SMILF, Love You More, At Home With Amy Sedaris, Lady Bird and There’s Johnny

My Top 5 Obsessions This Week

Greetings to all of my semi constant readers. It is time for a post Thanksgiving roundup of favorites. Hope you enjoy them celebrate the upcoming season with lots of entertainment.

1) SMILF on Showtime is a Rosie showcase if there ever as one. If anyone had any inkling of the depths of this talented woman, it s me. I have seen the sadness behind her eyes even as she was making us laugh. Frankie Shaw is the SMILF here , a twenty something raising  Larry and maintaining a retalionship with her mom Tutu (O’Donnell) who suffers from depression. This is a standout.

2) Love You More a pilot on Amazon that I hope gets picked up.starring Bridget Everett as a Chardonnay guzzling party girl with big appetites for men and booze by night, but by day she is extraordinary as her job as a counselor at an independent living residence for young adults with Down Syndrome. It is full of bawdiness, pathos, oh it has musical numbers. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, this has lots of promise. oh and Loni Anderson plays her mom so sweetly. Am I seeing a great mom trend!

3) At Home With Amy  Sedaris is a fever dream of a show. Part Pee Wee’s Playhouse, part 1960’s Women’s crafting shows and a subversive cooking and outdoor show with a cast of characters, many played by her. A holiday must watch. If you love Amy as much I do this is must see TV.

4) Lady Bird out at theaters now, an homage to Sacramento, written and directed by Greta Gerwig is the first in a line up of great movies I am seeing right now. Saoirse Ronan is such a transcendent performer she can play anything. Laurie Metcalf, Laurie Metcalf, Laurie Metcalf-this is your Oscar year. I feel it. This coming of age film takes the mundane life and re-examines it under a microscope. The whole cast featuring the Amazing Tracy Letts and Lois Smith and Lucas Hedges someone I expect we will be seeing much more of in the coming year.

5) There’s...  Johnny! On Hulu is about young Andy Klavin who becomes a gofer at “The Tonight Show” circa 1972. Great cast featuring Jane Levy, Roger Bart, Tony Danza . But the great focal point is how the actual footage of the show featuring Johnny, Ed and Doc. It is a love story to the glory days and I loved it.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detictive Agency, Sparks Concert, B-52s Fillmore and Margaret. Cho Fresh Off the Bloat

My Top 5 Obsessions This Week

Greetings to all my semi constant readers and welcome to anyone new. There is a bounty of new things to do and watch and here are are some of my faves.

1) Curb Your Enthusiasm is back with a whole new season of crazy.  From foisting off his assistant , bribing an usher at a funeral and helping Funkhouser and the other guys with relationship advice. Cheryl Hines makes a few appearances,which makes me happy and we get to see Susie Essman and J.B. Smoove  do what they do best, steal scenes.

2) Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is already in its second season in BBC America but it is not yet a household name , and it should be! Featuring Elijah Wood and Samuel Barnett as Dirk Gently in this genre bending series. A fever dream of a show with sharp witty dialogue and fast paced  Based on the novels of  Douglas Adams this features an unkillible assassin and a holistic detective and a host of wacky characters.

3) Sparks brought the roof down at The Chapel recently with their special wacky theatrical brand of music , thrilling old and new fans alike. Opening with What the Hell is it This Time, When do I get to sing “My Way”, Dick Around, Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me) and an old favorite Number 1 in Heaven.  I think their unique talent warrants a best of tour and soon!

4) B-52s on Halloween at The Fillmore! The stars aligned that night to produce a magical event. Kate, Cindy and Fred  decked out in Halloween attire rocked a packed house. Rock Lobster, Mesopotamia, 52 Girls, Love Shack and Funplex plus a slew of hits kept the costumed crowd on their feet and a bedeviled Kate and tricked up Cindy harmonized their way into everyone’s heart.

5) Margaret Cho Fresh Off The Bloat at The Castro Theater was in top form .Never more beautiful or funny she entertained an adoring crowd with her raunchy brand of humor. She regaled the audience with tales of  growing up in San Francisco and her mother. The one thing about Cho is she has such a wealth of material she can riff off anything.