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Who Was John Lennon Missing in 1978? Ex Girlfriend May Pang Is the Likely Answer

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The Beatles’ “Now and Then” is out.

The John Lennon song was written in 1977-78, four years after John returned to Yoko Ono and the Dakota after his 18 months with girlfriend May Pang.

So who was he missing, as the song says? Not Yoko. She was there in the apartment. Some will say it’s mother, Julia. But it sounds more like it was Pang, who John had a memorable time with in 1973-74 until he mysteriously and unaccountably returned to Ono.

In her documentary, “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story,” Pang says she was in touch with Lennon after he left her. But that would have been by phone. The wistfulness of the original Lennon demo has ex-girlfriend/good times written all over it.

PS It wasn’t the other Beatles, because he was in touch with them.

[Intro]
(One, two, three)

[Refrain]
I know it’s true
It’s all because of you
And, if I make it through
It’s all because of you

[Verse 1]
And, now and then
If we must start again
Well, we will know for sure
That I will love you

[Chorus]
Now and then
I miss you
Oh, now and then
I want you to be there for me
Always to return to me

[Verse 2]
I know it’s true
It’s all because of you
And, if you go away
I know you’ll never stay

Exclusive: Britney Spears ACTUAL Hardcover Book Sales 414,000 — Not 1.1 Million Says Bookscan

Just wait:

According to BookScan/Circana, Britney Spears’ first week book sales are 414,000.

Simon & Schuster sent out an early press release yesterday saying they’d sold 1.1 million copies.

Not true. According to Circana, S&S’s numbers included pre-sales, ebooks, and audio books. They have no way of measuring those numbers.

But actual hardcover sales: 60% lower than the publisher said.

It’s still a huge number, but far from the press release. Circana counts 85% of all hardcovers sold.

“The Woman in Me” is currently number 2 on Amazon’s hardcover bestseller list and number 4 on Kindle.

“Yellowstone” Final Episodes Coming a Year from Now, But Better Show — “Bass Reeves” — Starts Sunday

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“Yellowstone” will not return until one year from now.

The troubled Kevin Costner series won’t drop new and final episodes until November 2024. That’s because of the two union strikes, but also because creator Taylor Sheridan has been locked in a public fight with Costner.

How will Sheridan kill off Costner’s John Dutton? Costner demands he goes out a hero. Sheridan would love to drop a house on him.

Meanwhile, a much better Taylor Sheridan series — maybe his best — arrives this Sunday on Paramount Plus. It’s called “Bass Reeves,” stars David Oyelowo as a Civil War slave who became a famous law man. Oyelowo is outstanding in the title role but it’s also the production — the writing, design, cinematography — that is levels above “Yellowstone” or any of its spin offs — that makes it special.

As for “Yellowstone,” there are two more spin offs — “1944” and “2024” — the latter which might star Matthew McConaughey. But whole frenzy about the original series is over.

The Writers Guild Move 2024 Awards Til After Oscars, Becoming More Useless Than Ever

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The Writers Guild has gone from sympathetic to moribund in the blink of an eye.

For three weeks everyone has been begging them to issue a statement of horror about the Hamas killings of Israelis on October 7th. They’ve declined. Their only comment was a watery nothing.

Now the WGA has decided they don’t care about the Oscars. Instead of giving their 2024 awards out before the Academy Awards in March, the WGA will wait until April. No one will care, or maybe even less than before.

All the other Guild awards — SAG, DGA, etc — will be before the Oscars and have some bearing on the outcome. Now the WGA nominations will be announced one day before Oscar final voting begins. The Oscars are on March 10, 2023.

I feel bad for WGA members with possibly nominated projects. Their union is really doing them dirty with this decision. But something is obviously wrong with the current WGA management. After eliciting sympathy all summer with their strike. they’ve made constant bad decisions since then.

Meet the Beatles, 10AM, to Hear “Now and Then,” Their Final Single Created from a John Lennon Demo– NO A.I. However

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Come right here at 10am to hear the Beatles’ single, “Now and Then.”

It was NOT made with A.I. It was made just “Free Like a Bird” and “Real Love” were 30 years ago. Yoko Ono gave a demo to Paul, Ringo, and George. They worked on it but John’s 1978 vocal was wobbly.

Fast forward to now, when director Peter Jackson developed an audio app that could extract the vocal and make it cleaner. He didn’t “create” anything. Paul and Ringo added to it, Giles Martin helped with production.

You will hear a few subtle instrumental references to three old Beatle songs, Easter eggs for the fans. The single drops this morning at 10am, the video on Friday.

Keep refreshing…

Broadway: Huey Lewis and the News Jukebox Musical Coming This Spring, Like it Or Not

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Another jukebox musical would seem like a futile effort for Broadway at this point. Do we really need one of these shows with a contrived book to hold together a bunch of mediocre pop songs?

Apparently, we do.

The result is we will get “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” with songs from Huey Lewis and the News, come March 2024. This show was tried in The Old Globe Theater in San Diego back in 2018, and the reviews were not friendly. But the producers persist.

So we will get dramatic readings of “I Want a New Drug,” “Do You Believe in Love,” and “Hip to Be Square,” sung earnestly by characters in a romcom. I always liked “Heart and Soul.”

Huey Lewis’s real claim to fame — apart from a dozen cheerful pop hits in the mid 80s — is that his group played back up for Elvis Costello on his first album under the name Clover. That was when they were hip. Then they became square, perfect music for the Reagan era. Instead of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, the News was about golf.

I don’t know if golf will be involved in this show– but you can see the dance numbers now, right? And lots of double entendres. (Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be hearing those.)

How “The Heart of Rock and Roll” is supposed to measure up to The Who’s “Tommy,” which is actual rock and roll, remains to be seen. But who knows?

Will Smith Media Rehab Tour Starts with CBS Grammy Tribute to 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop and…Slap?

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Will Smith’s media rehabilitation will be launched by CBS in December.

Smith and his rap partner DJ Jazzy Jeff will perform on the CBS Grammy special honoring the 50th anniversary of hip hop. The show tapes November 8th and airs in December.

As the Fresh Prince, Smith established his pre-acting career. Ultimately it translated into “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” TV show and his acting career skyrocketed.

But Smith’s world came crashing down in March 2022 when he jumped up on the Oscar stage and slapped Chris Rock, hard, for all the world to see. He also cursed him out. The result was a 10 year ban by the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Since then, Smith’s had a rocky time that has recently culminated in his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, publishing a book that revealed they haven’t lived together since 2016, that he’s been cuckolded, and made to look foolish in the public. His movie career has stalled, with Smith losing jobs, although he has made a “Bad Boys” movie.

With his appearance on the Hip Hop tribute, Smith will attempt to win back his old fans and ignite some nostalgia for his life before the Slap. He and DJ Jazzy Jeff will bring the house down with songs like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and the “Fresh Prince” theme song. Will the good will convey Good Will? We’ll have to wait and see.

Sunday Cable: “Billions” Ends Run for the Faithful Viewers, “Gilded Age” Returns with Ups, Downs, and Healthy Numbers

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“Billions,” the best show on TV, ended its seven year run on Sunday.

Ratings were low, as the show hasn’t been promoted or thought of by Showtime in years. A total of 245,000 viewers tuned, in, about the same as last week. The faithful watched a perfect series finale, written for the fans for satisfaction. It was a lovely ending, actually. I hope “Billions” will get a new life on Netflix or some streamer where it can find a new audience.

“The Gilded Age” is back on HBO. Sunday’s second season premiere had 450,000 viewers, which is not bad.

I’ve seen all 8 episodes, and they’re worth hanging on for even though the series feels like it’s been written to wrap things up with a tidy bow. In episode 7, something actually happens that would change other series and need five more episodes to unravel.

But “The Gilded Age” season 2 is constructed like a bullet train. There’s no room to breathe for stories or characters. Some people pop up in one episode and exit in another. The main cast is superior, but the supporting ones are wanting in every way. Is there a voice coach on the payroll? This is New York in the 1880s and many people sound like they’ve wandered in off the plains.

If your ears aren’t grinding from the mismatched dialects, then the music will kill you. “The Gilded Age” theme sounds like “Falcon Crest” meets “Bonanza.” The graphics in the opening come from “The Colbys” and the final card is an emblem worthy of “Game of Thrones.” In every episode, the theme plays through the whole show, never letting an actor or a scene develop dramatically.

Everything is telegraphed in “The Gilded Age.” I called the ending after one episode. It’s all so obvious, and except in Episode 7, no chances are taken. It’s really “Downton for Dummies.”

But not the cast. So many exceptional actors are given inferior material but do their best with it. The really good stuff is in the van Rijn house with Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, and Louisa Jacobson (aka Streep). The van Rijn’s below staff is great, too, although many are wasted,

Across the street — where it never rains, is never winter, has unchanging sky — Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon are the nouveau riche. Some say they’re based on the Vanderbilts, but the way they’re treated it doesn’t come off that way. There’s a distinct thread of antisemitism running through the series, and in the final episode Baranski’s Agnes finally lets loose. “Move Downtown?” she says, nose in the air. “With the Jews?”

Still, the sets and costumes are worth it all. Plus you keep hoping Audra McDonald and Michael Cerveris will just break into song. Will there be a season 3? It doesn’t seem like it, but by the end you kind of hope so. It’s just good goofy fun. But note to HBO: better during the summer. It’s a summer show absolutely.

RIP Troubled “General Hospital” Actor Tyler Christopher, 50, Played Nikolas Cassadine, Dead from a “Cardiac Event”

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Sad sad news: Tyler Christopher has died. The 50 year old actor spent most of his career playing Nikolas Cassadine on “General Hospital.” But he was in and out of rehab, had many public incidents, and was deeply troubled by addiction. In the last few months he was arrested for passing out at Burbank Airport.

“General Hospital” star Maurice Benard announced the death on his Instagram page. He attributed it to a cardiac event. Christopher was living in San Diego. He leaves his ex wife and two children. Previously, Christopher had been married to actress Eva Longoria.

Christopher was a talented actor. He won the 2016 Daytime Emmy for Best Actor on “General Hospital,” where he’d been working for two decades. But he left the show immediately after and joined “Days of our Lives.” His behavior there was erratic and he left that show as well.

Condolences to his family and friends and fans.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Maurice Benard (@mauricebenard)