Tag Archives: All in the Family

12.21.25
by

Best of the Week

A 2025 wrap-up next week. 

Well, more of a good riddance to a year that the most optimistic part of most of us would categorize as…challenging.  

Because you never want to tempt fate by saying any year was the worst.

Dumpster Fire GIFs | Tenor
Too much?

But as the Chair finishes his grading – and that’s what this year has done, caused me to more often than not speak about myself in the third person – here are three memorable moments to get you through the fourth week in December.

#1 – THE OUTPOURING OF LOVE FOR ROB REINER

Rob Reiner: A Gifted Artist Who Knew Why People Need Stories
Our beloved Meathead

A very smart person told me years ago that when someone you love and/or admire is no longer around you want to think about the way they lived rather than the way they died.

Perhaps you’ve heard that too.  Or read it.  It’s hardly an original thought.  But one that I constantly have to remind myself of when a death that really gets to me happens.

And what really got me after the initial shock over the gruesomely awful murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle Reiner, was the outpouring of love and kindness not only worldwide, but most particularly in Hollywood, aka The Industry.

Rob Reiner's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is adorned with flowers as grieving fans pay tribute to the iconic director.
Gone but never forgotten

Aside from the countless remembrances from his famous friends and not so famous fans, I’ve heard stories and heard ABOUT stories from many dozens of people RR gave a start to, was kind to, talked to or took time out to simply notice when nobody else was paying attention.

Everyone without exception thought of him as smart, funny, generous and, as my tribe likes to say, a mensch. 

A fitting tribute from his Sally

Not many so accomplished in these parts do you hear that about.

Yeah, he was “Meathead” in All in the Family.

And of course, he directed a string of memorable and varied hit films, the likes of which few can claim – This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, A Few Good Men and The American President -nearly eight in a row over 11 years (1984-1995).

Undeniable talent

Not to mention Castle Rock Entertainment, the production company he founded that gave us screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s first movies and Larry David’s first TV series (Note: Um, Seinfeld).

But as memorable as it all was and is, it’s his political activism this gay man of a certain age will remember. RR and his wife stepped up for lots of causes but in particular he lead the fight to legalize gay marriage, both financially and vocally – first to stop California’s proposed 2008 ban on same sex marriage (Prop 8), and later by funding the legal fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

How Rob Reiner's Activism Advanced the Fight to Legalize Gay Marriage and Tax the Rich
Thank you Rob

It’s easy to step up when everyone else is, or when it directly affects your well-being.  It’s more difficult, and rare, to put yourself on the front line and lead a fight with your time, money and celebrity simply because you know it’s the right thing to do.

#2 – EPISODE FIVE OF THE VIRAL QUEER ROMANCE HBO MAX TV SERIES – HEATED RIVALRY.

Heated Rivalry' S1 E5 recap: confessions and major kiss
This is TV

It was the gay kiss scene seen round the world and embraced by millions of gays AND straights.  But if you would’ve told teenage Chair that one day he would turn on his television set and see two hot gay guys making out to cheers in front of a crowd of millions in the middle of a hockey rink just after one of them won the fictional equivalent of the Stanley Cup he would have….

Happy Shock GIFs | Tenor
Well…

Let’s just say it would’ve saved him a decade of woes, not to mention therapy.

But rest assured for decades to come the kiss will be featured in gay bars and pride parades everywhere for its uncomplicated message of love and acceptance.

When I was pressured into watching Heated Rivalry some weeks ago (Note: Okay, I don’t know everything) I figured that at best it was like the USA Network and Cinemax mated to birth a gay television series for Canada for a very select and mostly horny crowd.

watmay1 Anyone remember that episode of Seinfeld where there was a gay guy and everyone just kept staring into the camera and saying "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
that’s what I’m saying!

Yikes, was I wrong.  (Note: Well, partly wrong).  And the six episode season one that prompted it to  receive a larger, multi-episode season two order is proof.

Yeah, it’s hot and romantic.  But it’s also loving and nuanced with two of the most original young female LGBTQ allies TV has ever seen fit to give us.

#3 – TWO SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FROM THE RESISTANCE TO A TONE-DEAF, BUS & TRUCK TOTALITARIAN ADMINISTRATION.

I will let the posts/tweets speak for themselves. 

The first is from Kerry Kennedy – lawyer, author, human rights advocate and niece of the late Pres. John F. Kennedy.  Along with the rest of us, she was infuriated when the current, ahem, POTUS, this week decided to literally rig the voting system of the Kennedy Center Board and slather his name ABOVE JFK’s, proclaiming the famed arts center The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

The second is from [an impersonation of] Cher from her fans (Note: aka, Fan Fiction).  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, known to reporters on the Hill as Bullsh-t Barbie, made the unwise decision to diss Cher publicly as an irrelevant relic of the past.

Let me just say this before I give diva and her posse the closing word.

I worked with Cher on a movie years ago. 

YOU. DO. NOT. COME. FOR. HER. 

At 72, Cher achieves major 2018 music milestone for a woman - ABC News
She’s always in her Queen Era

OR HER ADORING GAZILLIONS OF FANS WHO LOOOOOVE TO IMPERSONATE HER.

SHE (AND THEY). WILL. ALWAYS. WIN. 

Especially when they’re ALL right. Here’s a sampling of a fake, but oh so seemingly real, tweet written in Cher’s voice by her adoring brood (as if there is a difference).

RULE OF THUMB:  THE ONLY THING LEFT OF THE EARTH AFTER THE NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST WILL BE TWINKIES, TITANIUM AND AN AI VERSION OF CHER. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Cher – “DJ Play a Christmas Song”

12.09.18
by

Hostess with the Mostest

This year’s Oscars should be co-hosted by Wanda Sykes, Tiffany Haddish and Viola Davis. Wit, class, diversity and what the Motion Picture Academy most seems to be looking for – an expansion of its viewing audience.

That’s industry parlance for higher ratings

AKA MONEY #timetogetreal

I partly suggest this because I am so sick of men.  That’s quite a statement coming from a gay guy, but, trust me it’s true.  If I didn’t already have a husband I’d be taking a break.

After the Electoral College POTUS, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey and Les Moonves of it all we get…Kevin Hart as THE choice to host the annual TV show that gets the biggest ratings of the year?  Well, among the biggest ratings these days because that number has rapidly been decreasing, among so many numbers for network television.

I can’t

Still, this pick (rescinded two days later) says so much about the entertainment industry – in this case quite an apt stand-in for our immediate world – and its ability to perceive what’s going on in the zeitgeist.

That’s Chair parlance for reality.

Let’s be clear – I don’t want to get rid of all men, or shall I say, all straight men.  Some of my best friends are…

We know, Chairy.

I’m only advocating we, well… try to take a look around and through, inside and out, and up and over.

Kevin Hart.  If you want the full details of his tweets, have at it here.

But here’s a quick summary.  He’s admitted to being physically violent with his wife, even spent a night in jail for it.  There was also a sex tape of him cheating on her when she was eight months pregnant but let’s put that to the side because, well, who doesn’t cheat on their pregnant wife?

The Chair bringing the shade

Mr. Hart has joked more than once that if he caught his son playing with a doll house it would mean he was gay and he’d hit him over the head with it and say, stop it, that’s gay.  In fact, that’s gay or that’s so gay seems like it was his go-to twitter insult from, ok…2007-2011.  He even made an AIDS joke about Damien Wayans back then, saying his social media pic looked like a gay billboard for AIDS.

Explaining himself in a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, Mr. Hart said he wouldn’t do those jokes anymore because, the times, when I said it, weren’t as sensitive as they are now.

Yeah, we need to talk

See…this is the crux of the problem

For some people, the times only become sensitive when they get caught or called out for their… stuff.  Or as All in the Family’s Archie Bunker once eloquently stated nationwide on CBS –TV in the early 1970s:

She (Eleanor Roosevelt) was the one who discovered the coloreds in this country.  We never knew they was there!

When you talk crap so publicly so often and gain any sort of success or profile (Note: Or even if you are unknown and just say it too loud or to the wrong person) you get held accountable for your actions these days.

On the same token, when YOU are the one to bring up what someone said and challenge them on it it’s likely you will get called out in some corners for being the PC police. That pejorative is sort of like the alt-middle version of fake news but without the knee-jerk mass revulsion now finally beginning to be associated with Trumpism.

Yet, when we face the issue, we can see how one is the outgrowth of the other.

When someone tells you — Racism, sexism, homophobia – we just weren’t aware of this stuff pre 1960’s.  It was a different time – you can answer : Yeah, you did and well, sure it was.  What was different is that people didn’t make fun en masse about your minority group because you won the genetic lottery ticket of the moment that excluded you from marginalization.  (Note: Or you were in the majority).

So, big congrats on that.

To which they might answer:

But before we complain and lament about oversensitivity and political correctness – can’t we joke about anything, anymore??? 

“Everyone is just SO sensitive” says the white men who lament a “War on Christmas” #HappyHolidays

To which you reply:  Okay, but let’s look at what’s being asked for.  All that’s being asked for is – a look.

I got called out on social media this week by one woman who wrote that as a Jewish person she’s heard many celebrities go on anti-Semitic rants, including members of the LGBTQ community and that SHE never asked that they not work.

Oh lady, I haven’t had enough coffee to deal with you

Well, no one is saying Kevin Hart should never work.  I mean, I’m not hiring him but, hey… knock yourself out, he’s a movie star…ish.  He’s just not the right host for the Oscars.  Would you want Mel Gibson hosting the Oscars, lady???

Not to mention, you HAVE to know I’m Jewish.  Who else but a Jewish gay man from New York with the insatiable need to always have the last word would ever take the time to answer you back so incessantly, Ms. Laurie Freedman Fannin?!

Oh yes, that is her real name.  Look her up on Facebook.  Especially if you agree with me.  Please.

LOL, you shady Chair, you!!

The real point is, any of the above-mentioned information about Mr. Hart, et. al was available to the Academy through a quick Google search weeks, months and years before they made that choice.  You can be edgy, more than edgy, and still proceed with due diligence and basic consideration.

This is how we get to Wanda Sykes, Tiffany Haddish and Viola Davis.

Here for this!

All women in the #MeToo era.

All people of color in a year when Black Panther and BlackkKlansman seem like sure bet nominees (and perhaps winners in multiple categories).

Wanda Sykes – One of the best standups in the country who happens to be an out lesbian, thus satisfying the mantra of trying to get a comedian host and knowing there are also multiple LGBTQ themed films that will receive nominations.

I’m on my way!

Viola Davis – A past Oscar WINNER (Fences) and multi-nominee (The Help, Doubt) who has had a hit show, How to Get Away With Murder, on ABC (the network that also broadcasts the Oscars) for the past five years.

You know Annalise would slay #nobrainer

Tiffany Haddish – A younger comic actress who WON the prestigious New York Film Critics award last year for a breakout performance (Girl’s Trip) and now STARS in her own movies. In fact, her latest is the current box-office hit, Night School, where she gets to beat the crap out of Kevin Hart!

Heck knows, I’m not that smart.  I just put in a tiny bit of thought on the matter and used The Google.

You’d think the Academy would do the same.  Or would you?

Aretha Franklin – “Respect”