A Mike Nichols Moment

Mike Nichols was genius.  Absolute genius.  I've felt that ever since I was kid.  I saw his comedy work on TV variety shows.  Brilliantly written and performed stand-up comedy work with Elaine May, his partner who would also go on to direct films -- and direct actors to Oscar nominations.

For many of us baby boomers, the work of Mike Nichols was a strong, golden thread woven into the fabric of our youth.  His landmark films -- The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- are prime examples.

Those two excellent films are still quoted today and are referenced in the pop culture of modern TV shows.  Young America connected to The Graduate.  The acting, the script, the visual style, and the soundtrack caught the emotional pulse of the changing, intense 1960s.  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? challenged production code restrictions on language in Hollywood films.  Folks today forget how revolutionary and controversial that remarkable 1966 film was.  The film brought Elizabeth Taylor her second Best Actress Oscar.

Today came news that Mike Nichols died at age 83.  There will be a lot of "mourn porn" on social media.  Film bloggers will write obituary tributes with overviews of his career.  People will search YouTube for clips of his work to post on Twitter and Facebook.

A whole new generation probably discovered today that he did comedy and played comedy clubs with a female partner.  Younger viewers will know Nichols from his work as director of The Birdcage (also quoted frequently).  1996's The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, was the hit American version of a hit French film.  Young viewers know this Nichols feature...

                                                                                                                              

...and his magnificent 2003 adaptation of Angels in America for HBO.  They'll know 1988's Working Girl, the comedy that made Melanie Griffith an Oscar contender.  It's another Mike Nichols that was nominated for Best Picture.  He also directed Broadway plays -- The Odd Couple, Spamalot and the revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.  He brought Whoopi Goldberg to Broadway and started her rise to fame.

Not all the films he directed were classics like The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  But there was something special even in the ones that didn't fully work.  I think the first half of Catch-22 is wonderful.  Critics may not hold Postcards From The Edge in the same esteem as The Graduate but I love that movie.  Just love it.  I still think Shirley MacLaine should've been up for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Carrie Fisher should've received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

What Planet Are You From? is a guilty pleasure of mine -- especially Ben Kingsley's broad comedy performance in that goofy Mike Nichols sci-fi story.  Critics panned the movie.  But Kingsley makes me laugh in it.

I also greatly enjoy his critically panned 1975 comedy, The Fortune.  I love how he got Jack Nicholson to play such of dork of a con man that Jack almost seemed like Larry in The Three Stooges.  This film starred Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty as loser con men trying to swindle money out of an heiress played by Stockard Channing.  She's fabulous in this film.

Maybe The Fortune didn't make money at the box office, but, to me, it had something.  It has that unmistakable Mike Nichols touch and wit.

Mike Nichols showed Hollywood that two female entertainers who were queens with the teens -- Ann-Margret (Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas) and pop music star Cher Bono of Sonny & Cher -- had mature dramatic acting chops.  Ann-Margret graduated to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination in Nichols' Carnal Knowledge and Cher got her first Oscar nomination in that same category for Nichols' Silkwood  starring Meryl Streep.

Back in the early 1990s, my late partner took me to a function at a non-profit organization that was very special to him here in New York City.  It's called Friends in Deed.  It helps people with life-threatening illness.  Richard, my guy, was a Friends in Deed volunteer.

While he was chatting with one of the staff members, I had a drink, standing by myself.  I turned around to get an appetizer --- and there was Mike Nichols smack dab in front of me.  I had the same exact expression on my face that Lucy Ricardo had when she saw William Holden up close and personal at The Brown Derby.

I was in complete awe, slack-jawed, and speechless.  Well, not totally speechless.  I awkwardly blurted something like "I have all of your albums with Elaine May."

He smiled politely and then started talking enthusiastically about the fine work done by Friends in Deed.  (I'll post the link.)

Coming face-to-face with genius was an unexpected -- and memorable -- moment.  Mike Nichols truly was a gift to America's fine arts.

www.friendsindeed.org.

One final note:  This year, we lost two directors who got shining film performances out of Robin Williams.  Nichols directed him in The Birdcage and Paul Mazursky directed him Moscow on the Hudson.  We also lost Robin.

WNBC and the Sexiest Man Alive

This afternoon, I was watching WNBC's local news contributor, Ben Aaron.  He's a tall, lanky young fellow who's the comic element of a newscast with his humor pieces.

Today, I happened to catch WNBC/Channel 4's New York Live program.  Ben did a piece on this year's "Sexiest Man Alive."  That title was bestowed by People Magazine to Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.  In The Avengers, a superhero tale, he was Thor.

Ben Aaron commented that the magazine's "sexiest man alive" is usually a white guy -- except for the year Denzel Washington was chosen.  Aaron said that there should be more diversity.

I agree.  But has he ever looked at photos of the men who have been the anchors of the NBC Nightly News every week?  Look at photos from the weeknight news anchors such as the legendary team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley back in the 1950s and '60s....

....to the Tom Brokaw years....

...to the current newscasts anchored by Brian Williams.

At least, People Magazine gave us Denzel.  The group of anchors for the weeknight evening news on NBC since it began is whiter than the cast of an early Ingmar Bergman classic.

As for the Today Show, I written before that it took half a century for that landmark network morning news program to hire more than two black on-air talents.  For its first fifty years, Bryant Gumble and Al Roker were the only two black contributors on Today.  No black women.  From the 1950s to the dawn of this 21st Century -- only two black broadcasters.  As a former WNBC morning news show regular in the 1990s, I can tell you that Bryant and Al were not the only two black people who wanted to do segments on Today in that half a century.  Lord knows I wanted to be an entertainment contributor on the program.

But I sure do appreciate Ben Aaron even addressing the need for diversity.  Sometimes getting the message about diversity takes a while for folks to get.  Sometimes it takes decades.

NYC Diners: Get Your Change

We know this is something the waitresses on the old sitcom, Alice, would never ever do.

But here's something that has happened to me four times in the couple of months that I've been back here in New York City on an extended job hunt.  Clubs and restaurants give you change back when you pay your bill with cash.  But, they don't give you coins.  Just the folding money.  You are shortchanged.  For instance, if your bill is $17.50 and you pay with a $20 bill, the server gives you back two dollars.  As if you won't notice that 50 cents is missing.

This happened to me on September 20th (my birthday) when I dined here -- at Chez Lucienne in Harlem on 125th and Lenox.

I was owed some coins back with my folding money after I paid cash.  When the waiter put the bill folder back on my table, I noticed that I didn't get the 30 cents I was due.  Just the dollar bills.  I let it go.

By the way...this place advertises "great burgers."  They ain't kiddin'.  I had a great turkey burger.  And friendly service.  But the waiter cleared my drink off the table before I was done with it.  And I didn't get all my change back.

This same thing happened twice when I went to see a friend perform at Stand Up NY on the Upper West Side.

I had to pay a cover charge and there was a 2-drink minimum.  The comedy club adds the tip into the bill for you.  I think a customer should, at least, expect the exact change back when paying cash.


It happened last night when I had dinner at Chevys on 42nd Street before I attended a Hunger Games screening at the nearby AMC cineplex.                                      

And this is a national chain.  I had a feeling I wouldn't get my 50 cents change -- and I was right.  I opened the folder as soon as the waiter placed my change on the table.  I saw the paper money and no coins.  I politely called over the waiter and the manager...showed them the total of my bill and said, "I get more change back."

The waiter apologized, reached into his pocket and gave me my 50 cents.

I know it's a minor point in the big scheme of things.  However, if your bill at a restaurant or bistro was $50 and you gave the server $49.25 in cash, the server would politely tell you that you were short.

So why are customers being shortchanged and then expected to leave a tip?  That's wrong.  Also, since it's happened four times in establishments here in New York City, I have a hunch this is some new workplace practice that says "Customers won't care about the coins so just pocket the change."

THAT'S not right.  If you pay cash, count your change and don't be shy about asking for all  of it.  You tip for good service.  Correct change is good service.  Don't tip for bad service.  That's my opinion.

Movie Tip: THE IMITATION GAME

If someone invites you to go see the new film, The Imitation Game, quickly accept the invitation.  It's thrilling.  It's touching.  It's relevant and I'd rank it as one of the top ten best films I've seen this year.  The story is based on the life and extraordinary genius of Alan Turing.  He was a British mathematician   and logician whose brain in itself was an amazing computer.  During the darkest days of World War II, he broke Hitler's Enigma code.  This was a monumental achievement.  You will learn just how monumental his achievements were when you see The Imitation Game.

Alan Turing was a war hero.  He was the modern godfather of the computer.  That's why this story set in the 1940s is still relevant.  He should've been commemorated on a U.S. and/or British stamp.  But this life-saving genius was also an outsider because he was a homosexual.  Being gay was illegal at that time.  As a boy, he was bullied in school.  As a man, this brilliant man was ostracized and persecuted for admitting his sexual orientation.  Think of the positive headlines Apple CEO Tim Cook made last month when he publicly announced that he's gay.  Think of all the openly gay entertainers and news people we now see on national television.  Do not think that kind of acceptance and freedom was always available.  The Imitation Game gives us history.

This is the kind of film that should have been made in the 1980s when I first heard about the legend of this British codebreaker, Alan Turing.  It should've been a big screen, major studio biopic. But, back then, major studios did not green light projects about heroic gay male characters -- men who contributed to the welfare of society with the help of hetero co-workers and friends.  Benedict Cumberbatch is remarkable as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.  Absolutely remarkable.

In his performance, you come to understand why the quirky whiz distances himself from people.  He's complicated.  He's assertive.  He's infuriating.  He's tough without resorting to violence.  He's independent.  He's different.  He's vital.  And there's pain in his heart.  You hope he will overcome his heartache because his brain is desperately needed.  You want to see this group of outsiders truly become a unit.  The race to break Hitler's code is a daily race against the clock.  Hitler is pure evil loose in Europe, killing millions.  Britain is losing the war.  There may be a spy in Turing's group.

Keira Knightley plays another outsider.  Joan Clarke an outsider simply because of her sex in this male-dominated war effort.  Turing brings her into the group.  He's fascinated by her brain.  She humanizes the loner for the rest of his team.  She hooks into the loneliness of this long distance runner who's the team leader.

This gay man/straight woman friendship is of deeper stuff than those friendships we saw on TV shows such as Will & Grace and Sex and the City.  I've seen Knightley in other films and enjoyed her work.  However, there was something really vivid about her work in this.  Knightley shows an extra passion and fire I've not seen in her other work.  She's very good opposite Cumberbatch.

The thing about Turing in The Imitation Game is that he does care about people. He cares about the world around him.  He cares about Joan.  Yet, like in his boarding school boyhood, society has rudely put him in a confined space.  He could have done so much more for humanity if the legal treatment of him had not been so beastly.

My fabulous friend, Keith Price of Sirius OutQ morning radio, and I saw The Imitation Game together.  We loved it and talked about it for quite some time after the screening.  We talked about the uselessness of  bigotry and the detours prejudice places on the road to progress.  The bigotry of racism, sexism or homophobia.   In the film, Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing says:

"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

I plan on seeing The Imitation Game again.  Excellent film.  It deserves a Best Picture Oscar nomination.  I'd love to see Benedict Cumberbatch nominated for Best Actor.

Slip 'Em a Mickey Mouse

Has ABC forgotten that Disney's first major star was a black male who went on to quickly become an international favorite and the studio's icon?  Yes.  He was Mickey Mouse.

When he made his debut in the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie, a star was born.  Reportedly, the star was born on November 18, 1928 when he made that first appearance thanks to Walt Disney.                                      

Mickey Mouse was about as popular and beloved internationally as Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character.  Walt Disney put Mickey in more cartoons.  Mickey starred in Disney's full-length 1940 feature Fantasia.

The Mickey Mouse Club was a huge success on TV in the 1950s.

Today, the Disney-owned network seems to treat the veteran animated star like he's Tom of MySpace.  Do we see his image on Dancing With The Stars?  No.  Was anyone dressed as Mickey on the Good Morning America Halloween show?  No.  That show had dozens of little girls dressed as Elsa from Frozen.  With a blonde wig on her head, Robin Roberts was also dressed as Elsa from Frozen.  On Dancing With The Stars, women have danced as Elsa from Frozen.  

I saw Frozen and I enjoyed it very much.  But now, as a viewer, I'm kind of tired of the relentless Frozen-inspired storylines on ABC's Once Upon a Time.  It's like overkill product placement.  I wish that show would give our minority girl viewers some strong storylines with Mulan or Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, Disney's first African-American princess.  Maybe the show did add them already.  I don't get to watch Once Upon a Time every week.

Disney's first superstar was a black male.  He was famous all over the world.  But today it's all about a skinny Frozen blonde with big blue eyes.

The Wonderful World of Disney was must-see TV when we baby boomers were kids.  Mickey was a regular guest.  At Saturday movie matinees,  theaters would be filled with enthusiastic, gleeful cheers from kids when this image popped onto the screen in a cartoon before the movie:

I'd love to see a new Mickey Mouse cartoon from Disney or see him make a comeback in ABC promo commercials.  He put Disney on the map.  It would be nice if the company showed him some love beyond a brief appearance during a network holiday parade telecast.  But that's just me.

Katherine Heigl Returns to TV

Katherine Heigl has acting talent.  We saw her dramatic skills and TV charisma in the prime time hit show, Grey's Anatomy.   This hospital series made Heigl very popular.

During her run on that series, she made millions of us laugh in her big screen comedy, Knocked Up. She was the deer in the Los Angles forest of singles who falls for a lazy, lovable slacker bear played by Seth Rogen.  This was an entertaining, typically overlong Judd Apatow comedy that did quite well at the box office.

I don't read gossip columns and/or columnists, so I don't know what happened.  But the actress left Grey's Anatomy and then focused on films.  She was in a string of movies that were absolute chores to sit through for reviewing purposes -- dud romantic comedies like 27 Dresses and Life As We Know It.  There were probably fighters pilots in World War II who didn't drop as many bombs as she did after 2007's Knocked Up.

Katherine Heigl returns to television in a new dramatic political series on NBC.  I saw the premiere episode.  State of Affairs reminds us that she is a strong, intelligent actress.

I liked it.  In the first episode, we are brought into today's incendiary political times.  Terrorism.  Beheadings.  The Middle East.  Her character, a top person in the CIA, has lost a loved one to terrorism.  The loss took its toll on her emotional state.  She sought therapy to get herself back in line.  She's now a steely White House insider and reports directly to the President.  Madame President.

In these dark days of terrorism, will these two powerful women want blood and seek revenge?  They have a strong, common bond.  These are different female characters for prime time.  Different from the female prime time characters I grew up watching.

One of the things I greatly appreciated about this episode was that Agent Tucker (Heigl) had a team of whip-smart staffers of various ages.  This made sense and looked realistic.  On HBO's The Newsroom, Jeff Daniels' veteran anchor character had a staff that mostly looked like university seniors majoring in journalism.  No one looked experienced enough to have news contacts to call as sources or to know obscure facts that could not immediately be Googled.  No one looked old enough to have kids in high school or college.  That was wrong -- and I've worked on TV news programs in New York City.  I've been in TV newsrooms. There's more diversity in this first episode of State of Afffairs than there was in some popular NBC prime time shows of the 1990s.

The episode had energy, intelligence, surprise, good writing and good acting to match.  It was wonderful to see the always-impressive Alfre Woodard as the President of the U.S.

Back in 1985, NBC premiered a sitcom called Sara starring a new actress named Geena Davis.  Sara was highly promoted but, unfortunately, lasted only one season.  Geena Davis's co-star was Alfre Woodard.  Yes, that's Bill Maher above Geena in the black and white publicity photo.  Both actresses have Oscar nominations in their credits.  Davis won Best Supporting Actress for The Accidental Tourist  (1988).  Woodard had a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Cross Creek  (1983).

Geena Davis played America's first female President of the United States on ABC in the under-appreciated 2005 prime time dramatic series, Commander in Chief.

Now Alfred Woodard is President Payton on NBC's State of Affairs.

This new series and this new role seem to be a fine fit for Katherine Heigl.  It's a relief and a pleasure to have seen her in a new production and be able to say, "That was really good."  It's been a long time.  Welcome back to TV, Katherine Heigl.  State of Affairs premieres Monday night, November 17th.