#Judith Belushi

[ninetyminutes]

JUDITH BELUSHI: Just before John and I were married, I kicked him out of the house for this or that, and he went and stayed at Lorne’s place. He fell asleep with a cigarette going, and the mattress caught on fire. He didn't burn the whole place down, but I'm sure it caused some damage. Lorne called me afterward and said, "Can I send him home now?"

[inevitablemoment]

Say hi to John for us, Judy.

[greensparty]

Remembering Jon Landau and Judy Belushi Pisano

Here is my combined remembrance of two entertainment figures we lost:

Remembering Jon Landau 1960-2024

Film producer Jon Landau has died at 63. Please note he is not the same Jon Landau who is a music producer and music manager for Bruce Springsteen. This Landau was known for his frequent collaborations with James Cameron. He won an Oscar for Best Picture winner Titanic. He was nominated for both Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water (read my movie review here).

Landau and Cameron at the 1998 Academy Awards

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

Remembering Judith Belushi Pisano 1951-2024

Author, producer, actress Judith Belushi Pisano has died at 73. She was married to SNL great John Belushi from 1976 to his death in 1982. She was later married to producer Victor Pisano from 1990 to 2010.

Judith Belushi Pisano (center) at the 2004 star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, and Jim Belushi

She got her start in the art department at National Lampoon and then became a producer of their radio hour. She had small roles in John Belushi films like National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers. She was the producer of the 1985 video The Best of John Belushi (I watched that VHS with friends quite often as a kid). She also wrote the 1990 memoir Samurai Widow. She was an interviewee in various documentaries including Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead  and Belushi (read my review here).

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Heading into the 50th season of Saturday Night Live, fans of the show and its original cast may feel they already know all of the lore surrounding them and their iconic characters, such as how Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi took two white guys in black suits and rocketed The Blues Brothers to the top of the charts with a multi-platinum album in 1978 and a subsequent movie in 1980 that co-starred Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and James Brown—and in doing so, revitalized the careers of those music legends. And yet, somehow, there are revelations aplenty in a new two-hour oral history, Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude, debuting Thursday exclusively on Audible.

Aykroyd, now 72, narrates and presides over the retrospective, which features previously unheard audio from Belushi (who died in 1982), some of the last testimony of his widow, Judith Belushi Pisano (who died earlier this month), as well as anecdotes from Blues Brothers musical director Paul Shaffer, band members Lou Marini and Steve Jordan, plus drummer Willie Hall, Belushi’s real-life inspiration Curtis Salgado, filmmaker John Landis, and his wife, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis.

As Belushi’s widow explains, the real origin story of The Blues Brothers involved a lot more than what we saw on screen.

“They were characters. No doubt about it,” Pisano recalls. “They were somewhat alter-egos, as well. They were sort of characters on the stage of life. It wasn’t a bit, exactly, that they ended up doing. I know that it’s often referred to The Blues Brothers as developed from a skit on Saturday Night Live, and you know, that’s really just not true. It’s not how it happened.”

From road trips to roadhouses to 30 Rock

While the Aykroyd-Belushi partnership officially began on stage in Toronto at The Second City—after which they did listen to a live blues band that very first night and share their common tastes in music—the idea for them to perform music in addition to comedy came a bit later when the duo drove cross-country. “They sort of jokingly said, let’s do a band,” Pisano recalls. Belushi, then already a star of The National Lampoon’s off-Broadway musical, Lemmings, as well as The National Lampoon Radio Hour, had recruited Aykroyd from Toronto, and he was sleeping on a mattress on the floor of the studio apartment Belushi shared with Pisano on Bleecker Street.

Belushi would get up onstage with bands in NYC or on road trips and sing the old Robert Johnson tune, “Sweet Home Chicago,” which Pisano says “was a well-known, popular, easy to play song.” Lorne Michaels saw one of Belushi’s performances and suggested he do it to warm up the studio audience at Saturday Night Live. Belushi got Aykroyd involved. Willie Nelson gave Jake and Elwood their first big break

Belushi already had befriended Willie Nelson, according to Aykroyd, and they laid out their initial concept for a blues band to Nelson backstage during his residency at The Lone Star Cafe, a former nightclub on Fifth Avenue. “Within a few minutes, Willie had agreed to lend us his band as a backup for a trial show in which Jake and Elwood would open for him,” Aykroyd says. He and Belushi learned a few songs for the gig. “The reaction was favorable, although clear that neither John nor I were conservatory-trained artists, we had a good feel for the music, and we knew how to feature an all-star band.”

Comedian Lenny Bruce helped inspire their signature look

“The wardrobe was inspired by Lenny Bruce, who always wore a dark suit, black string tie and white shirt,” Aykroyd says. “The hat and shades were meant to emulate John Lee Hooker from the photo on the cover of his album House of the Blues. It delighted us that we were compared to IRS agents, Men in Black, and the reference in the movie when Aretha Franklin says that we resemble Hasidic diamond merchants.”

“They found the stuff in thrift shops,” Pisano adds, “and then once the movie hit, they were on—you got yourself a designer, and custom-made suits before you know it.”

Enter Landis’s wife, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, who had outfitted Belushi’s “COLLEGE” sweatshirt for National Lampoon’s Animal House, and later picked out the fedora and jacket for Indiana Jones, as well as Michael Jackson’s red Thriller jacket. She recalls how haphazard their early outfits looked as Jake and Elwood: “They were using any jacket and any pair of black trousers, usually didn’t match. So they were not in suits, they were unsuited. And any hat, and any tie, and any shirt, and any glasses that looked OK.”

Lorne Michaels was initially skeptical the idea would work

That their first blues song onscreen happened in their SNL “Killer Bee” costumes? Not part of the plan. “Which John hated,” Landis alleges. “And I think it was Lorne sticking it to him.” But after that performance of “I’m a King Bee” on the Jan. 17, 1976, episode, SNL’s musical director Howard Shore dubbed Aykroyd and Belushi The Blues Brothers, and they were off and running.

Belushi tasked Paul Shaffer, an original SNL house band member (and later longtime band leader for David Letterman’s late-night reign), to hire the rest of The Blues Brothers band, which originally included Shaffer on keys, Marini on sax, Al Rubin on trumpet, Tom Malone on trombone, and Steve Jordan on percussion. “I just knew I was having a better time than I ever thought I would have in my whole life,” Shaffer recalls. “Everybody was having so much fun.” And of Aykroyd and Belushi, Shaffer says: “They were explosive individually,” but together, “like a tornado, that’s what the two were like.”

Malone suggested getting Otis Redding’s guys, Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn on lead guitar and bass to fill out the rhythm section, and then they added another guitarist, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, after seeing him perform elsewhere in the city.

“An odd mixture of people, but man, it worked,” Marini says. “But Lorne didn’t dig it. And then one of the shows late in the season, they were short, and he said, you guys want to do your silly song? Go ahead and do it. And so we did it on the show. And it was a tremendous hit. People just went crazy for it.”

Belushi was furious at anyone who dared criticize the band When The Blues Brothers scored a #1 hit with their debut album, 1978’s Briefcase Full of Blues, Belushi found himself that fall with the top album, along with a box-office smash in Animal House, to go with his fame on SNL. But he was not without his critics.

In a previously unheard interview conducted with journalist Steve Bloom for a 1979 profile in the Soho Weekly News, we hear Belushi brushing back criticism of The Blues Brothers as a novelty act or appropriating black culture.

“It’s just weird, you know. Why would I do these things?” he says. “First of all, it has nothing to do with ego. It has nothing to do with money. Or the need to be loved by an audience. I don’t have any of those feelings. What the fuck do these people think I am, anyway? I can’t fucking understand why they would attack—see when they attack me, they attack the band. And I hate when they attack the band, because then it makes them look like schmucks for doing what they did for me.” One famous scene from ‘The Blues Brothers’ film was inspired by real life

Aykroyd reveals that one scene in their 1980 film is a nod to their actual record deal: “Where we are about to escape from the Palace Ballroom and commence the final run for Chicago. A 350-pound, 6-foot-4-inch man resembling a Turkish spa attendant lunges out from the wings to offer a record deal. This scene is a direct reprise of what happened when John and I left the stage as The Blues Brothers that first night. In the dressing room halls of 8H, at the page stand, Michael Klenfner, who played the guy in the film and was an acquaintance of John’s, grabbed us and said, ‘You guys should do a record. I’m Michael Klenfner from Atlantic Records. Ahmet (Ertegun) will love this.’” Klenfner died at 62 in 2009.

Film distributors didn’t think Southern audiences could handle the film’s ‘Black’ music

Landis says he intended to make a 70mm “road movie” complete with an intermission, but he and Universal couldn’t even convince cinema distributors to roll out the film nationwide. He and Aykroyd claim exhibitors—Landis singled out Ted Mann of Mann Theatres, who’d bought the Fox Theater chain—worried that audiences in the South and elsewhere would object to a film filled with predominantly “Black” music and performers. So they only debuted in 600 cinemas instead of 1,400, and tried to mount a live concert tour to promote it.

Aykroyd saw none of the film’s massive box office profits

Even though the movie brought in more than $115 million at the box office, Aykroyd saw none of it. He says he received a $225,000 salary for writing and performing in the movie, “for which I was grateful then and am now, as I was only a net points participant in the proceeds, this is all the fee and money I have ever received from The Blues Brothers movie. Universal’s position is that due to the high costs at the time, my net points remain worthless.”

The Belushis fared a bit better, as Pisano said John Belushi used $150,000 he’d received as a bonus from Animal House’s success to subsidize the 1978 album recordings, which took place live at Universal Amphitheatre while they served as Steve Martin’s opening act. “We weren’t repaid [by Atlantic] until well after we recorded everything and they’d heard it, so I think we were probably a little naive to assume we were getting that money back,” Pisano says. “But: Best investment I ever made.”

Sean L. McCarthy @thecomicscomic

[ghostwood7]

On the evening of Friday, March 5, 1982, Actor, Singer, Comedian John Belushi got together with several close friends (which included Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro) for a dinner party at "On The Rox", the Restaurant above the famous Roxy Nightclub on Sunset Blvd. After dinner, he invited Williams and DeNiro up to his temporary residence at Bungalow #3 at the Chateau Marmont.. It was while there that, at his urging, he was injected with Cocaine and Heroin (a speedball - now, sadly called a Belushi) by Cathy Evelyn Smith (known to some as "Sundown" see the song by Gordon Lightfoot). His friends left while Cathy remained behind with him. After awhile, John went into the bedroom to lie down for a time, so Cathy left.

Later, John's manager tried to call him at the Bungalow and got no answer, so he went to check up on him. When he entered the bungalow and went into the bedroom, John was blue in the face. Brillstein tried unsuccessfully revive John, but it was too late. John Belushi was dead. He called Police, Ambulance and then the Medical Examiner's Office. Not long after their arrival, the News Media arrived bringing with them crowds of people who looked on as John's body was carried out of the hotel in a body bag and placed into a van. It was at that moment that Cathy arrived back on the scene. When she saw what was going on, she turned her car around and fled.

When Dan Aykroyd got the news in NYC that John was dead, he walked all the way to where John had lived with his wife Judith and told her the news. The Funeral for John Belushi was held in Massachusettes near Martha's Vineyard and he was buried in Chilmark. The funeral was attended by Lorraine Newman, Bill Murry and, of course, Dan Aykroyd of SNL. Dan was in full motorcycle gear.

Sometime later, as a Psychic Medium was trying to make contact with the Dearly Departed in a well known part of Hollywood, she alledgedly came in contact with the spirit of John Belushi, who stated to her that he was just as shocked by his death as everyone else was. Why did he not cross over into the Light? There are several theories, one of which was that he had unfinished business in this life.

A woman and her family had to temporarily move out of their home due to renovations so they checked into the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. Due to problems with the renovation, they ended up staying there for over a year. During this time, late at night they would hear their young son (age 2) alone in his room laughing and giggling to himself. They thought nothing of it as the child is a very outgoing and playful child by nature. When they finally did ask what he was laughing at, the child would only say "the funny man". So one night the woman was talking to her friend about all this and her friend mentioned that John Belushi had died in the Chateau and that there were many reports of his spirit still roaming the grounds. A friend of hers did a quick search online and asked her if they are staying in Bungalow #3. She said yes. Apparently the family had been living in the same bungalow that John had died in. Some initial thoughts were to take pictures of various actors and show them to the child to see if he could recognize "the funny man" but, according to the mother, this never came to fruition. A friend of the boys mother visited the bungalow while they were staying there. It was for a birthday party for the boy and while it was a bit creepy, nothing out of the ordinary was said to have happened. Until later. After a time, the boy began to copmplain that he wasn't sleeping well because of the "funny man" who would awaken the boy and want to play with him and make him laugh. The mother of the child was sitting in bed one night she was sitting in bed one night looking at a book about the Chateau Marmont, and her son wandered in. He was very interested in what she was looking at so she told him it's all about the Chateau as she turned the pages ... there were many photos of various celebs that have stayed there over its many years. So the kid would say, "who is that?" And she said, oh that's an actor who was popular when your grandma was younger ... and that's Robert DeNiro, that's Robin Williams ... etc. Then she turned the page. The child got very excited, pointed and said: "Look Mommy, there's the FUNNY MAN!" He pointed right at the picture of John Belushi.

No, they have never shown him photos or Belushi films; in fact, when we suggested it a long time ago she said "no" so this kid has had no prompting whatsoever. But he sure did recognize his "funny man" right away! Although she hadn't been afraid to go to the bathroom alone at night since she was 8 years old, she was very uncomfortable doing so when they were staying in Bungalow 3. She said she would run in and out quickly, and never made eye contact with the mirror; she just felt as if she was being watched all the time. She went on to say that every time she opened the door to the room/area the kid was sleeping in, to tuck him in at night, she felt what she can only describe as a "whoosh!" #Tragedy, #ChateauMarmont, #Speedball, #JohnBelushi, #Hollywood, #Party, #Ghost, #Paranormal, #LastSupper, #LosAngeles, #SoCal, #Singer, #Actor, #Comedian, #Crime

[youviralart]

Dan Aykroyd

Blues Brothers

TV Series

In development

The series will follow Jake and Elwood Blues, along with the characters within their master blues band, as the boys take their act on the road and back to their native Chicago.

Creators Dan Aykroyd, Anne Beatts, Judith Belushi-Pisano

[thebladedtechshow]

AFI Fest: Belushi Review

R.J. Cutler holds back an otherwise stylish and all encompassing view of John Belushi's life. My review of Showtime's Belushi. #AFIFest #Belushi #Documentary #Film #JohnBelushi #MovieReview #Movies #Showtime

Covering the life of famed comedian John Belushi from 1968 to his death in 1982, director R.J. Cutler uses previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after his death to examine who John Belushi was backstage. 

I feel that much could have been done with the film’s editing while still covering the 14 or so years highlighted in the film. Much of the documentary’s time is devoted to Belushi’s…

[danaykroydislife]

Back in 2013 there could have been a comic book about the blues brothers. Approved by judith belushi. Artist is simon williams. He also draws alot of superheroes like batman,superman and marvel!

[gregarnott]

 John Belushi, at the Village Gate in Greenwich Village with wife Judith (right) and "Animal House" co-stars Bruce McGill (left) and Mary Louise Weller

[chocolatelovingbookworm]

Amazon.com: Mighty Ducks: The Movie [VHS] : Jim Belushi, Jeff Bennett, Clancy Brown, Townsend Coleman, Tim Curry, Roy Firestone, Dennis Franz, Brad Garrett, Jennifer Hale, Tony Jay, Steve Mackall, Frank Welker, Baekyup Sung, Blair Peters, Doug Murphy, Joe Barruso, Lisa Salamone Smith, David Wise, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Judith Reeves-Stevens: Movies & TV

"<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftymaidens-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=6304294034&asins=6304294034&linkId=1d59a3cf74832a134f710e449ac6115a&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>"

https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Ducks-Movie-Jim-Belushi/dp/6304294034/ref=sr_1_3?crid=QK1JRYH8H6GP&keywords=mighty+ducks+animated+series&qid=1649655506&sprefix=the+mighty+ducks+the+anim%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-3#:~:text=%3Ciframe%20sandbox%3D%22allow,link_opens_in_new_window%3Dtrue%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E

[ninetyminutes]

“The set catching fire is a dramatization of several mishaps in the walk-up to the premiere. But there is a story in SNL lore about John Belushi accidentally setting Lorne Michaels’ mattress on fire. When Belushi's fiancée Judith had kicked him out of the house after a fight, he went to stay with Michaels, and ended up falling asleep with a cigarette lit.” — source.

Ok but now I’m just picturing members of the cast going to Lorne’s place whenever they need somewhere to stay. Like they just show up on his doorstep at the weirdest hours and he’s at the point where he doesn’t even bat an eye, he just lets them in.

[abtc]

John Belushi Cause Of Death

John Belushi Cause Of Death

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician who died in Los Angeles, California, United States. On March 5, 1982, John Belushi was found dead after being injected with heroin and cocaine at Chanteau Marmont, a shadowy hotel that looms over West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Born on January 24, 1949, Belushi attended the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. He was married to Judith…

[kimberlykeebler34]

TV highlights for the week of Nov. 22-28

SUNDAY ● Taraji P. Henson is our host for the 2020 American Music Awards, which will celebrate the year's best chart-topping artists, as determined by fan votes. Among the night's performers at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles are Bad Bunny with Jhay Cortez, Billie Eilish, BTS, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez and Maluma, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion and Shawn Mendes. Also, Katy Perry returns to the AMA stage to deliver a world premiere broadcast performance of her latest single, "Only Love." (8 p.m., ABC). ● "Belushi" is a feature-length documentary that examines the life and legacy of comedic actor John Belushi. The film leans heavily into candid interviews with his collaborators, friends and family, including Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Penny Marshall, Lorne Michaels, Carrie Fisher, Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Jane Curtin, Ivan Reitman and his high school sweetheart and later wife, Judith Belushi-Pisano. (9 p.m., Showtime). MONDAY ● Based on a 1939 novel by Rumer Godden, the three-episode limited series "Black Narcissus" follows a group of young Anglican nuns trying to establish a mission in a remote part of the Himalayas. The site's haunting mysteries awaken forbidden desires that seem destined to repeat a terrible tragedy. The cast includes the late Diana Rigg in one of her last roles. (8 p.m., FX). ● The "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" revival series that debuted in 2016 on Netflix gets a four-night repeat showing on the show's original broadcast home. The story begins in the winter as Rory (Alexis Bledel) works through job-related struggles and Lorelai (Lauren Graham) deals with some unresolved issues of her own. (8 p.m., the CW). TUESDAY ● "NCIS" hits a milestone tonight with its 400th episode. Flashbacks reveal the murder case that gave young Gibbs (Sean Harmon) his first brush with NCIS and his introduction to young Ducky (Adam Campbell) – a meeting that would lead to a long-running bond. (8 p.m., CBS). ● Times are tough around the world in 2020, and life in the backwoods of Appalachia is no exception. The outlaw distillers of "Moonshiners" return for another season in which they take bigger risks and ramp up their operations to meet unprecedented demand during the pandemic. (8 p.m., Discovery Channel). WEDNESDAY Real-life spouses Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn play Santa and Mrs. Claus in "Christmas Chronicles 2." A follow-up to a popular 2018 film, the new saga brings Kate (Darby Camp) back to the North Pole when a magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to end Christmas for good. (Netflix). THURSDAY Yes, despite the pandemic, there still will be a Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The 94-year tradition continues without street-side spectators and marching bands, but with plenty of ornate floats, humongous balloons and Broadway performers – plus Santa Claus, of course. (9 a.m., NBC; repeats at 2 p.m.). FRIDAY ● It's again time to chill out with "Frosty the Snowman" as the jolly happy soul drops by in his annual holiday special. The program is immediately followed by "Frosty Returns." (8 p.m., CBS). ● Put all of Whoville on alert: The grumpy green grouch with a heart two sizes too small returns in the enduring animated classic "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas." (8 p.m., NBC) SATURDAY

[aion-rsa]

Belushi Review: Showtime’s Look at John Belushi Is Almost Definitive

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The world got to know John Belushi’s eyebrows before we got to know the man. They projected his innermost confusion, telegraphed his thought processes, and misdirected his most sincere intentions. Showtime’s heartfelt and intimate documentary, Belushi, opens with clips from the comic icon’s screen test for Saturday Night Live. Armed with just his face, he lets those eyebrows steal the scene. They cajole, caress, and careen across the bottom of his brow, culminating in a series of aerobic stretches with a gymnast’s flair. Belushi didn’t have to crack a joke, he barely had to say a word, and yet showed a world of possibilities within a few inches of cranial space. Belushi really was a lot like his decathlon character in the Little Chocolate Donuts skit. All he needed was some sugar to keep him going. The documentary shows Belushi really was born that way, and didn’t need the extra sweetening.

Too bad he couldn’t keep it up. But we know this from the beginning. The first real scene takes place at the height of Belushi’s fame and adulation. He stole the movie he was just in, Animal House, which was the most successful comedy film of all time at the time. He was on the number one TV show in America. His record The Blues Brothers’ Briefcase of Blues, not even a comedy album, but a labor of love with musician friends he respected and adored, was at the top of the charts, with hit singles doing the same. Director R.J. Cutler (The War Room, The September Issue, Listen to Me Marlon) immediately declares this documentary isn’t about one of America’s favorite performers, it is about the cannibalistic hungers of fame.

“John always had appetites that were completely out of control, for everything, but I didn’t start to worry about him until he was at the Universal Amphitheatre, playing for 7,000 people,” Harold Ramis, who had known Belushi since their improvisational comedy beginnings, says over the soundtrack and applause. “I looked at John on the stage and I thought, ‘He’s on the most popular comedy show of our generation, he was in the most successful comedy film ever, and now he’s onstage fronting an amazing band.’ My first thought was, ‘How great for him.’ My second thought was, ‘Knowing his appetites, I don’t think he’ll survive this.’”

With that, Ramis throws a dark shadow over the rest of the film. Every success the documentary shows from here on has a cloud of doom hanging over it. Belushi was a wild man, bouncing around on the very edge of the most visible stage, both higher than anyone possibly imagined. SNL made overnight stars out of most of its cast. Chevy Chase was plucked out early because, well, he was Chevy Chase and they weren’t. But while former drummer Chase went on to be a matinee draw, Belushi became a rock star.

Belushi’s life has been told before. Watergate journalist Bob Woodward wrote the tawdry 1984 book Wired, which was adapted into a feature film in 1989. The documentary makes ample use of audio clips from Tanner Colby’s 2012 oral history Belushi: A Biography. Belushi’s wife Judith interviewed many of his friends and castmates, like Ramis, Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Lorne Michaels, Carrie Fisher, Ivan Reitman, Penny Marshall, and John’s brother Jim Belushi. Judy conducted the interviews in the first few years after Belushi’s death. This gives Belushi an immediacy, but also makes the stories feel older. None of the other interviews are shown as talking heads, except archival footage of Belushi himself.

While the guest voices condense the story, and breathe an even-handed life into the material, Belushi works best when it lets Belushi tell his own version. Some of the most revealing insights come from a series of letters written to Judy, who had been with him ever since Wheaton Community High School. The letters, which open “Dear Jutes,” begin when Belushi is still in an Indiana summer stock company, smoking pot and listening to The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, which he writes makes him think of her whenever he hears it, “Especially ‘With a Little Help From My Friends.’” His rendition of Joe Cocker’s adaptation of the song is a late highlight, and Belushi’s letters are interpreted very effectively by Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader.

The letters illuminate Belushi’s passions while humanizing the larger-than-life performer. Home movie footage succeeds in showing him trying to find an elusive normalcy in real life. The letters offset the seemingly effortless rise of the comedian with the inner turmoil that fed it. Belushi comes off as obsessed with success but terrified of fame. A late letter reveals Belushi was afraid he reached a point of no return. Some of the letters are funny, others insecure, still others come off as despondent.

One of the most unexpected revelations about Belushi is how he felt like an outsider growing up, and was embarrassed by his Albanian immigrant background. One wouldn’t think Belushi might be embarrassed by anything. “We all wanted to be American,” his brother Jim Belushi explains. John, who was expected to work in his father’s restaurant, instead put it to work for him, inspiring his Pete Dionasopoulos of the Olympia Café character in the “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger” sketches.

Much of Belushi’s story is brought to life by the animated sequences from Robert Valley. These are particularly effective when showing Belushi during his high school years drumming with a band called the Ravens, and illustrating his time with the improv group he founded, The West Compass Players, which led to his joining Chicago’s Second City troupe. His rise is spectacularly fun to hear, and the animation makes up for lost footage.

The film also gets into his many contradictions. Belushi is drawn losing himself in the albums of comics like Jonathan Winters and Bob Newhart. But when he is asked, during his Second City period, his opinion on Lou Costello, Belushi says “Nope, don’t like him.” John wanted to create something new. The film also shows how much spontaneity played into Belushi’s comedy. He’d only seen the samurai movie with Toshiro Mifune on TV the night before he auditioned for Saturday Night Live.

Belushi was flown from Chicago to New York to officiate over Lemmings, National Lampoon’s Off-Broadway spoof of Woodstock. He stole the show with his impersonation of Joe Cocker. Lorne Michaels saw Saturday Night Live as a show which would be an “upheaval” for network television. Belushi said he hated television during his interview, but told Michaels he would deign to appear on the show. He’d already auditioned for a rival series called “Saturday Night,” which was going to be headlined by sports announcer Howard Cosell.

The documentary expertly weaves the double-edged sword of celebrity. Belushi chafed at being recognized on the street as “that Bee guy” from their bumble-bee sketches, but his performances, many of them exercises in extreme physical comedy, struck a nerve with audiences. Belushi lets clips strike at the audience to back it up. Michaels compares Belushi to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners, because he brought a blue-collar vibe. On SNL, Belushi is remembered as being very competitive, distracted by the success of Chevy Chase, and dismissive of the women writers and performers. Once Chase left, Michaels says “the thing that John most hoped for, that he would be the alpha male, had now happened.”

The documentary is at its most exciting when it shows clips. From the early Lemmings stage show, through Saturday Night Live, Belushi highlights the anarchy Belushi brought to the stage. It could easily slip into be a “best of” clip show, featuring his memorable characters Jake Blues and the Samurai, or his ruthless spoof of Elizabeth Taylor choking on a chicken bone, giving herself the Heimlich maneuver and returning to the chicken. But instead informs Belushi’s motivations. Cutler consistently finds perfect clips to illustrate how Belushi’s individuality drove him to seemingly unimaginable heights. The onscreen examples justify the star quality which put him on the cover of Newsweek and Rolling Stone. We get the sense of how Belushi helped change American culture and comedy, in the same league as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, and George Carlin. But while scaling the dizzying heights, the movie never loses its sense of doom.

Belushi’s spiral into addiction is covered at length. In the second season of SNL, Belushi got injured doing a pratfall and was prescribed painkillers. When the prescription ran out, he turned to the street for hard drugs. Later in his career, Belushi would hire President Nixon’s personal bodyguard to keep him away from bad influences, but on his rise up, many of his colleagues cut him a lot of slack. “He was testing all his boundaries at that point,” The Blues Brothers director John Landis explains, before excusing Belushi: “I don’t think we lost more than four or five days of shooting because of the drugs.”

Belushi got clean for a year, living Martha’s Vineyard. Carrie Fisher, however, says in an interview that by skipping rehab, Belushi never dealt with sobriety’s most challenging aspects: day to day life can be boring, and the comic star didn’t have the coping mechanism to deal with feelings the drugs were covering up. Cutler’s documentary is moving, offering a look into the soul of the man who embodied the “animal” found in every college fraternity, Bluto in Animal House. The documentary deftly explores Belushi’s attempts to make the beast noble, taking his acting seriously in smaller films like Old Boyfriends, Continental Divide, and trying to break out of the audience’s preconceptions with his last film Neighbors.

Cutler finds Belushi, the performer, but doesn’t quite catch John as a person as Belushi incrementally shifts its focus from his art to his drug binges. Belushi can’t fully celebrate Belushi, because everyone watching knows the ending. In March of 1982, Belushi sequestered himself at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles in order to finish “Noble Rot,” a screenplay he was writing with Don Novello. Here the film very succinctly and poignantly captures the love people felt for the man, Belushi. Aykroyd, who said he fell in love with Belushi the moment they met, still bears deep wounds.

“He was sad and defeated,” Aykroyd remembers about his last conversation. “I thought I’ll finish this page, this paragraph and get out there. I didn’t get to him in time. I carry that with me forever.” Belushi’s long-time blues and soul brother thought he had a solution. “I told him I was writing something great for us,” we hear Aykroyd say in the film. “I was writing Ghostbusters.” While the documentary gives this revelation a sheen of hopeful might-have-beens, it really only underscores how that would be a mistake assumption. Everything about the documentary says a successful film might only have slowed the same inevitable ending.

For all the archival footage found in Belushi, one particular short film broadcast on Saturday Night Live is sadly not featured, except for a few stills in one of the quicker montages. “Don’t Look Back in Anger” shows John, as an old man, walking through a cemetery and reminiscing about his old friends on SNL. They’re all dead in the film, Belushi is the last survivor. Why? Because he is a dancer. This may have been how he saw himself, and as his audience most wanted to see him. But for all the missed promise it may have subverted, the skit fits with Belushi’s larger picture. John Belushi is dancing through a graveyard, happily. The film is a wake, of sorts. But the dance is how Belushi ultimately moved through life, with a dancer’s grace which defied the body held down by strong appetites. Belushi would have been a more satisfying film if it took smaller bites.

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Belushi airs Sunday, Nov. 22, at 9 p.m., on Showtime.

The post Belushi Review: Showtime’s Look at John Belushi Is Almost Definitive appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[tvguidancecounselor]

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 434: Amanda Reyes

October 21-27, 1978

This week Ken welcomes author, TV movie genius and all around cool chick Amanda Reyes to the show.

Ken and Amanda discuss living in Texas, movie around as a kid, being via satellite, glamour, Las Vegas, LA, Vegas with Robert Urich, The Nightstalker, being a BYOTVG guest, WKRP in Cincinnati, being a horror fan, being an expert, Made for TV movies, how Amanda became an expert, Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee, Are You In The House Alone? a TV Movie compendium 1964-1999 , Bad Ronald, soaps, how TV movies are often just "movies" in the UK and Europe, Kate's Secret, Meredith Baxter-Bernie, representation for women's stories, older women's stories and classic Hollywood actors, Black Christmas, slasher flicks, exploitation directors, Special Bulletin, the amount of TV movies and specials in the 1978-1979 season, Peyton Place, The Bradys, Escape from Gilligan's Island, Rhoda, Carter Country, reunion movies, Westerns, The Hardy Boys, Battlestar Gallactica, Gallactica 80, cult deprogramming, Max Gayle, hunks, Tab Hunter, Dorothy Stratton, Star 80, Judith Crist, Kim Basinger, Blind Date, Killjoy, Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold, lost TV movies, blaming the adult industry, cannibals, Happy Days, Laverene and Shirley, Donner Pass, House II, Shauna Grant, The Waltons, The Grass is Always Greener over The Septic Tank, Alex Rocco, Charles Grodin, Leg Men, Leg Work, Parterns in Crime, loving Burt Convy, being distant from your family, watching TV families to learn how familes work, Can't Stop the Music, Steve Guttenberg, Bruce Jenner, how Eat My Dust! led to Ron Howard's directing career, Cotton Candy, Halloween is Grinch Night, the punk rock episode of Quincy, CHiPs, Shatner being a jerk directing TJ Hooker, Witches Night Out, things being very 70s, the Odd Couple starring Sherman Helmsly and Pat Morita, Jim Belushi, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Kindertrauma, TV Casualties, It's Your Move, CBS Storybreak, PSAs and being absolutely terrified of The Incredible Hulk.

Check out this episode!

[hammondcast]

Harry Shearer Interview With Jon Hammond

#WATCHMOVIE HERE: Harry Shearer Interview With Jon Hammond Jon's archive https://archive.org/details/HarryShearerInterviewWithJonHammond Youtube https://youtu.be/MByRDtzWZB4 Vimeo https://vimeo.com/231223997 Nashville Tennessee -- Harry Shearer Interview with Jon Hammond just before Harry accepted the American Eagle Award along with Crystal Gayle and Patti Smith from the US National Music Council during Summer NAMM Show - for broadcast on Jon Hammond Show on MNN TV Channel 1 in Manhattan - Harry's Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Shearer "Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, musician, author, radio host, director and producer. He is known for his long-running roles on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The Credibility Gap, a radio comedy group. Following the breakup of the group, Shearer co-wrote the film Real Life with Albert Brooks and started writing for Martin Mull's television series Fernwood 2 Night. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live on two occasions, between 1979–80, and 1984–85. Shearer co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, a satirical rockumentary, which became a cult hit. In 1989, Shearer joined the cast of The Simpsons; he provides voices for numerous characters, including Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert and more. Shearer has appeared in several films, including A Mighty Wind and The Truman Show, has directed two, Teddy Bears' Picnic and The Big Uneasy, and has written three books. Since 1983, Shearer has been the host of the public radio comedy/music program Le Show, a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy. Shearer has won a Primetime Emmy Award, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the radio category, and has received several other Emmy and Grammy Award nominations. He has been married to singer-songwriter Judith Owen since 1993. He is currently "artist in residence" at Loyola University, New Orleans. Shearer was born December 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, the son of Dora Warren (née Kohn) (d. 2008), a bookkeeper, and Mack Shearer.[2] His parents were Jewish immigrants from Austria and Poland.[3][4] Starting when Shearer was four years old, he had a piano teacher whose daughter worked as a child actress. The piano teacher later decided to make a career change and become a children's agent, as she knew people in the business through her daughter's work. The teacher asked Shearer's parents for permission to take him to an audition. Several months later, she called Shearer's parents and told them that she had gotten Shearer an audition for the radio show The Jack Benny Program. Shearer received the role when he was seven years old.[5] He described Jack Benny as "very warm and approachable [...] He was a guy who dug the idea of other people on the show getting laughs, which sort of spoiled me for other people in comedy."[6] Shearer said in an interview that one person who "took him under his wing" and was one of his best friends during his early days in show business was voice actor Mel Blanc, who voiced many animated characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Barney Rubble.[7] Shearer made his film debut in the 1953 film Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, in which he only had a small part. Later that year, he made his first big film performance in The Robe.[6] Throughout his childhood and teenage years he worked in television, film, and radio.[6] In 1957, Shearer played the precursor to the Eddie Haskell character in the pilot episode of the television series Leave It to Beaver. After the filming, Shearer's parents said they did not want him to be a regular in a series. Instead they wanted him to just do occasional work so that he could have a normal childhood. Shearer and his parents made the decision not to accept the role in the series if it was picked up by a television network.[6] Shearer attended UCLA as a political science major in the early 1960s and decided to quit show business to become a "serious person".[5] However, he says this lasted approximately a month, and he joined the staff of the Daily Bruin, UCLA's school newspaper, during his first year.[5] and as editor of the college humor magazine (Satyr) including the June 1964 parody, Preyboy [8] He also worked as a newscaster at KRLA, a top 40 radio station in Pasadena, during this period. According to Shearer, after graduating, he had "a very serious agenda going on, and it was 'Stay Out of the Draft'."[5] He attended graduate school at Harvard University for one year and worked at the state legislature in Sacramento. In 1967 and 1968, he was a high school teacher, teaching English and social studies. He left teaching following "disagreements with the administration."[5] From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The Credibility Gap, a radio comedy group that included David Lander, Richard Beebe and Michael McKean.[9] The group consisted of "a bunch of newsmen" at KRLA 1110, "the number two station" in Los Angeles.[6] They wanted to do more than just straight news, so they hired comedians who were talented vocalists. Shearer heard about it from a friend so he brought over a tape to the station and nervously gave it to the receptionist. By the time he got home, there was a message on his answering machine asking, "Can you come to work tomorrow?"[6] The group's radio show was canceled in 1970 by KRLA and in 1971 by KPPC-FM, so they started performing in various clubs and concert venues.[5] While at KRLA, Shearer also interviewed Creedence Clearwater Revival for the Pop Chronicles music documentary.[10] In 1973, Shearer appeared as Jim Houseafire on How Time Flys, an album by The Firesign Theatre's David Ossman. The Credibility Gap broke up 1976 when Lander and McKean left to perform in the sitcom Laverne & Shirley.[5] Shearer started working with Albert Brooks, producing one of Brooks' albums and co-writing the film Real Life. Shearer also started writing for Martin Mull's television series Fernwood 2 Night.[5] In the mid-1970s, he started working with Rob Reiner on a pilot for ABC. The show, which starred Christopher Guest, Tom Leopold and McKean, was not picked up.[5] Career[edit] Saturday Night Live[edit] In August 1979, Shearer was hired as a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live, one of the first additions to the cast,[6] and an unofficial replacement for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, who were both leaving the show.[11] Al Franken recommended Shearer to Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.[12] Shearer describes his experience on the show as a "living hell" and "not a real pleasant place to work."[11] He did not get along well with the other writers and cast members and states that he was not included with the cast in the opening montage (although he was added to the montage for latter episodes of the 1979-80 season) and that Lorne Michaels had told the rest of the cast that he was just a writer.[13] Michaels left Saturday Night Live at the end of the fifth season, taking the entire cast with him.[14] Shearer told new executive producer Jean Doumanian that he was "not a fan of Lorne's" and offered to stay with the show if he was given the chance to overhaul the program and bring in experienced comedians, like Christopher Guest. However, Doumanian turned him down, so he decided to leave with the rest of the cast.[15] When I left, Dick [Ebersol] issued a press release, saying "creative differences." And the first person who called me for a comment on it read me that and I blurted out, "Yeah, I was creative and they were different." —Harry Shearer[16] In 1984, while promoting the film This Is Spinal Tap, Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean had a performance on Saturday Night Live. All three members were offered the chance to join to the show in the 1984–1985 season. Shearer accepted because he was treated well by the producers and he thought the backstage environment had improved[11] but later stated that he "didn't realize that guests are treated better than the regulars."[17] Guest also accepted the offer while McKean rejected it, although he would join the cast in 1994. Dick Ebersol, who replaced Lorne Michaels as the show's producer, said that Shearer was "a gifted performer but a pain in the butt. He's just so demanding on the preciseness of things and he's very, very hard on the working people. He's just a nightmare-to-deal-with person."[18] In January 1985, Shearer left the show for good,[11] partially because he felt he was not being used enough.[16] Martin Short said Shearer "wanted to be creative and Dick [Ebersol] wanted something else. [...] I think he felt his voice wasn't getting represented on the show. When he wouldn't get that chance, it made him very upset."[19] Spinal Tap[edit] Shearer co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in Rob Reiner's 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap.[6] Shearer, Reiner, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest received a deal to write a first draft of a screenplay for a company called Marble Arch. They decided that the film could not be written and instead filmed a 20-minute demo of what they wanted to do.[11] It was eventually greenlighted by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio at Embassy Pictures.[11] The film satirizes the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of hard rock and heavy metal bands, as well as the hagiographic tendencies of rockumentaries of the time. The three core members of the band Spinal Tap—David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel—were portrayed by McKean, Shearer and Guest respectively. The three actors play their musical instruments and speak with mock English accents throughout the film. There was no script, although there was a written breakdown of most of the scenes, and many of the lines were ad-libbed.[11] It was filmed in 25 days.[11] Shearer said in an interview that "The animating impulse was to do rock 'n' roll right. The four of us had been around rock 'n' roll and we were just amazed by how relentlessly the movies got it wrong. Because we were funny people it was going to be a funny film, but we wanted to get it right."[2] When they tried to sell it to various Hollywood studios, they were told that the film would not work. The group kept saying, "No, this is a story that's pretty familiar to people. We're not introducing them to anything they don't really know," so Shearer thought it would at least have some resonance with the public.[6] The film was only a modest success upon its initial release but found greater success, and a cult following, after its video release. In 2000, the film was ranked 29th on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 comedy movies in American cinema[20] and it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[21] Shearer, Guest and McKean have since worked on several projects as their Spinal Tap characters. They released three albums: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Break Like the Wind (1992) and Back From The Dead (2009).[22] In 1992, Spinal Tap appeared in an episode of The Simpsons called "The Otto Show".[23] The band has played several concerts, including at Live Earth in London on July 7, 2007. In anticipation of the show, Rob Reiner directed a short film entitled Spinal Tap.[24] In 2009, the band released Back from the Dead to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of the film.[25] The album features re-recorded versions of songs featured in This Is Spinal Tap and its soundtrack, and five new songs.[26][27] The band performed a one date "world tour" at London's Wembley Arena on June 30, 2009. The Folksmen, a mock band featured in the film A Mighty Wind that is also made up of characters played by Shearer, McKean and Guest – was the opening act for the show.[28] The Simpsons[edit] Shearer is also known for his prolific work as a voice actor on The Simpsons. Matt Groening, the creator of the show, was a fan of Shearer's work, while Shearer was a fan of a column Groening used to write.[29] Shearer was asked if he wanted to be in the series, but he was initially reluctant because he thought the recording sessions would be too much trouble.[29] He felt voice acting was "not a lot of fun" because traditionally, voice actors record their parts separately.[7] He was told that the actors would record their lines together[7] and after three calls, executive producer James L. Brooks managed to convince Shearer to join the cast.[2] Shearer's first impression of The Simpsons was that it was funny. Shearer, who thought it was a "pretty cool" way to work, found it peculiar that the members of the cast were adamant about not being known to the public as the people behind the voices.[6] Shearer provides voices for Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Otto Mann, Rainier Wolfcastle, Scratchy, Kang, Dr. Marvin Monroe, Judge Snyder and many others.[30] He has described all of his regular characters' voices as "easy to slip into. [...] I wouldn't do them if they weren't easy."[29] Shearer modeled Mr. Burns's voice on the two actors Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan.[31] Shearer says that Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it is rough on his vocal cords and he often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice.[32] He describes Burns as his favorite character, saying he "like[s] Mr. Burns because he is pure evil. A lot of evil people make the mistake of diluting it. Never adulterate your evil."[33] Shearer is also the voice of Burns' assistant Smithers, and is able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. In the episode "Bart's Inner Child", Harry Shearer said "wow" in the voice of Otto, which was then used when Otto was seen jumping on a trampoline.[34] Ned Flanders had been meant to be just a neighbor that Homer was jealous of, but because Shearer used "such a sweet voice" for him, Flanders was broadened to become a Christian and a sweet guy that someone would prefer to live next to over Homer.[35] Dr. Marvin Monroe's voice was based on psychiatrist David Viscott.[36] Monroe has been retired since the seventh season because voicing the character strained Shearer's throat.[37] In 2004, Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show's declining quality: "I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so season four looks very good to me now."[38] Shearer has also been vocal about "The Principal and the Pauper" (season nine, 1997) one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Principal Seymour Skinner, a recurring character since the first season, was an impostor. The episode has been criticized by both Shearer and Groening. In a 2001 interview, Shearer recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, "That's so wrong. You're taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we've done before with other characters. It's so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it's disrespectful to the audience."[39] Due to scheduling and availability conflicts, Shearer decided not to participate in The Simpsons Ride, which opened in 2008, so none of his characters have vocal parts and many do not appear in the ride at all.[40] In a 2010 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Shearer alluded that the reason he was not part of the ride was because he would not be getting paid for it.[41] Until 1998, Shearer was paid $30,000 per episode. During a pay dispute in 1998, Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing for casting of new voices.[42] The dispute, however, was resolved and Shearer received $125,000 per episode until 2004, when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.[42] The dispute was resolved a month later,[43] and Shearer's pay rose to $250,000 per episode.[44] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors received $400,000 per episode.[45] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Shearer and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[46] On May 13, 2015, Shearer announced he was leaving the show. After the other voice actors signed a contract for the same pay, Shearer refused, stating it was not enough. Al Jean made a statement from the producers saying "the show must go on," but did not elaborate on what might happen to the characters Shearer voiced.[47] On July 7, 2015, Shearer agreed to continue with the show, on the same terms as the other voice actors.[48] Le Show and radio work[edit] "Because I don't do stand-up, radio has always been my equivalent, a place to stay in connection with the public and force myself to write every week and come up with new characters. Plus it's a medium that – having grown up with it and putting myself to sleep with a radio under my pillow [as a kid] – I love. No matter what picture you want to create in the listener's mind, a few minutes of work gets it done." —Harry Shearer[49] Since 1983, Shearer has been the host of the public radio comedy/music program Le Show. The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy that takes aim at the "mega morons of the mighty media".[50] It is carried on many National Public Radio and other public radio stations throughout the United States.[51] Since the merger of SIRIUS and XM satellite radio services the program is no longer available on either.[52] The show has also been made available as a podcast on iTunes[53] and by WWNO. On the weekly program Shearer alternates between DJing, reading and commenting on the news of the day after the manner of Mort Sahl, and performing original (mostly political) comedy sketches and songs. In 2008, Shearer released a music CD called Songs of the Bushmen, consisting of his satirical numbers about former President George W. Bush on Le Show.[2] Shearer says he criticizes both Republicans and Democrats equally, and also says that "the iron law of doing comedy about politics is you make fun of whoever is running the place"[54] and that "everyone else is just running around talking. They are the ones who are actually doing something, changing people's lives for better or for worse. Other people the media calls 'satirists' don't work that way."[55] Since encountering satellite news feeds when he worked on Saturday Night Live, Shearer has been fascinated with the contents of the video that does not air. Shearer refers to these clips as found objects. "I thought, wow, there is just an unending supply of this material, and it's wonderful and fascinating and funny and sometimes haunting – but it's always good," said Shearer.[56] He collects this material and uses it on Le Show[57][58] and on his website.[59] In 2008, he assembled video clips of newsmakers from this collection into an art installation titled "The Silent Echo Chamber" which was exhibited at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut.[56] The exhibit was also displayed in 2009 at Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia, Spain[60][61] and in 2010 at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center.[62] In 2006 Shearer appeared with Brian Hayes in four episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Not Today, Thank You, playing Nostrils, a man so ugly he cannot stand to be in his own presence.[63] He was originally scheduled to appear in all six episodes but had to withdraw from recording two due to a problem with his work permit.[64] On June 19, 2008, it was announced that Shearer would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the radio category.[65] The date of the ceremony where his star will be put in place has yet to be announced.[66] Further career[edit] Shearer performing in April 2009 In 2002, Shearer directed his first feature film Teddy Bears' Picnic, which he also wrote. The plot is based on Bohemian Grove, which hosts a three-week encampment of some of the most powerful men in the world. The film was not well received by critics. It garnered a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with all 19 reviews being determined as negative[67] and received a rating of 32 out of 100 (signifying "generally negative reviews") on Metacritic from 10 reviews.[68] In 2003, he co-wrote J. Edgar! The Musical with Tom Leopold, which spoofed J. Edgar Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson.[69] It premiered at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado and starred Kelsey Grammer and John Goodman.[70] In 2003, Shearer, Guest and McKean starred in the folk music mockumentary A Mighty Wind, portraying a band called The Folksmen. The film was written by Guest and Eugene Levy, and directed by Guest.[6] Shearer had a major role in the Guest-directed parody of Oscar politicking For Your Consideration in 2006. He played Victor Allan Miller, a veteran actor who is convinced that he is going to be nominated for an Academy Award.[71] He also appeared as a news anchor in Godzilla with fellow The Simpsons cast members Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright.[72] His other film appearances include The Right Stuff, Portrait of a White Marriage, The Fisher King, The Truman Show, EdTV and Small Soldiers.[73] Shearer has also worked as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, but decided that it "became such a waste of time to bother with it."[55] His columns have also been published in Slate and Newsweek.[74] Since May 2005 he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.[73] Shearer has written three books. Man Bites Town, published in 1993, is a collection of columns that he wrote for The Los Angeles Times between 1989 and 1992.[39] Published in 1999, It's the Stupidity, Stupid analyzed the hatred some people had for then-President Bill Clinton.[75] Shearer believes that Clinton became disliked because he had an affair with "the least powerful, least credentialed women cleared into his official compound."[39] His most recent book is Not Enough Indians, his first novel. Published in 2006, it is a comic novel about Native Americans and gambling.[73] Without the "pleasures of collaboration" and "spontaneity and improvisation which characterize his other projects", Not Enough Indians was a "struggle" for Shearer to write. He said that "the only fun thing about it was having written it. It was lonely, I had no deal for it and it took six years to do. It was a profoundly disturbing act of self-discipline."[2] Shearer has released five solo comedy albums: It Must Have Been Something I Said (1994), Dropping Anchors (2006), Songs Pointed and Pointless (2007), Songs of the Bushmen (2008) and Greed and Fear (2010).[76] His most recent CD, Greed and Fear is mainly about Wall Street economic issues, rather than politics like his previous albums. Shearer decided to make the album when he"started getting amused by the language of the economic meltdown – when 'toxic assets' suddenly became 'troubled assets,' going from something poisoning the system to just a bunch of delinquent youth with dirty faces that needed not removal from the system but just...understanding."[77] In May 2006, Shearer received an honorary doctorate from Goucher College.[78] #HarryShearer #ThisIsSpinalTap #JonHammond #Nashville #TVShow The Big Uneasy[edit] Shearer is the director of The Big Uneasy (2010), a documentary film about the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Narrated by actor John Goodman, the film describes levee failures and catastrophic flooding in the New Orleans metropolitan area, and includes extended interviews with former LSU professor Ivor Van Heerden, Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and Maria Garzino, an engineer and contract specialist for the Los Angeles district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The film is critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its management of flood protection projects in Southern Louisiana.[79][80][81][82][83] Shearer draws on numerous technical experts to maintain that Hurricane Katrina's "...tragic floods creating widespread damage were caused by manmade errors in engineering and judgment."[84] Shearer's film currently has a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on twenty-three reviews by approved critics.[83] Personal life[edit] Shearer married Penelope Nichols in 1974. They divorced in 1977. He has been married to singer-songwriter Judith Owen since 1993.[2] In 2005, the couple launched their own record label called Courgette Records.[85] Shearer has homes in Santa Monica, California, the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, and London. He first went to New Orleans in 1988 and has attended every edition of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival since.[86] Shearer often speaks and writes about the failure of the Federal levee system which flooded New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, belittling the coverage of it in the mainstream media[87] and criticizing the role of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.[88][89] Prior to the DVD release of his film, The Big Uneasy, Shearer would hold screenings of the film at different venues and take questions from audience members " Identifier HarryShearerInterviewWithJonHammond Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3 Language English Publication date 2017-08-26 Usage Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Topics Harry Shearer, Nashville, New Orleans, NAMM Show, This is Spinal Tap, Podcast, Jack Benny, The Simpsons, Rock Band, Jon Hammond, Cable Access TV, MNN TV, Channel 1, #HarryShearer #HammondOrgan #Rocker