Leno Loses It In Prime Time

After a week of watching the new Jay Leno Show which airs on NBC weeknights at 10 eastern time/9 Central I’m very disappointed. It just not the same show; and not just in the name and time slot.

After 13 years of Leno following the format nearly set in stone on the “Tonight Show” the new show's format leaves a lot to be desired. The show’s set is unlike any other talk show set I’ve ever seen. There are turntables that rotate to reveal guest comedians and double glass doors that open to allow guests to come on stage. I can’t explain why but the look and feel of it all seems just a bit off. I know it’s stil Jay Leno standing on the special stage doing the monologue, introducing the guest comic’s location pieces, sitting in the chair across from his guests, and doing the familiar Leno comedy bits but it’s just not the same. The pace and timing of the show is off just enough to make me uneasy watching it.

Jay looks exceptionally uncomfortable sitting in just a chair next to his guest and not behind the traditional desk. I don’t know why they got rid of the desk. It’s not something that’s exclusive to the tonight show. All the other late night hosts sit behind desks. It’s a universal element of that brand of program.

The program starts out as usual with Leno’s monologue. His jokes are usually topical and funny. His banter with band leader Kevin Eubanks is entertaining. The altered or staged video taped bits usually work. But after the monologue all bets are off.

The comedians who come on with what I call "location pieces" have not been funny at all; mainly because the comics aren’t funny to me at all. I also miss Fred Willard and Gilbert Gottfried playing their parts of fictional or real person who are in the news and adlibbing away from their scripted jokes.

The new “10 @ 10” bit where Jay asks a celebrity via satellite 10 questions to get spontaneous answers is not very good either. The first one with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise on location in Massachusetts was as close to a flop as any thing with movie stars of that degree could be.

Jerry Seinfeld’s bit with having Oprah Winfrey appear as a guest on his (Seinfeld’s) segment and not an “official” guest of Leno fell flat on its face. There was nothing funny about it. Robin Williams wasn’t even his usual hilarious self when he was a guest. His harmonica playing was somewhat entertaining but it went on way too long after the commercial. Whose idea was it to let Michael Moore sing on national television? Who is making these decisions?

I can’t comment on the musical acts because I have very rarely ever paid attention to them. I fast forward through them on the DVR.

The comedy bit that usually followed the monologue: Headlines, Crazy 911 calls, or funny new products (such as back to school stuff) have been moved to the very end of the show. The ending of these segments with Leno signing off by reminding viewers that their local news “is coming up right now!” is an awkward way to end a program.

I don’t know who changed the format for the new Jay Leno show but I have to ask “why?” Did they want to differentiate and distant themselves from “The Tonight Show?” They didn’t have to do that. You see, when Conan O’Brien took over this past summer he brought the format he used on his Late Night show. (Just so you know. Other than the “In the year 2000” bit I don’t enjoy anything about O’Brien’s version of the Tonight Show anymore either) Why couldn’t Jay and his producers just have left well enough alone? The partnership of host and format wasn’t broke. Why fix it?

I enjoyed Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show.” I DVRed it every night. But I don’t like the new Jay Leno show. Leno is different. He tries to be just like “the old” Jay but like the rest of his show there’s something off. It’s almost “forced”; like he's trying too hard to prove himself worthy of the gamble the network has taken with him.

Last week’s edition of Entertainment Weekly magazine included an article that asked if Leno’s move to prime time was a good idea. Then they proceeded to make a case for answering “yes” and for answering “no”. I’m no one special. I’m just the average American TV view, a loyal Tonight Show fan for years including the Leno years. But if I had to answer that question for myself I’d say NBC has made a mistake and has ruined one of the best programs the network ever had on night network not just on its late night schedule.

I have made a decision. I’ve got a lot better things I could be doing with the 40 minutes it takes for me to watch Leno’s show (I zip through the commercials). So I believe I’m going to delete the setting that records the program every night. Perhaps I'll use it for some extra sleep. At least then I can dream of the old Leno Tonight Show days or even better bring back Johnny & Ed.

When 74 Days Makes A Year

Back in 2007, when I realized that I only had 3 years left until I turned 50, I looked at where I wanted to be in my life on that milestone birthday. One of the top priorities was to lose weight and be healthy by the time I reached the half century mark.

I figured that I could make “ideal weight” by my 50th birthday if I lost an average of 6 pounds per month for 3 years. That was an average of 1.5 pounds a week, which is a typical lost for almost any effective diet. A lofty goal but I felt with consistent effort I could do it. At that rate I would have lose 70 pounds a year. That amount of weight loss in a year is considered successful in both the medical and commercial weight loss communities.

I’ve written all of that to tell you this. After only 76 days since my surgery I’ve now lost 70 pounds. That means in less than 3 months I have lost what was once my weight loss goal for a year. This accomplishment means a lot to me. It means my surgery, efforts, and diet is paying off and I’m on my way to my ultimate goal. That’s highly motivating.

I’ve set a personal goal of reaching the 100 pounds lost by Christmas this year. I’ve got 30 pounds to go with 14 weeks till December 25. Even if my current rate of loss were to slow down by half I will reach that goal rather easily. Of course it’s only a goal.

So while it may not mean much to anyone else this “year’s worth” of weight loss is a milestone for me in my effort to regain my health. No it’s on to my end of the year goal, Walk On. !

Children's Classics Shared

I enjoyed reading growing up and continue to make it part of my life on a regular basis. There have been times when I would read a book a week and times when it took me a couple of months to get through a 300 page novel. But what ever the frequency reading for enjoyment has always been part of my life. That's why one of my greatest joys in life encouraging a child who loves to read.

I had that opportunity when one of the daughters of my friend, Brent, had a birthday this past week. Both the birthday girl and her sister love to read. Recently I found out that they like the Nancy Drew mysteries.

They showed me the Nancy Drew books they were reading and asked me if I ever read them. Of course I told them that I had not. The detective books I used to read when I was their age were about the adventures of a young boy detective named Encyclopedia Brown.

When I decided that I was going to give each of Brent’s children a birthday present this year (all 4 of their birthdays fall in the last quarter of the year so I haven’t missed any) the book store was the obvious place for me to go.

I found the shelf in the juvenile reading section that was stocked full of both the Nancy Drew and, much to my surprise, Encyclopedia Brown books.

Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to give Brent’s daughter her gift. I was pretty sure that the Nancy Drew books would be happily accepted but wasn’t sure how the Encyclopedia Brown books would be received. She was very excited about both of them.

The girls took a break from their home schooling lessons at the kitchen table and went into the living room to read. I stayed in the kitchen talked with Brent for a while. When it came time for me to leave he called the girls back into the kitchen to say “good bye” to me. Much to my delight each of them had an Encyclopedia Brown book in their hand. I had successfully shared a part of my childhood.

It’s been nearly 40 years since I bought my first Encyclopedia Brown book through the Scholastic Book Club in school. It makes me very happy to know that after all these years that character is still helping children enjoy the simple, relaxing pleasure of reading.

An Ironic Role

Yesterday the world was remembering actor Patrick Swayze. He did Monday at the age of 57 after his battle with pancreatic cancer.

Journalists, TV news personalities, and talk show hosts mentioned his work in movies such as: Dirty Dancing, Roadhouse, and Red Dawn to name a few. I know my wife would not only mention Dirty Dancing (her all time favorite movie) in her remembrances of Swayze but the film “To Wong Fu” as well.

I'm probably one of the few who remember Patrick Swayze for a role not many people know he played. There’s a bit of sad serendipity in my mentioning this role too because it was on an episode of M*A*S*H. I just wrote an entire post about my all time favorite TV show a couple of days ago because of the death of it's creator, Larry Gelbart.

The episode I am referring to aired during the 1980-81 season, the 9th season of the Korean War based comedy. It was titled “Blood Brothers”. Swayze played the role of Gary Sturgis, a wounded soldier, who ends up in the 4077th along with his buddy, Dan. At first Sturgis only seems to have a broken arm while his buddy’s wounds are life threatening.

When Dan needs a blood transfusion, Swayze’s character, tells the hospital staff that he will provide the blood. He and Dan are the same type: A. When Sturgis’ blood is drawn and checked for the correct type, Dr. Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) discovers that Sturgis is in the initial stages of leukemia; an incurable disease at the time.

When Dan, the severely wounded soldier, improves and it’s evident that he will recover Captain Pierce points out the fact that the one soldier who came in with the least amount of injury is the one who is going to lose his life. It’s a very emotional episode and Swayze plays the selfless soldier very well.

In 1987 Dirty Dancing made Patrick Swayze a movie star. It was 7 years before that when he played his role on M*A*S*H. In retrospect, given the disease that ultimately took his life, cancer, if seems ironic that he would play a part at the start of his career that would foreshadow the end of his life, some 29 years later.

A Bridal Shower

This past Sunday evening in the fellowship hall of our church we held a bridal shower for my son and his fiance.

It was a combination family/church shower and there were quite few people there. In addition to the customary cake and punch (supplied by the church) there was cheese spread & crackers and sandwiches. It was a pretty nice buffet for a bridal shower.

The kids got a lot of nice stuff including a digital picture frame, a griddle, waffle iron, dishes and more. We gave them a spice rack. In the above picture James doing a good job as a display model while Brandi holds our gift.

I took a bunch of pictures to preserve the memory of the occasion and record the gifts they received. After the shower Paula told me that someone commented that I was taking pictures to document the event. Then someone said ‘Yeah and then he’ll write a book about it.”

Well this isn’t an entire book but it is a post to mark the first “official” step in events of my son’s wedding. The ceremony is still 3 weeks away but the time is getting close. It will be an exciting time for our family.

Appearance At "Street Party For Jesus"

Last February Pleasant View Baptist church burned down. But that didn't stop them. They are in the process of building a new church on the same lot and yesterday they had their 2nd annual "Street Party For Jesus."

Once again this year I had the opportunity to minister as a ventriloquist. Since this would be the 3rd time I was performing at the request of this church, I would need to show them something new and different. I decided I would use my new vent figure, Ruben, for the first time in front of this audience.

I also chose 2 songs for my act. One of the songs I would sing with Ruben and the 2nd song I would have Ruben and Cecil the turtle sing. The songs were “Bread Upon The Water”, a song about obedient giving and having faith that God will come through on his promises, and “Excuses”, a comical song about the many reasons people give for not attending church. The conclusion of my presentation would be the “Cross trick”, a visually effective object lesson that demonstrates the effects of the cross on sin.

Since this performance would be a challenge for me I rehearsed more than I had for any other. The words to the songs were hard for me to memorize; especially the 2nd verse of “Excuses”. I worked on it for over a week and was finally convinced that I had it down. I would later find out differently. In addition to memorizing words, I had to make sure I could use 2 puppets at the same time convincingly. My rehearsals went very well and I felt I was really ready for this performance.

Having said that I must tell initially everything on stage went well. Ruben and I sang the “bread” song and I got a couple of laughs with some standard vent jokes as well as a joke I wrote myself about Reynolds Wrap. I even segued well into the duet with Cecil the turtle on one hand and Ruben on the other (see the above photo). I was pleased with my performance until I got to the last verse of the song “Excuses.” I lost my focus and I forgot the words.

That had never happened to me before while doing ventriloquism. I totally panicked. I forgot the correct voices for my puppets and got so embarrassed that I couldn’t improvise lyrics (which I’m usually pretty good with). Instead I tried to catch up with the song and that didn’t work either. Luckily, I was able to sing the chorus to end the song. I apologized but was told later by my wife that it only brought attention to a mistake that most people didn’t notice.

I finished with the cross trick as planned. It always impresses both kids and adults who see it for the first time. It ended my time with a good message.

Quite a few people told me they enjoyed the act and I appreciated their compliments. My next door neighbor, who is a member of the Mt. Pleasant church, told me that I should be on TV.

Now normally I would have focused on my mistake and ended up criticizing myself for the rest of the day because the act wasn’t perfect. But this time God gave me a different perspective about my performance.

This was a big step for me in my ventriloquism career. I used a new and different style puppet. Ruben is your typical ventriloquist figure with controls on a stick operated by your fingers and not just by moving your hands. Plus I used 2 puppets at the same time for the first time. Also it was the longest ministry performance I’ve done so far. That’s another step toward what I see myself doing in the future. I’ve always seen myself doing a longer program that’s more of a variety show than just a “vent” act.

Overall my time at the 2009 “Street Party for Jesus” was a very successful performance. I’m sure they’ll ask me back next year. Also, it has made me even more determined to practice on a regular basis so I can make sure I know my act like the back of my hand.

One final note: Paula came with me to the event and I asked her to take some pictures. In the past she hasn’t gotten very good results when using my digital camera. Even though I asked her to take pictures I only expected her to take a few with one or two of them being in focus. Much to my surprise she took over 71 shots. Only a couple of them were out of focus so I guess she’s caught the shutter bug. How she will do with her new camera now only the future will tell.

A M*A*S*H Tribute

On the way home from work the other night on the radio I heard the sad news that Larry Gelbart had died from cancer at the age of 81. Larry Gelbart was a television, movie and play writer. He wrote the screen plays for the movies "Tootsie", "Oh God!", and more. His play, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" won him a Tony award. But he was best known as the creator, original producer and head writer of my all time favorite TV show M*A*S*H.

Over the last several months I have working on a list of my top 10 favorite episodes from the Korean war based sitcom. I've been waiting for the right time to post it on this blog. With the death of it's creator I figured, as my personal tribute to Gelbart, now would be an appropriate time.

This list is my personal favorites and nothing else. They are the episodes I love to watch over and over and laugh each and every time. You may agree or disagree with my choices but I stand by my decisions. The episode titles do not appear anywhere on screen before during or at the conclusion of the episode so you may not be familiar with them. So I have included a brief synopsis of each of my choices. Now here, counting down from 10 to 1, is the list of my top 10 favorite episodes of M*A*S*H.

10. Edwina-The nurses of the 4077th MASH give a collective "cold shoulder" to the doctors demanding that a shy, lonely and dangerously clumsy nurse, named Edwina, be treated like "one of the girls." In a clandestine conclave Hawkeye Pierce is chosen for a unique suicide mission: A date with Edwina. One of the best examples of physical comedy the series has to offer.

9. Hepatitis-When Father Mulcahy comes down with a case of hepatitis, Captain Pierce is given the task of inoculating the camp officers. A task that proves difficult as Hawkeye deals with an extreme backache brought on by the news of the success of one of his "incredibly average" medical school classmates, Vernon Parsons.

8. White Gold-When a group of aid station medics breaks into the 4077th's supply tent to steal their penicillin CID operative Colonel Flagg (Edward Winter) shows up to investigate. The investigation takes an interesting turn when Flagg the captured thief free and works himself over. Probably the 2nd best Colonel Flagg episode of the series.

7. A Night At Rosies-Tired of dealing with the war Hawkeye and BJ retreat to Rosie's Bar refusing to return to camp. They decide they aren't ever going back and declare the bar it's own sovereign country: Rosieland. Other plot thickeners include: an AWOL soldier, who takes a liking to Major Houlahan; Klinger getting taken in a crooked floating crap game; and an unconscious officer that no one can identify.

6. Margaret's Engagement-When Major Houlahan returns from Tokyo betrothed to Lt. Colonel Donald Penobscott her affair with Frank Burns abruptly comes to an end. Burns seems to take the news of Margaret's engagement rather well until he goes off the deep end. In an effort to prove his manhood he takes a Korean family prisoner accusing them of being spies. But a timely placed phone call defuses the situation. This is the best "major plot line change" episode of the series and the only one to make my top 10.

5. Movie Tonight-With stress at a high and morale at a low Colonel Potter orders the entire camp to attend a showing of the movie "My Darlin Clementine." It's an old shoot'em up style western about the gun fight at the OK corral. When problems with the projector interrupts the film the many talents of the members of the 4077th take over. The festivities include: personalized verses of the song "Army Life" by Pierce & Hunnicut, Major Houlahan, Radar O'reily, Corporal Klinger and even Frank Burns as well as a Father Mulcahy sound alike contest. A really fun episode.

4. The Incubator-When Hawkeye and Trapper John find out that an essential piece of medical equipment isn't army issue for field hospitals they pursue it through "other channels." They go from a supply sargent with a hoarding complex to a colonel making major profits all the way to a General holding a press conference. They disrupt the press briefing with questions about getting an incubator. The situation ends rather ugly when they are arrested and taken away with Hawkeye hollering "Give me an incubator or give me death" all the way.

3. Patent 4077th-Major Houlahan goes on the war path when Corporal Klinger accidentally throws away her uniquely engraved wedding band. The surgeons design a new vascular clamp that will help save life and limb but can't get anyone to build it. A Korean local selling merchandise from his cart along with trinkets he crafted himself proves to be the solution to both problems. Most memorable line of the episode: Over hill over dale Korean clamp will never fail.

2. Adam's Ribs-After a fit of rage from being served liver or fish 11 days in a row Hawkeye suddenly begins lusting for the spare ribs made in restaurant in Chicago. He calls "Adam's Ribs" and places an order for ribs and sauce but no cole slaw. A carefully devised plan is enacted to get the ribs to the 4077th. The plan hits several snags but eventually the ribs are served...just as the sounds of choppers can be heard and the announcement of incoming wounded is heard. There are too many funny lines in this episode to even choose one as the best. It's truly the essence of the series writing at it's best.

And now the episode you've all been waiting for. My favorite episode of my favorite TV series of all time (drum roll please)

1. Officer Of The Day-An episode that sees Hawkeye Pierce take on the "OD" duties at the 4077th. It launches with Pierce's recitation of a series of suggestions of what he will "carry" before he'll carry a gun and goes on from there. Hawkeye has to deal with a series of local indigenous personal requesting medical treatment as well as Corporal Klinger. The "section 8 wanna be" gets caught several times trying to escape from camp in disguise. The episode really reaches it's comedic peak when CID agent, Colonel Flagg, brings in a wounded spy demanding he be "patched up" so he can be taken to Tokyo and executed. The laughs and comedic energy in this episode flows from the first scene to the last. The lines are like humorous poetry. It is without a doubt, out of over 2500 M*A*S*H episodes my #1 favorite.

So there you have my top 10 favorite M*A*S*H episodes list. If you are as big a fan as I am and your list is different let me know. I'm always open for a good debate about the life and times of the good old 4077th.