Today is Olivia Newton John’s birthday. My first major musical idol, Newton-John is a singer, songwriter, actor, breast cancer survivor (three times!) and activist. I was young when Grease came out but I absolutely remember seeing it in the theater; I remember what I wore that day, and the movie they previewed before the show (The Swarm, for the record). Why do I remember that day so vividly? Because that was the day I fell in love with Olivia Newton-John. All of America fell in love with her too; Grease was a box office behemoth. Newton-John was the #1 pop star in the early 80s, thanks to Physical. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to see Olivia in concert, and it was a blast. Her voice couldn’t quite hit those “Xanadu” high notes anymore – but she was still rocking those black leather pants.
Sandy in her black leather outfit was the sexiest woman I’d seen in my (admittedly young) life.
Physical went 2x platinum, and its title track sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-tying ten weeks.
Newton-John in more recent years.
Netflix released the third teaser for Stranger Things 4 yesterday, and it is a doozy. We still don’t have a release date, but the fourth trailer (due November 6th) should answer that question.
The Brady Bunch premiered on this date in 1969. The series aired for five seasons on ABC, and infinity in syndication. My college bestie/sometime roommate Shari (who also premiered on this date in 1969 – happy birthday, Shari!) would catch the 4:05 and 4:35 airings on TBS and make a game out of who could guess which episode it was the fastest.
Dirty Harry (along with its first two sequels, The Enforcer and Magnum Force) is now available to stream on HBO Max. I’d never seen Dirty Harry, so hubby and I watched it last night. Its casual racism and male-gaze voyeurism are hugely problematic, but it is entertaining as hell. Eastwood is iconic, Andrew Robinson is delightfully unhinged as the Zodiac-inspired “Scorpio” killer and Lalo Schifrin’s score is killer.
Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s West Side Story opened at the Winter Garden Theater on this date in 1957. The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical (it lost to The Music Man) and was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie.
And last but not least, The Beatles’ Abbey Road (the final album they recorded together, it was released prior to Let It Be) was released on this day in 1969. The album, my personal favorite by the band, contains my favorite Beatles song, George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun”.
Yesterday was the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Nevermind, the landmark Nirvana album that ushered in the grunge era.
September 24, 1991 is often named as the best new release day ever (this was when we still went to physical stores to purchase music). Besides Nevermind, notable releases from that day include Red Hot Chili Peppers’ BloodSugar Sex Magik, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, the Pixies’ Trompe le Monde, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger and Van Morrison’s Hymns to the Silence. While researching this piece, I found this delightful article written by Justin Sayles of The Ringer. Sayles and his team used a scientific method to determine the actual best new release date of all time (spoiler alert: it’s September 24, 1991).
On this day in 2018, Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for sexual assault; his conviction was overturned earlier this year when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that Cosby’s 5th and 14th Amendment Rights had been violated. And Cosby’s 60+ (alleged) victims still wait for justice.
On July 27, 2015, thirty-five of Cosby’s accusers told their stories to New York magazine.
Shel Silverstein was born on this day in 1930. A favorite of mine from an early age, Silverstein was a poet, cartoonist, songwriter and playwright. Perhaps best known for his children’s books such as The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends, Silverstein was also a Grammy-winning writer of songs like “A Boy Named Sue”, made famous by Johnny Cash, and “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone'”, first recorded by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. He was also a leading cartoonist at Playboy beginning in 1957; over twenty-three installments, the magazine sent him to various locations around the world for a feature titled “Shel Silverstein Visits…” Silverstein died from a heart attack on May 10, 1999.
Happy 70th birthday, Mark Hamill! Best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series, Hamill has appeared in more than ninety films and television series and done extensive voice work, including the role of The Joker in several DC Comics properties. Hamill (@HamillHimself) is a god damn delight to follow on Twitter, if you don’t already.
With Annie Potts in Corvette Summer
On this day in 1954, Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer were married on the shores of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
The Beatles, a Saturday morning television series featuring animated versions of the Fab Four, debuted on ABC on this date in 1965.
On this day in 1976, Paul Hewson, David Evans (along with his brother Dik) and Adam Clayton responded to an advertisement placed on a school bulletin board by Larry Mullen Jr. Mullen was looking to start a band, and Feedback was born. By 1978, Dik Evans had left the band, and the remaining foursome christened themselves U2. In 1980, when the lads were still teenagers, they recorded their debut album for Island Records, Boy. Over their forty year career, U2 has sold an estimated 150 million albums and won twenty-two Grammy Awards, more than any other band in history. In 2005, U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.
From left, Clayton, Mullen, Hewson (better known as Bono) and David Evans AKA “The Edge”
Survivor season 41 premieres tonight, and you better believe I’ll be watching (I’ve never missed an episode). Survivor took last year off due to the pandemic and they’ve made a few pandemic-related changes to the format, such as shortening the filming time from 39 days to 26 to accomodate a 14-day quarantine agreement the show made with the Fijian government.
Almost Famous was released on this day in 2000. Featuring a lovely cast, an Oscar-winning (and semi-autobiographical) screenplay and a killer soundtrack, Almost Famous is Cameron Crowe’s love letter to music – and to the people who love the music. You can stream Almost Famous on Amazon Prime.
Lost premiered on this day in 2004. By turns intriguing and infuriating, Lost is one of my favorite series – but I fully acknowledge its flaws. What a pilot episode, though! J.J. Abrams gave the project a cinematic feel, opening on an eye that we’ll soon learn belongs to our hero, Jack Shephard. Fun fact: Jack was initially going to die halfway through the pilot – and be played by Michael Keaton. When the producers came to the ridiculously obvious conclusion that Jack was the leader of this ragtag group of survivors, Keaton dropped out and the role went to Matthew Fox. You can stream Lost on Hulu.
Friends premiered on this day in 1994. The pilot, which features Monica sleeping with Paul the wine guy on their first date, was controversial; NBC, concerned that viewers would see Monica as a slut, asked for some edits. Test audiences responded with a wholehearted shrug, and NBC let the issue go. Nearly twenty-two million people tuned in to Friends that night, and the series lasted ten seasons.
Hubby had never seen The Insider, so we watched it last night. It’s held up well, and Russell Crowe’s performance still blows me away. Crowe should have won the Oscar for this, but Kevin Spacey – who has not held up well – beat him; Crowe took the Best Actor prize the following year for Gladiator. If you’ve never seen this flick, you can check it out on Amazon Prime, but hurry because it leaves on the 30th.
On September 19, 1985, hearings were held before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee regarding inappropriate content in popular music. The hearing was requested by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), headed by wives of the Washington elite including Tipper Gore (wife of then-Senator and future-VP Al) and Susan Baker (wife of Treasury Secretary James).
Tipper Gore and Susan Baker
The PMRC, funded by Beach Boy Mike Love and Joseph Coors, was seeking to create a rating system similar to that used for motion pictures. As the “Washington Wives” saw it, objectionable content could be broken down into four main categories: sex, violence, drug & alcohol use and the occult. The PMRC wanted the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to voluntarily implement a labelling system so parents would know whether the album contained offensive material.
In preparation for the hearing, the PMRC compiled a list of songs they referred to as the “Filthy Fifteen”. Comprised of six pop or R&B singles and nine heavy metals tunes, the list had at least one example of each of the four categories. References to genitals and female masturbation particularly riled these ladies up, as did glam metal odes to teenage rebellion and allusions to witchcraft and the devil.
The “Filthy Fifteen”:
“Darling Nikki” – Prince
“Sugar Walls” – Sheena Easton
“Eat Me Alive” – Judas Priest
“Strap On ‘Robbie Baby'” – Vanity
“Bastard” – Mötley Crüe
“Let Me Put My Love into You” – AC/DC
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Twisted Sister
“Dress You Up” – Madonna
“Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” – W.A.S.P.
“High ‘n’ Dry (Saturday Night)” – Def Leppard
“Into the Coven” – Mercyful Fate
“Trashed” – Black Sabbath
“In My House” – Mary Jane Girls
“Possessed” – Venom
“She Bop” – Cyndi Lauper
At the hearing, Senator Paula Hawkins (R-FL) held up the covers of albums like Def Leppard’s Pyromania and W.A.S.P.’s self-titled debut as evidence of the depravity of popular music. She also presented the videos for Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” and Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (also a member of the “Filthy Fifteen”). “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was targeted specifically because it “glorified violence”, but it’s comically violent, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon; the comic effect is heightened by the presence of actor Mark Metcalf, imitating his Animal House character Doug Neidermeyer.
Senator Paula Hawkins
W.A.S.P.
Appearing as opposing witnesses that day were Frank Zappa, John Denver and Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who told the committee that “The full responsibility for defending my children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us.”
In the end, the hearing was just a formality; the RIAA agreed to put a generic “Parental Advisory” sticker on records with explicit content. In 1990, the first album to receive a sticker was 2 Live Crew’s Banned in the USA (gangsta rap was in its infancy in 1985, but I would have loved to see Tipper Gore try to face off against Ice-T).
The sticker was a big deal in those early years; at that time, the nation’s biggest record retailer – BY FAR – was Walmart, which refused to sell any album carrying a sticker. Record companies, much to the chagrin of artists, began releasing “clean” versions of albums to be sold at Walmart. Many artists used their lyrics to protest the use of the sticker. An entire album, Just Say Anything (the fifth in Sire Records’ Just Say Yes series), was dedicated to free speech in pop music; as you may have guessed, the album was adorned with a “Parental Advisory” sticker.
As part of its “Earworm” video series, which I HIGHLY recommend, Vox put together this excellent clip explaining the link between “Satanic Panic” and the PMRC.
It was the most beautiful mid-September day you could hope for – no matter where you lived. A high pressure system covered a large swath of the Northeast, meaning warm, sunny weather prevailed. The sky was blue and bright, with just a few puffy clouds. I was in an especially good mood, because my best friend and I were to head out the following morning for a five day weekend with friends in D.C.-area Maryland. When I think of September 11, 2001, I think of the weather that day; it was such a jarring contrast to the horror unfolding on our television screens.
I was at work that morning, intent on getting as much done as I could before I left for my mini-vacation. Someone came around to my office and asked me if I’d heard about the plane accidentally crashing into the World Trade Center. I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong; this was no accident. When word came that a second plane had hit the other tower, my worst fears were confirmed: the United States was under attack. The work day came to a screeching halt; groups of people gathered around televisions, radios and computers, and the shocking, sickening news kept pouring in.
By early afternoon, I was on my way back to my apartment on nearly deserted streets; I’d never seen such desolation in the densely populated area (metropolitan Detroit) where I lived and worked. Calls were made to loved ones; my family’s safety was confirmed. I distinctly remember talking to my oldest sister while my television aired footage of the towers collapsing, and I just fell apart.
When that awful day was over, thousands of Americans (and almost 400 non-U.S. citizens) were confirmed or feared dead. In the years since, many more have died due to exposure to the toxic dust at Ground Zero. All told, at least 4,000 people have lost their lives because of the terrorist attacks; hundreds of thousands more died in the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11. That beautiful Tuesday morning feels like yesterday, but also like several lifetimes ago. Our nation, in the grip of a pandemic that has killed about 640,000 Americans, is still grappling with the psychic trauma of that day. I’m certainly not healed, and probably never will be; just researching and writing this piece has left me feeling anxious and overwhelmed (I’d intended to publish this yesterday, but needed to step away from it for some self-care).
The ways in which 9/11 impacted pop culture were numerous: awards shows and television premieres were postponed; shots of the World Trade Center were excised from films and television episodes; music lyrics and song titles were altered; entire films were scrapped. Depictions of the events of that day in media range from movies and television to classical music, literature and theater. Here are just a few of the ways pop culture was affected by 9/11, and a couple of cultural references to the attacks.
Among those on board American Airlines Flight 11, which departed Boston for Los Angeles and crashed into the WTC North Tower, were television producer David Angell (co-creator of Wings and Frasier) and actress & photographer (and widow of actor Anthony Perkins) Berry Berenson. Frasier was in the midst of its eleven season run in 2001, and Angell’s death was deeply felt by the cast and crew; Angell’s wife Lynn also perished in the crash. When Frasier wrapped up in 2004, Niles and Daphne’s son was named David in Angell’s honor. Berenson, briefly a model in the 1960s, later turned to the other side of the camera; her photographs were published in magazines such as Life, Glamour, Vogue and Newsweek. Berenson also studied acting, and appeared in a handful of motion pictures. She married Anthony Perkins in 1973; they raised two children together and remained married until his death in 1992. Berenson was returning home to Los Angeles that morning from a Cape Cod holiday.
David Angell
Berry Berenson
Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers, HBO’s exquisite World War II miniseries, premiered on Sunday, September 9, drawing ten million viewers. After the events of 9/11, HBO ceased its marketing campaign, and the ratings for subsequent episodes plummeted. But the series garnered significant critical praise and was nominated for twenty Emmys, winning seven awards (it also won a Golden Globe, a Peabody, an AFI award and the Producers Guild of America award). In addition, the release of Band of Brothers on home media (VHS and DVD in 2002, Blu-ray in 2008) has been one of the most successful ever, earning more than $250 million total. Despite the unfortunate timing of its release, Band of Brothers is one of the most-loved miniseries of all time.
United 93
A harrowing recreation of United Airlines Flight 93, which departed Newark bound for San Francisco and ended up crashing into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; United 93 was the only hijacked flight not to reach its intended target (most likely either the White House or the Capitol). The reason? The men and women on board, realizing their fate, attempted to wrest control of the plane from the hijackers. While it’s not clear how close the passengers got to overtaking the cockpit, the hijackers knew their plan was foiled and deliberately crashed the plane at 10:06 am, about eighteen minutes before it would have reached Washington, D.C. The film, expertly directed by Paul Greengrass, unfolds in real time; the tension is almost unbearable. United 93 is tough to watch; I personally couldn’t bring myself to watch it until several years after its 2006 release. But it honors the victims of the crash beautifully (it was made with the cooperation of their families).
You can stream United 93 on Showtime and Peacock.
The Submission by Amy Waldman
This expertly written novel, the debut from New York Times journalist Amy Waldman, tackles the politics of the post-9/11 era head-on: the plot revolves around plans for a Ground Zero memorial, and what transpires after a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design it. The Submission was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award (it lost to Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies), and deservedly so; it’s a hell of a read.
25th Hour
While Spike Lee’s 25th Hour (adapted by Game of Thrones co-creator David Benioff from his 2001 novel) isn’t overtly about the events of 9/11, it was filmed in a post-9/11 New York City and the specter of the attacks looms over every frame. Ground Zero provides the backdrop to a pivotal scene, but moreover, Lee captures the essence of 2002 NYC: wounded, raw, grieving, but surviving. Rolling Stone just called 25th Hour “the only 9/11 movie that still matters”.
Breakfast in America predicts 9/11
A conspiracy theory that gained some traction several years ago involved the 1979 Supertramp album Breakfast in America and the events of 9/11. The theory? That the cover of the album predicted the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. According to the theory, Supertramp financier Stanley August Miesegaes was a Freemason who used the Breakfast in America cover art to provide details about a future terrorist attack on Manhattan. The evidence is flimsy and utterly circumstantial, as is typical for conspiracy theories: the glass of orange juice on the waitress’s tray represents the fire that enveloped the WTC; the U and the P in Supertramp, when viewed in a mirror, form a 9 and an 11; the name “Supertramp” is synonymous with “Great Whore”, as in the apocalyptic Babylon in the Book of Revelation; the inner sleeve depicts an airplane flying above the Twin Towers. It’s never clear what Miesegaes would have gained with his subliminal messaging, of course, but if proof could be provided, it wouldn’t be a theory anymore.
Album releases on 9/11/01
In the world of music, Tuesday is new release day, and that particular Tuesday was a doozy: among the releases on 9/11/01 were Jay-Z’s The Blueprint, Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft and a particular favorite of mine, Ben Folds’ Rockin’ the Suburbs. After seeing some commercial success with his band Ben Folds Five, Folds was embarking on a solo career, and what a debut it was. Forty-eight minutes of pure power pop perfection, Rockin’ the Suburbs could – and should – have been huge. Supposedly, Folds was in the midst of a radio interview when the attacks began; all album promotion ceased at that point and Rockin‘ the Suburbs never got the traction it deserved, peaking at #42 on the Billboard 200 chart. If you’re not familiar with Folds, do yourself a favor and give the album a listen.
Friends
The season eight premiere of Friends, like a lot of series, was delayed. But the biggest impact on Friends came in the third episode of the season, “The One Where Rachel Tells…”; a subplot of the episode, in which Monica and Chandler depart for their honeymoon, initially had Chandler joking about having a bomb in his luggage and the couple being detained by airport security. The creators wisely rewrote and reshot the scenes.
Happy 40th birthday, Beyoncé: singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist, fashion icon and all-around boss. Beyoncé has won more Grammy Awards (28) than any other singer in history and more MTV Video Music Awards (24) than any other artist. She was named Billboard Top Female Artist of the Decade. She won a Peabody Award for Lemonade. She is the highest-paid black musician in history. There is a horse fly species native to Queensland, Australia named for her. And she popularized the phrase “put a ring on it”. BOSS.
Dreamgirls
As Etta James in Cadillac Records
Posing with husband Jay-Z and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Equals Pi to kick off Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” campaign, Beyoncé became the first black woman to wear the Tiffany Yellow Diamond.
At the 2005 Oscars
At the 2011 VMAs, while pregnant with daughter Ivy Blue
At Coachella in 2018
Scaptia Beyonceae, named for the striking golden hairs on its abdomen
Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, was released on this day in 1936. Featuring some of the best dance numbers ever put to celluloid, as well as crackling chemistry between the two leads, Swing Time is considered one of the greatest movie musicals of all time. The film also introduced us to the iconic songs “Pick Yourself Up” and “The Way You Look Tonight”, the latter of which won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
The Price Is Right premiered on this day in 1972. It is America’s longest-running game show, airing over 9,000 episodes, and TV Guide named it the “greatest game show of all time” in 2007. The show’s fiftieth season will premiere on September 13.
The Hurt Locker made its debut at the 65th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2008. The film was released the following June to near universal acclaim and would go on to win six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow – the first woman to receive that honor.
Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Renner
Renner at the Venice Film Festival premiere
Kathryn Bigelow with her Best Director Oscar
Season 41 of Survivor will debut on September 22. CBS dropped a preview this week.
Speaking of fall television, this article has sneak peeks at some of the season’s new and returning series:
Happy 75th birthday to the man responsible for my sexual awakening at age eleven: Barry Gibb.
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb was born on September 1, 1946 in Douglas, Isle of Man. In 1958, the Gibb family – father Hugh (also a musician), mother Barbara, older sister Lesley, Barry, twins Robin and Maurice, and baby brother Andy – moved to Australia. The three older brothers, then a skiffle group called The Rattlesnakes, changed their name to Bee Gees (for Brothers Gibb) and began playing gigs in and around Sydney. The Bee Gees returned to the UK in 1967 to record their debut album, Bee Gees’ 1st.
The Bee Gees’ early music was purely pop with a hint of psychedelia, but in the mid-70s, the band went in a new direction: the burgeoning disco sound. Starting with the release of 1975’s Main Course (with its #1 smash hit “Jive Talkin'”), Bee Gees were on their way to becoming one of the most successful vocal groups of all time.
In 1977, Bee Gees were asked to provide songs for Saturday NightFever. The resulting soundtrack album, featuring five new Bee Gees songs as well as another Gibb composition, Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You”, sold forty million copies, spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at #1 and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It remains the second-most successful soundtrack album of all time, after 1992’s The Bodyguard.
Over the next two years, Bee Gees had a string of six consecutive #1 hits: “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever” from Saturday Night Fever; “Too Much Heaven”, the band’s contribution to the “Music for UNICEF” fund; and “Tragedy” and “Love You Inside Out” from 1979’s Spirits Having Flown. As a songwriter, Barry Gibb is responsible for sixteen #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits; he is the second most-successful songwriter of all time, behind only Paul McCartney.
One of the most popular songs of 1983, “Islands in the Stream” was composed by the Brothers Gibb
Along the way, Barry and his wife Linda had five children. His eldest, Steve, is a musician in his own right.
Barry is the sole surviving Brother Gibb: Andy died at just thirty from myocarditis, after a years-long battle with drug addiction; Maurice died in 2003 when a twisted intestine caused his heart to fail; and Robin passed away in 2012 from kidney failure.
Barry continues to write and record music. His latest album, Greenfields, is a collaboration with various country artists, including Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert, Jason Isbell and Alison Krauss.
Happy birthday, Barry! I created a fun little playlist in honor of the occasion.
Eddie Asner was born November 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant parents. He attended the University of Chicago, where he began appearing in campus productions like T.S. Eliot’s Murder in theCathedral. He did odd jobs and then served two years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where he performed in plays staged at various bases around Europe.
Following his military service, Asner devoted himself full-time to acting, making his way to New York City in the mid-50s. He made his television debut in 1957 in an episode of Studio One, his Broadway debut in 1960 in Face of a Hero (with Jack Lemmon!) and his film debut in 1962 in the Elvis Presley musical Kid Galahad.
Asner is best known for playing the irascible Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff, Lou Grant; Asner is the only performer to win Emmy Awards for the same role on both a drama series and a comedy. In fact, Asner is the most decorated male performer in Emmy history, with seven acting awards total (Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are tied for first place with eight apiece).
Asner in his signature role: “Lou Grant”
Asner and Betty White pose with their matching Emmys for The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Twenty-first century movie fans know Asner as the Santa to Will Ferrell’s Buddy in Elf and as the voice of the cantankerous Carl Fredricksen in the 2009 Pixar classic Up.
Elf
Up
Asner served two terms (1981-1985) as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and was instrumental in organizing the 1980 union strike that led SAG, AFTRA (for television and radio artists) and the American Federation of Musicians to successfully boycott that year’s Primetime Emmy Awards (fun fact: Powers Boothe, the only one of fifty-two nominated actors to attend the ceremony, said in his acceptance speech: “This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest”). Asner supported several left-wing causes, openly opposed US government intervention in Central America and was a member of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. When Lou Grant was cancelled suddenly in 1982, despite solid ratings, Asner believed it was due to his politics; CBS denied it, citing a ratings drop from the show’s first few seasons.
In 2012, already in his eighties, Asner led the opposition of a SAG-AFTRA merger, which he felt would destroy SAG’s health care plan. Asner and a group of other actors, including Martin Sheen and Ed Harris, filed a lawsuit against then-president of SAG Ken Howard; the lawsuit was eventually dropped, and the merger went through as planned.
On Sunday, August 29, 2021, Ed Asner died of natural causes in his Los Angeles home. He was 91 years old.
Netflix launched on this day in 1997 as an online DVD rental store. It became a streaming service in 2007, and began developing original content in 2013. House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black both premiered that year, and the binge-watch was born. In 2016, Netflix had its best year yet with the one-two punch of The Crown and Stranger Things (at the time, Netflix’s most-watched series). Over the years, Netflix has been nominated for 480 awards, and it’s won more than two hundred, including fifteen Oscars, twelve Golden Globes, eleven Screen Actors Guild awards and 120 Primetime Emmys. With 203 million subscribers, Netflix is the most-watched streaming service in the world.
The cast of Orange Is the New Black.
Robin Wright (House of Cards) became the first actor from a Netflix original to win an acting Emmy.
The cast of Stranger Things accepting their SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown; the show has been nominated for 53 Emmys.
In 2017, The White Helmets won Netflix its first Oscar, for Best Documentary Short Subject.
Ingrid Bergman died of breast cancer on her 67th birthday, August 29, 1982. A three-time Oscar winner, Bergman was one of the most iconic – and beautiful – women to ever grace the screen. Her affair with director Roberto Rossellini in 1950 made waves in Hollywood AND Washington D.C. (as well as Bergman’s native Sweden), but the two eventually married. Their union produced three children, including Isabella, who would become a model and actor herself.
Gaslight, which won Bergman her first Academy Award.
Anastasia, which earned Bergman her second Oscar.
Bergman accepting her third Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actress in Murder on the Orient Express.
Bergman as Ilsa in Casablanca, her most iconic role.
Bergman’s daughter Isabella Rossellini, still stunning at the age of 69.
Happy birthday, Elliott Gould!
Gould, Natalie Wood, Robert Culp and Dyan Cannon in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
Gould with Sally Kellerman and Donald Sutherland in M*A*S*H.
Courtney Cox with Gould on Friends.
As Reuben in Ocean’s Eleven.
The Gallagher brothers were unleashed on the world with the release of Oasis’ debut album, Definitely Maybe, on this day in 1994. An infectious blend of 60s-inspired psychedelia and 90s Britpop, Definitely Maybe was a worldwide smash. Oasis’ music – not to mention the Gallagher’s outsized personalities – would dominate the pop scene for the next couple of years; at one point, in a 1996 interview with MTV, Noel Gallagher said that Oasis was “bigger than the Beatles”.
Speedy Gonzales made his first appearance in Cat-Tails for Two, a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short released on this day in 1953.
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died this week at the age of 80. Watts, widely considered among the all-time best rock drummers, was also an accomplished jazz musician. Watts frequented London R&B clubs in the early 60s, where he met Brian Jones, Stu Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1962. He played his first gig as a permanent band member on February 2, 1963, at the Ealing Jazz Club; he remained a Rolling Stone until his death.
Epix dropped the first three episodes of Chapelwaite this week, and it’s…okay? Adrien Brody is brilliantly cast, and does his best with the material he’s given, but the script is uneven and a lot of the dialogue sounds too contemporary. The worm imagery is heavy-handed, to say the least. I was hoping for a slow-burn Gothic creepfest, but creators Jason and Peter Filardi went with a “let’s try to top the last gross-out” approach instead. Perhaps the biggest problem with the series is that a thirty-page, two-character story has been adapted into a ten-episode series, which means there’s a lot of padding. I’m going to continue watching for now, albeit less eagerly.
Spencer Elden, who posed as a baby for the cover of Nevermind, is suing the surviving members of Nirvana (and Kurt Cobain’s estate), the record company and photographer Kirk Weddle for “child sexual exploitation”, alleging that he was too young to give consent for the use of his naked image. At the time, his parents consented to his photo being taken, and were paid $200 (and Elden has recreated the photo, presumably for money as well, a number of times over the years).
On this day in 1964, Mary Poppins (a Peanut Butter and Julie favorite) premiered in Los Angeles.
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins
Andrews with Dick Van Dyke and Walt Disney at the film’s premiere
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) premiered at the Venice Film Festival on this day in 2014. One of the best films of the 21st century, Birdman was almost universally adored by critics and made over $100 million at the box office. It earned nine Academy Award nominations and won four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for Best Actor (Michael Keaton was robbed), Best Supporting Actor (Edward Norton), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Stone), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. From the gorgeous cinematography to the brilliant jazz drum score to the astonishing editing to the phenomenal performances, Birdman is an A+.
Cast and crew of Birdman at the 71st Venice International Film Festival
Swedish character actor Peter Stormare was born on this day in 1953.
Fargo
Minority Report
Happy birthday to actor and national treasure Aaron Paul, born on this day in 1979.
Before he was famous, Paul appeared on The Price is Right.
No Fences, Garth Brooks’ second album, was released on this day in 1990. It would become the best-selling country album of 1991 AND the second-best-selling album overall (only Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut sold more copies) AND the fourth-best-selling album of the decade. If you weren’t around in 1991, it’s impossible to overstate how inescapable this album and its singles (“Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls” among them) were. Brooks’ next album, 1991’s Ropin’ the Wind, became the first country album ever to enter the Billboard 200 at #1.
PB & Julie + Julie C. Trivia 