why we have “Tree of Life,” punctuated with National Geographic type images and a dinosaur. Stars Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain exchange not one word of dialogue. Sean Penn has admitted he has no idea what he was doing in the movie.

And now, ta da: “To the Wonder.” Unlike “Tree of Life,” this thing is totally incoherent. There isn’t a whisper of a story. It looks like it was shot by your kid on his video camera. There’s lots pretty images–more for Malick’s National Geo–but nothing that suggests a movie. Someone could spin it as a “meditation” or some such new age-speak, but really, when you think of “Days of Heaven,” this “film” is ridiculous. Only the most gullible or pretentious audiences will tell you how much they love it. Many will sleep, uninterrupted.

Ben Affleck skipped the premiere since in Venice the movie was booed. Also he’d to have answer questions about his muteness. Privately, when he was here for “Argo,” he told intimates that he hated the film. Malick, of course, is nowhere to be seen. He refuses to be interviewed or to defend or explain his work. So he sent his third wife out on the stage, and she made her 9/11 pronouncement.

For yours truly, it was a perfectly loony way to end a pretty good Toronto Film Festival. There were so many good movies this year– from “Silver Linings Playbook” to “The Iceman” to “Imogene” and “Frances Ha,” “The Sapphires,” “The Master,” “Greetings from Tim Buckley”– that we can forgive almost anything. But Malick is either incapable of making a film that makes any sense, or doesn’t care to. And so audiences must accept or reject that idea. But genius has a shelf life.

PS “To the Wonder” also stars Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko and Javier Bardem, just slightly. Several actors including Rachel Weisz, filmed scenes that were cut entirely. At the Q&A, Olga and Rachel McAdams said that much of what they filmed, including dialogue, was also cut.

And there are three more Malick-Pohlad collaborations to come. Let’s hope there’s some kind of improvement in the next ones. Or at least some dialogue.

Broadway “Spider Man” Lawsuits Are Settled: Turn off The Lawyers

Roger Friedman
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Broadway “Spider Man” Lawsuits Are Settled: Turn off The Lawyers

The lawsuit between “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” creator Julie Taymor and the show’s producers has been settled.

Here’s the release:

New York, NY – Julie Taymor, Glen Berger and 8 Legged Productions LLC, the Producer of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark, are pleased to announce that the pending litigation between them has been settled by mutual agreement of all parties.

The parties’ settlement agreement resolves Ms. Taymor’s claims against 8 Legged in connection with her work on the book of the musical SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark, with respect to both the current New York production and subsequent productions.

All claims between all of the parties in the litigation have been resolved.

Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris of 8 Legged Productions said in a joint statement: “We’re happy to put all this behind us.  We are now looking forward to spreading SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark in new and exciting ways around the world.”

Ms. Taymor said, “I’m pleased to have reached an agreement and hope for the continued success of Spider-Man, both on Broadway and beyond.”

Mr. Berger said, “I am very glad the parties have put the claims behind them.  I look forward to seeing fruitful work from all those involved.”

Paul McCartney’s Son, James, Starts Grueling 47 Date Tour

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney’s Son, James, Starts Grueling 47 Date Tour

James McCartney, the 35 year old musician son of Paul and (the late) Linda, is hitting the road. Tonight he starts a 47 date tour in the US to promote his first full album. The collection, called “Me,” will be released on May 21st on the very small and independent Engine Company Records from downtown New York. James has already released two EPs and had a small tour in 2011 that brought him to New York. The tour begins tonight in Santa Barbara and looks pretty tiring–there’s barely a day off, a real city-after-city schedule with a lot of bus travel. But I liked James’s music when he was here a couple of years ago, and he’s not averse to hard work. The hardest thing of all in pop music is being the son or daughter of someone famous in the business. Kudos to him for perseverance. It always pays off.

Lorne Michaels, King of NBC at Last, Will Be Exec Producer of SNL, Tonight, and Late Night

Roger Friedman
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Lorne Michaels, King of NBC at Last, Will Be Exec Producer of SNL, Tonight, and Late Night

With the recent news about Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels solidifies his position as King of NBC.  Still with “SNL,” now Michaels takes on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and “Late Night” with Seth Meyers. I’m told Michaels will visit NBC on the West Coast next week to put the finishing touches on all these arrangements. He will retain the title of Executive Producer on all the shows, but let secondary producers run “Tonight” and “Late Night” on a day to day basis.

That’s right. I told you this on March 22nd before anyone else: www.showbiz411.com/2013/03/22/if-jay-leno-is-out-lorne-michaels-would-have-snl-tonight-and-late-night-with-seth-meyers. Meyers is all but sewn up.

Michaels will now have three live shows running concurrently out of the same building, 30 Rock. I’m told  The guest booking alone will be overwhelming. Who does which show and when?

And then there’s the weekly grind of “SNL.” This season they lost Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg. Jason Sudeikis is kind of gone. Meyers’ exit will be a blow since he’s head writer and does the “Weekend Update” news cast. “SNL” is going to be getting a major retooling. But there are some winners among the up and comers, especially Kate McKinnon and Taran Killam. Then you still have Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson, and Fred Armisen. And Bill Hader remains Michaels’s true star. Will he stay another year? And why haven’t a savvy manager and agent come along and organized Hader into a big career? He’s actually kind of brilliant.

And so this new world opens up with Lorne Michaels, some 38 years after “Saturday Night Live” launched with the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. The inmates have finally taken over the asylum.

PS Maybe they’ll give him the Today show. He could fix it!

Review: Memphis Soul from White House Was a Solid Hour of R&B

Roger Friedman
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PBS’s Memphis Soul special from the White House just concluded. The performers were all top notch. I was impressed that Justin Timberlake did a nice job on “Dock of the Bay.” I just wish someone would tell him to stop singing falsetto and just sing. It’s a gimmick, and it’s not working. Sam Moore was the star of the night, bringing the house down on “When Something is Wrong with My Baby.” But Mavis Staples had her usual ebullient energy on “I’ll Take You There” and Cyndi Lauper was fine on “Try a Little Tenderness.” Eddie Floyd hit just the right notes on his solo hit “Knock on Wood.”  Queen Latifah was soulful on “I Can’t Stand the Rain” but they could have gotten Ann Peebles to come in from Memphis to sing her hit. And why did an “American Idol” reject sing “When a Man Loves a Woman” when Percy Sledge is alive and well? Anyway:  All in all, a very satisfying evening which will be trimmed up for April 16th. The audience was mostly PBS types and political drones, no celebs per se. But the real celebs were on stage, and that’s the most important thing.

Watch Justin Timberlake PBS “Memphis Soul” Show Live from the White House at 6:55pm

Roger Friedman
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0
Watch Justin Timberlake PBS “Memphis Soul” Show Live from the White House at 6:55pm

UPDATE: Sam Moore on Soul Man, Justin Timberlake on Dock of the Bay, Mavis Staples I’ll Take You There all very good. I love Queen Latifah, but Ann Peebles would have happily come in from Memphis to sing I Can’t Stand the Rain. Oh well. And Justin does not need to add BeeGees falsettos to everything.

Keep refreshing…Beginning at 6:55pm, watch the PBS taping of a salute to Memphis Soul live from the White House right here. The actual edited show airs on Aprul 16th. The show will use Justin Timberlake as bait for the contemporary audience. But the real reasons to watch are the Stax Records stars who made it onto the lineup including Mavis Staples, Sam Moore, Booker T. Jones– who will sing, which is rare–William Bell, as well as Cyndi Lauper and Queen Latifah. Al Green was supposed to be on the show, but no one could find him. Or they found him and couldn’t get him to do it. Who’s in the room? It only holds 220 people, most of whom are rich PBS donors. I almost went to DC for this, but Michelle Obama’s press office acted so unprofessionally that I decided to stay in New York and have a toast to Rufus Thomas ( his family wasn’t invited) the late great star of Memphis soul music. Personal plug: for more info on Memphis soul, do check my 2003 documentary with DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus called “Only the Strong Survive.” It’s available on amazon.com and Amazon Instant Video.

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