Friday Questions

Friday Questions have arrived.


Liggie asks:


Have you seen any of the Korean baseball games ESPN has been showing as a substitute for everybody else's lack of live sports?


I have because my friend, Jason Benetti of the White Sox calls the weekend games.  He’s the perfect announcer because he has a sense of humor and perspective (and calls a great game).  He does his best to fill in the viewer on some background, but who are we kidding?  No one gives a shit about KBO baseball in the U.S.   Especially in empty stadiums.  


There's a reason the games are carried live in the middle of the night.


We watch because we’re baseball junkies and just want to see baseball of any kind.  Happily, Jason keeps it entertaining. 


Someone unknown wonders (please leave your name):


Is there any room within sitcoms to address major social issues — I’m talking about beyond the bullshit 1970s “Tonight ... on a very special Blossom/Family Ties/Diff’rent Strokes”?

 

Let’s put it this way – no one’s stopping sitcoms from doing it.  MOM sometimes deals with social issues, BLACKISH does as well, I guess you could say THE NEIGHBORHOOD does if by social issue you mean one joke played out week after week.   I’d also give a shout out to ONE DAY AT A TIME.   And I’m sure there are others (and you will enlighten me in the comments section). 

 

But it’s not like the ‘70s where there was a real appetite for that.   I think people want more escape from their comedies now.  It’s pretty clear we’re not going to improve things by shedding light on social issues; we’ll improve things by voting out Trump and his despicable cronies in the senate.   

 

From Fed the Musez:

 

If you and David had started your writing careers ten years earlier (ca. 1966) what shows would you guys have tried to write for (knowing that the "Dick Van Dyke Show" wasn't an option as it had just concluded its five-year run)? I'm guessing something like "Good Morning, World" (because of your interest/experience in radio).

 

Definitely GOOD MORNING WORLD, also because it was created by Bill Persky & Sam Denoff who produced THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW. 

 

I would want to write for BEWITCHED (just so I could meet Elizabeth Montgomery). 

 

Beyond that, HE & SHE, LOVE ON A ROOFTOP, and OCCASIONAL WIFE.  And I list those knowing most people have never even heard of them.  But unlike the stupid GILLIGAN’S ISLAND fare, these were shows that tried to be romantic comedies about real people. 

 

And finally, from John E. Williams:

 

I've been watching the final season of Cheers and noticed that several times there were teasers filmed "outside" the bar, in front of Melville's. Were these all filmed in Boston or L.A., and were they filmed at the same time or were they separate shoots?

 

Filmed at the same time.  Someone took a home video of the shoot.


 

 

 

 

 

from By Ken Levine

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