Fantasy Fridays: The Masks (The Twilight Zone, 1964)

 From season 5 of the original Twilight Zone:

A wealthy man, knowing he's about to pass on, is not comforted by having his family coming in for Mardi Gras. They agree, however, to an apparent tradition requiring masks to represent what supposedly is the opposite of their personalities.

Written by series creator/host Rod Serling, and directed by Ida Lupino. Alan Sues, 4 years before Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and Virginia Gregg, best known as a member of Jack Webb's repertory company in the 50's & 60's, are among the cast.

YouTube does not have complete episodes of the original series, so this climatic excerpt will have to do.

Family Fridays returns next week.

Notes from around town

 We're all used to Christmas lights, indoors & outdoors. But Halloween lights?

Yeah, it's a thing.

Just up the street from ye scribe's base, some folks living in a basement apartment set up some Halloween lights (orange, of course), with some matching decorations in front of their abode. It's so cool. We'll see if they leave the lights up all weekend, not just through tomorrow.

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We're also used to some jabroni embodying Dr. Seuss' infamous Grinch at Christmas, stealing from others for no rational reason.

Well, there's room for a Halloween Grinch, it seems, and this has 0 to do with one of the made-for-TV sequels to Seuss' seminal holiday tale.

Seems a parent in Glens Falls took his kids to Kensington Road Elementary, and helped himself to the school's pumpkin patch. WNYT offers a happy ending to this tale....

Hopefully, the parent will have seen the news report. I could understand if he couldn't afford to actually purchase the pumpkins, but as the report shows, the kids were encouraged to turn a negative into a positive with the paper pumpkins and acts of kindness.

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With Election Day right around the corner, you're going to be bombarded, if it hasn't happened already, with mailers from various candidates running for office.

At home, the Rensselaer County GOP is using a tactic from the national playbook to protect incumbent county executive and Trump wanna-be Steve McLaughlin by smearing his Democratic challenger, Sherri Silverman. McLaughlin refused to debate Silverman, and is resorting to this in order to win a 3rd term? What is he so afraid of? The County GOP shamelessly admitted their anti-Silverman mailer was filled with photoshopping in order to get their point across, but, like, a 10 year old could figure that out without reading the fine print.

For all the positive things McLaughlin has touted in radio ads, he nullifies it with this juvenile stunt. To his credit, he doesn't wear bronzer, like his idol.......!

Weird Wednesdays: Some Like it Hot (1961)

 Sometimes, Hollywood can't leave well enough alone.

Two years after "Some Like it Hot" became a box office hit with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, & Marilyn Monroe, someone at United Artists had the notion to adapt the movie for television. Now, remember, back in those days, men posing as women was still a novelty, outside of, say for example, animated shorts (i.e. Bugs Bunny often dressing in drag). Because of this, Billy Wilder's "Hot" ultimately raked in over $80 million globally.

Curtis & Lemmon agreed to appear in the pilot in 1961, and the only other cast members carrying over from the movie were 518 product Mike Mazurki and Joan Shawlee (ex-The Abbott & Costello Show). The ensemble also included Jack Albertson as a plastic surgeon who "transitions" Curtis & Lemmon, if you will, into Dick Patterson & Vic Damone, Jerry Paris (ex-The Untouchables), Rudy Vallee, Robert Strauss, & Anthony Caruso, who seemed to be plugged into gangster roles in almost every TV appearance back then (i.e. "A Piece of The Action", on Star Trek, a few years later). Tina Louise ends up in the Monroe role of the ukelele-playing singer.

Of course, UA brought Tina Louise back three years later in Gilligan's Island. After Hot failed to pass muster at NBC, Jerry Paris moved on to The Dick Van Dyke Show. You know, of course, that after "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" put him on studios' radars again, Jack Albertson moved on to Chico & The Man in the mid-70's.

Wild West Wednesdays returns next week.

Riley Gaines just got the same lesson that other MAGA dorks have........

 You don't mess with Alex From The Block!

Former swimmer Riley Gaines, three years removed from a 5th place tie with trans competitor Lia Thomas, made the same mistake other right wing dimbulbs have ever since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress. Picking a fight with AOC is never a good idea.

Photo courtesy Yahoo!.

This started Sunday after Gaines posted a photo of AOC with NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whining that the trio were destroying the US from within. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. The trio were at a rally for Mamdani which drew 13,000 supporters, with Election Day right around the corner.

AOC, of course, brought the receipts, posting on X that "Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster, you wouldn't have come in 5th".

So Gaines went on Fox No News, and said she'd challenge AOC to a debate. Oh, please, that is asking for trouble. Gaines, married and a mother of one child, should've just walked away. AOC counter-challenged Gaines to "find a real job". For all we know, Gaines could've been auditioning for a gig with Fox No News, but as the photo above suggests, she's a prototypical right wing woman these days. A deer in the headlights.

A Bluesky user offered this analogy:

Considering how AOC has shredded fellow lawmakers like Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and, more recently, professional troll Stephen Miller, she's proven that unlike the poser in the White House, she really is New York tough. And Riley just got made into, well, Gaines Burgers.

For being gullible enough to challenge AOC, Riley Gaines gets the Dunce Cap. 

Weasels of The Week: Section II sectional selection committee

 Earlier today, and we covered this over at Tri-City SportsBeat, the pairings for the Section II women's volleyball sectional tournament were released. Suffice to say, Troy High, my alma mater, got screwed by the selection committee.

If you don't believe me, check the pairings as posted earlier:

Tri-City SportsBeat: Section 2 women's volleyball sectional pairings released

How is it possible that Troy, which ran the table in the regular season in Class AA, could get hosed like that? A #5 seed? While teams the Lady Horses left in the dust, like LaSalle & Mohonasen, get favorable seedings in Classes B & A, respectively?

I know what Section II's argument is going to be. Their selections are based on strength of schedule. Bethlehem, from the Suburban Council, is the #1 seed in Class AA. The Suburban is a tougher league than the Colonial Council, which Troy joined a year ago. The Eagles also defeated Troy to win the Lansingburgh Invitational last month, which, really, is the only argument in their favor.

Strength of schedule goes out the door when you have an undefeated (regular season) team.

Being a #5 seed means Troy goes on the road to South Glens Falls (Foothills Council) on Thursday, and the winner would play Bethlehem a week from tomorrow.

Section II failed Troy for no real reason. Of the 6 teams in Class AA, Troy is the only one from the Colonial Council, while you have 2 from the Foothills (Queensbury being the other) and 3 from the Suburban (Niskayuna & Columbia join Bethlehem in the field). The committee, as a result of this error in judgment, gets a box of Weasel ears.

Maybe next time, they'll get it right, but I doubt it.

Sports this 'n' that

 It took just over 6 1/2 hours to play 18 innings before the Los Angeles Dodgers finally sent everyone home happy, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5, to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.

Shohei Ohtani homered twice, and was walked 5 times in a row by Blue Jays pitchers. They may regret that, since Ohtani will be on the hill for the defending champs in tonight's game, opposed by Shane Bieber.

Reigning Series MVP Freddie Freeman ended the drama with a walk-off homer in the home half of the 18th off Brandon Little.

Game 5 tomorrow figures to be a rematch of game 1, with Blake Snell pitching for Los Angeles.

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The Giants couldn't afford another critical injury, but that's what happened Sunday, as Philadelphia collected a receipt on Big Blue. Rookie running back Cam Skattebo is out for the year after having had surgery to repair a fractured ankle sustained in Sunday's game. The Giants lost 2nd year receiver Malik Nabers last month to a torn ACL, and the injury to Skattebo pretty much ends whatever chance the Giants had to making the postseason.

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The Jets, on the other hand, arrived for their game vs. Cincinnati Sunday in mourning after the passing of former center Nick Mangold, who was part of their 2010 playoff team under Rex Ryan.

Ryan was moved to tears on national television during Sunday NFL Countdown.

Then, the Jets picked up their first win of the year, beating the Bengals. However, 1st year coach Aaron Glenn remains mum about whether or not Justin Fields will start the next game. Hmmmmmm.

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Another week, another coach gets fired.

After a humiliating loss to Texas A & M Saturday, LSU sacked Brian Kelly, who was in his 4th season with the Tigers. Unsurprisingly, click bait sites are already speculating about who's next to take over the gig. Seems to me there's little patience with some of these so-called "journalists", as they need to "feed the beast", if you will. 

Aside from the Tennessee Titans dumping Brian Callahan earlier this month, you usually see NFL teams wait until after the regular season is over before the carousel starts spinning. Used to be the same way in college, too, but the patience of school adminstrations is getting extra thin of late.

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After veteran announcer Sam Rosen retired at the end of last season, the Rangers & Madison Square Garden made a legacy hire, bringing in Kenny Albert (Marv's son), who is also TNT's lead announcer for the NHL, in addition to calling NFL games on Fox, as Rosen also did, to call Ranger games. Former Ranger Dave Maloney is working alongside Albert on MSG. 

Magical Mondays: The series premiere of I Dream of Jeannie (1965)

 We close out our initial run of Magical Mondays with the series premiere of I Dream of Jeannie, which launched 60 years ago.

You know the story by now. Astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman, who had appeared on The Rogues, another NBC series, the previous season) crash-lands on an island in the South Pacific, where he finds a certain bottle containing a genie (Barbara Eden), who falls for her new master immediately.

Subsequent episodes in season 1 would summarize this with a short narrative by voice actor Paul Frees.

Now, here's "The Lady in The Bottle":

By the time NBC got around to doing some reunion TV movies, Hagman had moved on to Dallas, and Eden would do a guest turn there for a brief reunion with her former leading man. Eden's then-husband, Michael Ansara (ex-Law of The Plainsman), would make some guest appearances during the series' run, including during the time he was recurring on Star Trek.

Medical Mondays debuts next week.

Insight Sundays: Teddy (1981)

 A woman (June Lockhart, ex-Lassie, Lost in Space, Petticoat Junction) keeps her disfigured adult son locked away to avoid derision & cruelty. Bud Cort is "Teddy":

In memory of June Lockhart, who passed away earlier this weekend at 100. Rest in peace.

What Might've Been: The DA's Man (1959)

 As the original TV version of Dragnet was winding down, Jack Webb added another series with the mid-season entry, The DA's Man, which told the story of an investigator in the District Attorney's office (John Compton). Unfortunately, both series were cancelled at the end of the 1958-9 season.

Webb's Dragnet co-star, Ben Alexander, directed the episode, "The Unlucky Dutchman", with a pre-General Hospital John Beradino.

Co-star Ralph Manza would take on a number of guest roles throughout the 60's and early 70's before being cast as George Peppard's sidekick, if you will, in Banacek. Like Dragnet, The DA's Man was sponsored by Liggett & Myers (L & M, Chesterfield cigarettes), which sponsored the radio Dragnet as well.

No rating. Just a public service.

Fantasy Fridays: One of Our Jars is Missing (Jennifer Slept Here, 1983)

 Joey (John Navin) is distressed when his parents hire a suspicious exorcist (Zelda Rubenstein, "Poltergeist") to remove Jennifer (Ann Jillian). Here's "One of Our Jars is Missing".

The series not only featured Glenn Scarpelli, fresh from One Day at a Time, but was a comeback vehicle for Georgia Engel (ex-The Mary Tyler Moore Show). Jillian co-wrote the theme with Clint Holmes and Bill Payne, the latter best known for the 70's band Little Feat.

Fantasy Fridays wraps up next Friday.

A Classic Reborn: Family Affair (2002)

 31 years after the original series ended, Family Affair was revived by the WB Network. The show was still set in New York, but now, Bill Davis (Gary Cole, ex-Midnight Caller) was a pilot as well as a millionaire playboy.

However, Cole was the last one in the opening credits, as Tim Curry got top billing as Mr. French, Davis' major domo. With Curry's film resume (i.e. "Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Clue", "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York") being greater than Cole's ("The Brady Bunch Movie", anyone?), it's easy to understand why. The two veterans had to shepherd a trio of unknowns playing Davis' nieces & nephew.

What went wrong? How about the fact that the original Affair had been off cable for a few years, and dropped out of the collective consciousness of viewers. Oh, sure, the producers threw a bone by bringing in the surviving cast members of the original series, Johnny Whitaker & Kathy Garver, for a 1-shot guest appearance, playing new characters, of course.

The revival also marked the return of Sid & Marty Krofft to primetime television in what would be their last project, though it wasn't under the Krofft banner. WB gave up on Affair rather quickly after ratings began to tumble. At least Cole had something to fall back on, namely [adult swim]'s Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law.

Following is a sample episode.

After fellow blogger Chuck Miller wrote about Affair the other day in a piece on "Rocky Horror", I thought I'd chip in.

No rating. Just a public service.

In the GOP, nothing is sacred anymore: Donald Trump demolishes the East Wing of the White House so he can build a ballroom to satisfy his ego..........

 Apparently, president Trump thinks he can remold Washington in the image of his former home, New York, or his current off-duty home, Mar-a-Lame-O in Florida. To do so, Orange Narcissus is demolishing the East Wing of the White House, just so he can build a ballroom and host lavish parties.

So, what's wrong with the East Wing? They had parties there over the years.

Trump wants to leave his footprints all over the White House as much as possible, and, sloppily, too. He doesn't care what we think.

Unfortunately, Karolame Leavitt went on Jesse "Dirty" Watters' idiot hour on Fox No News the other night, and lied about it, claiming this is all the fault of the Obama administration.

Farron Cousins explains Leavitt's latest goof.

There is dumb, and then, there is Karolame and the GOP. Deflecting blame all the way back to the Obama era, just because Trump wants to avoid accountability.

Washington has officially anointed its new Duchess of Dumb, and guess what's headed her way.....

Trump only hired her because she's telegenic and attractive to a nearly 80 year old man with the maturity of a 6 year old crushing on his babysitter. That's all it is.

2025 World Series preview

 By the time game 1 of the World Series starts Friday night, the defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, will have had a full week's rest after sweeping away the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. The Toronto Blue Jays, in the Fall Classic for the first time since they last won the title in 1993, will have had just 3 days rest, after eliminating Seattle on Monday.

When the teams met during the regular season, Toronto won 2 of 3, but, back then, the Dodgers weren't at full strength like they are now. The Dodgers' goal now is to send Clayton Kershaw off to retirement with another ring, and be the first team since the Yankees (1998-2000) to go back-to-back.

The 518 factor: This refers not only to Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman, a graduate of Shaker High, but also ex-Tri-City Valleycats George Springer (Toronto) and Enrique "Kike" Hernandez (Los Angeles). Sports bars throughout the region will be tuned in, with at least 1-2 sets showing the game, the alternatives being hockey, basketball, and college football. 

Repeat, revenge, or both: As noted, Toronto won the regular season series, and has the home field for the World Series. If the NLCS taught us anything, the Dodgers now have a lethal starting rotation, with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, NLCS MVP Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Add Ohtani's bat to the mix, on offense, with the likes of ex-Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, and Toronto pitching will be up against it. Again, this is not the same Dodger team that Toronto beat earlier in the season. Toronto used starters Kevin Gausman & Chris Bassitt out of the bullpen Monday, but bank on one or both starting in this series.

Fox announcer Joe Davis is also one of the Dodgers' play-by-play voices, but don't look for him to be a "homer". His Milwaukee counterpart, Brian Anderson, put team loyalty aside in the NLCS, calling the games for TBS, and Davis has done the same when the Dodgers have been on Baseball Night in America.

Even though he's not related to the actor-singer that shares his name, Toronto manager John Schneider might want to book a trip to Hazzard County after the series.

The pick: Los Angeles in 5.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Weird Wednesdays: KISS Meets The Phantom of The Park (1978)

 Metal legends KISS were one of the hottest musical acts in the entire world in 1978. They'd already been immortalized in comic books at Marvel, and, now, they were starring in a TV-movie for NBC & Hanna-Barbera that the band, reportedly, has disowned for decades.

"KISS Meets The Phantom of The Park" sees the band (Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss) come to the aid of a young woman whose boyfriend has disappeared, thanks to the machinations of a demented robotics expert (Anthony Zerbe, ex-Harry O, The Cowboys). Supposedly, actor Michael Bell dubbed over Criss' lines, save for the drummer's solo number, "Beth".

The complete movie is not available on YouTube, but what we do have is an excerpt, in which the band battles their robotic doubles, interrupting a concert.

I can see why the band didn't want anything to do with it in later years.

When GOPers bring the stupid

 Prior to Saturday's No Kings protests across the country, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall tried to claim, without evidence, as usual, the protests were being funded by the right's favorite target, George Soros, and that the protesters were "professionals".

Nope, not true.

Marshall also tried to follow the same tack as Mis-Speaker Mike Johnson, claiming the protests would be violent.

Wrong again, corn meal breath. Totally peaceful, save for some isolated incidents that didn't get much attention or traction.

That same day, Anna Bower, editor of Lawfare, exchanged text messages with attorney Lindsey Halligan, assigned to prosecute NY Attorney General Letitia James. Halligan would later claim she wanted to exchange to be off the record.

Uh, nope, not happening, Ms. Deer in The Headlights. Bower brought the receipts on Monday, and was interviewed by CNN's Kaitlin Collins.....

President Pampers hires in-over-her-head lawyers like Halligan and Alina Habba-Dabba-Doo not because they're qualified & equipped for the job, but rather because they're telegenic enough to get the attention of Orange Beavis while he's watching TV.

After Letitia James gets done dog-walking Halligan in court, and getting the bogus charges against her dismissed, Trump may be looking for another attorney in Virginia.......! Just sayin'.

Magical Mondays: The series premiere of Tabitha (1977)

 We've discussed before how ABC & Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television) fumbled the ball with Tabitha. The mistakes were many:

1. Adam (David Ankrum) lost his powers, becoming a mortal like his father, Darrin.

2. Tabitha (Lisa Hartman) and Adam were aged up for the 2nd time, having been rebooted as teenagers in an ABC Saturday Superstar Movie a few years earlier. Now, they were 20-somethings, and Adam was lucky not to be completely pushed into the background as Tabitha pursued a relationship with her boss (Robert Urich, fresh from S.W.A.T). Worse, Adam was now the older sibling!

3. The presence of relatives was kept to a minimum, with Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow) making regular appearances in place of Endora (Agnes Moorehead). No sign of prank-happy Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde was busy with Hollywood Squares and frequent appearances on Donny & Marie, and his absence was certainly felt.) or another witch, like Esmerelda (Alice Ghostley).

4. The ties to the past were also kept to a minimum, with Bernard Fox reprising as Dr. Bombay, and George Tobias & Sandra Gould returning as the Kravitzes.

To their credit, ABC scheduled the show to air on Saturday nights, instead of mid-week, where Bewitched had been. Unfortunately, viewers voted with their remotes.

Following is the series opener.

After the series ended, Hartman would resurface on Knots Landing, then marry country singer Clint Black. You know the rest of Robert Urich's resume, I'm sure (i.e. Soap, Vega$). Mel Stewart would land a hit series with a supporting role on Scarecrow & Mrs. King.

Forgotten TV: Lawbreakers (1963)

 After M Squad ended its run, Lee Marvin was right back at work, this time as host/narrator of the syndicated Lawbreakers (aka Lee Marvin Presents Lawbreaker), a one season docuseries that took the procedural crime drama to the next level. Real cases. Real people, including police. Marvin also conducts interviews from his studio.

In this entry, Lee looks into the case of a fugitive who is needed to provide a blood transfusion for a baby in "Cincinnati":

Too bad it's not on DVD, and it should be, as it's still relevant 60+ years later.

No rating. Just a public service.

No Kings II: Protesters prove that the president and his allies have been lying

 In the days leading up to Saturday's No Kings protests across the country, including here in the 518, president Trump and his allies, including House Mis-speaker Mike Johnson, tried to mischaracterize the protesters as members of the loose collective, antifa, which, we must remind again, is not a formal organization, despite what the misadministration will insist to the contrary, because they can't deal with the fact that there are people fed up with their mishandling of government.

Trump and his allies tried to lie to the people, to discourage them. It didn't work. As Brian Tyler Cohen reports, more than 7 million people nationwide, peacefully protested, and the police didn't make any arrests.

Brian lives in Los Angeles, where he filed this video.

Margaret Mead once wrote that you can never underestimate the power of a few people. Unfortunately, Trump won't learn anything from this example.

Could there be a repeat in the World Series?

 Part of the negative side of Dodgers lore is the Yankees' Reggie Jackson going off on Los Angeles for 3 homers to lock down the World Series in 1977 at Yankee Stadium.

48 years later, Los Angeles, or, more specifically, Shohei Ohtani, erased the stigma of that fateful night.

The Dodgers completed a 4 game sweep of Milwaukee in the NLCS, capped by Ohtani locking up series MVP honors by duplicating Jackson's hat trick, but also striking out 10 Brewers on the mound. That's more like Babe Ruth territory.

Brewers announcer Brian Anderson, calling the game on TBS, was in awe.

Assuming Seattle closes out Toronto tomorrow, the 2025 Series will be one for the ages. Ohtani & the Dodgers, looking to become the first team to repeat as champions since-----who else?-----the Yankees 25 years ago, vs. MLB HR champ Cal Raleigh & the Mariners. Fox will reap the ratings benefits. This will be worth watching.

Musical Interlude: New York Groove (1978)

 Last night, I was stunned by the news that Paul "Ace" Frehley, founding member of KISS, and one of the most respected guitarists in metal history, had passed away.

So I went online, did a quick Google search, and discovered that this was the result of complications from a spill last month at Frehley's New Jersey home. The NYC native was 74.

Frehley scored a major solo hit in 1978 with "New York Groove", written by Ross Ballard for the glam band Hello 3 years earlier. Following is a KISS performance of "New York Groove".

Rest in peace.

Some Republicans need to go back to school: Antifa is not a real organization, but you can't make them understand that

 Before being named Transportation Secretary by president Narcissus (Donald Trump), Sean Duffy's biggest claim to fame was that he was a reality TV veteran (i.e. The Real World). As with virtually everyone in the misadministration, Duffy gave up his brains.

Like Trump and other minions, Duffy is claiming that ordinary folks participating in this weekend's No Kings protests across the country, including a few in the 518, are part of the mythical organization Antifa, which is not a formal organization, but, rather, shorthand for anti-fascist, which Duffy and others can't be bothered to acknowledge.

Of course, Duffy went on the GOP's favorite network, Fox No News, and babbled this nonsense to Maria Bartiromo. As Farron Cousins explains, Duffy and the misadministration want to paint protesters as "domestic terrorists"----which they're not.

As Farron and other commentators often note, the Republicans think they're base isn't exactly full of smart people. It's all part of the con.

Suffice to say, Duffy gets something the party is familiar with.

Reality does bite after all.

Celebrity Rock: Lulu's Back in Town (1975)

 The one aspect of Redd Foxx's act that was criminally underrated was the fact that he could actually sing.

In season 5 of Sanford & Son, Fred teams with Smiley Rogers (Timmie Rogers, who famously did an Alka-Seltzer ad with Sammy Davis, Jr. around the same time) for a cover of "Lulu's Back in Town". Allan Drake is Rodney, the MC, who is also Fred's brother-in-law (don't ask).

We'll find some more musical spots down the line.

Weasel of The Week: Kristi Noem

 Homeland Insecurity Secretary Kristi Noem is so ignorant of the law, such that she thought she could get away with broadcasting a propaganda video at airports, including Albany International Airport, blaming Democrats for the government shutdown, knowing full well that, in reality, her party, the Repugnants, are to blame, but refuse to accept responsibility.

And airports around the country, including Albany, are pushing back by banning the video.

Brian Tyler Cohen explains:

It is political tribalism. The GOPers refuse to admit they're wrong, and scapegoat the Democrats, but go about it like a bunch of undisciplined children. Noem, and her deputies, including Tom Hopeless, are so off the reservation, it isn't funny.

All Noem is doing is giving more fodder to satirical comedy shows like South Park & Saturday Night Live, the latter of which parbroiled Noem and Pam Bondi the other night, thanks to prodigal daughters Tina Fey & Amy Poehler.

If the Trump misadministration wants the bashing to stop, then they need to start governing this country the right way, not as a tool for political retribution built on lies and deceptions. Noem gets the Weasel ears this week for having the lack of brains to post her propaganda video in a place where few actually would care. An airport. Like, who's going to pay attention, anyway?

President Narcissus is complaining again, this time about his hair on the cover of Time

 He couldn't win the Nobel Peace Prize (he wasn't nominated despite his belief to the contrary), but president Donald Trump made the cover of Time, and yet, he's still unhappy.

Here's the cover of the latest issue.

So what's he complaining about? The world's most famous combover is at an angle where it can't be photographed in its entirety, and that's on him, not the Time photographer, since he was looking to the sky when the picture was taken.

But, because image is everything with Orange Narcissus, he had to whine about it.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one.", he said.

Again, that's on you, because of the angle you gave the photographer. It isn't enough the editors pandered to you on your involvement in negotiating peace between Israel & Hamas, for however long that lasts, given the contentious history involved. If you understood anything about photography, or anything at all, for that matter, you'd see that. But, no. You have to throw a tantrum. And when the ceasefire ends-----and we know it will-----regardless of which side is responsible, you'll have egg on your face yet again.

And if a simple blogger like me can figure out what's wrong, why can't you?

Magical Mondays: It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (Bewitched, 1964)

 We're doing Magical Mondays for the next couple of weeks before launching Medical Mondays next month. 

First up: From season 1 of Bewitched: Darrin (Dick York) takes umbrage with a client (Jack Warden) hitting on Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery), whose temporary solution to the problem gives us the episode title, "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog".

Unfortunately, the episode has been privatized. In its place, this excerpt should summarize everything.

Executive producer Harry Ackerman thought Warden had the chops to be a comic actor, so he cast Warden in The Wackiest Ship in The Army the next year for NBC. Unfortunately, that lasted one season, leading to Warden going back to drama with NYPD for 2 seasons for David Susskind's Talent Associates & ABC.

For all of Darrin's worries about Samantha and her family, he doesn't hesitate to protect Samantha. There was only one other fight scene that season, I believe, but that clip has been pulled from YouTube.

NLCS 2025 preview

 Last year, the Milwaukee Brewers were eliminated in the Wild Card round.

This year, they earned a 1st round bye, and then, eliminated Central division rival Chicago to reach the NLCS.

That means the Brewers will play the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, starting tonight. The winners advance to the World Series, set to start next week, against either Seattle or Toronto. Milwaukee swept the season series, 6-0, catching the Dodgers at a low point.

These two teams previously met in the postseason 7 years ago, with the Dodgers winning. That serves as further motivation for the Brewers to continue their dominance of Los Angeles in 2025. Don't be so sure.

I point to the 2015 NLCS. The Mets had been swept by the Cubs in the regular season, but, after dispatching the Dodgers in the NLDS, New York eliminated Chicago to advance to the Series, where they lost to Kansas City. As we all know, the Cubs would win the title the very next year. What this says is that now that the Dodgers are at full strength, if they can get Shohei Ohtani's bat going again, along with Mookie Betts, to give the offense a boost, the Brewers are in trouble. Payback is coming.

Keep in mind, too, that it's been 43 years since the Brew Crew, then an AL franchise, had reached the series, where they lost to St. Louis, now a rival in the NL Central. You'll hear quite a bit about how the team wants to dedicate the pennant to long time radio voice Bob Uecker, who passed away several months back. The Dodgers figured out what rookie Roki Sasaki's role is, as he's likely their new closer going forward. 

In 2025, the Dodgers play the role of the Mets. The Brewers are the Cubs. The result is the same.

The pick: Los Angeles in 6.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Musical Interlude: Your Wildest Dreams (1986)

 The Moody Blues served up "Your Wildest Dreams", which gained heavy airplay on MTV in 1986. Written by singer-guitarist Justin Hayward, the song is about the reminiscence of a lost love.

In memory of bassist-vocalist John Lodge, 82, who passed away earlier this week. Rest in peace.

Insight Sundays: Truck Stop (1973)

 A waitress (Deborah Winters) is struggling with her identity, and dealing with customers at the same time at a "Truck Stop". John Astin (ex-The Addams Family) and Tim Matheson co-star.

With the volume of episodes in the series' 20+ year history, they could fashion stand-alone DVD volumes featuring frequent performers like Astin, Martin Sheen, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and others. I'd buy 'em.

2025 ALCS preview

 They are two teams forever linked by history.

They've only met in the postseason just one other time, three years ago.

Now, they will meet for a berth in the World Series.

The Seattle Mariners punched their ticket to the American League Championship Series, but needed 15 innings to get there, as they eliminated Detroit in 5 games, more than 48 hours after the Toronto Blue Jays had dismissed the Yankees in 4.

More than 24 hours after the Philadelphia Phillies had been eliminated in the National League Division Series, it was a pair of former Phils, Jorge Polanco & JP Crawford, who got Seattle to the next round.

That only adds to the Phillies' miseries, if you're a long time fan of theirs.

Tomorrow night, the Mariners & Blue Jays, two teams who entered the AL together in 1977, will play for the AL title in the first of 7 games maximum. Toronto won 4 of 6 in the regular season, and the ALCS will open at Rogers Centre, where Seattle won 2 of 3 back in April. The teams have not faced each other since May, after Toronto swept the Mariners in Seattle.

AL home run champ Cal Raleigh has only hit one homer in the playoffs so far, but the Mariners are going to need more thunder against Toronto. The Mariners' ace, George Kirby, likely will pitch in game 4 on Wednesday at home.

All the motivation that Toronto needs comes from George Springer, who won a couple of titles with Houston. Getting to this round, though, is why the Blue Jays signed Shane Bieber away from Cleveland in the offseason, but he has not been effective, as the Yankees knocked him around in game 3 of their ALDS.

At the end of the day, however, it is Seattle's year. At least in the American League. National League? We'll see.

The pick: Seattle in 6.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Fantasy Fridays: The series premiere of My Mother The Car (1965)

 We're serving up Fantasy Fridays for the rest of the month (Family Fridays returns November 14), and starting off with arguably one of the worst of the fantasy-coms of the 60's, My Mother The Car.

Mother was one of two flops that United Artists sold to NBC in 1965 (Mona McCluskey, with Denny Miller & Juliet Prowse, was the other), and, for the longest time, it was a stain on the career of its lead, Jerry Van Dyke.

Jerry plays a lawyer who finds and restores an old Porter, then, as he tries it out, discovers his mother (Ann Sothern) was reincarnated as the car......

Both Van Dyke and Avery Schreiber (Captain Manzini) forged ahead after Mother was cancelled. Van Dyke would return to NBC two years later with Accidental Family, which flopped, and it'd be 20 years before Van Dyke finally landed a hit series. Schreiber resumed his comedy act with Jack Burns, which led to a short-lived variety series for ABC a few years later, after which he spent a year on Sha Na Na as a repertory player following a Saturday morning flop, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine.

Next week: Who knows?

Stop appeasing the oldest toddler in America: Letitia James indicted for "mortgage fraud", despite evidence to the contrary

 Petty.

Vindictive.

Mentally unstable, likely due to advanced age.

Obsessive.

These are the things that define Donald John Pinocchio Trump, president of the United States, serial liar, misusing the White House the 2nd time around to get even with political and perceived enemies, just because he was held accountable by New York courts the last couple of years.

Refusing to accept liability for bank fraud, Trump now wants NY AG Letitia James prosecuted for what is perceived to be mortgage fraud, despite the lack of evidence to support the claims of Trump supporter Bill Pulte, ignorant of Ms. James' own statements, acknowledging that the residence in Virginia, where an indictment was brought Thursday, is a secondary residence.

Photo courtesy Albany Times-Union.

Lindsay Halligan, the telegenic attorney assigned to the case by Orange Beavis, brought just one indictment on Thursday, but she really has no case. Legal scholars have said as much. She's doing this because Trump holds a grudge against the attorney general, and goes about business like a 5 year old.

"WAAAHHH! I didn't do anything wrong! She did! WAAAHHHH!!!"

Wrong again, strained spinach breath. This case, like the indictments brought against James Comey earlier this week, will get tossed out with prejudice because of little or no evidence.

Trump, as we all know, has a problem dealing with strong, assertive African American women in the judiciary. To maintain the pose of being an alpha male, when he's in reality anything but, Trump pressed Ms. Halligan to bring the cases forward, running the very real risk of losing her law license. You can bet that Trump's own public statements, as Ms. James pointed out on Thursday, will be used against him in this case. And you know what his public reaction will be when the cases are thrown out.....

This is what 70 million-plus marks voted for 11 months ago.

Musical Interlude: Out of Touch (1984)

 Ladies & gentlemen, allow me to offer this next item as the unofficial theme song of the Republican party in 2025:

Hall & Oates hit #1 with "Out of Touch", but now, the duo have reached a professional impasse, and will no longer work together, ending a career spanning nearly 50 years.

As for the GOP, "Out of Touch" is appropriate because, well, that's what the Trump administration is in suggesting that one of today's superstars, Bad Bunny, should be replaced as the Super Bowl halftime headliner in February in favor of someone like 80's country star Lee Greenwood, whose last hit was 40 years ago. The Republicans just don't get it. The NFL and its media & advertising partners are looking to attract the youth demographic, and Bad Bunny certainly does that. Unfortunately, House Mis-Speaker Mike Johnson is lost in a time warp with the rest of his party, but at least he's up on some music news, because, trust me, if Hall & Oates had worked out their differences professionally as well as legally, they'd be on Johnson's radar.

Seems to me that the GOP would rather exhume old, defunct acts like the Doodletown Pipers, the Serendipity Singers, and Up With People than acknowledge today's audience......

Wild West Wednesdays: The Sheriff of Fetterman's Crossing (The Loner, 1965)

 We're doing Wild West Wednesdays on back-to-back weeks this month, but only because we're subbing in Weird Wednesdays in 2 weeks for the final 2 weeks of October, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, comic Allan Sherman, the creator of I've Got a Secret, guests on The Loner in "The Sheriff of Fetterman's Crossing" as the titular lawman, who recruits William Colton (Lloyd Bridges) to help him out. Hank Patterson (Green Acres), a veteran of Westerns himself, also appears as a bartender.

Series creator Rod Serling would continue to experiment with other genres with The New People 4 years later before Night Gallery brought him back to science fiction/horror/mystery. Bridges wouldn't land another series until San Francisco International Airport in 1970, and Joe Forrester in 1975, and both, like Loner, lasted one season.

Sports this 'n' that

 With the Yankees down, 2-0, heading into Tuesday's ALDS game at the Stadium, there were the usual calls from fans and the media to send manager Aaron Boone on his way if the team can't come back to beat Toronto.

Boone's opposite number, Toronto's John Schneider, may have given Boone some help.

Schneider, in the wake of the Yankees' 9-6 win on Tuesday, decided that it would be a bullpen game for the Blue Jays tonight, with Louis Varland starting. Varland was one of the culprits responsible for the Yankee comeback Tuesday, giving up 2 homers, including one to Aaron Judge.

Photo courtesy MSN. com.

Dum-de-dum-dum-dummmmmmmmb!!!

Varland pitched 1 inning, charged with 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 strikeouts, and was charged with the loss. New York will start rookie Cam Schlittler, who looked like a jewel in going 8 innings vs. Boston last week in the Wild Card clincher.

If the Yanks come all the way back to advance to the ALCS, Schneider will be the one gone, not Boone (at least not yet), and his latest bonehead play may be the cause.

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Hockey season started Tuesday, and it's the same old, tired song for fans of the Rangers, who reportedly looked listless in losing to Pittsburgh, 3-0, in the home opener at Madison Square Garden. Have to believe they were struggling to draw fans due to the Yankees-Blue Jays game. It's just the start of the season, but, you know some people need a reason to whine and go click chasing online.

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Speaking of click chasing, there are more morons launching YouTube channels using AI to deceive fans of WWE and the Mets with false headlines. In the case of the AI trolls with WWE "news", they're trying to sell the idea that top stars such as Becky Lynch or Cody Rhodes has "died" when it's not even close to being true. On the Mets channels, the trolls are fabricating personnel changes. Seems these get-a-lifes think most of us were born yesterday. All you need to see is the "headline" to know the news is fake.

And, in the words of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, that's all I've got to say about that.

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Could the balance of power be shifting again in the AFC?

Kansas City is 2-3 after Jacksonville's last second upset on Monday. New England is resurgent under former star player Mike Vrabel, who has the Pats 1 game behind Buffalo after beating the Bills on Sunday. Baltimore is 1-4 in the North, due in part to less than stellar play, coupled with an injury to QB Lamar Jackson. Suddenly, Pittsburgh, with Aaron Rodgers, leads the North, while Cincinnati just traded for ageless wonder Joe Flacco, who comes over from Cleveland with the Bengals & Browns both struggling.

The Bengals, in turn, cut backup QB Brett Rypien (son of Super Bowl champ Mark Rypien), who'll likely land somewhere else.

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As Dallas was dismantling the Jests on Sunday at the Meadowlands, owner/GM/head idiot Jerry Jones decided to be crass and flipped the bird to Jests fans, pouring salt onto the wounds of an 0-5, last place club. For that, Jones was fined by the NFL, all because his act of stupidity was caught on camera. Maybe Jerry couldn't find a church before the game, and, well.....!

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Instead of teasing fans with "The Decision II", LeBron James might need to spend more time caring for son Bronny, given the youth's health problems. Just sayin'.

Are conservatives true Christians? If they're politicians, they're more likely hypocrites first

 We all know Donald Trump pretends to be a Christian in order to deceive his base.

He may not be the only one within MAGA.

Comedian-turned-political pundit John Fugelsang has published his first book, and is currently doing a media tour in support of it, including a stop on MSNBC to chat with Ali Velshi. Separation of Church & Hate is already a best seller, just two months after it was released.

It's easy to forget that Fugelsang first entered the public consciousness working for VH1 back in the day.

Fugelsang has also been on Justice Matters & The Daily Show on his current media tour. However, he says the quiet part out loud about how the right has, as a collective, used Christianity as a tool to deceive. If they think they're actually going to Heaven, well........!

The president whines like a child, a troll tries clapping back, and fails. Just another day in the GOP

 Donald Trump is operating under the delusion that there is higher crime than being reported in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and now, Portland, Oregon, such that he is insisting on sending National Guard troops to those cities. He'd already done this in LA, only to later discover a judge deemed it illegal, and one of his own appointees told him over the weekend that he can't do it in Portland, because he's basing his deployment on lies. Farron Cousins explains:

The common thread? Democratic governments run most of those cities, and Mango Napoleon can't stand it.

On top of that, the Sultan of Spray Tan has joined the right wing chorus whining about Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny being named the headliner for the Super Bowl 60 halftime show, coming up in February. Bad Bunny, you'll recall, chose not to play in the US other than at the Big Game, and this past Saturday on Saturday Night Live, where he reamed out the conservatives for their threats to send ICE agents to the game.

Kristi No-Brains and her deputy, Corey Lewandowski, have both made the threats to send ICE to the game, but really have no reason to, other than to further what is in reality a corrupt agenda, and the man pushing that agenda the hardest, professional troll Stephen Miller, got charbroiled on social media by NY Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who described Miller as being 4'10" (he's actually a foot taller, as he explained to Fox No News' Laura Inkblot), and angry over his "insecure masculinity", according to Alex From The Block.

Miller tried clapping back at AOC, claiming "that her brain didn't work", and that now, "her eyes don't work". She was making fun of you, bub, but you can't see that. Oh, by the way, you called her a train wreck, but, guess what? You're the train wreck, fella, along with the rest of the MAGA Moron Squad. 

You just don't mess with Alex From The Block!!

AOC also called Miller a clown. Putting greasepaint on that mug would actually be an improvement.

Creepy TV: Love & The Vampire (Love, American Style, 1971)

 From season 2 of Love, American Style:

Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch) and Judy Carne (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, ex-Love on a Rooftop) are on a honeymoon, but their host (Tiny Tim) is a little, well............peculiar.

Judy pretending to be a werewolf was cute. Too bad she never really got to play one.

No rating. Just a public service.

What Might've Been: Juvenile Court (1958)

 It can be argued that this unsold pilot for Juvenile Court, produced in 1958, was ahead of its time.

Unlike the procedural crime dramas of the day (i.e. Perry Mason), we jump right into the courtroom. However, insofar as we know, these are not actual cases, but, rather, simple teleplays that address the societal ills of the era (i.e. incorrigibility).

Our cast includes some familiar names, like Dabbs Greer, Ken Lynch, Tommy Cook, & Jeannette Nolan.

Why didn't it sell? Can't really say, but I'd think it might be because network executives and station managers, assuming the series was to be syndicated, were a little nervous about how the show would be received.

Rating: A.

Musical Interlude: Papa Don't Preach (1986)

 "Papa Don't Preach" was the 2nd single off Madonna's 1986 CD, "True Blue", and went all the way to #1 on the Hot 100. A dance club track with an important, serious message, "Preach" generated some controversy over the subject matter, teenage pregnancy.

Actors Danny Aiello, Alex McArthur, and Debi Mazur are among the guest stars in the video.

It was this video, I'd think, that landed McArthur (ex-Knots Landing) his first starring role in Desperado the following year. "Preach" is in rotation on local oldies channels these days.

Family Fridays: The series premiere of My Three Sons (1960)

 My Three Sons reached its 65th anniversary earlier this week. To mark the occasion, we'll visit with the Douglas family as we take a look at the series opener.

William Frawley (Bub) left the series due to failing health after 4+ seasons, with another film veteran, William Demarest, taking his place as Bub's brother, Charley, for the rest of the run.

Family Fridays will return in November. We'll spend the rest of the month with Fantasy Fridays starting next week.

MLB Division Series 2025 preview

 Now, we are down to 8.

The Division Series in both the National & American Leagues begin this weekend after 3 Wild Card series ended in the full 3 games on Thursday.

AL:

Yankees @ Toronto:

A late summer swoon by the Bombers enabled the Blue Jays to overtake NY and win the AL East. The Yankees have revenge on their minds after dispatching Boston, but they also have gotten a glimpse of the future in Thursday's win, as rookie Cam Schlittler, a Boston area native, pitched a season high 8 innings with 12 strikeouts.....

Schlittler may have saved Aaron Boone's job, at least for now. The Yankees are bent on returning to the World Series and ending a 16 year stretch without a title. Toronto, which hasn't won a championship in more than 30 years, may have other ideas. Getting five days off might not help the Jays after all.

Pick: Yankees in 5.

Detroit @ Seattle:

After getting lapped by Cleveland in the Central division, the Tigers reasserted themselves by eliminating the Guardians on Thursday. Seattle's Cal Raleigh had a season for the ages, winning the AL home run title, and landing an endorsement deal with T-Mobile, along with Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes and the Mets' Francisco Lindor. You've seen the commercials by now.

The question, though, is whether or not the Mariners have the pitching to match Detroit and Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who could repeat this year. I don't think so.

Pick: Detroit in 5.

NL:

Chicago @ Milwaukee:

The Cubs finally closed out a playoff series at home in beating San Diego. Now come the NL Central champion Brewers. Craig Counsell, in his 2nd year as Chicago manager, would like nothing better than to put the screws to his former club, who couldn't get out of the Wild Card round last year. Well, at least there's some progress in that the Brew Crew, which hasn't been to the Series since they were in the AL in 1982, got a bye this year. All this series does is set up the winner to be run over by the winners of the other series.......

There's not much else to be said other than....

Pick: Chicago in 4.

Los Angeles @ Philadelphia:

As long as Bryce Harper remains a Phillie, they're never going to win the title. Philadelphia fans are more concerned about Kyle Schwarber, a former Cub, leaving via free agency, than finally getting the petulent Harper over the hump. Harper, and agent Scott Boras Badenov, were cursed when Washington, Harper's former club, won the Series in 2019, Harper's 1st year in Philadelphia. The defending champs will ensure that curse holds.

Pick: Los Angeles in 5.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Sports this 'n' that

 Conservatives are losing their minds over the NFL's announcement Sunday that rapper Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in February.

The Puerto Rico native has said that the Super Bowl will be the only American stop on his concert tour, which begins in December, due to fears that ICE agents could try something. Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski earned himself a Dunce Cap when he said that ICE would be at the Super Bowl, apparently ignorant of the fact that Puerto Rico is part of the US, and that goes for other conservatives following that narrative, like former race car driver Danica Patrick, who claims Bad Bunny shouldn't be allowed to perform at the Super Bowl.

Oh? You and what army, Danica?

The intentional misperceptions created by the Trump administration have created a culture of fear for Puerto Ricans and other Latinos, and paranoia for other folks, because Trump listens to some racist trolls, despite the fact that he has employed migrants himself in the past, and lets them decide his policies for him.

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If you're a wrestling fan, it's probably a bother at this point to see ICE "recruitment" ads airing during WWE & AEW programming.

Over the last few weeks, ICE has bought air time on NXT, airing on the CW (owned by Nexstar), with the same ad airing during virtually every commercial break. WWE's parent company, TKO Holdings, is also very conservative, so this, while shocking, shouldn't be a surprise, other than an insult to fans who don't want politics mixed with their programming.

On Reddit today, folks are complaining that TBS, home of AEW's Dynamite, began putting the same ad on their program. Warner Bros. Discovery, TBS' parent, is also a right wing company.

The solution is easy. As soon as this ad, which I refuse to post, runs, change the channel for 30-60 seconds, then go back to TBS or CW or wherever. I'd not be surprised if it's running during Smackdown on Friday nights, too. Wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't, either.

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FIFA has confirmed that the 2026 World Cup will still be played in places like Seattle and San Francisco (actually at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara), despite the fact that President Pampers wants the games moved as he is trying to make those Democratic-run cities "safe" with his ham handed, bigoted approach.

"WAAAAHH! I want the games moved to Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida! WAAAAHHHH!"

No chance of that happening, Fraud Fauntleroy. It's not your call, so keep your spray tanned mug out of it. And stop harassing innocent citizens while you're at it. You're risking a class action lawsuit if you don't.

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By the end of business tonight, the MLB Division Series will be set. One series is already booked, as the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers swept out Cincinnati with an 8-5 win on Wednesday. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to think some small minded folks might think the Mets were eliminated because someone didn't like that they upset Philadelphia last year. Well, too bad for you jabronies. I don't think Philadelphia advances this time, either.

Full predictions coming Friday.

Wild West Wednesdays: Diamond Jim (1965)

I ran across this next item earlier today. A few folks on YouTube opined that Diamond Jim, an unsold pilot produced in house by ABC's Selmur Productions in 1965, may have been rebooted by Screen Gems the next year as Iron Horse due to the similarities in the plot having to do with a railroad, and its star, Dale Robertson (ex-Tales of Wells Fargo). 

Anyway, "Diamond" Jim Brady (Robertson) leaves New York for Colorado on business having to do with the railroad. Jeff York and Walter Burke co-star, and keep an eye open for future stars Pete Deuel and Denise Alexander.

The silver highlights in Robertson's hair would be more pronounced on Iron Horse, which, as we've discussed, ran for 2 seasons.