I just read that the great character actor John Spencer, who played "Leo" on the "West Wing" died. He was incredibly charming onscreen. The most touching words I can say of the recently departed are that I can think of lots of other people I'd rather have dead than him.
The Pryor/Chase bit from SNL is one of the funniest things that show has ever done, yes.
I thought contempt for Paris Hilton was nigh universal. To me, she's a political Rorschach test, the Right sees her as the incarnation of sexual depravity and indulgence, while the Left will see her as representing the wretched excesses of concentrated and inherited wealth at their very worst.
Seriously, she's like Marie Antoinette. Let them eat homemade porn.
Head on a fucking pike. When the Day comes.
They say things come in 3's. Most notably, it seems, is the deaths of actors/celebrities. Which means that if Richard Pryor's demise heralded the beginning of this set of 3, then we should be hearing about another very soon. I, for one, am betting on Paris Hilton.
I don't hate Paris Hilton, I don't like her, either. She's a non-entity, mostly. However, she's someone whose fame seemed to spawn, like some devil-child gorgon, out of the glossy pages of Us Weekly magazine. I'm betting on her because she's the one who will get more than a paragraph written about her in the dailies. She'll be at the top of all the newshours and Pryor's legacy, as well as the talented Mr. Spencer's characters, will fall back and disappear until they're briefly pictured in the Oscar's "Tribute to the Recently Departed" montage. "House of Wax" dvd sales will skyrocket, yet Blockbuster Video will keep nary a crappy vhs copy of "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" and no one, except David Morse, will catch "The Negotiator" next time it's on TBS.
True, Richard Pryor had his share of demons, and many will remember him just because he liked cursing during his stand-up routines, but do your heart some good and visit www.boreme.com to see Chevy Chase interviewing Pryor during the first season of SNL. They say laughter helps us live longer; it's too bad that a man who brought us so many giggles won't be around to see the next generation of comedians inspired by him.
