I meant to say this right after the Emmys were announced but was distracted by real life. So I’ll say it now:
Abbott Elementary is the best comedy series currently on anybody’s “air.” It’s funny, and it’s important (without seeming self-important.) I really hope y’all have been watching it.
NOTE FROM LB
A public service message from The Navajo Dog. Listen up, kids, cuz unlike us humans she always knows what she’s talking about, even if we can’t figure it out.
The Navajo dog is a schemer,
I don’t watch a lot of TV these days, but when I do watch, I become very committed. I don’t watch anything twice, but that one time…ah! I savor every minute, giving each episode 100% of my current attention span. When Larry Brody watched TV he’s definitely in the moment.
This week, I’ve dropped three shows from my commitment list. Instead of soaring as they once did, they’ve been flailing around for weeks, and I can stand the agony of their dying spirits no more.
Here they are, three TV series that for all I know will continue to go on for decades to come, but which for me have lost all vitality. They are existences without essences. Zombies walking all over without their souls.
Phooey!
Donald Duck’s Uncle Scrooge McDuck has been one of my favorite comic book characters since, well, since I first saw him in a comic book when I was 5 or 6 years old. (What? You expected me to give you the year that was? No way.)
He was smart. He was flawed. He was, of course, rich. Most importantly, he was perfectly – yes, I said perfectly – drawn and written by Carl Barks, a true genius of comic art. And, fortunately for all concerned, especially fans of the fantastic everywhere, Barks’ comic book successors have kept the level of Uncle Scrooge’s adventures almost as high. Even today’s versions are beautiful enough to frame.
NOTE FROM LB:
From The Return of the Navajo Dog, some memories from Gwen the Beautiful’s late grandmother, Jesse Manns, of her life in Oklahoma, back in the day.
He was a traveler, my husband was. We