Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Media Tuesday

Don Rickles died last week.  90.  Big fan, in short bursts.  He nailed every appearance with Johnny Carson.  A Rickles and Howard Stern appearance on one of David Letterman's last shows was a classic.  Stern was so gracious and reverential.  Anyway, his comedy routine success could never translate to a successful sitcom.  Getting lost in all of this is Don Rickles had serious acting chops.  Read a list of his work.  There is some quality stuff.

If you can find it, watch Jimmy Kimmel's Don Rickles tribute.  It was fantastic.  It rivaled David Letterman's tribute to Robin Williams.  Kimmel might not match the numbers generated by Fallon and Colbert, but he could be the new King of Late Night.

CBS kicked Phil Simms to the curb in favor of untested rookie Tony Romo.  Giving a newcomer the "A" game every week is insane.  FOX was smart enough to put Troy Aikman on some European League games before he was moved up to the top team.  And, even when he did make it to the "A" team, Aikman was part of a three man booth.  CBS is taking a big gamble, and this one could bite it on the butt.

Note to the people who program The River 104.9:  Please stop fading "Baker Street" out early.

"Brockmire" on IFC, at least the first episode, is outrageously funny.  Long story short, Jim Brockmire is a major league baseball announcer who has an on air meltdown over a cheating wife.  He winds up in Morrisville, PA, as the public address announcer for the  Morristown Frackers.  The fracking references are hilarious, and Amanda Peet as the team owner is a delight.  Advice:  "Brockmire" is not for the kids.

Our friends at the Times~Leader print restaurant inspections every week, and that's a great idea.  You wonder how some of these places continue to function.  I worry about abuse of power, but some filthy establishments should be padlocked immediately.

Congratulations to former WARM 590 program director John Hancock.  Yesterday, he was named to the hall of fame at WBT 1110 in Charlotte, NC.  We still swap occasional texts and emails.  John was a great guy to work for, and he's become a legend in Charlotte.  It's a well deserved honor.

I topped 1,900 Twitter followers last week, and Facebook "likes" are steadily climbing.  Thank you.