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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
All images are the property of CBS, Paramount+, etc.
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!
In preparation for the (rather interesting) Oscar ceremony this year, I watched several nominated films. This included the Jonathan Larson musical tick, tick,… BOOM! Knowing that I was going to see that film, I watched Rent for the first time as well. I didn’t really know Larson’s story going into it either musical.
I was impressed when hearing Andrew Garfield had not really sung before and learned a few songs on piano for the part. He’s come a long way from the first time I saw him – in an episode of Doctor Who (which included pig men in 1940’s New York).
One particular song and scene from tick, tick,… BOOM! was interesting to me for a few reasons. Although I’ve seen quite a few Sondheim musicals, Sunday in the Park with George was not one of them. Learning the song Sunday was homage to the identically named song from George made a lot of sense – the song felt different from others in tick, tick… BOOM! (and Rent, for that matter). (On a side note, I highly recommend Six by Sondheim, which I also watched after these films).
Not only was the Sondheim connection interesting to me, but also the number of cameos in the scene. This post from CBR.com gives a good breakdown of the cameos in the scene. Joel Gray, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Phylicia Rashad, original Rent and Hamilton cast members, and more all appear in the scene. Lin Manuel Miranda, who directed this version and has starred in past productions of TTB, also makes a cameo.
It must also be pointed out that the Moondance Diner makes an appearance in a non-Garfield Spider-man movie AND Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays Mysterio in yet another Spider-man movie) also has a connection here.
Additionally, I’m including renditions by Raul Esparza who sang both Sundays in productions of these shows.
I managed to squeeze in a few more horror / semi-horror movies and TV shows for October/November. Gotta say, House, the Haunting series, and Squid Game are probably the standouts from this batch. Mike Flanagan might be a new favorite!
Stephen Quirk 