Terry Carter

Terry Carter, who played  Colonel Tigh on my childhood favorite, the original Battlestar Galactica, has died at age 95.

RIP

Gary Graham

I won't lie to you: until this morning I couldn't have told you his name if you had given me a year to think on it. Even so, the news today that Gary Graham died on the 22nd at age 73 hit me in the gut. 

Graham was the star of Alien Nation, the 90's TV series based on the book and movie of the same name*. While it was short-lived, I ate up every episode, and the one centered around a massive city riot played in my head many times in 2020. 

Later, Graham would go on to play Soval, a Vulcan ambassador to Earth, in Star Trek Enterprise. That may be his best known role, but I never saw his episodes. To me, he'll always be Detective Matthew Sike, teammate with an alien partner in a much different Los Angeles. 

RIP 

 

*yes, I read the movie novelization. 

Andre Braugher

I can't believe it. 

Andres Braugher, the actor from Homicide: Life On The Streets who will forever (in my mind) be remembered as the hilarious Captain Holt from Brooklynn Nine Nine, has died after a brief illness. 

He was 61.

Wow.  I really can't believe it. 

RIP Captain. 

Monk - Mr. Monk's Last Case

 

As longtime fans of Monk, we were excited to watch the reunion movie on Peacock - I had it on my calendar for a month, Lisa bought popcorn and treats, I invited the whole family to watch it together, and  . . 

What a let down. 

The mystery at the heart of the movie is so basic and so ridiculous, even by TV standards, that it makes you wonder how any crimes are ever solved. The villain? A generic Elon Musk, because why not embrace the "bad guy" of the moment. 

Then there's the complete, utter lack of humor. Gone is the wit and playfulness that made the series special. No, no. In 2023 one must embrace the role of victim and dwell in the dark, and Monk spends the movie - the entire movie -  planning his own suicide.  

It was a completely cynical, dry movie devoid of any spark of what made the series special. 

Grade: C-

Norman Lear

 

Norman Lear, the man who created nearly every 70's sitcom worth watching, has died of natural causes. He was 101. 

Here's a sampling list of Lear's legacy: 

Good Times

Maude

Sandford and Son

All in the Family

The Jeffersons

One Day at a Time

The man essentially created 70% of the TV I watched in my childhood. More impressively, he was acknowledged enough for it at the time that even as a child, I knew his name and his influence. 

RIP 

60 Years of Who

Sure it's Thanksgiving and all, but more importantly today is the 60th anniversary of the premiere episode of Doctor Who.

Here's to 60 more!

Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry, the wonderful actor who brought Chandler to light on Friends, has passed away of an apparent drowning. He was 54 

I loved Chandler, and Perry, and Friends, and frankly I am in shock.  I cannot fathom this right now.

Rest in peace sir. I don't think you had much of that in life, but you deserved it 

Richard Moll

Richard Moll, who played the role of Bull to perfection on 80's sitcom Night Court, has passed away at 80. 

Night Court was, and is, one of my favorite sitcoms, and it wouldn't have been the same without the zany antics of the giant bailiff.  Now, only John Larroquette and Marsha Warfield remain from the ensemble cast. 

RIP. 

 

 

 

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers, who played Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and later starred in She's the Sheriff and Step by Step, has died of cancer at 76. 

Three's Company was a favorite of my family and a hugely popular show in my childhood. I confess I was more of a Teri than a Chrissy guy - but I think for most people her run on the show defined its best years. After season 5 she took the advice of her husband and made a play for a vast pay increase and instead found herself replaced. She went on to star in a couple other sitcoms and was the spokesperson for the Thighmaster, although she never again reached the same level of fame. 

Odd, in recent months Three's Company has become an occasional viewing choice here in our home, and I even follow a fan site on Facebook. 

Of the three original show roommates, only Joyce Dewitt remains. 

RIP. 

David McCallum

David McCallum, the American actor who gained fame playing Russian agent Illya Kuryakin on The Man From U.N.C.L.E  in the '60's, and found fame again on NCIS this century, has died. He was 90.

Buckle your seatbelts folks because this is dorky as heck, but as a kid around middle school or freshman year of high school I started watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E in reruns. At the time for whatever reason I wasn't interested in college or in grades at all, although I believe that was probably just a spell I would have grown out of on my own. 

Enter that TV show. Within a very short time I became obsessed with the idea of becoming a secret agent. I even went so far in those pre-internet days as to call the library's Ready Reference line and ask if U.N.C.L.E was a real agency. As I recall they couldn't give me a definitive answer (it's fictional) but all the same I figured at the very least I would need a college degree and good grades to be qualified for the job.

So in a way, David McCallum greatly influenced my future LOL.

RiP 

Inga Swenson

Time and again I've meant to memorialize Inga Swenson, and each time I have dropped the ball. She deserved better. 

Swenson, age 90, passed away July 23rd, with her husband of 70 years at her side. 

I knew her as Gretchen Kraus, the sharp tongued German housekeeper on Benson, whose battles of wit with the titular character eventually grew into mutual respect and friendship. By the end of show's run Kraus had become the state budget director, and Swenson herself had received 3 Emmy nominations. 

Swenson also played Hoss's late mother on Bonanza.  

RIP

Bob Barker

If you grew up in America from 1972 to 2007, and this man's face wasn't synonymous with your television viewing on a sick or snow day from school, then you were flat out raised wrong. 

Bob Barker, the host of The Price is Right, has died at 99.

RIP sir 

Lunch at Egg & Flour

Yesterday Lisa, the two youngest, and her Mom ate a late lunch/early dinner at Egg & Flour, the restaurant of hometown Hells Kitchen contestant Adam Pawlak.

The food looked great. Carbonera and bolognese, meatballs, bread, salad ... it figures, since I wasn't invited! Lol

John Drilling

 

John Drilling, a legendary television anchor/reporter at WITI 6 (first a CBS, then Fox affiliate), has passed away. He was 86. 

For 30 years Drilling was a staple on the Milwaukee airwaves, anchoring the noon news for WITI from 1975 until his retirement in 1998. A man with the reputation of a no-nonsense, just the facts reporter, he did this city proud.

RIP sir. 

Jerry Springer

The morbid streak continues. 

Jerrry Springer, Cincinnati mayor turned host of the raunchiest of talk shows, has passed at age 79. 

RIP

 

Len Goodman

Dancing with the Stars regular Len Goodman, the British ballroom dancer turned reality show judge, has died of bone cancer at 78.

 RIP. 

Elizabeth Hubbard

Elizabeth Hubbard, the Emmy winning actress who played the capable, scheming Lucinda Walsh on As the World Turns, has died at age 89. I remember her performance well, as it was my Mom's favorite soap opera.  

RIP

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

 40 years ago tonight, along with with 106 million of my fellow Americans, I watched the final episode of M*A*S*H. 

I remember the plot to this day, but what's alway stuck with me is a negative memory- the amount of commercials that interrupted the broadcast seemed endless (and no wonder; CBS sold 30 second ad slots for MORE than they cost during the Super Bowl that year.)

Like anyone else worth their salt, I wept at the end of an era. And when the waterworks, wouldn't stop, I was allowed to stay up to watch the nightly 10:30 syndicated reruns. It was an old episode from the Trapper John days, and the contrast between the slapstick humor of those wonderful, early days, and the heavy dramedy of the finale - man, it was night and day. 

RIP M*A*S*H:  you were, and are, one of the greatest shows in history. 

Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer, the former comedian turned actor who played the same character through 22 years on Homicide: Life On The Streets and Law and Order: SVU, has died at 78.

RIP

American Idol

 Idol: I think the male 12 was ok, but the choice of the female dozen was nuts. They cut Shelby Dressel and kept the mediocre blonde, which was bad enough, but then they axed Angela Martin. WTH? I had her pegged as a favorite to win. I can only assume her odd & continual personal troubles (Dad killed 1st yr, 6 days in jail yr 2, now her Mom's missing) knocked her out of the running. My early fave to win: Casey James.