Man, has it been a busy week! School started, both for me and the girls. Two podcast appearances got posted. And now we’re here, about to embark upon a three-day weekend! But it’s not all good news, as we’re about to brace for the Bell Riots…
I discovered Vice‘s YouTube channel this week, as I need more stuff I can listen to in the background at work, and I’m also trying to become more of a “YouTube person”. I mean, I still kinda hate video, but I’m trying… Anyway, I’ve always had a complicated relationship with Vice because it was sort of like the American Apparel of journalism. By that, I mean that it reveled in the early ’00s sensational, and it was headed up by a bunch of “too cool for school” bros from Canada. Sure, it started as a punk magazine, but once it sort of blew up, all of those guys turned into Right-leaning Libertarians (which is almost redundant, if you really think about it). Plus, the brand’s identity was always changing, in that it started as something of a socially conscious lifestyle brand, but then became something of a “culture vulture”. In terms of journalism, though, a lot of its reporting is right up there with the best of Rolling Stone, especially concerning world affairs and whatnot. That’s not what interests me, of course. I need the pop culture content, and that’s what I found.
A very popular series on Vice is Dark Side of the Ring, which documents the untold stories of some of the biggest tragedies in professional wrestling history. Well, not one to pass up milking a successful idea, Vice went on to create other Dark Side spinoffs, including Dark Side of the 90s, which is what caught my interest. The particular episode was The Untold Story of Arsenio Hall’s Late-Night Legacy, and it was engaging from start to finish. I grew up alongside the show, so a lot of the content was familiar, but I still learned a lot of new stuff – something I feel is essential from a documentary. For example, while Arsenio championed “Diversity”, his writers room wasn’t very diverse, which led to “He’s not Black enough” backlash from the Black community. I also didn’t realize he pretty much torpedoed his show by inviting one of the most polarizing figures of the 90s on as a guest: Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. The move resulted in the resignation of many of his producers, as Arsenio was growing more tired of the daily grind of producing a talk show. Weeks after Farrakhan’s appearance, Arsenio announced that the show would be coming to an end.
The episode provided a ton of context to the late-night atmosphere of the time, as this was the beginning of “The Late Night Wars”, and Arsenio made the mistake of weighing in, taking an Anti-Leno stance. This would backfire on him, as most of the affiliates that carried The Arsenio Hall Show were CBS stations – the same stations that would end up moving Arsenio later at night to make room for their newly acquired talent, David Letterman. As with any documentary, though, you have to look at who’s producing it, and what agenda they might have. While the documentary pretty much cements Arsenio’s place in the evolution of late night, it completely ignores the fact that the show was revived in 2013, which was 19 years after the original series finale. The documentary talks about how Arsenio was attempting to make late night “less White”, and that there have been attempts afterward, none of which met any success. I guess you could say Arsenio’s revival was one of those failures, but it felt like such an odd omission. So, like the docs I discussed last week, you’re in for an interesting ride, but don’t expect to get the *full* story.
Trailer Park
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Theaters, December 20)
I don’t know what it is about this franchise, in that it’s a successful almost-trilogy (and a streaming series), and I’ve never seen any of it. And I have kids! I’d say it’s because we’re a Nintendo Family, but that’s not it. Most recent system in the house is a 360. Maybe it’s because my Sonic sounds like Jaleel White. I dunno. But I can see why these things are popular. They’re MCU films without the continuity baggage. And I like anything that helps James Marsden pay his mortgage, as that’s a dude who always seemed destined for…more.
Nobody Wants This (Netflix, September 26)
I love the cast, but did this need to be a series? There are 10 EPISODES! Now, I always say I long for the old days of 22-episode seasons, but things change, and this is streaming. But do we need 10 episodes to solve the mystery of whether or not the Rabbi ends up with the Shiksa? Did the studio come up with the title? Because I AGREE! Still, I love the cast…
Will Around The Web
- I celebrated the 1-year anniversary of Remember That Show? by visiting Adam’s other podcast, Geek Out!, where I talked about boybands. Anything and everything you’ve wanted to know about boybands!
- Then, I rejoined Adam for episode 20 of RTS? where we discussed the Disney Channel classic, Kids Incorporated. That one dropped late last night, so this might be the first you’re hearing about it. Ya know, if you’re not already subscribed to the show (And if you’re not, WHY?!)
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
- Not wanting to let a good thing die, 2 streamers suggested they were going to carry on with series thought to have ended. Apple TV+ appears to be moving forward with a 4th season of Ted Lasso, while Paramount+ is now implying Yellowstone will continue, with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser taking over for Kevin Costner as the series leads.
- Speaking of Yellowstone, it was announced that Matthew Fox would be joining spinoff The Madison, opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. There are so many spinoffs in development for this franchise that it’s starting to sound like Game of Thrones…
- Don’t go away, ’cause they did say “Maybeeeeeeeeee” – Oasis announced a reunion! Yeah, that shit ain’t happening. I predict this thing falls apart during the rehearsal stage. The Gallaghers HATE each other!
- I used to love TLC’s What Not To Wear (they once ambushed a pre-The Big Bang Theory Mayim Bialik, whose style could be best described as “New York Homeless”), so I’m excited to hear that hosts Stacy London an Clinton Kelly are reuniting for Prime Video’s makeover series Wear Whatever The F You Want. First off, title is too wordy. Secondly, the old show worked because they were catty bitches. You could see the feelings being hurt. But now they’re turning over a new leaf because they felt the old show didn’t age well? Plus, if they’re giving folks permission to express themselves, where is the makeover component? Eh, no one likes Nice Simon Cowell, and I’m not sure we want this.
- Looks like I might have to create a spinoff of my #MeToo-era HarassmentWatch, as the domestic violence allegations are off the charts lately. First off, there are reports that Star Trek writer Roberto Orci allegedly abused his estranged wife. Meanwhile, Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev was arrested for domestic violence. While Chigvintsev is married to former WWE Superstar Nikki Bella, it hasn’t been confirmed that she was the victim.
- Speaking of WWE, new announcing teams have been revealed ahead of WWE Monday Night Raw‘s move to Netflix and WWE SmackDown‘s move to USA. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett will be sitting at the Raw table, while Michael Cole and Corey Graves will be on duty over at SmackDown.
- Michael Crichton’s estate is suing Noah Wyle, John Wells, Warner Bros, and more over the new Max series The Pitt. You see, Wyle, Wells, et al were developing an E.R. reboot, but it fell apart when the Crichton estate didn’t like the terms of the deal (Crichton was an E.R. co-creator). When that reboot was blocked, the pitch was redeveloped as The Pitt, which Crichton’s widow insists is just E.R. with the names changed. The Pitt is currently on track to premiere on Max in 2025.
Ugh, I hate this part right here. You see, it was not a good week. Not “In Real Life”. This is gonna be tricky, because I’m talking about someone who was a pretty private person, and I didn’t really ask his kids if I could do this. So, we’re doing it with no pictures and no first names – which sucks, because there are some great Growing Pains opening credits-esque pictures to be found for him.
When I was 11 years old, a new family moved 2 houses up from us. The Taylor Family had a daughter around my age (their oldest had already left home), but I wouldn’t say we grew up “friends”. You see, my next door neighbor, Brian, and I used to sort of give their daughter a hard time. I’ll never forget how she had bought a ton of back to school clothes, and we turned the hose on her when she was giving us an outdoor fashion show. Kids are jerks! As I’ve mentioned in other posts, this was my “Girls are yucky and my natural enemy” era, and I was a terrible role model for Brian, who was 5 years younger than me. Over time, though, we skipped over “Friends” and “Neighbors” and found ourselves as Family.
As many of you know, my father passed away when I was 3, so I didn’t have a “male figure” around. But when Mr. Taylor took his daughter to the county fair, he took me, too. That’s how it started. They’d pay me to take care of their pets when they went on vacation. Little things like that. When I went off to college, though, I think things changed. You’ve got a ton of stuff to take to college. My mom didn’t drive on open roads. So, Mr. Taylor offered to drive me to Cornell. And we all went up there, as a family. He did all the Dad Things, making sure I was all set up and everything. And, four years later, when I graduated, he came and got me. Over time, I’d come to give him birthday and Father’s Day gifts. Sure, he had his own kids, but he was my “White Dad”. Hell, people at Cornell thought I was mixed because of him!
Well, after a brief illness, Mr. Taylor passed away last Saturday. It wasn’t “sudden”, but the whole illness, from start to finish, sort of caught us all off guard – on top of a myriad other things I’ve got going on. His daughters were kind enough to let me in on things, and I was able to visit with him in hospice. I was able to thank him and tell him what he meant to me. A lot of people don’t get that opportunity, and I’l always cherish that. I still can’t say that I’ve really processed it yet, as I’ve been trying to distract myself the past few days, but damn did I love that man. He was a good man, in every sense of the word. He taught me what it meant to be responsible, to care for one’s family. He never complained, which is something I’m still learning. But I know my life would have been missing A LOT without him in it, and I know it’ll be missing a lot going forward. So, for that, Mr. Taylor had the West LIFE Ever. I wish I could give him more than that, but that’s really all I’ve got.
