Category: tv

John Mulaney SNL Musicals

Starting in 2018, every John Mulaney appearance on SNL has included a musical sketch—Diner Lobster was the first. For that one, most of the songs and “plot” are lifted from Les Misérables. As someone who was in musicals in high school and is not afraid to catch one here and there, I appreciate these very much. In fact, some of the shows I was in are covered here—namely Fiddler on the Roof and South Pacific. Anyway, these do a great job of showing a very meta and surreal take on life in New York, current events, and a bunch of musical numbers. Keep an eye out for Pete Davidson and other cast members laughing.

2018: Diner Lobster

2019: Bodega Bathroom

2020: New York Musical

2020: Airport Sushi

2022: Subway Churro

2024: Port Authority Duane Reade

Diner Lobster: Behind the Scenes

Bonus: John Mulaney starred and wrote (with others) in a parody of Original Cast Album: Company, a documentary about the recording of the music from the Sondheim play. I get the impression he may have been a theater kid.

Twinning Peaks

This post was mostly inspired by watching an interview with Rashida Jones on Conan O’Brien’s podcast and forgetting who her mother was (and that said mother was on Twin Peaks).

Mary Jo and Emily and Zooey Claire

Russ and Amber Tamblyn

Peggy Lipton and Rashida Jones

Star Trek: The Cheers (and Frasier) Generation III

This is my last one of these, I swear! I finished Frasier and my TNG rewatch, but I had to include these. Stephen Root is a favorite actor and Penny Johnson Jerald is a biggie. She managed to appear on TNG and in major roles in DS9 and The Orville. And Daniel Davis as Moriarty is obviously a TNG favorite.

Stephen Root

Penny Johnson Jerald

Daniel Davis

Star Trek: The Cheers (and Frasier) Generation II

As I’ve watched Frasier, I’ve found even more people than I listed in my last post about actors appearing on Cheers, Frasier, and Star Trek. I only have about a season left, but can there really be more?!

For the first two, we get a M*A*S*H / Star Trek / Frasier overlap!

Rene Auberjonois

David Ogden Stiers

Anthony Montgomery

Saul Rubinek

Nana Visitor

Robert Picardo

Frasier visits a sci-fi convention!

Star Trek: The Cheers Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is pretty much my favorite TV show. I have it, and many of the movies with the original cast, on repeat at most times. I recently decided to take a little break from Trek and gave Cheers a whirl. Little did I know, many actors who appeared on/in Star Trek were also on Cheers and Frasier. Here are some examples of the crossovers!

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher McDonald

Carol Kane 

Georgia Brown

Jeff McCarthy

Bonus

Ted Danson on The Orville

Down The Rabbit Hole

If you haven’t noticed from my previous posts, I like going down rabbit holes with film and TV. There are some interesting overlapping stories between Hugh Hefner, Peter Bogdonovich, Dorothy Stratten, and Bob Fosse.

  • Star 80 (directed by Bob Fosse)
    • Cliff Robertson as Hugh Hefner
    • Eric Roberts as Paul Schneider
  • All That Jazz
    • Roy Scheider playing Bob Fosse
  • Fosse/Verdon
    • Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse
    • Lin Manuel Miranda playing Roy Scheider playing a fictionalized Bob Fosse
  • Welcome to Chippendale’s
    • Nicola Peltz as Dorothy Stratten
    • Dan Stevens as Paul Snider
  • Other
    • John Ritter as a look-a-like Peter Bogdonovich in They All Laughed (directed by Peter Bogdonovich)
    • Peter Bogdonovich as a fictionalized Hugh Hefner in Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Star Trek vs Strange New Worlds

I’ve pretty much been a lifelong Star Trek fan, right down to watching Star Trek: The Next Generation when it first premiered in 1987 and all the way through to when it ended in 1994. It’s also my go-to TV show to have on in the background since I know it well. While some of the newer Trek shows have been a mixed bag (I’m looking at you, Picard seasons 1 and 2), Strange New Worlds is pretty solid and the closest to older the older formula. Surprisingly, I had a hard time finding sites with comparisons between the cast of the original series and Strange New Worlds. Well, here you!

Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike
Anson Mount as Captain Pike
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Ethan Peck as Spock
Majel Barret as Number One
Rebecca Romijn as Number One
Majel Barret as Nurse Christine Chapel
Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel
Booker Bradshaw as Dr. Joseph M’Benga
Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. Joseph M’Benga
Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura
Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk
Jane Wyatt as Amanda Graysom
Mia Kirshner as Amanda Graysom
William Shatner as George Samuel Kirk
Dan Jeannotte as George Samuel Kirk
Arlene Martel as T’Pring
Gia Sandhu as T’Pring

All images are the property of CBS, Paramount+, etc.

The Bear

Hey, have you watched The Bear? I started watching it shortly after it premiered last year and was hooked right away.

The music alone was enough to sell me! It’s stacked with artists I’ve seen live; Wilco, Brian Wilson, The Decemberists, Pixies, R.E.M., Van Morrison, The Psychedelic Furs, and Smashing Pumpkins (and plenty more I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing). If you have a show with multiple songs by The Replacements in a single episode, that’s reason enough for me to watch.

But it’s not just the music. While I’ll say the first couple of episodes are a little repetitive, by mid season 1 you could tell this show was headed away from the expected. Filming in a real Italian beef shop in Chicago was a nice touch – the creator of the show grew up with the owner of Mr. Beef. While Marty Mathewson is a lot in real life (or at least what I’ve seen on YouTube), he’s a welcome addition to the show.

Season 2 changes this up a bit and the frequent “yes chef” exclamation feels more at home. The Christmas episode of Season 2 pretty much had my jaw on the floor from the casting. If I were to make a list of 20 people I’d want to see guest star on a show, about half of them are in that one episode.

Anyway, check it out on Hulu if you haven’t had a chance!