A Little of the Old In and Out

In: David Letterman. It looks like the Carson Late Night Legacy (TM), if not the ratings, go to Letterman and not to the immensely phony Jay Leno, his succesor (Averted Gaze) according to the NYPost:



"'LATE Show host David Letterman has a secret joke writer ? none other than the retired king of all late-night television, Johnny Carson.

"The 79-year-old former host of NBC's 'The Tonight Show' occasionally sends Letterman new jokes he has written and that Letterman sometimes uses in his nightly 'Late Show' monologue, according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally, a onetime producer for both men.

"Lassally said Carson also keeps up with political news and other current events that were once fodder for his own 'Tonight Show' monologue.

"'I think the thing he misses the most is the monologue,' Lassally said.

"'He reads the newspaper every day and might think up five good jokes that he wishes he had an outlet for.'"

We know, we are the same way, only we can't get our foot in the door of television writing (Averted Gaze). Maybe Johnny ought to get a blog?

"'Once in a while he sends jokes to Letterman and Letterman will use his jokes in the monologue and he gets a big kick out of that.'"

Out: Taxi Driver 2. What the fuck is wrong with Robert Deniro? Taxi Driver perfectly captured a gritty urban landscape on celluloid that now no longer exists. The moment in time has passed. Has Deniro lost all aesthetic taste in arguing for a sequel? First Rocky and Bullwinkle, then the godawful Meet the Fockers, and now this ... from Ananova:

"Robert De Niro is teaming up again with Martin Scorsese to work on a sequel to Taxi Driver.

"The Oscar-winning actor, who starred as disturbed Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle in the 1976 film, has confirmed they are mulling over script ideas for a follow-up to the original reports IOL.ie.

"De Niro, 61, says: 'I was talking with Martin Scorsese about doing what I guess you'd call a sequel to Taxi Driver, where he is older.'"

In: Rolling Stone Magazine. Jann Wenner's once counterculturally relevant magazine jumped the shark so long ago we've forgotten when that shit actually went down. Oh yeah, now we remember: it was the moment the rag bumped the Million Marijuana March for, oh, "Family Day." How Hunter Thompson of those scamps! But here's some love, via USA Today:

"The nation's largest Bible publisher, rolling out its biggest marketing campaign ever to promote a new translation aimed at 'spiritually intrigued 18- to 34-year-olds,' has stumbled over a little rock: Rolling Stone.

"The magazine rejected Zondervan's Bible ad just weeks before its scheduled run date, citing an unwritten policy against accepting ads containing religious messages.

"Zondervan executives say the entertainment magazine was key in its $1 million campaign to reach young adults who have rarely, if ever, seen Bible ads before. Surveys show that 53% of this age group read the Bible less than once a year or never, although they are huge buyers of books on spiritual and religious themes."

The dark, intense Aramaic is further dumbed down, even excising all the archaisms of the poetic King James translation (of St. Jerome's lucid Vulgate) to appeal to the hip young cats (Averted Gaze). Charmed, I'm sure.

Out: The Democratic Party in Search of Self. Are we witnessing a Democratic Party crack up? Senator Hillary has come out for faith based initiatives of a sort. Possible future DNC head Tim Roemer and Senate Minority Leder Harry Reid both oppose abortion. The chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party (Averted Gaze) opposes Roemer's opposition. And, finally, Howard Dean still wants to have that intimate heart to heart with the possum eating yahoo with the Confederate flag in his pick up. Where will this go? Who knows?

In: Dennis Hopper. Last we heard, Dennis Hopper took two of Heidi Fleiss' hookers out to dinner after a particularly athletic evening, now he's all over the tabloids. According to Blogging Sundance:

"Hopper is also the narrator of Inside Deep Throat, the 70s porn documentary which premieres at Sundance this week, produced by World of Wonder and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, both of Party Monster infamy.

"According to World of Wonder?s daily blog, The WOW Report, Hopper 'abruptly pulled out (Ed Note: Excuse the pun) of attending the Sundance premiere of [Inside Deep Throat] because he, um, FORGOT that he had to go to the Inaugural Ball in Washington.' But two East Coast publications contend today that Hopper was actually 'uninvited' from all Inaugural ceremonies.

"The Washington Post quotes a statement from Hopper himself: 'We were dismayed this week when my invitation to participate in the Celebration of Freedom event ? was withdrawn by the Republican National Committee.' The actor was apparently 'scheduled to introduce an unspecified hero as well as chair a Hollywood-style Gala for the nonprofit Creative Coalition.'

"That group?s director says she is 'totally mystified' over the decision. Meanwhile, this morning?s New York Post cites two conflicting sources. The first source confirms that Hopper was 'uninvited' due to complaints from religious groups over the actor?s hippie history; the second, a 'close pal,' insists that Hopper cancelled the appearance of his own volition, because 'he is right in the middle of a huge movie deal.'"

Out: The Apprentice: The Musical. According to The Dish:

"Property tycoon Donald Trump is in talks to unveil a new musical -- based on his reality show 'The Apprentice.'

"The billionaire and fellow series executive producer Mark Burnett hope to bring the show -- which follows a group of corporate jobseekers -- to New York's Broadway district.

"Trump says, 'We are really looking at it and we've had a lot of interest from Broadway.'

"Trump predicts a musical adaptation 'would be a smash.'

Does Trump mean whore in pig latin?

In: The Age of Ownership. Across the globe an emerging trend is that we have reached the end of the Age of Entitlement. From the State budget busting Medicaid to the heralding of an "Ownership society", the idea of a Nanny state has reached it's historical conclusion. Even in St. Petersberg the trend is being felt. And the final stop on the American road to an end of the Age of Entitlement will be the facing the Social Security crisis.