Rosh Hashanah history, customs and more are in the spotlight at History Channel online.
The cabler’s Rosh Hashanah mini-site includes videos, photo gallery, recipes (apple kugel). There’s also a Yom Kippur page.
Happy 5768.
Fall freshmen series “Chuck,” “Journeyman” and “Life” are available for free rental at Blockbuster. The chain’s video stores (and online rental queues) are stocking this "NBC New Fall Preview DVD" through Oct. 21.
If you’re time-pressed, watch ’em in this order: “Chuck,” “Life,” “Journeyman.” (I’ve seen them already.) NBC’s fall premiere week starts Sept. 24.
It’s the same sort of deal NBC offered last year through Netflix.
Yeah, the kid can hold a note. (Courtesy Wilson Benesch)
You know, I've seen a lot of "American Masters" portraits over the years – not all of ‘em but a lot of ‘em - and I think I can say right here, at this moment, that the best one I've ever seen will air tonight, on Ch. 13 from 9 to 10:30. It is a treasure chest, frame after frame, and all you have to do is reach in and grab a priceless jewel. Problem is, every FRAME is priceless, while every story, clip, interview, recollection will make you a happier person - no matter who you are or how old you are, or what your taste in music is, or your taste in anything.
I speak, of course, of "Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends." I love Tony Bennett, and have for pretty much my entire life, and that's not just because I'm from San Francisco. (I feel the same way about Joe Torre and I'm not from New York). In his very being, his very voice, he says what's great - what's greatest - about American popular music since (just after) the Second World War. There's also a profound humanity and decency in the man - so profound that even children can detect it immediately, which naturally speaks to his enduring popularity.
Where to begin? I can't really - there's so much here, so much music, so many interviews, so many clips, that they all just seems to emerge organically, like flowers on a perfect spring day: Carson, Scorsese, Gay Talese, Mel Brooks, Bob Hope, Harry Belafonte, Mitch Miller, Bill Evans, Judy Garland, Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Astaire, Gene Kelly... They all - and dozens more - have something to say about Bennett - or we see how they influenced him, or sang with him, or simply admired him. Directed by Bruce Ricker and executive produced by Ted Sarandos, it's an insanely joyous and generous broadcast. (and as evidence of the generosity, you’ve gotta see how it plays out “I Left My Heart In SF” over a fifteen minute stretch.) We see Bennett as a painter, father, Civil Rights supporter, friend, and most of all musician. The always-wise and wonderful Jonathan Schwartz explains that Bennett has been "technically superb to this day, and has been that since he began to sing and record in 1949 and 1950..." while “The Music Never Ends” demonstrates exactly how this miracle happened.
"I really count my blessings every day," says Bennett. "I'm really satisfied with my life. It could only happen in this country. It's amazing. It's amazing."
Yeah, it's amazing. Watch. I'm serious. This one you can't miss.
The movies of Hollywood veteran Jane Wyman, who died Monday at 93, unreel all day Friday on Turner Classic Movies. Included is her Oscar-winning turn as a deaf woman in 1948’s “Johnny Belinda.” There’s also her strong work opposite Ray Milland in Billy Wilder’s 1945 alcoholism classic “The Lost Weekend.”
The full lineup:
6 a.m. -- The Doughgirls (1944)
7:45 a.m. -- The Lost Weekend (1945)
9:30 a.m. -- Cheyenne (1947)
11:15 a.m. -- Johnny Belinda (1948)
1 p.m. -- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)
2:45 p.m. -- A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
4:15 p.m. -- Here Comes the Groom (1951)
6:15 p.m. -- Let’s Do It Again (1953)
And where, oh where, is her classic tube stint as a California wine-country grande dame on “Falcon Crest”? Not on TV right now -- but you can watch online via AOL’s In2TV video-on-demand service, where 30 full episodes from CBS’ 1981-90 nighttime soap are currently streaming for free, culled from the series’ first three seasons. (There's a single episode from the seventh, too.)
Alison in; Caroline out.
I've always had kind of a soft spot for "The Biggest Loser" and maybe that's because I'm such a fathead. "TBL" offers no recourse for that problem, since it's the other kind of lard that has made this show such a keeper for the Fourth Place Network. And that's a good thing, indeed. Yes, FPN needs "TBL" badly and in fact, after Sunday football and (maybe" "Deal or No Deal") this could become its most reliable performer this season. Tonight's virtually an all-"TBL" night, with the two-hour season opener, and I've gotten a quick look at the premiere.
Fans will love it: Casting's excellent, and there's an everyman/woman quality to these people; they are large but not fantastically obese (the off-season rumor was that this would be the fattest group ever; not so.) They all seem nice - Bryan, David, Neil, Hollie, and so on - and their lifelong struggles with weight seem (and doubtless are) sincere. There's a third team this year, too - the "black team," headed up Jillian Michaels (last season's uber-intense uber-scary uber-noisy "Red Team" trainer). Alison Sweeney's the new host and Caroline Rhea replacement; she’s a former, ummmm, large person and soap queen (“Days of Our Lives”) who rallies our zaftig newcomers out in the Mojave Desert (tonight). Hard to say why she’s better than Rhea but certainly adds a little more sex appeal and a lot more puns (“…the wait is over!!”) Don’t get too fond of anyone: A bunch of people will be sacked even before the two hours are up.
Meanwhile, we've got a pair of LI contestants on tonight's show too - 40-year-old twin brothers Bill and Jim Germanakos. My colleague/editor, Andy Edelstein, blogged about them recently, and here's his description: "Bill, of Lynbrook, is married with three kids and works in medical sales. Jim, of Massapequa, also married with three kids, is a police officer. In his free time, he’s a volunteer firefighter and can be caught singing Sinatra songs at the local Italian bistro. Their goal, according to NBC, is not to become the 'fat twins.'”
But like I said, don't get too fond of anyone just yet...
Yeah, it's a lousy day to premiere a reality show, and pretty much a lousy day to premiere anything, given that most people's thoughts - consciously or subconsciously - are tending to other matters that happened six years ago. But if you've gotta premiere something, "TBL" should do: 6,500 pounds have been shed over the last four seasons and another couple thousand will melt away (painfully) this season. Alone among major reality shows on the Big Four, "TBL" actually has a message most of us need to hear and heed.
TV DVDs are coming out fast and furious now that the fall season is immiment. (Newsday’s TV fall preview runs in the Sunday paper of Sept. 16.)
And it’s nice to see that even subsequent-season sets are including more extras these days, which hasn’t always happened in the past. (Still doesn’t for most vintage series.)
“Grey’s Anatomy” Season 3 arrives on disc today (the fourth season hits ABC’s air Sept. 27) in a “seriously extended” edition that includes four episodes presented with substantial unaired content, in addition to the usual array of deleted scenes and bloopers. Three commentaries are fun and informative: the season premiere with give-and-take between Chandra Wilson and “Private Practice” spinoff star Kate Walsh; the Ellis-is-lucid-again hour, discussed by on-screen mom and daughter Kate Burton and Ellen Pompeo, and “Desire,” with Sandra Oh. You even get to hang with Patrick Dempsey off-duty at stock car races. This wasn’t a great season, but featurettes like one on the Jane Doe character highlight what did work.
“Desperate Housewives” Season 3 hit shelves last week, with a featurette going behind the scenes of the matrimonial season finale. No commentaries here (might have been especially nice on event episodes like the “Bang” supermarket hostage-taking), but other featurettes summarize the season’s storylines and compare ABC’s “DH” with a South American version. Deleted scenes and bloopers, too. (Season 4 starts on ABC Sept. 30.)
Oprah and Dave: It was nice.
By this, I mean "nice" – not "exciting" or "groundbreaking" or "thrilling."
Just nice. Sometimes that’s good enough, but I still think Oprah missed an opportunity. There were so many questions to ask, so much to talk about, so much of EVERYTHING, that O just kinda figuratively threw up her hands and said “the heck with it…” She tossed in a few softies, he whacked ‘em right back at her. Honestly, there was nothing particularly revealing here, and Letterman – a bigger sphinx than Carson – kept O at arm’s length for 35 minutes.
As mentioned, some nice moments – pictures of Baby Harry, now a boy, cute anecdotes about tricycles in driveway, and a mock scold of O who wondered whether he wanted another kid. Missed it? Some highlights:
* The city of New York has gone crazy for O, and as evidence, Dave reveals a photoshopped picture of Lady Liberty with Lady O's face on it.
* Top ten reasons I love Oprah - 2.) Gave me my first post-surgery sponge bath; 1.) She's giving everyone in today's audience a new house.
* Dave talking about Harry, and "the constant razor's edge - when do you apply patience or discipline and honest to God, I never know." Oprah wondered whether Harry "thinks you're funny." Dave: "Mommy has to tell him a lot that I'm just teasing." Oprah:"It's not good."
* Dave, on fatherhood: "I kinda feel silly addressing this because with eight billion people on the planet, clearly I'm not the first person to have a son. What can I add to that experience except that it's been remarkable."
* Dave on whether his show is still fun - "I'll tell you what's fun - the hour you do the show, then everything else gets to be a little weary and tedious because you do it so many times..."
* Asked what he does when he "kicks back," Dave looked genuinely stumped, then said, "it'd be nice to be in Montana on a horse."
* Dave, on Ball State naming a building after him: "My knees buckled - and I was sitting down..."
* Dave on his heart surgery: "It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. For a hypochondriac it was perfect - gives you so much to talk about.
From the first lovefest.
