MacDonald's Cancer

Last week's news came out of nowhere and you wouldn't think this would have happened. We hear stories more of celebrities with cancer. This one stung with the passing of comedian Norm MacDonald at the age of 61. Tributes from many comedians, talk show hosts, it has been pouring in throughout the week. It brings up the story of keeping the cancer private and a glimpse of what he had been doing for a long time.

From stories on many websites, MacDonald started doing stand up in the 80s in his home nation of Canada. One of his major TV breakthroughs was working on Roseanne, something I had no idea he was involved in. He was part of the production as a writer and helped with stories. That was in 1992 and a year later, he was on Saturday Night Live. On NBC's sketch comedy show, he was part of the transition of the very few people to return and to be with a newer cast in 1995. His notoriety was being the Weekend Update anchor, which some speculate was why he was fired in early 1998. The reason supposedly was NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer being friends with O.J. Simpson and him getting tired of the jokes. Some say MacDonald was the best Weekend Update anchor ever.

MacDonald did try to do a show of his own and it only lasted a couple of years. Films where he was the main star failed and ones where he wasn't varied in success. There was still a lot of respect towards him and he was still a notable name to have. A staple on late night shows with Conan O'Brien, David Letterman. Voice over work on stuff like Fairly OddParents. Guest starring for shows like The Middle. Something about his presence I would assume made people comfortable due to the way he delivered on his comedy.

There was a lot of love for him altogether. But this brings up the whole thing about cancer. From all reports, he kept it private for nine years. That's his right. Same thing that happened with both Chadwick Boseman and Kelly Preston last year. That had to have been draining. I believe they're saying acute leukemia. I'm going to have to assume MacDonald had health issues in his childhood unless this is something you can get later on in life. Celebrities take a lot of crap from people and it's nice to see them keep it private. That way no tabloid and trash like TMZ make false stories. Either way, sad to see him go. Comedy lost one of the greats.

Saturday Night Addict

Saturday Night Live has had its share of writers and cast members that have had issues. When you look at drug issues, you think John Belushi and Chris Farley. Both passed away from speedballs in their early 30s. It's not just the sketch comedy show that has had to deal with this. But it feels like it gets out of control for some of them. This new one now includes John Mulaney going to rehab. Honestly, this is one of the last people I would think that would have issues. For him it's like a Farley situation. Cocaine and alcohol.

Mulaney was a writer for quite a bit of time on SNL. He has his own set of specials. And he's still young at 38. Still wowing audiences. I don't know what it is that makes comedians go loose and think they are invincible. Maybe it's the glamour of New York City. Maybe it's being recognized for either some of the writer, the sketches, the jokes. If I had to guess, the fame goes through some of these people's heads and they do crazy stuff. While not a stand up comedian, we're not too far from ten years ago when Charlie Sheen went nuts and went on a drug and alcohol binge that led to getting fired from Two and a Half Men.

Hell, we can go back to the 30s of The Three Stooges when Curly Howard was part of the group. Not drug related, but he boozed it up, ate a lot. It led to weight issues and a stroke in 1946 that ended his career. He wound up passing in 1952. Going back to Belushi for a second, his death in 82 was when he did drugs with Robin Williams and supposedly Robert De Niro. That sparked Williams to go clean for a very long time. Unfortunately, he relapsed and combined with bad depression, led to his death in 2014.

Comedy has its share of great moments and unfortunate bad behind the scenes moments. It's like the musicians that die young. Big names that include Mitch Hedberg for example. Better now than never for Mulaney to get this fixed. But it has to take a lot of willpower to give up addiction and do whatever is necessary to not want what led to your downfall. Here's hoping for no relapse. Same goes for anyone that is going cold turkey on whatever they are addicted to.

A Very Dark SNL Period of Tragedy

When Phil Hartman ended his run on Saturday Night in 1994, his final bit was singing goodbye with Chris Farley dressed as his Matt Foley character. That in hindsight is just sad as the show would experience a very dark period from the death of Farley in December 1997 and then the huge shock in May of 98 when Hartman was murdered.

I'll always like Farley, but the stuff that he did, he was bound to be dead sooner or later at the time. The combination of food, alcohol, and drugs controlled his life, especially after leaving SNL. I'm not sure if he would have even survived to do Shrek or any other roles that were given to him. Still, it was very sad for a lot of people. He had no control, no matter how many times he went to rehab or any means to stop the drug use and alcohol. A career tragically cut short. I don't know what else can be said that has been said already.

Hartman was on the up and up following his departure. He was starting to get a bit of movie roles. There was the show NewsRadio where he was the head radio voice. Of course, there was The Simpsons and portraying Blasto, a video game for the PlayStation. He was set to be Zapp Brannigan for Futurama despite the show not being in production yet. It became a huge shock for not just the nation, but Hollywood. Out of all the things that could happen, he was murdered by his wife, who after a few hours later, killed herself, leaving their two kids without parents.

Like Farley, there was alcohol issues pertaining to the wife, Brynn. Whether she was taking prescriptions or drugs, I don't think anyone knows. It has been said she used Zoloft, but how true that is is another question. There was the question of how rocky the Hartman marriage was and whichever one was wanting to end it, combined with therapy. How this started, your guess is as good as mine. With all that in mind, it was a huge stunner for Hollywood. For a guy who was beloved that much for how he was on SNL from 1986 though 94 and being on the rise in stardom after that, his end would become one of the biggest tragedies for any individual.

No one should have to bury their own children or see their own parents in caskets, no matter how famous those people could be.

Political Comedy An Unfortunate Crutch

As Saturday Night Live aired yet another set of political sketches, the question that some may wonder is this. Is this kind of humor used too much as a crutch? You might as well say it is now for the last year or so. Seems like anything you hear from comedians is liberal bullshit. There's no equal bashing. I get the world and Hollywood is still bitter over Trump becoming president a year later, but nobody is that bitter, are they?

The fact that in the last few months, several SNL alumni are getting sick of  the political stuff and worry about oversaturation says a lot. Especially when you have someone like Dana Carvey, who was funny as George HW Bush, expressing worry. You watch the show for funny characters. That has always been the glue of these guys. From the Olympia Cafe bits to Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, you want to see them try. They didn't go overboard with both Bush presidents, Bill Clinton and even Obama. I'll blame it partially on these Collegehumor writers taking over as head writers last year, but things could change with last months Weekend Update anchors becoming head guys. Whether all these writers realize the potential fatigue is all another question. 

Even then, you would be able to find something funny in an SNL skit than you would these late night comedians who keep bitching and moaning about Trump, politics, etc... in a never ending cycle. Sadly, these things are what get ratings. You can blame some of it on the unfunny Stephen Colbert, who took over the late show in 2015. It's basically his Comedy Central show, only without the young college guys who do bong shots as his main audience. Jimmy Kimmel can get very vocal about political things. A reason why he struggles at times with Republican viewers ever since the Las Vegas Shooting back in October. Seth Meyers doesn't even surprise me with his late night show. Seems like anything he talks about is Trump before getting his guests and talk to them about life. You don't see anyone like Jimmy Fallon anymore where he just wants everyone to laugh, even if some of the jokes aren't that funny.

Of course, anyone who has seen my blog will know my disdain for the Jon Stewart type comedians. (https://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/political-comedy-is-unfunny-today.html from a blog I made back in May) Colbert is a prime example. There's still the TBS late night show with the horribly unfunny Samantha Bee. She doesn't even try. She is just another arm chair politician molded like Stewart. At least with some Stewart jokes, you could get a chuckle despite trying to play armchair politician himself. As far as other types go, there is still John Oliver and Bill Maher. Unfortunately, these people get ratings from people whose high priority in life is scoring drugs and figuring out what college to go to if they are smart enough to get accepted. If this is your main source of news, you're better off without it.

With all the stuff going on in Hollywood with the sexual accusations, political sayings, and everything in between, entertainment is a shell of its former self the last few years. Something will change. It's like anything that may be considered overstaying their welcome. Eventually, it could get stale. If things don't change, it will be a collision course of turmoil where even both sides get tired. Making fun of Trump should be put in these shows. Overusing this idea will make things way worse than they should.

Is the Holocaust Funny?

Last week's Saturday Night Live monologue from host Larry David has been met with a lot of criticism. There's also a group that knew what to expect out of him, especially if they are familiar with Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm We've seen jokes made of national tragedies, some with varying results. I'm not sure how much you can get away with making Holocaust jokes. It's also important to know that David, much like Jerry Seinfeld, is Jewish.

When David did his monologue, he talked about some of the scandals in Hollywood in a vague way. That would translate him to talking about Holocaust stuff about seeing women in them and wanting to get one. It doesn't surprise me what he's saying considering his career. I've viewed David as the type of person that is anti to the norm. He went against things that NBC had in mind at times when Seinfeld was on the air and viewers loved it. His "no hugging, no learning" aspect helped him. George Costanza is probably the greatest sitcom character ever because of how David molded him and perfected by Jason Alexander. The character is someone you could see in real life.

That being said, using the Holocaust as your crutch is not going to bode well, and it showed. I don't think it's a generational thing considering the audience for SNL and their head people being young and from the Collegehumor website. If someone made a September 11th joke, that would not fly (no pun intended) with people. Now, Seinfeld had references to Nazis in a number of episodes. Hell, two episodes were focused on Nazis. One was The Limo with the rally at Madison Square Garden. The other was The Soup Nazi.  However, they don't directly talk or joke about the Holocaust.

David's shtick could be a good indication that he needs to be more careful with what he talks about. I don't think he should give up being anti to the norm, but better choices could help. And his Holocaust joke dragged SNL to from what I've heard, a very forgettable one with the usual politics skits that they have been using throughout the year. While it's not strange for the show to do political sketches, their over reliance on that and Alec Baldwin to keep portraying Trump gets tiring. Look at South Park. They decided to not follow the trend because they knew what was going to be seen from other shows.

Getting back on point, I'm not sure how much this will impact David. SNL I would think would keep using him for Bernie Sanders and a couple other things. He's got a long way to go to repair some of his image. He would have been better off doing that bit on HBO with Curb.