Greatest Song Evah 10/13/23
Roll Me Away
I have never ridden a motorcycle. The closest I’ve ever come is a few brief spins on a moped. I freely admit that the fear of wiping out and suffering a devastating injury keeps me far away from hopping on a two-wheeler. But I completely understand the appeal of riding on the open road. I can’t think of a song that articulates that romance better than this Bob Seger track.
It has it all - sheer love of the beauty of the outdoors, a potential romantic partner who is drawn back to the safety of home, a drop it all and go wherever the road takes me feeling. The production and Seger’s yearning vocals tie everything together perfectly. Bob Seger has several songs that have firm places in the classic rock pantheon, but IMHO this is his finest moment by a mile.
It’s also a prime example of how usage in a film can recontextualize a song. This track is prominently featured in the film Mask, which is about a teenage boy living with elephantiasis. In real life, the youth upon whom the film was based was a huge Springsteen fan, and his music helped him cope with the obstacles he faced. The filmmakers were unable to afford the rights to Springsteen’s music, so they used Seger as a substitute. I don’t know how differently the movie would have felt with Springsteen’s music, but Roll Me Away felt so powerful as a closing song; it felt especially appropriate as bikers served as a surrogate family for the main character.
This song came out just as Seger’s commercial peak was nearing its end. He would have a couple of minor hits from his next album, and would also surprisingly have his only #1 Hot 100 hit with a song from the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack, but otherwise he and pop radio were consciously uncoupling from each other. Notably, this was released in the early days of MTV, and from the few videos that Seger made it was clear that he was painfully uncomfortable performing in front of a camera. Seriously, in addition to his hesitancy to appear in videos, I can’t remember many instances in which he even showed up on the late night shows. It’s certainly possible that he was reaching the end of his commercial prime regardless of the MTV factor, but it’s also true that the video revolution was pushing aside his generation of mainstream rockers unless they could adjust to the culture. Kind of like the way ZZ Top did. Seger remained a reliable concert draw for decades, so I doubt he has any regrets.
A (Broadcasting) Star Is Born
I don’t want to sound like a broken record when it comes to John Smoltz, but it’s still beyond my comprehension that the #1 analyst slot would go to someone who has such clear disdain for the product. Frankly, he’s exhausting to listen to. His prominence is more perplexing when you realize that there are dozens of qualified analysts who can break down the game just as well as he can, but seem to actually enjoy the sport.
Adam Wainwright is a perfect example. The recently retired pitcher worked the Astros-Twins series along with Adam Amin and A.J. Pierzynski, and he was an absolute delight to listen to. His knowledge of the game was as evident as his love for it. And his in-booth demonstration of the difference between a slider and a sweeper was informative. Best of all, even though he just left the playing field he didn’t rely too much on anecdotes. He understood that his job is to explain to the viewer what just happened and why; saying that so & so is a great guy can add context when used judiciously, but it’s not particularly keen analysis. The fact that he didn’t go to that well too frequently shows promise for his future.
Wainwright isn’t the only analyst we’ve seen in this postseason who is better than Smoltz. Without knowing contract statuses of any individuals and their availability if Fox wishes to snatch someone up, David Cone, Ron Darling, and Jeff Francoeur are all significantly better options. Besides, Smoltz always sounds like he’d rather be on the golf course anyway.
TV Of The 21st Century - Reno 911!
I’ve mentioned in the past that Saturday Night Live has been the single most prolific incubator of comedy talent in the near half century since its inception. But it hasn’t been the only one; there have been many comedy stars with no connection to the Lorne Michaels empire and emerged from somewhere else. One such source has been The State. Who could have conceived that a batch of friends forming a comedy troupe at NYU would go on to produce such a plethora of major players, both in front of and behind the camera?
Reno 911! would prove to be one of their greatest productions. Created by and starring Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Robert Ben Garant, it tells the story of the deputies in Reno’s Sheriff’s Department. Filmed documentary style, it parodies the long running Cops series, and introduces us to an array of characters who are incredibly stupid, incredibly incompetent, incredibly racist, or some combo of the above.
The show aspired to nothing more than to make the audience laugh. No serialized storytelling to be found here, and no big deal if a plot can’t fill up the full half hour. If need be, they could easily find a few quick gags to fill out the rest of the episode. In addition to the creators, the show presented early breakout roles for the likes of Niecy Nash and Wendi McLendon-Covey, among others. You could always count on some great guest starring roles from some of the names in their collective comedy Rolodexes. In addition to appearances from most of their fellow members of The State (and Joe Lo Truglio would eventually climb aboard as a series regular himself) everyone from Patton Oswalt to Keenan Michael Key to Nick Kroll to Paul Rudd would show up.
Of the main cast, two characters stood out above the others. Kenney-Silver’s Trudy Weigel was one of the most wonderfully pathetic characters. Every time she would attempt to go on an undercover assignment was pure comedy gold. And everyone remembers Lennon’s Lt. Dangle, or at the very least the nuthugger shorts he wore that made everyone worry he was sterilizing himself for the sake of comedy.
It’s returned multiple times following its initial run. The feature film was ill conceived. The concept of the show was perfect in small bites; it just didn’t work as well stretched out to 90 minutes. Which is why in theory its revival for Quibi was a solid idea, if not for the fact that Quibi itself was so poorly thought out. The Quibi run was eventually re-edited into half hour episodes which ran on Comedy Central. Like most reboots it wasn’t quite the same, but it was still comforting to see the actors still so comfortable in those roles. It wasn’t high art, but it wasn’t meant to be. It was simply conceived as a pure joke machine, and it sure succeeded on that level.
Originally aired on: Comedy Central
Currently streaming on: Paramount Plus
SNL Preview
After a lengthier than normal hiatus, Saturday Night Live returns tomorrow night with its 49th season premiere. Because the WGA strike brought last season to a premature close, any of the veteran cast members who might have been planning exit strategies would have had to depart without a proper goodbye. There’s always a chance that someone may choose to leave midseason, but for now the entire cast from last season is back.
Pete Davidson is the initial host. Knowing his at times tumultuous tenure as a cast member, it’s somewhat surprising that he is the first from his era to return as host. He was on the show recently enough that many of the writers from his time are still with the show, so don’t be surprised to see some of his old bits resurrected.
Speaking of old bits, it was very noticeable that last season contained much fewer recurring sketches than we have been used to. Let’s see if that was a one year anomaly, or if this is a trend that will continue. One thing we can count on is that the cold open will as usual focus on current events. How much do you want to bet that the speaker chaos will be the premise? Who will portray Steve Scalise & who will be Jim Jordan? I can imagine Heidi Gardner spending the summer working on a Lauren Boebert impersonation.
2023 Honor Roll
Only slightly (slightly) less prestigious than the BBWAA awards, but it’s time to start handing out my hypothetical hardware. Let’s begin with my all-star selections. Look at this as a batch of consolation prizes for the players on teams that were eliminated from the playoffs earlier than expected.
National League
1B - Matt Olson
2B - Ozzie Albies
SS - Francisco Lindor
3B - Austin Riley
C - William Contreras
OF - Ronald Acuna Jr.
OF - Mookie Betts
OF - Juan Soto
DH - Marcell Ozuna
SP - Blake Snell
RP - Devin Williams
American League
1B - Yandy Diaz
2B - Marcus Semien
SS - Corey Seager
3B - Gunnar Henderson
C - Adley Rutschman
OF - Luis Robert Jr.
OF - Julio Rodriguez
OF - Kyle Tucker
DH - Shohei Ohtani
SP - Gerrit Cole
RP - Felix Bautista
Odds & Ends
The way the results from the sports world have been going, this newsletter is likely to become increasingly emo. What have I done to so annoy the sports gods? The first 2 games of the WNBA Finals could not possibly have gone any worse. It’s not just that the Aces have taken the first two games over the Liberty, it’s also that both games have been absolute thumpings. I’ve had to count to make sure that Las Vegas only had 5 players on the floor, as it sure looked like they were playing 6 on 5. They so swarmed the Liberty that it was impossible for New York to get an open look, and the Aces themselves had constant clear shots at the basket. Is it too easy of a pun to say that the Aces are owning the Libs?
And then there’s the MLB playoffs. Those of you who clipped and saved my list from last week know that I anointed the Orioles as the team I’m rooting for this postseason. You may have also noticed that the Orioles have been eliminated. Nothing to see here, please move along.
Finally, Steve Garvey is going to run for the open Senate seat in California as a Republican. I know that the immediate reaction is to dismiss his chances. California is a deep blue state, and on top of that interest and voter turnout should be high in a Presidential election year. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee he would even make it to the general election. Remember, California is a free for all primary state. The top two vote getters in the primary make it to the final ballot, regardless of party affiliation. But hear me out. If all of Garvey’s illegitimate kids vote for him…
It’s 10PM - Do You Know Who Your House Speaker Is?
Everyone has already made the “in the future every GOP house member will be speaker for 15 minutes” joke, haven’t they? Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend, friends. See ya next week.