Tag: 2020s

On the ubiquity of Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney is everywhere, it seems. He played 2 big shows in LA in March. He was at the recent closing of The Late Show with Steven Colbert. Not only was he a big part of the 50th anniversary celebration of SNL, but he closed out the 51st season. Now he has a new album coming out, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane”, so he’s on every platform promoting that, including The New York Times and The Guardian.

When he’s not performing current work, he’s plugging away at the past. We recently saw the release of “Man on the Run”, a documentary of his days in his band, Wings. (Trailer here, reviews here by the Guardian and the New York Times). And then there is his photo exhibit, “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” at the AGO.

He’s in his 80s. He’s not the singer he was in the 60s — see points 13 and 14 here to see what I mean — but he still puts on a good show. He still looks healthy and fit. Hopefully he will be with us for some time to come. Lord knows he is not lacking for opportunities to perform.

P.S. For more on McCartney in Wings, check out this (Wings by Paul McCartney review – a brilliant story of post-Beatles revival | Paul McCartney | The Guardian)  and  this (Paul McCartney: where to start in his solo back catalogue | Music | The Guardian).
Here are some odd and ends in terms of links I found which I am including in this post, to stick in my back pocket so to speak: ‘The Beatles Anthology’ Gets a New Ending: Director Oliver Murray on How Episode 9 Finally Put a Sweeter Cap on the Group’s Historic Docuseries, plus was Denny Laine ever properly paid (I think so) and also I thought this piece on his 3 hour show in Hamilton last year was good.
Lastly, I’ve written quite a bit on Paul McCartney. You can find it, here.

An odd piece on SNL from GQ


This is an odd piece in GQ: The New Cast Reshaping SNL’s Next Decade . It states: “After a slew of exits, Saturday Night Live is reloading—with a squad of young comics that could form the nucleus of the show for years to come.”

It’s odd because yes, there have been a slew of exits, and yes there are new comics, but if you have been watching it recently, the comics dominating it now seem to be people like Heidi Gardner and Bowen Yang, and of course, the great Keenan Thompson. To see what I mean, check out this recap of a recent episode with Travis Kelce starring. Or watch tonight. They aren’t the new people, and they aren’t the older comics leaving.

The new comics are no doubt good, and they likely appealed more to the GQ readership than the people I named. Plus everyone wants to talk about what’s new. But I can see the current veterans being around and in the forefront when it comes to SNL celebrating half a century in 2 years from now.

A little perspective, please, GQ. 🙂

P.S. As an aside, I’ve been a fan of both GQ and SNL since the 70s. Good to see them both still around and being current.

On Shrinking, and some thoughts on my limited return to TV

For the last 30 years or so I have not watched TV shows. I’ve watched movies at home and other things like news and sports, but nothing like the Sopranos or Breaking Bad or Family Guy or…well, you name it. (I wrote about it here.)

Lately I have been watching television again. A lot of that has to do with having someone great to watch it with, as well as someone who knows what I might like. Having more time at home during the pandemic also helped.

I started off by watching Ted Lasso, which I thought was superb. Then The Crown (loved the first two seasons mainly). Followed up by Slow Horses (also great). I began to think: hey, I might love TV again.

But then I watched Loot, and while I think Maya Rudolph is a genius, I could not watch much of that. Same with Hacks, even though, again, Jean Smith is amazing. Which brings me to Shrinking.

Like Loot and Hacks, I first started to really like it. But then I just started to feel fatigue from the strained writing. (Hey writers, writing nonstop about sex makes me think you’re a bunch of frat boys.) I also remembered the problem with situation comedy (situational dramedy?) and the need to create situations just to keep the story going. I see that often in Shrinking. (Frat boys: I know, let’s get the main character to sleep with his coworker! Hijinx will ensue!)

Like Loot and Hacks, having someone great (in this case, Harrison Ford) is a good draw and he makes me want to watch it. But like those two, there’s not much more that makes me want to watch it. (I mainly don’t care what happens to the other characters, which is different than Ted Lasso or Slow Horses, where I am invested in many of the characters). It’s pleasant enough, and occasionally funny enough. And kudos to them for getting a season two: clearly people like it.

It’s been fun watching TV, mainly because I have someone great to watch it with. (Thanks, Lisa!) But if I didn’t have that, I’d go back to my old ways. TV is different in some ways (e.g. no Apple TV in the 90s) but in a lot of ways, it’s hardly changed at all.