Book 47 (of 52) – The Late Show

The Late Show – Mchael Connelly

Detective Renée Ballard, who has burned a bridge or two in her day, is assigned to the night shift in Hollywood, where she takes calls with her partner but then turns them over to the dayshift to investigate.  When a trans prostitute is beaten nearly to death, she decides that she will keep this one close to vest. giving it the attention that other cops might not.  While at the hospital looking to interview her victim, she picks up part of a bigger case, a multiple murder at a nightclub.  Both cases end up putting Ballard in danger, either personal or professional.  Can she close the cases while keeping her job and her life?

The Late Show, released in 2017, is the first entry in a new series from Michael Connelly.  This was my first time reading anything from Connelly, who was a frequent guest star as himself in Castle.  I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

2015 Emmy Awards – Reality and Movies

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s day two of my predictions for the awards, today focusing on reality shows and made for TV movies.  I likely have seen not seen most (any?) of these, so I will probably not have an informed decision, but when has that ever stopped me.

Outstanding Reality Show Host

Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars

Anthony Bourdain, The Taste

Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night

Jane Lynch already took home the prize for hosting NBC’s hit game show.

Outstanding Reality Show Competition

The Amazing Race

Dancing With the Stars

Project Runway

So You Think You Can Dance

Top Chef

The Voice

The Amazing Race took back the crown last year, and I’m betting that it keeps it again this year.

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Colbert Report

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

The Late Show With David Letterman

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

What a tough category, as 3 of the shows wrapped up wildly successful runs earlier this year.  That said, I think John Oliver and his HBO show, Last Week Tonight, certainly deserves the award.

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

Drunk History

Inside Amy Schumer

Key & Peele

Portlandia

Saturday Night Live

The sexy choice here would be to go with Amy Schumer, since she seems to be on top of the world, but I think the recently-wrapped up Key & Peele will win the prize.

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Book 3 (of 52) – The Late Shift

The Late Shift - Bill Carter

 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.  The host of the Tonight Show changes, NBC executives start to think they’ve made a huge mistake, and, while the new host is on the air, offers the job to someone else.  No, this isn’t the story of Jay Leno stealing the Tonight Show back from Conan O’Brien, but the original story of Jay Leno stealing the Tonight Show from Johnny Carson and then fighting off David Letterman.

It is a fascinating story, even more so within the context of nearly the same thing playing out 18 years later.  Jay Leno is the permanent guest host of the Tonight Showand his manager is working furiously to push Johnny Carson out of the way.  When Carson announces he is retiring, Jay had just signed a contract guaranteeing him the top spot.  Meanwhile, as NBC’s other late night star, Letterman assumed he would move up an hour once Carson retired.  NBC execs, wanting to placate both stars, split down the middle.  When Jay’s manager goes crazy, starting booking wars and alienating publicists, NBC decides they made a mistake a offer the job to Letterman, who instead decides to leave his home of over a decade and start over at CBS.

The behind the scenes look at these shows, and the men who host them, is intriguing.  Jay Leno comes off as someone with extreme mental disorders.  He is loyal to a fault, either to his manager who almost sabotaged his career or to the network he thinks of as home.  He seems to have trouble dealing with people in an adult manner.  His life appears to revolve around two things: hosting the Tonight Show and fixing old cars.  He is married, but it comes off as though it was done not out of love, but because when you reach a certain age, you are supposed to be married.  The famous story of Leno hiding in a broom closet for hours so he can eavesdrop on a call between NBC executives, and the glee it brought him showing off that he knew things he shouldn’t, makes you feel sad for him. 

Letterman comes off as the more together person, but that really isn’t saying much.  He is described as a bundle of neuroses, who is never satisfied with a performance and is overly critical and dismissive of his own skills.  He spent years bashing the network and his bosses and yet expected them to just know how much it would have meant to him to be the host of the Tonight Show.  The book ends with a triumphant Letterman on top, his Late Showon CBS winning the ratings war for the first year plus.  Unfortunately, for Letterman and his fans, this started to go the other way with Jay Leno, behind a resurgent NBC primetime lineup, overcoming Dave and holding on to the top for years.

As we know, the sequel would happen 18 years later, and Bll Carter is back with the sequel.  Hopefully, I don’t have to wait 18 years to read it.