I represent the first generation who, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"
Never underestimate the value of a good supporting actor. This week we lost Stanley Kamel. He was 65. Stanley Kamel was best known for playing Adrian Monk's psychiatrist on Monk. Kamel also played roles on Beverly Hills 90210, Murder One, Days of Our Lives, and Melrose Place."
We Sympathized with Dr. Kroger as he patiently imparted advise and set personal boundaries during his weekly therapy sessions with Monk (Tony Shalhoub). Good Night Stanley Kamel our session is over.
Earlier this week we lost actor, writer, director and producer Ivan Dixon. He was 76. All of us children of television knew him best as Sgt. James "Kinch" Kinchloe on the classic TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes, and for the two Twilight Zone episodes The Big Tall Wish( featuring an all black cast) & I Am the Night—Color Me Black. ( I always loved Rod Serling's Closing Narration, "A sickness known as hate; not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ, but a sickness nonetheless; highly contagious, deadly in its effects. Don't look for it in the Twilight Zone. Look for it in a mirror. Look for it before the light goes out altogether.) Mr. Dixon was most proud of roles in A Raisin in the Sun and Nothing But a Man, but he had no problem about being recognized as Kinchloe.
Sgt. Kinchloe deserves a special place in Television history. He came at a time when there were not many blacks on TV and of the few blacks that were on a network television series, most were in subservient roles. Sgt. Kinchloe was never seen as a buffoon and was truly Col. Hogan's right hand man and confidant. Mr Dixon did have problems with the role causing him to leave the series after five seasons, but the role did launch him into directing television shows like The Waltons, The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I. and In the Heat of the Night.
Dixon was active in efforts to get better parts for blacks in movies and television. This quote is from an interview he gave The New York Times in 1967: "Sponsors haven't wanted anything negative connected with their products. We must convince them that the Negro is not negative."
I realise that Mr. Dixon's body of work is so vast and I have barely scratched the surface here.
Good Night Mr. Dixon and feel free to turn off the coffee pot.
Tonight (Tuesday, February 12th 2008) the members of the Writers Guilds East and West voted by a 92.5% margin to lift the restraining order that was invoked on November 5th.
The strike is over. Read the official WGA announcement to striking writers on Deadline Hollywood Daily.
I wanted to write something in honor of Roy Scheider because he starred in the TV shows SeaQuest DSV and Third Watch but by the time I was able to get to my computer there were so many tributes to the man from all over the world. Since so much has already been said about this talented actor, I decided to pour myself a drink, raise my glass and sing, Show me the way to go home I'm tired and I want to go to bed I had a little drink about an hour ago And it got right to my head Where ever I may roam On land or sea or foam You will always hear me singing this song Show me the way to go home
Last Saturday I came home and turned my computer looking for South Carolina primary updates and found an article titled 'NYPD' Buttocks May Cost $1.4 Million. My curiosity peaked I clicked on the link and saw a picture of the actress Charlotte Ross who starred in NYPD Blue from 1998-2004. I read, "The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $1.4 million fine against 52 ABC Television Network stations over a 2003 broadcast of cop drama NYPD Blue". But wait. That episode aired about five years ago.
Sometime around late February or early March of 2003 my wife and I were at a party and the subject of Charlotte Ross’ nude scene on NYPD Blue came up in conversation. I mentioned that we had missed the episode, as did several others at the party. The lady of the house was so impressed with Charlotte Ross in that now infamous scene that she had her husband pop the episode in the VCR so we could all watch.
The consensus of the women in the room was that it was great to see a woman with a real body on TV. Words like "Brave" and "Bold" were used to describe Charlotte Ross’ choice to do that scene. Not wanting to sound like total pigs, the guys in the room discussed the camera work and the editing. The Man of the house paused the scene (approximately 34 seconds on the YouTube video) and pointed out that the boy’s head was perfectly positioned so we could not see Charlotte Ross’ nipples. When the scene is paused it is obvious that this was a composite shot and the boy was filmed separately and added in later. Personally I thought the scene had the innocence of the label on a bottle of Coppertone.
Why is this scene just now being addresseed now by the FCC? Other controversial issues like the profanity (The F-word is used 21 times) used in ABC's, broadcast of Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day in 2004. Or earlier that year when Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show. Both issues took much less time to resolve. If you are keeping score at home:
Janet Jackson’s breast: $550,000.
Charlotte Ross’ buttocks: $1.4 million. ($27.500 x 52 ABC central & Mountain Time zone stations)
The F-word 21 times: Priceless. (The FCC later cleared the film, nothing that "Contextual considerations are critical in making indecency determinations.")
In my research I can’t find an answer to my timing question. I just seem to have more questions. I also could not find any logical or even a reasonable reason as to why the FCC would want to go after a show that has been off the air for almost three years. Talk about beating a dead horse. Most importantly why does the FCC in their order refer to the buttock as a sex organ when it is not an organ, but a muscle. The FCC report described Charlotte Ross’ naked buttocks as titillating. That assessment seems subjective since butts may vary. If Charlotte Ross’ naked buttocks is titillating, then is not the mind is also a sex organ? If someone gives you a "come hither" look or "bedroom eyes" then are not eyeballs sex organs? I can go on with more examples but why go down that road?
Logically I think that the FCC is pandering to social conservatives and their watch dog groups. Many would complain about the subject matter in the scene even if there were no nudity in it at all. These same groups just insured that ABC will make their 1.4 million dollars back from increased DVD sales thanks to all the press this story is getting. Does this make the FCC the true... buttock here? Finally, is the FCC is insisting that the buttock is a sex organ because of what they plan to do to ABC.
I’d love to quote Sgt. Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) here but instead I’ll keep it clean and quote William Shatner on SNL, "GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!"
I just heard on the morning news that veteran actress Suzanne Pleshette has died of cancer. She may be best known as Emily Hartley in the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. The role of Emily brought in two Emmy nominations. Ms. Pleshette got two other Emmy nominations after guest starring as Julie Lawler in the drama series Dr. Kildare and a Golden Globe nomination for the title role in the TV drama Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean . Pleshette was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. In August 2006, she underwent chemotherapy at the Los Angeles’ Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. Click here to access Suzanne Pleshette's Archive of American Television interview.
To quote Ms. Pleshette in a 1999 interview on that being an actress was more important than being a star, "I'm an actress, and that's why I'm still here. Anybody who has the illusion that you can have a career as long as I have and be a star is kidding themselves."
Never underestimate the value of a good supporting actor. This week we lost Stanley Kamel. He was 65.
