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TV: Ellen Burstyn Returning to “Law & Order,” Charles Shaughnessy Checking into “General Hospital”

Roger Friedman
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TV: Ellen Burstyn Returning to “Law & Order,” Charles Shaughnessy Checking into “General Hospital”

Big doings in the TV world:

Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winner Ellen Burstyn is reviving her character as Elliot Stabler’s mother, Bertie, which she started on “Law & Order SVU.”

Burstyn is returning as Chris Meloni’s mom after winning an Emmy in 2009 for playing the role on the original series. Now she’ll turn up on “Organized Crime,” maybe in a cross over with “SVU” since it was Mariska Hargitay who announced all this on her Instagram account.

“SVU” has been shooting on the Upper West Side all week, late at night. I saw them last night on upper Broadway. Anyway, if Ellen is coming back it means she’ll get another Emmy, that’s how it is, she always deserves awards, she’s heads and tails above almost everyone else around!

“Organized Crime” is breaking itself into 3 eight episode arcs this season, the last one bringing back Dylan McDermott from the first season. Hopefully they’ll add characters and stories and start opening up the seaso so it’s not just “Law & Order: Chris Meloni.”

Charles Shaughnessy, you know him from “The Nanny” as rich theater producer Maxwell who eventually marries Fran Drescher. For years and years he’s also been part of the NBC soap, “Days of our Lives” playing a spy. Now he’s going to do a gig on rival soap, “General Hospital.” Fans are a little perplexed because Tristan Rogers, who’s been with “GH” since the 80s, and plays a spy, hasn’t been on show all summer. Shaughnessy was last on “GH” also in the 80s for a minute before his “Days” run.

 

 

Gotham Awards Go Gender Neutral, No More Best Actor or Actress, Just Best Performance

Roger Friedman
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Gotham Awards Go Gender Neutral, No More Best Actor or Actress, Just Best Performance

Say goodbye to Best Actor and Best Actress.

In an effort to really complicate things, the Gotham Independent Film Awards are doing away with gender and the distinctions of men vs women in awards.

From now on, they’re just giving Best Performance in Lead and Supporting. There will be 10 nominees in each category, but  it’s entirely possible that more “men” than “women” will wind up being nominated.

“Actresses” are not going to like the outcome, I can tell you now. Every year it’s a big deal to field enough actresses in each category for all awards shows. The number of men, or actors, is always larger. So this should be very interesting.

Additional category updates for 2021 include the creation of a Breakthrough Nonfiction Series award (previously included with fiction series) and the eligibility of international documentaries in the Best Documentary Feature category. The Gotham Awards will also be adding the first acting category within its Breakthrough Series categories with Outstanding Performance in a New Series. There will be up to ten nominees in each of the three new categories including Outstanding Lead Performance,Outstanding Supporting Performance and Outstanding Performance in a New Series.
Also the Breakthrough Actor award is being changed to Breakthrough Performance.
This is new world, kids. It’s also very PC, and you’re not allowed to say a word against it. So don’t. I’m warning you.
Will the Oscars try this? I don’t think so. But you never know.

“Jeopardy” Exec Producer Chooses Himself for Host, LeVar Burton Graciously Accepts Announcement

Roger Friedman
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“Jeopardy” Exec Producer Chooses Himself for Host, LeVar Burton Graciously Accepts Announcement

“Jeopardy!” didn’t even let the numbers come in LeVar Burton, who guest hosted last week after a big fan campaign to get him the job.

Executive producer Mike Richards has chosen himself to be the new host. He also skipped over greatest player of all time Ken Jennings, who scored the highest ratings of all the guest hosts.

Burton wrote on Twitter: “I have said many times over these past weeks that no matter the outcome, I’ve won. The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and fans alike has been incredible! If love is the ultimate blessing and I believe that it is, I am truly blessed beyond measure”

Jennings hasn’t said anything. He’s on vacation in Europe. Presumably he’s still a consulting producer on the show. But fans aren’t pleased with the Richards news, and the press is casting it as an inside job.

Golden Globes Announce New Rules But Make No Effort to Diversify Membership or Add Black Critics

Roger Friedman
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Golden Globes Announce New Rules But Make No Effort to Diversify Membership or Add Black Critics

I don’t get it. I wish someone could explain this to me.

The Hollywood Foreign Press, on August 5th, 2021 still has not added a single African American or even Black from some country member to its 90 person group.

They’ve literally lost the 2022 Golden Globes show on NBC because of their lack of diversity. Publicity companies won’t deal with them. This has been going on for months and months and no effort has been made to change their situation.

Today the HFPA announced a bunch of new rules, the details of which are not interesting to the general public. They can’t take gifts or trips, etc. They have to be nicer to each other and new members. I’m not getting into the weeds here.

What hasn’t happened is the immediate addition of multicultural members. The longer this goes on, the worse it gets. All they say today is they’re hiring an HR person, a diversity officer, and so on. About five or six new positions with salaries. But I can think of five or six qualified potential members right off the bat. I don’t know why the HFPA can’t.

 

Tempting as Ever: Squeeze, the 80s Beatles, Bring Magical Pop Songs to Life in New Tour

Roger Friedman
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Tempting as Ever: Squeeze, the 80s Beatles, Bring Magical Pop Songs to Life in New Tour

First of all, it’s unfair to call Squeeze the 80s Beatles, but I got your attention. From the mid 70s for at least twenty or more years, Brits Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook turned out classic pop albums that recalled the best writing and singing of Lennon and McCartney but surely with their own twists. They were not and are not a cult group by any means. They had hits galore, too. They led the British New Wave and had plenty of presence on MTV.

(Squeeze should be in the Rock Hall with the Police, Pretenders, Elvis Costello, and Talking Heads. Don’t get me started.)

And now they are back on tour in America after the pandemic literally brought their previous schedule to a screeching halt in March 2020. I caught them last night at the rustic Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut on their own, but they are also part of a parallel package with Hall & Oates going to huge venues like Jones Beach.

All that out of the way, it was a joy to see them, especially in a small theater. Their backing group is a sensational band that could easily take on any of “today’s” pop rock bands in a battle. The musicianship is astounding, from drums and percussion, bass, keyboards, and accordion. For most songs, Squeeze is also a three or four guitar set up, all of which creates a gorgeous sound.

And then are the main guys, Difford and Tilbrook. The latter takes up the lions share of vocals, although the mix of their voices remains unique, a sweet and sharp combo. Their songs are the same, not a Beatles derivative but strongly, a next generation delivery of stories, witty observations, eccentric characters, love gone wrong and sometimes right.

You know their biggest hit, “Tempted,” and so does the audience, which sings along with joyous abandon. There’s also “Hourglass,” “Cool for Cats,” “Goodbye Girl,” “Pulling Mussels from the Shell,” “Black Coffee in Bed,” “If I Didn’t Love You, I’d Hate You,” and so on. Squeeze produced more than a dozen top notch albums in their time, including the outstanding “Argy Bargy,” and “East Side Story” produced by Elvis Costello (and Dave Edmunds on the lead track). Those are starting points for newcomers and nirvana for concrete fans.

That the songs have stood up for 40 years or so is a tribute to the writers in so many ways, as records that were produced so meticulously that they sound contemporary and ageless. That the band (Simon Hanson, Stephen Large, Steve Smith, Owen Biddle, Melvin Duffy) are so exceptionally designed doesn’t hurt. They can bring soul to country and vice versa in disarming ways.

And don’t think of Squeeze as a group from the past. They’re still writing songs and making records that are just as good as ever. Last night I loved a 2017 song called “Please Be Upstanding” that song supervisors need to start putting into TV and movies. It’s a little gem, one among many.

See Squeeze in your town, on their own and or with others. And special treat: Tilbrook’s 18 year old son, Leon, is often the opening act. The kid is the real deal, and I’ve never seen a teenager so poised and charismatic on stage. His parents are going to have trouble getting him to stay in university. I saw Shawn Mendes at this age; Leon (named for Leon Russell and other blues musicians) is the British version!

 

(Watch) Billie Eilish’s Composer-Singer-Producer Brother Finneas Drops a Catchy Pandemic Song

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Billie Eilish’s Composer-Singer-Producer Brother Finneas Drops a Catchy Pandemic Song

Finneas is Billie Eilish’s older brother, producer-singer-composer. His new song is called “A Concert Six Months From Now,” a pandemic love story. It’s shot at the Hollywood Bowl. I like the video but I think Finneas must be worth just listening to. An album and tour are coming. This is a talented brother and sister, no doubt about it.

Here’s the tracklist for the album, “Optimist,” coming October 1st, one day after Grammy eligibility.
‘OPTIMIST’ TRACKLISTING
A Concert Six Months From Now
The Kids Are All Dying
Happy Now
Only A Lifetime
The 90s
Love Is Pain
Peaches Etude
Hurt Locker
Medieval
Someone Else’s Star
Around My Neck
What They’ll Say About Us
How It Ends

The Rolling Stones’ Famed Drummer Charlie Watts, 80, Sidelined by Illness, Leaves Tour

Roger Friedman
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The Rolling Stones’ Famed Drummer Charlie Watts, 80, Sidelined by Illness, Leaves Tour

Charlie Watts just turned 80 in June. But the famed Rolling Stones drummer has had a medical speed bump and won’t be going on tour with the band this fall. We’re wishing him a speedy recovery. He’s human, after all. All our classic rock stars are working far later into their lives than almost any professional musicians ever did, and they must take care of themselves first.

Here’s the official release:

A spokesman for Charlie Watts has confirmed that the Rolling Stones drummer is unlikely to be available for the resumption of The Rolling Stones USA No Filter Tour this fall.

 

The spokesman said: “Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation.  With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”

 

Charlie said: “For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”

 

Steve Jordan said: “It is an absolute honour and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy and I am looking forward to rehearsing with Mick, Keith and Ronnie. No-one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go.”

HBO’s “White Lotus” Series Finally Rises to 500,000 Viewers Thanks To Surprise Taboo Sex Act

Roger Friedman
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HBO’s “White Lotus” Series Finally Rises to 500,000 Viewers Thanks To Surprise Taboo Sex Act

Until this past Sunday, HBO’s “White Lotus” was not really what you could call a hit. It was no “Mare of Easttown” or “The Undoing,” limited run mini series that became water cooler hits.

The ratings for “White Lotus,” created by Mike White, were steadily under half a million viewers a week on HBO proper. The cable network claimed double that adding in HBO Max, which is unmonitored.

But this past Sunday, “White Lotus” finally jumped to 515,000 viewers, up 7.74% from the week before in total viewers, and 27.27% in the key age demo.

What changed? The 4th episode ended with a cliffhanger, as two naked men performed a sex act that would be considered a taboo on anything except pay per view sex stations. Even HBO, with its history of risque sex in documentaries and shows like “Sex and the City,” had not ventured into this space.

The news of the “White Lotus” scene spread quickly, obviously, to other time zones and to later showings of the episode on Sunday night. The men were walked in on by two other characters, and there will be ripple effects in the next episode, to be certain.

“White Lotus” was filmed at Hawaii’s Four Seasons on the island of Maui. It revolves around a resort where a group of eclectic tourists have arrived for a vacation stay. Connie Britton and Steve Zahn are a wealthy couple who’ve brought their teen son and daughter, and the girl’s school friend. Jake Lacey and Alexandria Daddario are mismatched honeymooners; Jennifer Coolidge brings her mother’s ashes for burial at sea; and then there is the staff headed by Murray Bartlett, who plays the pill popping, drug addicted gay general manager. What could go wrong?

The series is notable for its almost all-white, wealthy collection of characters, the notable exception being Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, second in command, who gets caught up in a class power struggle of a friendship with Coolidge’s character. Belinda is the only character we can root for. Everyone else is just awful, seemingly with no redeeming features.

On top of all this, the series began with a flash forward showing that someone has died during the vacation. A coffin is being loaded onto a plane. It’s anyone’s guess which of these dreadful people has come to an end– and how or why.

How will this week’s ratings be? Can “White Lotus” top itself? It will be pretty hard to to do that without going way over the top.

John Travolta 2021 Real Estate Sell Off Continues After a Decade of Flop Movies

Roger Friedman
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John Travolta 2021 Real Estate Sell Off Continues After a Decade of Flop Movies

John Travolta has reportedly sold off another big real estate property in Florida, this time for $4 million. He bought the place in 2017 for $3 million.

Earlier this year Travolta unloaded his Maine waterfront estate for many more millions. He and Kelly Preston lived there for years. There were 20 bedrooms!

With these sales, Travolta is down to his primary property with the planes and landing strip in Ocala, and a house in gated Calabasas, California. The Ocala property is situated within something called Jumbolair, a gated community that was itself for sale two years ago for $10.5 million. That’s where Travolta kept a Boeing 737 plane of his own. It’s unclear if he still owns that, as well.

So we’re not weeping for him. But what’s going on here?

What’s going on is that Travolta, who has a high level of living, hasn’t made a movie with decent box office since “Savages” in 2012. And that one only had a worldwide box office of $82 million.

BEfore that was a 2008 film no one remembers called “Bolt,” which somehow made $328 million worldwide.

Travolta has made at least 11 movies since 2013 that have not just lost money but not made any. Almost all have gone straight to video, the trash heap, they were so bad that even airlines wouldn’t take them. Between his lifestyle and tithing huge amounts to Scientoliogy, at this point Travolta would need some cash. So the sell off begins.

 

Review: Tony Bennett Wows Sold Out Crowd at Radio City for 95th Birthday with Lady Gaga as His Opening Act

Roger Friedman
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Review: Tony Bennett Wows Sold Out Crowd at Radio City for 95th Birthday with Lady Gaga as His Opening Act

In a two hour show that was absolutely historic, Lady Gaga earned her angel wings tonight celebrating Tony Bennett’s 95th birthday at Radio City.

What an incredible evening. The hall was sold out, the stage was occupied by a 40 piece orchestra. Gaga performed for an hour, opening for Tony. Her set was magical, beyond compare. Then Tony took the stage and did a killer set that ended with I Left My Heart in San Francisco. The hall exploded in applause and cheers.

To say the least, it was a night full of standing ovations. But all you need to know is that Tony Bennett’s legendary career culminated tonight in a blaze of glory. And Lady Gaga deserves our never ending thank you.

She never worked so hard in her life. As I said the first hour was all Gaga, in show stopping outfits (at least one designed by her sister) that were elegant and show stopping. She looked like Grace Kelly on her way to win an Oscar in every change. Gaga herself covered mostly song classics like “Luck Be a Lady” and “What a Difference a Day Makes.” Her voice is supple and rich, and, as Tony once told her, she’s a real jazz singer. She at once recalls Liza, Judy, Barbra, and Ella, all fashioned into her own striking tones.

Her standout, I thought, was “La Vie En Rose.” She also joked with the crowd, kibbitzed about COVID, and at one point came into the audience to sing to her sister and mother. I’m not sure if she knew that Jon Bon Jovi was sitting a few seats away. Bon Jovi wasn’t the only celebrity. I saw Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, actor Steve Buscemi, and Andrew Dice Clay.There were rumored sightings of Nancy Pelosi and Gayle King.

And then there was Tony. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he seemed unsteady when the big red curtain rose to reveal him and his jazz group. On the first song, he was warming up. But by the time he hit his second number, Tony was back in swing. Forget Alzheimer’s (not to make a joke.) Tony Bennett not only knows these songs, but he still delivers them with soul, verve, and flash. He’s still got it.

For me, the highlights of his set were “One More for My Baby,” which went from daring to sublime very quickly. Then came Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” followed by”When You’re Smiling,” and a sample of “Fly Me to the Moon.” If you said to a stranger, this man is 95 years old, they wouldn’t believe you. His voice was full and nuanced, and he was totall engaged and loving the moments.

Gaga– whom we’d last seen in smart black and white– returned in gold and led Tony through a bunch of duets including “The Lady is a Tramp” and “Anything Goes.” You could feel he was wavering a bit, but enjoying it all too much to say goodbye. “We’ll see you on the 200th birthday,” Gaga declared, and it seemed like the show was winding down.

The curtain fell, the house lights started to go up and then there was that lump in the throat moment. Tony Bennett, putting a dot at the end of his amazing career, sang his long time signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” I wanted to cry, I’m sure I was not alone. It was absolutely gorgeous, the cherry on the sundae, a magnificent wave from the top of the mountain.

I can’t underplay how much this was a Lady Gaga presentation. The way she acts with him is so full of love and respect. She guided him through their duets, giving him encouragement, and you could see how much he loved it. Whatever Lady Gaga does in the rest of her long life, no one should ever forget this chapter. She certainly was raised right.

The final show is Thursday. If you can, go. There are still a few tickets around. This is a once in a lifetime moment. We sang Happy Birthday with Gaga to Tony tonight. I’m sure they’ll do it again on Thursday. If you love music, you can’t say you were in New York and missed this.

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