Posts by Gino Sassani

"Everything is always about Sheldon."

Warner Brothers is very familiar with superheroes. That goes double for the character of Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory. A common thread in the superhero business, of course, is the origin story. With the popularity of The Big Bang Theory, and the Sheldon character particularly, it isn't all that surprising that we would eventually be treated to Sheldon's origin story. But instead of flashbacks on the series, the decision was made that Sheldon's childhood was territory that could be mined for years. Thus is born Young Sheldon. For fans of the original show and character, it couldn't have come at a better time. Parsons just turned down an offer of $50 million for two more years of Big Bang. I can't imagine how it must feel to be able to turn down that kind of money. But faced with doing the series without him, the smart decision was to shut it down. This will be the final season of The Big Bang Theory, but apparently Sheldon with live on as a kid for years to come. Not sure what Parsons' paycheck is here, but it requires only his narration.

"You do not mess with the special investigators." 

Someone didn't get the memo. The result is a second season of Reacher based on the Jack Reacher character found in a collection of novels by Lee Child, who is really British writer Jim Grant. We were introduced to Jack Reacher in the novel The Killing Floor. It would also provide the material for the first season of this Amazon streaming series. As the popularity of the books grew, it didn't take long for the character to reach the box office, and while he didn't resemble the literature character in any physical way, it was Tom Cruise who first brought him to life on the big screen. There have now been two feature films and 30 books released to carry on the exploits of Jack Reacher. Amazon and Paramount Studios have brought him to the smaller screen, and this time I think they did the character far better justice. The response has been quite positive, and now you can judge for yourself with release of Reacher: Season Two on DVD and Blu-ray. I had the opportunity to check out the Blu-ray, and it was a pretty good time, to be sure. Here's what I found out.

"In a very real sense, we are all aliens on a strange planet. We spend most of our lives reaching out and trying to communicate. If during our whole lifetime, we could reach out and really communicate with just two people. We are all indeed very fortunate."

- Gene Roddenberry 

"I hope he fails miserably. See, my ex-husband truly loved only one thing his entire life: this club. And Ted Lasso is gonna help me burn it to the ground. I want to torture Rupert. I want him to feel like he's being fucked in the ass with a splintered cricket bat, just in and out, over and over in a constant loop.

It likely started with Saturday Night Live. The show was roaring in the 1970's, and along the way some ideas that made great 3-minute skits got appropriated for movies and even television shows. A few of them have become classics. The Blues Brothers is one fine example. Most have retreated into obscurity. I can only think of a two examples where something like that became a dominant force for years to come. In the 1950's, Jackie Gleason was hosting his own variety show called The Jackie Gleason Show. One of the skits was about a bus driver named Ralph Kramden. That eventually stood on its own as The Honeymooners. Probably the best example takes us back to the 1980's and the arrival of a fourth television network in FOX. One of those first shows was The Tracy Ullman show, and that variety hour often featured little animated shorts about a horribly dysfunctional family: The Simpsons. Nearly 40 years later the series is one of the most successful franchises in the history of television. So what if we took a character and circumstances from a television commercial and tried the same thing. Would it work? The answer is yes ... for a little while.

Mark Harmon as Gibbs was the soul of the NCIS franchise. When he finally called it quits after nearly 20 years, I have to admit I wasn't sure how much longer the show could go on. I mean, there has to be a reason for this kind of longevity. All of the spin-offs have now come and gone. NCIS: Hawaii has now ended.  NCIS: New Orleans shuttered it's doors three years ago now after a mere seven years. The longest-running of the spin-offs was L.A., but even they have gone now after only 10 years. I say "only" 10 years. For most shows a 10-year run is rarefied air. So how about 21 years? Only Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise has accomplished more. Yes, Harmon might have been the franchise's soul. But Gary Cole came in and has taken up that slack far better than anyone could have imagined. Now CBS is releasing NCIS The Complete 21st Season on DVD, and that short run of episodes puts the franchise passed the 1000 episode mark. It's an unbelievable run, and it doesn't look like it's close to ending now.

Season 21 was up against some tough odds. Just as the industry was truly recovered from the COVID halts in production, both the writers and the actors went on strike last summer. For a few months it didn't look like either group or the studios they were up against were very interested in settling. It's a bit mind-boggling to me. They suffered a somewhat self-inflicted wound and shut down productions once again over the strike. It hurt the current summer film season, and television shows didn't return to the airwaves until February. Like most network shows NCIS ended up with a short 10-episode season. But the delay cost them much more than another dozen episodes and months of dead air. This blow will be another test to the fortitude of the franchise.

"India. Once a faraway and mysterious place of Ghandi and nonviolence. And ancient traditions of spiritual enlightenment. What happens when a young 23-year-old westerner realizes he needs to change, goes there in search of himself, and he finds that The Beatles are there, too? Four of the most loved and famous people in the world, and they're there to meditate and to write music. They also want to find out who they are on a new and deeper level."

The Beatles. As a musician I fully appreciate the fact that the band literally changed rock music as much as any other act before or since. The music was truly transcending, which is a great place to start when talking about Meeting The Beatles In India. Just as the Fab Four were nearing the end of their time together, they took six weeks to travel to India, where they met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At the time TM, or Trancendental Meditation, was gaining a kind of Beatles-like popularity. I remember my mother bringing home a book on TM. It never went anywhere for her, but it did for millions of people. So it's no surprise that The Lads sought out The Maharishi to see what it was all about. There the band wrote between 30-48 songs. The number is apparently arguable, as you will discover here. And while they were some of the last songs the band would write and record, they stand out as a pinnacle of the band's career. Shortly thereafter they went their separate ways, as changes began to overtake them as people and as a musical act. Many believe these changes began here in India during that six-week stay. Some of the changes would lead to the inevitable split, while other changes would reshape the landscape of the songs themselves. If you are interested in what happened, this might be a good place to start, but I must confess that I was overall a bit disappointed in the film as a whole. More on that later.