Writer Larry McMurtry has died at age 84. His books were bestsellers and became the movies “Hud,” “Lonesome Dove,” “Terms of Endearment,” and “The Last Picture Show,” among others.
No cause of death has been given.
McMurtry was a larger than life figure, maybe one of the last real literary lions. Here’s his NY Times obit.
McMurtry’s long association with Hollywood culminated with an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2006 for “Brokeback Mountain.”
Is Meredith still on the beach?
“Grey’s Anatomy” ratings last night fell below 5 million for the second week in a row to lowest numbers ever.
Last night the show dropped 7.2% in the key demo, and 1.73% in total viewers to 4.88 million. So far the 17th season isn’t going well and it almost feels like it’s on purpose.
All the threats of “Greys” being cancelled do seem real at this point. Star Ellen Pompeo wasn’t really even on the show last night, her character, Meredith wasn’t playing Beach Blanket Bingo. She was just in a coma waiting to see if ABC has more money for her.
TV land is so bad right now with ratings that even at 4.88 million “Greys” was the second highest rated show of the night, behind its spin off, “Station 19.”
And down down we go.
Taylor Swift shot straight to number 1 on iTunes last night with “You All Over Me,” featuring Maren Morris. The single is an unreleased track “from the vaults” and set to be an extra on Taylor’s re-recorded “Fearless” album.
On YouTube, the track already has 1 million views after 12 hours. It’s also pulled the re-recorded “Love Story” back up the iTunes chart to the top 10.
The great Maya Rudolph is hosting “Saturday Night Live” this weekend. She’s been a team player all season, won an Emmy for playing Kamala Harris, and now gets to helm the show.
But on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show” on Thursday night, Rudolph revealed a secret: her picture on the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue was faked. And even she seemed surprised.
On the cover, Rudolph is shown in the bottom, doing a split in a red gown.
Rudolph shook her head. “Those are my splits, apparently.” Fallon: “You did that split?” Rudolph: “Those are not my legs.” Rudolph said even her dad, former record exec Dick Rudolph, asked her about it.
Maya appears on the cover with an eclectic mix of actors including Michael B. Jordan and Spike Lee. Now that she’s given away that the pictures are manipulated, what else from that cover isn’t real?
Vanity Fair’s recent Hollywood issue covers have similar mysteries, including one in which Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon looked like they had extra hands and extra long legs. The cover was so mocked that GQ even did parody of it for their comedy issue.
This discussion occurs at 4:27.
During Commercial Break: Jimmy & @MayaRudolph drop some 🔥 scats #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/chHdNyiHPN
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) March 26, 2021
Emmy winning actress Jessica Walter has died at age 80. Her daughter, reports say, indicated she died in her sleep. Walter was well known to recent audiences as Lucille Bluth in the zany Netflix sitcom “Arrested Development.”
Ironically Walter — who was featured in dozens of TV roles — had a breakout in Sidney Lumet comedy, “Bye Bye Braverman,” in 1968, co-starring, ironically, George Segal, who just died a few days ago. It was a comedy about a funeral. That in itself sounds like an “Arrested DEvelopment” plot.
Walter took off and was chosen by Clint Eastwood for his directorial debut, “Play Misty for Me.” After that, Walter was simply ubiquitous for 40 years on TV and in movies, highly respected. Her wry sense of humor and comic timing were welcome in any project, and she never failed to hit a bulls eye with each performance.
In 1974, after appearing in a two part “Ironside” with Raymond Burr, Walter got an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series playing the same character, Amy Prentiss, in her own show. She never stopped working. Her resume is that of an actor’s actor, in demand all the time. She and Segal even crossed paths again in episode of his sitcom, “Just Shoot Me,” in 1998.
But in 2003, Walter premiered as Lucille Bluth, matriarch of a hilarious but demented family, on Fox. The show was cancelled and moved to Netflix as a cult sensation. She most recently appeared in an episode of ABC’s “American Housewife.”
Walter also made six appearances on Broadway. She was married to the great actor Ron Leibman from 1983 until his death a couple of years ago.
She will be missed.
Beck is No Loser, Baby on this remix he’s done with Paul McCartney on “Find My Way.” It’s the second track from “McCartney III Reimagined,” due next month with a bunch of musicians trying their hands at songs on the well received album.
You could say this track is “Where It’s At.”
Pretty much the only thing the producers of “Genius Aretha” got right last night was the Queen of Soul’s relationship with Clive Davis. It was the first time in 8 hours of mishegos that I felt someone had an idea of how Aretha interacted with people she knew and loved.
Otherwise, Episode 8 was a mess like the rest of “Genius.” Absent from Aretha’s story into the 80s were people like Luther Vandross, a great friend and her producer; and her boyfriend Willie Wilkerson. Most of “Genius” was just a cherry pick of facts without any context. Aretha’s family is furious, and her friends know better. This was not Aretha’s story.
Today my friend would have turned 79. She is sorely missed by everyone, not just fans and her devoted relatives, but all of her friends who loved her. I don’t know who of the people I know put themselves through “Genius.” I know a lot of them skipped it. It was so much easier than torture.
Aretha had a lot of joy in her life. She loved to celebrate her birthday. Every year there was a big party. Lots of celebrities, musicians, laughter, cake– lots of cake!– friends, toasts. One of her favorite spots was the Ritz Carlton on Central Park South, formerly the St. Moritz. She loved turning the lobby tea room into her private party spot. Plenty of people flew in from Detroit. There was a lot of happiness.
Happy, happy birthday, Aretha. You survived the mini series. Your legacy continues.
What a list of recordings! Also, a radio broadcast of the CBS soap “The Guiding Light,” from 1945, which went on to TV and ran until 2010. Wow. Odetta, Louis Armstrong, Marlo Thomas’s landmark “Free to Be…You and Me,” Roger Maris hitting his historic homerun, Jimmy Cliff, Janet Jackson, Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade”– it’s a great list !
National Recording Registry Selections for 2020
Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)
“Nikolina” — Hjalmar Peterson (1917) (single)
“Smyrneikos Balos” — Marika Papagika (1928) (single)
“When the Saints Go Marching In” — Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra (1938) (single)
Christmas Eve Broadcast–Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (December 24, 1941)
“The Guiding Light” — Nov. 22, 1945
“Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” — Odetta (1957) (album)
“Lord, Keep Me Day by Day” — Albertina Walker and the Caravans (1959) (single)
Roger Maris hits his 61st homerun (October 1, 1961)
“Aida” — Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962) (album)
“Once a Day” — Connie Smith (1964) (single)
“Born Under a Bad Sign” — Albert King (1967) (album)
“Free to Be…You & Me” — Marlo Thomas and Friends (1972) (album)
“The Harder They Come” — Jimmy Cliff (1972) (album)
“Lady Marmalade” — Labelle (1974) (single)
“Late for the Sky” — Jackson Browne (1974) (album)
“Bright Size Life” — Pat Metheny (1976) (album)
“The Rainbow Connection” — Kermit the Frog (1979) (single)
“Celebration” — Kool & the Gang (1980) (single)
“Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs” — Jessye Norman (1983) (album)
“Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814” — Janet Jackson (1989) (album)
“Partners” — Flaco Jiménez (1992) (album)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What A Wonderful World” — Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (1993) (single)
“Illmatic” — Nas (1994) (album)
“This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money” (May 9, 2008)
THURSDAY UPDATE Chrissy is gone. She has deleted her account. She will be missed. She’s a vibrant, smart, fun person. She made Twitter a better place.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT 10PM Chrissy Teigen, model, writer, chef, mother, wife of John Legend, like a thousand things, says she’s leaving Twitter.
She wrote: “I’m just a sensitive shit, okay!? I don’t wanna be this way! I just am! But I love you guys and I cherish our time together, I truly do. I also hate you.”
Chrissy is having issues with trolls, the terrible people who live in basements, use fake names, and attack celebrities for no reason. She has such a good nature and an open heart, I feel bad. But social media is no place for anyone feeling sensitive. She may take some time off.
I doubt Frances McDormand watched the Producers Guild Awards tonight. Her movie, “Nomadland,” won. “Nomadland” is set to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
I told you last September when I first saw it that this would happen. “Nomadland” is a cut above, something special, an epic poem. It was so nice tonight to see Swankie, a character in the movie and a real person, introduce the film.
Director Chloe Zhao could quite possibly make history as Best Director, and pick up a prize for Editing, too. She should. This is a unique film.
And what about Frances McDormand? I thought she would win Best Actress. But she’s ambivalent, maybe even hostile toward winning a third Oscar. She’s more or less abdicated. A friend of hers told me weeks ago she’d be happy to see someone from the next generation win on April 25th.
The Oscars are a month from today. Voting begins April 15th. Who will win Best Actress? It’s a toss up.