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Freddy Love's Oasis for a Crazy White Boy's Blues

In case you've missed it, all my Blog entries have been going on this one page and you will be able to read everything from New Movie Reviews to Classic Movie Reviews.

From TV reviews to my twisted take on the World. Consider it one stop-shopping for all things Freditor.

A virtual Super Wal-Mart of Nutty Writing and Tasteful Criticism.

As Always, Thanks for all your Continued Support.

The Freditor

Thank god, No More Microsoft-Seinfeld Ads--They were stupid and horrible

Millions Microsoft paid Jerry Seinfeld to lend his star quality to their ads. Millions and they sure got millions back. Millions of confused looks from viewers and millions of remote control clicks as people quickly changed the station. And emails and letter complaining about how bad these ads were.

Why is it that if you ask the man on the street, they will always tell you that of the four main characters on Seinfeld, Jerry was the least funny and yet the powers that be continue to view him as some kind of comedy god? How many more years of Curb Your Enthusiasm do these people have to see to show that Larry David was the true comic genius behind that show and Jerry his willing puppet.

Jerry enjoy your money and until Larry David calls again, raise your kids.

The Freditor

Saturday Night Live Starts its 34th Season Sept. 13

Fred's YouTube - Saturday Night Live Promo


The Freditor

WoW!!! TV writer explains the final episode of The Sopranos as he sees it

He's convinced me. I've always been horrible at picking up symbolism in any artistic form. That's why most literature is lost on me. And if I lived to be 100, I would never have seen all the "clues" this man points out. But in the absence of any other plausible endings, I'll take this one. I still don't like it (you'd hear the final shot even if you lost your eyesight immediately), but at least I think I understand it a whole lot more. And the references to The Godfather have to be taken seriously since the show quoted from Godfather so often.
Bob Harris is a very smart writer. My hats off. And he claims he picked up much of this on first viewing. Amazing.

The Freditor

BobHarris.com - Tony Soprano didn’t just get whacked; he practically got a funeral

Obama: a president who will put Barney Smith Before Smith Barney

* * * * * (out of 5)


Obama is Kenyan for "Living the Dream!" Of course that's not true, but wouldn't it be cool if it was? If he wins and is a success it may mean that in English. Obama = Living the Dream or a Person Who Lives the Dream.
"Hey kid you're really good on that guitar, what do you plan to do with it?"
"I plan on being an Obama." One day in the future, all little kids, no matter their color will want to be an Obama.

Well for some of us who have been waiting for a gale of fresh air to blow through Washington and our nation, we're being Obamas, living our dreams. It's 1:AM Sunday morning and I just finished watching the last night of the Democratic Convention on Tivo. I saw that all three networks were only covering the last hour, but I wanted to experience the whole night so I taped the PBS version which was all three hours, and I'm glad I did.

What a show. It started out with some lower level Democrats making speeches, going up the line to a rising star, Gov. Tim Kaine out of Virginia and then the always spirited Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico. Discussing John McCain's change in so many policies, Richardson said, "John McCain may pay hundreds of dollars for his shoes, but if he becomes president, this nation will pay for his flip flops."

Stevie Wonder sang one forgettable song (the only part of the night that I fast forwarded) and then did "Signed Sealed Delivered (I'm Yours)", which lit the crowd up. What happened to Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen? Weren't they supposed to come on and sing a song for Obama? Didn't matter, but how cool would it have been for the two of them to just come out and introduce him to the crowd, instead of the senior senator from Illinois.

Al Gore came out and gave a funny and pointed speech and really revved the crowd up with his global warming section. If this man could have shown this much personality back in 2000, he would have been president, hanging chads or not. Then a brilliant move was to introduce a group of 5 ordinary citizens from across the country who have been hurt some way by the policies of Bush and Cheney. Two of them were former Republicans who even voted for the current member of the White House. The second person was a lady from I believe Kansas who quoted Einstein as saying, "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results." Well since McCain plans on continuing Bush's current policies, "a vote for McCain is insane."

But the best of the group was a guy named Barney Smith from Indiana. He lost his job after 31 years at the local plant, where the company outsourced it to another country. A former Republican, he says “I want a president who will put Barney Smith Before Smith Barney.” What a shockingly great line. It floored the convention's football stadium and got me to clapping and laughing hard.

Then came Obama's speech which despite its 47 minute running time was actually concise and had a rhythm and flow of its own. Like a great guitar solo you could sense its beginning, middle and end. He touched on every major topic of the last 8 years and the demise of our country, but gave specifics on how he intends to bring us back up on top. Spending more, way more to encourage good people to become teachers, was one nice touch, another was a promise of a college education for any young person who commits to doing some national service for the country whether in the military or some other capacity. Looking 10 years into the future ala JFK with the moon landing, to say we will end our dependence on foreign oil. When his speech ended, I had laughed a little, and cried a little, especially when he spoke about the people in this country who don't understand Obama's popularity, "What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you."

And that's basically true. I didn't turn to Obama because he said something new and refreshing. I liked him because he was saying what I was feeling for several years.

When the speech was over and the fireworks and confetti were being blown off, Barack's wife and daughters stood on the stage watching the festivities and I thought, what a beautiful young family. Very Kennedyesque. One black female educator was on Imus in the Morning the other day and she said that it would be wonderful if Michelle Obama got pregnant after they took over the White House. Like John John, perhaps a young Barack born at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Learned one thing about the Kennedy election in 1960, from one of the 5 expert panelists on PBS. The man said that JFK also had a big outdoor event for the final night of his convention at the Los Angeles Coliseum. But he was having trouble finishing up his speech before the television cameras went off the air, so he was told to speed it up and rush through it. He did this in the face of some strong winds that night and looked less than ordinary for the TV audience. When Nixon saw this performance, he didn't know the aspects behind it and attributed all of it to JFK's oratory skills. Based on this, he thought he could take JFK in a televised debate and announced he wanted to challenge Kennedy. As we all know, Nixon came across very badly on TV during those debates and lost the election because of it.

Well, whatever your political leanings, this was one night of political TV that was the opposite of boring, in fact it felt like a great rock concert, one you almost didn't want to end.

The Freditor

Six_Degrees_Could_Change_the_World scared me

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/National_Geographic_Six_Degrees_Could_Change_the_World/70090419...

Greenland Melting: The End of the End of the World : Rolling Stone

Michael Crichton wrote a book that fictionalizes a man's quest to find alternative reasons for what science and particularly NASA has been saying. But if I am not to believe in conspiracies about things like the JFK assassination, then it's hard for me to believe that hardcore scientists are promoting a theory of end times just to help keep the donations for their research going. Aren't there enough real problems in the world worth researching without making up something?

In the Summer of 2003, whether it was the increased fluorocarbons in the air or not, western Europe was hit by a heat wave that they had no ability to resist. 30,000 people died from heat stroke that summer. 2500 in Paris in ONE night. Granted many were elderly and they lived in houses with tin roofs, built to withstand cold. They had very little air conditioning, but while that lead to the deaths, the cause was a freakish heat wave which they are not accustomed to.

The idea you draw from this 6 degrees show is that as the average temp rises, we will be hit by "once in a century" weather phenomena every few years. Like this heat wave in Europe. But other matters are starting to show on a daily basis. England was once known for its gloomy weather. English wine was a running joke, because the growing season for wine grapes was so short that the wine generally tasted bad. But the warm season has increased so much in England that there is now a blooming English wine business. And the French and their champagnes have been forced to uproot to England because the weather is too hot in France to grow the grapes.

Gradual changes in weather cycles is normal. But the key word is gradual. The changes we are experiencing now usually take decades or centuries to come up. Now they are happening in less than 10 years. The Himalayas are these large snowcapped mountains with enough runoff to feed the mighty Ganges River. Well the runoff has been dropping rapidly as the snow seasons have been shorter and milder. The River is a major part of the Hindu religion and it's as if God is abandoning the Hindu people.

I read an article on Greenland in Rolling Stone and it was very depressing. Greenland is losing its ice and cold seasons faster every year and instead of the companies that are causing it doing something to slow it or stop it, they are making it worse by seeing the ice free zones as potential new mining zones. Diamonds, the core elements of aluminum and even oil are all in abundance under the permafrost and the Greenland parliament is just selling the rights like crazy, killing off one of earth's last pure environments.

Think of Greenland as Ground Zero for climate change.

Funny, my wife says that people with kids at her job don't seem too concerned about the Venus-like planet we're leaving future generations. I think we have a moral duty to leave the earth in better condition than when we got here. When I cross the Metropolitan Ave. overpass on the Jackie Robinson going home and can't even see the New York City skyline because of the smog, I'd say we're failing those next generations.

The Freditor

Great Praise for the Blogs

HEY FRED,

I think it is very very good. You give good background information about your life and share your interests. I GIVE YOU 4 GOLD STARS. I LOVE THAT MONKEY. Looks kind of like the Ralley Monkey the L.A. ANGELS used in the 2002 season.

SEE YAA NICK

46664-The Nelson Mandela Concert--Bleeding Love for "Madiba" and His Courage

* * * * (out of 5)

London was Bleeding Love towards Nelson Mandela on June 27 and it was well deserved. I just finished watching an abridged version of the Concert, on VH 1, to honor the man on his 90th Birthday. It seems that the weeks surrounding Independence Day have become a traditional time to have huge charitable concerts on international television. From Live Aid in 1985 to Live 8, Live Earth and the Concert for Princess Diana, the world falls into a giving mood that rivals a sedate Christmas.

I think I first heard of Nelson Mandela and the struggles in South Africa in 1984. I read in Rolling Stone about the fight against apartheid and about the death of Steven Biko and the false imprisonment of Mandela. "Madiba" is Mandela's clan name and what he is often called. President Reagan and many other world leaders were unconcerned about the atrocities in this country and kept doing business with it, despite world wide protest. To stand up for what was right, in a simple protest against Mandela's incarceration and the brutal politics of apartheid the free world's artists vowed to never play Sun City, the all-white resort town in South Africa. Artists who did were blackballed. Queen, Tina Turner and Rod Stewart were among the musicians who did play there and were considered outcasts for it. Amnesty International gained world wide acclaim by pushing the issue front and center and made all political prisoners a cause celebre for a few years in he 1980s.

Then in 1988, London held a 70th Birthday party for the still-jailed Mandela at Wembley Stadium. I was busy that day and missed the show on the radio and didn't have cable yet to watch it, but it was a great success. The man was put in jail in 1964, Prisoner Number 466 of 1964, 46664. He was held there until 1991, 27 years later. Word of that concert in '88, gave him renewed hope and indeed gave hope to many other prisoners like him. When he was finally released, he was probably the only man in history more famous for getting out of prison than going in. With the world's help he lead his country out of apartheid and became president, but with a dream of democracy where white and black could live alongside each other in peace. He could have easily turned into a demigod and turned his country into a bloodbath, but he held true to the principals that put him into prison and made him such a hero and martyr to the world.

Now in his "retirement" he has started many new foundations with his name to build on peace, freedom and education. His prison number, 46664, is the name of a new cause that will try to conquer the scourge of AIDS which imprisons so many of his countrymen. AIDS in Africa and especially in South Africa is so rampant that I doubt anyone can really stop it, but he's performed miracles before.

One nice idea introduced by Bono and the Edge in a videotape at the concert, was for a world holiday commemorating Peace, to be honored every year on Nelson Mandela's birthday. When Madiba came on stage to thank the crowd and the musicians, he looked a bit frail but his words were strong. That any man can live to be 90, after spending 27 years in a hellhole prison is a testament to his spirit and love of life. When you see a man like that, you always hope two things. That there is someone much younger willing to be as loving and courageous when the need arises. And two, that because of the work of such a man like Mandela that that brave younger man will not be needed. Unfortunately, we know all too well that brave young people must still rise up and fight for what's right in this world.

As for the concert itself, it was a rousing party, made up of some familiar faces and some new. Will Smith did such an excellent job of hosting the Philadelphia contingent of Live 8 in 2005 that he was made master of ceremonies again here in London's Hyde Park. He and wife Jada Pinkett Smith nicely balanced the seriousness of the cause and man, while generating excitement for the show ahead. It looked like at least 100,000 showed up for the show and were very loud throughout. These types of shows from London give me a warm, special feeling about the people from England and their strong political convictions. I'm not sure a concert for Mandela here in America would draw such a large, spirited crowd. Not without some major headline acts.

This show had Simple Minds singing "Don't You Forget About Me", which has to considered one of the Top 10 most important songs of the '80s. It defines the era and what makes it so ironic is that Simple Minds lead man Jim Kerr didn't even write it. They played it for "The Breakfast Club", but he actually hated it at the time because it reminded him and probably many of us of a Billy Idol song. How would you like your signature song to be something you hate? Hahahah. Ahh, the problems of being a rock icon.

Amy Winehouse came out with a skirt that was way too tight for her and had to keep pulling at it, because it would ride up and show off her bloomers. A physical mess doesn't begin to describe this girl, but she still looks better than Janis Joplin in her prime and has these amazing eyes that burn through whatever crack haze she shadows them in. A crackhead playing a song called Rehab at a Nelson Mandela show. That's funny as hell, but it worked because it is one of the best songs of the past five years. Even when she mumbles some of the words as she did here, the song still catches fire. It reminds me of early REM. You didn't care what Michael Stipe was singing, his voice was just another wonderful instrument in the band. What I didn't like was that she lead the final concert singalong for "Free Nelson Mandela". There were so many good singers on stage, especially Leona Lewis, who could have done a much better job than her.

As for Lewis, this was my first time seeing her and after months of being beaten over the head with her #1 hit Bleeding Love, I'm beginning to see what Simon Cowell saw in her. What a voice, so classy from head to toe. She doesn't move around enough, but maybe that will come later. If you have the moves you dance, if you don't maybe you should stand still. Whitney Houston was a horrible dancer, she hit you between the eyes when she was stationary. Unlike Whitney or Mariah, Leona doesn't destroy the phrasing of the song for some fake gospel feel. I know it's a lot to ask, but hopefully she can be as sweet and unassuming as she apparently is now. She makes you want to root for her.

Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince) did his last big hit from the summer of '05, "Switch", and mixed it in with the theme to his TV show. If there is any doubt that he's an international superstar you should hear the London crowd singing along with every lyric. He's been so serious in so many movies for so long now you kind of wonder if he still has that flashy Fresh Prince vibe that endeared us to him in the beginning and judging from his live performance he still does. He just saves it for the stage.

Being that the show was cut down to 90 minutes with commercials for VH 1, I did not see all the acts, but the highlight had to be the pairing of the remaining members of Queen with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers. What a match made in heaven. If they come to the States, I will definitely go see them. No one could enthrall a London crowd quite like Freddie Mercury, just watch tape of his historic Live Aid performance, but these fans were more than happy to take the flight with Air Rodgers. Older and definitely tougher looking than Mercury, Rodgers sang the classics in Queen style but changed the phrasing just a bit to make them more his own. While I can't listen to We Will Rock You or We Are the Champions on the radio anymore, live in concert those songs come alive. And Brian May's guitar playing. Why isn't this man mentioned more in the discussion of guitar gods? Just to show you what he's got, they finished off with All Right Now, the old Bad Company hit and Brian played it like he created it.

I'm all for making a Nelson Mandela Peace holiday if it just means hearing great music like this every year.

The Freditor

Fawlty Towers is silly, intermittent fun

* * 1/2 (out of 5)

Just came back from watching three episodes of Fawlty Towers at a friend's house. I watched them when I was a kid on Channel 13 and remember laughing with them at the time. But I saw an episode about a year ago and it was a bomb. So being outnumbered three to one I sat down for another go at it tonite. And I'll admit I laughed at times.

It's way too manic for my tastes. That old vaudeville idea of if you scream a lot, bang lots of doors and throw things around people will laugh at the sheer exuberance of the moment. That never catches me. What I like is cleverness and there were some good moments, like during a fire drill when the out-of-his-element Spanish bellhop starts a real fire. Or when the same bellhop is behind the front desk and is practicing his English and the doddering old Major thinks its the moosehead on the desk speaking to him.

I guess I laughed at it as much as an average episode of Two and a Half Men, so if it was on nightly on Channel 11 I might watch it during dinner. But like Bernie Mac it would definitely need subtitles. I missed at least a quarter of the dialogue with the barely penetrable British accents.

The Freditor

Dana Carvey's Comeback is Very Funny on his HBO Special

* * * 1/2 (out of 5)

I grew up with a kid I'll call Sunshine. Sunshine was one of the funniest people I have ever been friends with. He had expressions that would make you laugh, jokes, one liners. He had a great many ways of making you laugh and they would never be pre-planned, always off the top of his head. But Sunshine had one problem that too many of us suffer from. When you say something that gets a big laugh, you should always let it stand alone and hang back. It will have way more impact. Sometimes the best way to handle it, is to just walk away, so it is the last thing people have on their minds about you. George Costanza understood that on Seinfeld. But Sunshine couldn't do that. Addicted to the laughs, the way many of us are, he would try to pour on more jokes or act sillier to keep the laughter rolling. But then he became guilty of one of the worst crimes in comedy. Not knowing when to stop. He started Mugging for laughs. That's when you cross over from being a very funny person to being a clown and no one respects a clown.

Throughout his career going back to Saturday Night Live, Dana Carvey has been guilty of mugging. Which is so unfortunate, because if he could just pull back and let laughs come organically, he would be considered a much greater comic. There's no denying his talents. His impersonations are some of the best in the business. Sometimes what he says with the impersonation is a little weak, but other times he knocks the performance right out of the park. On HBO recently, Carvey had a one-hour live standup show that revealed him for all his talents and all his miscues. With live comedy on TV, I'll allow 5 minutes of no laughter if I get a big laugh after. But if more than 5 minutes goes by without a chuckle I'll change the station. Carvey made me pee as much as made me shake my head, but that's still a good ratio.

Perhaps my favorite pseudo impression he ever gave on SNL was of Carsenio, a blending of Johnny Carson and Arsenio Hall. He nailed it and Carvey nails various moments on this show, as well. His Al Gore impression as not of old Al Gore but this new Al Gore, who Carvey says, "sounds like a gay Forrest Gump" was dead on. "I'm doing my best for Global Warming. I even turned down the air condtioning on my private jet." Carvey said that Barack Obama looked like a cross between "Alfred E. Newman and Urkle." Even the name "Barack Hussein Obama" had to be the hardest name hurdle a presidential candidate ever had to cross. It was like being named "Charles Manson Hitler." The campaign ad would go, "Charles Manson Hitler is worried about our children. He's wants to initiate universal health care and improve the economy." The opponent's commercial would say, "Charles Manson Hitler is nothing but a tax and spend liberal. My name is OJ Scott Peterson and I approve this message."

His take on modern parenting is also on target. "My father was a former Marine, he'd yell at us, 'get in the car!' But nowadays I see a father in the park bending down, pleading, 'Greggers, didn't we decide we were going to go home now?' " "One time I had a glass of milk and was walking across the living room carpet. My father said, 'You spill one drop of that and I'll break every bone in your body.' " So Carvey shows the most careful display of milk carrying you ever saw until he reaches his stool and places it down. With a heavy breath, he yells, "I'm alive." And everyone from his age group and older laughed knowingly and exulted. Maybe Carvey's career is alive again. Hope so. I'd hate for his legacy to be know as Mike Myers sidekick, like Dan Ackroyd he deserves much more than that.

He jokes about his heart problems, but they were very serious. The man's artery was blocked more than "a port a potty at a construction site." He had five angioplasties and surgery on the blocked artery. He won $7.5 Million in a lawsuit because the doctor worked on "the wrong artery." If this is his big comeback it's a worthy one.

The Freditor

The 100 Best-Looking Men in Television History

Here in New York City, Channel 11 is celebrating their 60th Anniversary of broadcasting and I thought this would be a good time to coincide this milestone with a listing of what I believe to be the 100 Best-Looking Men in the history of American Television. This list took a few hours to come up with and I'd say it's pretty thorough. I have stars in it that stretch back to the '50s.

I eliminated all reality stars and news reporters, as well as Game Show hosts. The only men on here are actors who appeared for several episodes on a given show. While they may have many listings, I only credited them for the shows I remember them from or that I enjoyed the best.

You may have complaints, suggestions, or praise. I look forward to all of them. If you are not sure what some of these men look like, you can always look them up in IMDB. Oh, and they are in no particular order.

The Freditor


Pierce Brosnan (Remington Steele)
Tom Selleck (Magnum PI)
Burt Reynolds (Gunsmoke, Evening Shade)
Clint Eastwood (Rawhide)
Robert Urich (Vegas)

James Garner (Rockford Files)
Robert Wagner (Switch)
Eddie Albert (Switch)
Henry Winkler (Happy Days)
David Hasselhoff (Knightrider)

Shaun Cassidy (Hardy Boys)
David Cassidy (Partridge Family)
Richard Hatch (Battlestar Gallactica)
James Brolin (Marcus Welby)
Jack Lord (Hawaii 5-0)

Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Gallactica, A-Team)
Robert Young (Marcus Welby)
Mike Connors (Mannix)
Greg Morris ((Mission Impossible)
Peter Lupus (Mission Impossible)

James Franciscus (Longstreet)
Desi Arnaz (I Love Lucy)
Desi Arnaz Jr. (Here's Lucy)
Adrian Zmed (TJ Hooker
Wiliam Shatner (Boston legal)

Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live)
Rock Hudson (MacMillan and Wife)
Matt LeBlanc (Friends)
Damon Wayans (In Living Color)
Brian Keith (Family Affair)

Bill Bixby (Incredible Hulk)
George Reeves (Superman)
John Forsythe (Dynasty)
James Spader (Boston Legal)
Ivan Dixon (Hogan's heroes)

Max Baer Jr. (Beverly Hillbillies)
Donny Osmond (Donny and Marie)
Phil Hartman (News Radio)
Tim Daly (Wings)
Bruce Lee (Green Hornet and Kato)

John Travolta (Welcome Back Kotter)
Ted Danson (Cheers)
Ken Wahl (Wiseguy)
Mark Valley (Keen Eddie)
Morgan Freeman (Electric Company)

Alan Alda (MASH)George Peppard (A-Team)
Mr. T (A-Team)
Billy Dee Williams (Dynasty)
Luke Perry (90210)

Bill Cosby (Cosby Show)
Michael J. Fox (Family Ties)
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)
Martin Sheen (West Wing)
Andy Griffith (Salvage 1)

George Clooney (Roseanne)
Will Smith (Fresh Prince)
Bruce Willis (Moonlighting)
Don Johnson (Miami Vice)
Philip Michael Thomas (Miami Vice)

Patrick Duffy (Man From Atlantis)
William Devane (Knots Landing)
Leonard Nimoy (Star trek)
Eric Braeden (Rat Patrol)
Erik Estrada (CHIPs)

Michael Douglas (Streets of San Francisco)
Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar man)
Randolph Mantooth (Emergency)
Kiefer Sutherland (24)
Greg Evigan (BJ and the Bear)

James Naughton (Planet of the Apes)
Michael Landon (Bonanza)
Telly Savalas (Kojak)
Robert Guillaume (Soap)
Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere)

Kyle Chandler (Homefront)
Kent McCord (Adam-12)
John Slattery (Homefront)
David Janssen (The Fugitive)
Tom Welling (Smallville)

Jay Silverheels (The Lone Ranger)
Jason Priestly (90210)
Ricardo Montalbon (Fantasy Island)
Rob Lowe (West Wing)
Eriq La Salle (ER)

John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard)
Ted McGinley (Married with Children)
Jeff Conaway (Taxi)
Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me)
Carlos Bernard (24)

Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives)
Avery Brooks (Spencer For Hire)
Richard Dean Anderson (MacGuyver)
Jameson Parker (Simon and Simon)
Freddie Prinze Sr. (Chico and the Man)

Tony Orlando (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
Richard Dawson (Hogan's Heroes)
John Ritter (Three's Company)
Danny Thomas (Make Room For Daddy)
James MacArthur (Hawaii Five-0)

The 100 Best-Looking Women in Television History

Here in New York City, Channel 11 is celebrating their 60th Anniversary of broadcasting and I thought this would be a good time to coincide this milestone with a listing of what I believe to be the 100 Best-Looking Women in the history of American Television. This list took several hours to come up with and I'd say it's pretty thorough. I have stars in it that stretch back to the early '60s. Sorry, but I couldn't think of one star from the '50s that I thought should make it.

I eliminated all reality stars and news reporters, as well as Game Show girls. The only women on here are actresses who appeared for several episodes on a given show. While they may have many listings, I only credited them for the shows I remember them from.

You may see some names missing from here that often appear on other lists. Pamela Anderson and Lynda Carter to name two, but I've never been a big fan of either. You may have complaints, suggestions, or praise. I look forward to all of them. If you are not sure what some of these women look like, you can always look them up in IMDB. Oh, and they are in no particular order.

The Freditor


Jaclyn Smith (Charlie's Angels)
Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels)
Angie Harmon (Law and Order)
Halle Berry (Knots Landing)
Victoria Principal (Dallas)

Andrea Roth (Rescue Me)
Paula Marshall (Cupid)
Gina Gershon (Rescue Me)
Sela Ward (Sisters)
Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty)

Dana Delaney (China Beach)
Joan Collins (Dynasty)
Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy)
Jennifer Aniston (Friends)
Laura Harring (The Shield)

Rena Sofer (24)
Dawn Wells (Mary Ann-Gilligan's island)
Tina Louise (Ginger-Gilligan's Island)
Shannon Doherty (90210)
Jennie Garth (90210)

Heather Locklear (Melrose)
Heather Thomas (The Fall Guy)
Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman)
Kristen Kreuk (Lana Lane--Smallville)
Tiffany Amber Thiessen (Saved By the Bell, 90210)

Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City)
Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Vanessa Marcil (Las Vegas)
Rhona Mitra (Boston Legal)
Daphne Reid (Fresh Prince)

Leah Remini (King of Queens)
Callie Thorne (Rescue Me)
Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Sopranos)
Sarah Shahi (Sopranos)
Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives)

Morgan Fairchild (Flamingo Road)
Donna Mills (Knot's Landing)
Lisa Bonet (Cosby Show)
Jamie Luner (Melrose, Savannah)
Morgan Brittany (Dallas)

Stephanie Powers (Hart to Hart)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld)
Susan Lucci (All My Children)
Gail O'Grady (NYPD Blue)
Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue)

Barbara Bain (Space 1999, Mission Impossible)
Meredith Baxter-Birney (Family, Family Ties)
Betty White (Mary Tyler Moore)
Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks)
Rose McGowan (Charmed)

Alyssa Milano (Charmed)
Eliza Dushku (Buffy)
Yvonne Craig (Batman)
Pat Priest (The Munsters)
Jessica Alba (Dark Angel)

Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock)
Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace)
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party of Five)
Blake Lively (Gossip Girl)
Catherine Bach (Dukes of Hazzard)

Holly Robinson (Hanging With Mr. Cooper)
Christina Applegate (Married With Children)
Mia Kirschner (24)
Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill)
Maura Tierney (Newsradio)

Marisa Tomei (A Differnt World)
Sienna Miller (Keen Eddie)
Ali Larter (Heroes)
Charisma Carpenter (Buffy)
Nicole Eggert (Baywatch)

Tina Cole (My Three Sons)
Linda Evans (Dynasty)
Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order)
Laura Prepon (That '70s Show)
Tisha Campbell (Martin)

Nadine Velazquez (My Name is Earl)
Jacqueline Obradors (NYPD Blue)
Gloria Reuben (ER)
Tamara Tunie (24)
Elisha Cuthbert (24)

Kari Wuhrer--(Remote Control, 90210)
Jo Ann Pflug (Fall Guy)
Mary Frann (Newhart)
Julia Duffy (Newhart)
Jenna Fischer (The Office)

Marilu Henner (Taxi)
Loni Anderson (WKRP)
Suzanne Pleshette (Bob Newhart)
Shirley Jones (Partridge Family)
Lee Meriwether (Barnaby Jones)

Wendy Makkena (The Job)
Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live)
Marlo Thomas (That Girl)
Diahann Carroll (Dynasty)
Sonya Monzano (Maria-Sesame Street)

Janis Hansen (Gloria Unger-Odd Couple)
Telma Hopkins (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
Joyce Vincent Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
Mila Kunis (That '70s Show)
Delta Burke (Designing Women)

How to Comment on a Story in Fred's Blog

Apparently there is some confusion about how to comment on the various "No More Stinky Monkeys" Blogs.

At the bottom of every story, there is a line that reads something like:

"Posted by The Freditor at 6:15PM 0 Comments" (and then a Letter symbol)

If you would like to send me a comment, you click on the Letter symbol and a page will come up.

Next to Friend's email address, put your email address and then in the comments field write whatever you want. If you WANT me to Post it into my Blog, just mention that at the top. Otherwise it will be just for my eyes. Thanks for reading my stuff and your continued support.

My birthday is one month from today, I've had 1300 hits so far, I'd love to get to 2,000 by my Bday.

The Freditor

Haha, Oscars have worst ratings ever

Two reasons always make or break Oscars ratings. One, popular movies are nominated giving the audience a rooting interest. Titanic is the highest rated Oscar for this reason. Young girls all wanted Jack and Rose to win it all, which they did. When a movie is nominated that didn't even make as much as a baseball player's salary, then no one is going to care if it wins or loses.

Two, the Host is so important. If the host comes out of the gate with a great monologue people might stick with it, but if he tanks then the casual viewer will move on to something else. Before I left the house I caught three minutes of Jon Stewart's monologue and what I saw was bad, except for the Gaydolf Tittler joke. That was funny. But that's a big problem there. Jon Stewart. Who thinks Jon Stewart is funny? I don't, if I did I would watch The Daily Show. He replaced the Funny Guy on that show, Craig Kilborn.

You want a funny host who used to actually host a funny show. Greg Kinnear from Talk Soup. He's a really good actor who happens to be very funny, and quick on his feet.

Instead they keep bringing back horrible hosts like Whoopi Goldberg. Let's look at the hosts since Johnny Carson stopped doing the show.

2006/7--Jon Stewart--Not Funny
2005 Chris Rock---Funny
2004 Billy Crystal---Funny during the Reagan years
2003 Steve Martin---See Billy Crystal
2002 Whoopi Goldberg---Interesting, not funny.
2001 Steve Martin
2000 Billy Crystal
1999 Whoopi Goldberg
1998 Billy Crystal
1997 Billy Crystal
1996 Whoopi Goldberg
1995 David Letterman---Great. One of my favorite Oscar hosts. Got slammed because he wasn't a Hollywood insider. Oprah Uma thing was dumb, but the rest of the show was fun. He'll never do it, but I'd bring him back.
1994 Whoopi Goldberg
1993 Billy Crystal
1992 Billy Crystal
1991 Billy Crystal
1990 Billy Crystal
1989 No official host
1988 Chevy Chase---Rather stick a grapefruit spoon in my eye than watch him.
1987 Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Paul Hogan---The Ménage à trois from hell.
1986 Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams---The hairiest Ménage à trois.
1985 Jack Lemmon---Only Neil Simon thought this guy was funny.
1984 Johnny Carson--The King.

The Freditor

PBS shows A Lot of R-E-S-P-E-C-T to Soul Music Pioneers Stax Records

* * * * (out of 5)


The term soul gets thrown around a lot, but what are its origins? Well soul music was the blending of the "devil's" rhythm and blues with "Jesus' " gospel music. In the early 1950s, Ray Charles might have been the first, biggest name in soul music history. But no company put out better, grittier soul music than the small Memphis record company called Stax. Named after its two white founders brother Jim Stewart (ST) and sister Estelle Axton (AX), Stax was a breeding ground for white hot, R&B talent from the late '50s through the early 1970s.

Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story is a PBS documentary that tells how this converted movie theatre and record store became such a huge part of music history.

In its early days, sometimes the names weren't big, but the songs always were, including classics like: Try A Little Tenderness, the Theme Song to Shaft, Soul Man, and Knock on Wood. Soul Man was written in response to the various race-based riots that were taking place around the country during the civil rights struggles. According to composer Isaac Hayes (Chef from South Park), any shopkeeper that wrote "soul" on his storefront was not burned down at the time. It was similar to when the Jews painted lamb's blood over the doors so the angel of death would pass over their homes.

That's quite a strong genesis for a song, one that we associate more with two silly white guys from Saturday Night Live. Whether it's appropriate for white people to be singing soul music, at least The Blues Brothers had the good taste to sing songs by writers who were struggling for money. Isaac Hayes, for one, suffered through that kind of thing because he did stupid things like blowing his money on custom-made Cadillacs.

I'd say most of The Blues Brothers catalog consists of Stax Records, as was the soundtrack for the great Irish musical, The Commitments. In fact, two of the members of the Blues Brothers band were Stax Records' bandmates, Steve Cropper and Donald 'Duck' Dunn.

But bigger than Soul Man's Sam and Dave and bigger than even the best "house Band" in history the half black/half white Booker T. and the MGs (which stands for simply Memphis Group), the biggest star has to be Otis Redding. A driver and roadie for a smaller band that tried out for Stax, Redding the driver begged the owners to give him a tryout. To shut him up they did and the rest is history. His hits included: I've Been Loving You Too Long, Dock of the Bay and the rougher, tougher, original version of Respect.

This documentary is now available on DVD Amazon.com: Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story: DVD: Various Artists and is told through oral history with many of the main protagonists still alive. Like how they competed against Detroit's Motown, which was known as Hitsville USA. One foolish, former Motown exec actually laughs at the notion that Otis Redding could have ever worked for Motown. When you see and hear Motown, the phrase, "are they black enough?" comes to mind. Down in Memphis, they called themselves Soulsville USA and they were plenty black. Black enough that different groups worked to put them out of business. Among them, their longtime distributor Atlantic Records. And eventually, the government and the banks. Who's to blame, is never made clear, but no one went to jail, so you have to believe that Stax was partly innocent.

The first hour flies by with all the filmed recordings of these classic groups playing live, but as the music becomes less interesting in the second hour, so does the program. If the show does nothing else, it shows rare footage of the live Otis Redding which is such a treat. Merely 26 when he died crashing his own plane, I'd only seen him in the movie Monterey Pop before this, but his live version of Respect just kills.


The Freditor

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? More heart, tougher questions than in Regis' day

****1/2 (out of 5)


In 1999, my wife Barbara played darts for a local bar team. I'd go to hang out and cheer her on, but when she wasn't playing I'd watch one of the TVs. Tired of sports I'd turn to one of the other TVs. Not much for game shows, I was surprised when I came to love the new primetime sensation, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It was especially fun to watch in a bar, because you didn't need the sound up. You had the questions and multiple choice answers written in front of you and not only was it fun knowing the answers, but also beating the contestants to the answer.

Being a huge trivia buff, I could not believe how easy the questions were, especially when compared with Jeopardy. And the fact that the money was so much bigger than on Jeopardy and that you only competed against yourself, with no time limits was a slam dunk. But ABC/Disney knowing they had a ratings bonanza did the unthinkable and started to run the show every night of the week. Capitalizing on its early success, but also burning it out for the people at home. The early round questions remained easy, but the later round questions were so incredibly hard that few did well on the show thus killing its purpose, to make ordinary people millionaires. By the time the first guy became a millionaire I had already stopped watching the show.

When I heard last summer that there was going to be a week devoted to movie trivia I attempted to become a contestant on the show, but failed to pass their exam. But Barbara, our friend Paul and I did get to be audience members for two shows and they will be broadcast on January 24th and 25th. Since that time I have watched the show every day via my Digital Video Recorder. I think it is a better show now without host Regis Philbin.

For those who didn't realize it was still on, ABC airs Millionaire at 12:30 PM on weekdays here in New York City and syndicates it throughout the country. The host for the last 6 years has been The Today Show's Meredith Vieira. She used to be one of the original hosts of The View. Never having seen The View, I knew very little about her, but after nearly six months of watching her on Millionaire, she has become one of my favorite television personalities. She's genuine which is something you can never accuse Regis of being.

Vieira's the Rhode Island daughter of Portuguese immigrants and despite having wealth now, she wears her humble, New England upbringing like a badge of honor. And she doesn't have a great poker face. When she likes the contestant it shows and when she doesn't it shows. A Boston fireman was on the show and Meredith was a little flirty in that safe, middle-aged married way. When a struggling Queens barmaid/actress was overacting between answers, Meredith looked relieved when she finally lost and left the set.

When people come on the show, sometimes they are there to make money for a cruise or something less serious like that. Sometimes they are desperate and down to their last few bucks. When those people are on, Meredith doesn't give them clues, but subtly hints in which direction they should go. Meaning, if they are not sure of an answer and seem willing to bet the ranch on a guess, she might coax them to take their winnings and go before they leave with nothing. It's a great gesture and fortunately most are smart enough to pick up on her cautiousness. Sometimes they don't and when they lose, you can see the pain in her face for them. Her show might be funded by Capital One, but she never let's her job get in the way of her humanity.

On the other hand, when the Boston fireman was trying to win enough for a Corvette he hesitated on a question and said, "Well, I guess this is where they separate the boys from the men." To which she replied, "Well, which one are you?" Which drew unusually loud boos from the crowd. Usually the crowd loves her, so she laughed at how quickly they turned on her, but she explained herself with a Cheshire smile: "It depends on what you think a man would do. A man might see he's reached his limit and be able to walk away with what he's already made. And a boy might be too aggressive." But we knew she didn't mean that. LOL

My favorite moment on the show was with a young, Oklahoma mother. She had graduated college recently, but already had a one-year-old at home and was looking to marry her live-in fiancee. They had a two-room apartment with two mismatched twin beds sitting side by side. They were scraping by without a couch, with his old dinosaur curtains on the windows and other signs of a poor, young couple starting out. Despite TV-quality good looks, she had a sweetness and innocence that could only come from the Midwest. She wasn't on the show for fun, like others, but to change her family's life. Every answer she got right she would cheer with a whoop and raised fists. Despite the notorious "hot seat", as the show's producers call it, the girl showed her smarts by knocking down the answers with ease, never using a lifeline.

Now the structure of the show goes that you answer five questions to get to the $1000 milestone, from there you cannot win less than a $1000. You answer five more to reach the $25,000 milestone, again you can't leave with less than 25 grand. Now you have five more to a Million. In six months, I've only seen one person get to see the Million dollar question, most others win at or below $25,000. Very few win more than that.

When this contestant won her $25,000 she started crying tears of relieved joy. That's when she explained what the money meant to her, which was pretty cool. Because when you fill out the audition form, your reasons for wanting to be on the show are supposed to be on there, so Meredith can have something to talk to you about. The fact that this girl kept this part of her life to herself meant she didn't use a sob story to get on TV. Meredith was as surprised as the audience at what this girl's life was like and she broke down with her. The girl finally left with that 25 Grand and Meredith gave her one of the biggest hugs and wished her well on her new life.

Maybe this same scenario would have played out with Regis there, but somehow I think it would have come off less sincere.

The Freditor

Don Rickles ridicules his way into our hearts, 82 and still going strong

**** (out of 5)


HBO recently ran a documentary on the Life of Don Rickles, called Mr. Warmth. I never realized that was his nickname despite being a big fan for 30+ years. I guess I became a fan of Rickles through two outlets: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Dean Martin Roasts. As you know, a lot of old comedy and old comics don't appeal to me. Whether it's generational or not I contend that almost all great movie comedies were made After 1973. The times changed and so did the temper of the comedy, which fit my tastes better. But like Rodney Dangerfield, Rickles' comedy was way ahead of its time. When that time finally came around in the early '70s, people were ready to jump on board.

Being born and bred in rough Jackson Heights-Queens, NY, meant he had to use his wits to get the upper hand on people since he was so small in stature. The ability to nail people with putdowns and still make them laugh at themselves became the source of his very lucrative career.

After being in the Navy fighting World War II, Rickles entered New York's famous American Academy of Dramatic Arts. There he shared the stage with Don Murray, Anne Bancroft, Tom Poston, Jason Robards and I think Grace Kelly. His first movie role was in the submarine classic, Run Silent Run Deep. He was the torpedo gunner while his two commanders were played by Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Not bad company starting out. But he started to develop an act in Manhattan, as a comic doing impressions between dancers at the strip clubs. It wasn't as horrible a gig as it would seem now. Many future stars got their start that way, including his old buddy, Steve Lawrence.

This documentary was produced by the oddest of sorts, Animal House's director John Landis. It turns out Landis is a lifelong Rickles fan and was a gopher on one Rickles' biggest hits, the 1969 Clint Eastwood movie Kelly's Heroes. Landis even plays a nun in a long distance shot in the movie. After being in show business 50+ years, you develop some friendships with some pretty big names. Of those interviewed for the documentary are Debbie Reynolds, Eastwood, Ernest Borgnine, Chris Rock, Robert Deniro, Martin Scorsese, Bob Newhart, Robin Williams and Sydney Poitier.

Why do so many big-name people love this man? Because for them, you have not really made it in show business unless Don Rickles has made fun of you on stage. We see Rickles breaking up Ronald Reagan at his 1985 second inaugural gala ("Am I going too fast for you, Ronnie?"). Rickles to Clint Eastwood, on a night honoring Eastwood, "Clint, I say it, nobody else has said it, and I say it from my heart: You're a lousy actor." When he played Los Angeles and especially Vegas in the '60s and early '70s the room would be filled with celebrities hoping to become his target.

Even now as an 82 year old man, he still does regular shows at a Las Vegas casino. His fame started to die down in the '90s, but was reenergized by his role as Billy Sherbert in Casino and then as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I would love to go see him at the Westbury Music Fair just for one night and sit in the front row with a floral shirt. Something that would grab his attention. That would be some experience.

The Freditor