REVISITING SOME RECENT TOPICS...
I recently complained here about Drew Carey's sloppy appearance on "The Price is Right." I'll start off by saying Drew does a nice job as host, and he really has made the show his own. I do wish he brought something over from the Bob Barker days-- a suit. Having said that, the contestants are dressing down as well. Hey folks, this is national TV. Leave the ripped jeans, cut offs and flip flops at home.
Regular readers know I've been a Billy Joel fan since "The Stranger" album was released in September 1977. In fact, the title cut was the first song I played on college radio in December of 1979, and the last one I played in January of 1983. Joel turned 73 years old Monday. All I can say is I now feel very, very old.
Jimmy Fallon's version of "Password" hits the air in a couple of months. Keke Palmer is host. Doing a game show isn't as easy as it looks, and I wonder how she will do. Fallon will be a regular panelist. I've already expressed my feelings about Fallon here. I think he's an exceptionally talented guy, but "The Tonight Show" isn't the right forum for him. He still looks unsure and terrified, and the show's signature piece, the monologue, suffers.
I've been watching more Gilbert Gottfried performances on You Tube. Blue and horribly inappropriate at times, but still outrageously funny. I'm so sorry he's passed.
Streaming is gaining a foothold... NBC/MSNBC just bumped Chuck Todd over to its Peacock streaming service. Todd is one of the signature stars of NBC News. Mixed signals, here... Moving him to Peacock bolsters that service, but I would think the company would want Todd in front of more eyeballs on MSNBC. He is still host of "Meet the Press" on the big broadcast network.
I nailed the Final Jeopardy question that took down the 23 day champion.
FOX has been rotating hosts in and out of "FOX News Sunday" since the departure of Chris Wallace. They've all been good, and picking a permanent replacement will be a tough choice. It shows the value of having a deep bench.
Speaking of FOX, Tom Brady has signed on to be part of the top NFL broadcast team after he retires. Whatever became of the days of learning your craft, doing the minor games, before you move up to the top team? CBS did it with Tony Romo, and he would have benefitted from working his way up.
I recently yammered on about the problems in major league baseball. We're more than a month in to the season, and the Cincinnati Reds, one of the most storied franchises in the game, has won fewer than twenty per cent of its game, the worst team in baseball. That's just sad.
