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On Oct. 12, 1991, Kirstie Alley hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. The experience included a sketch she’d later describe as the “most fun that I’ve ever had acting.” Alley’s star was soaring at the time. She’d joined the cast of the hit sitcom Cheers in 1987, playing Rebecca Howe, the foil to Ted Danson’s Sam Malone. Her 1989 film Look Who’s Talking was a massive box office success, cementing Alley as a Hollywood A-lister. The actress’ SNL hosting duties got off to a strong start. The opening monologue featured surprise appearances by Cheers castmates Danson, Woody Harrelson,...

A professor has taken over the undergraduate class previously taught by Bright Sheng, Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Composition, David Gier, dean of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance announced Friday. The announcement comes almost a month after Sheng showed a video to an undergraduate composition seminar featuring an actor in blackface. Regarding the recent instructor change, Gier wrote that this switch would “allow for a positive learning environment” so students could focus on their “growth as composers.”Sheng, a highly accomplished composer, conductor and pianist, has had his music featured by prestigious groups including the New York Philharmonic...

Have you noticed that the people who get caught using blackface are always Democrats? Don't forget that liberals always accuse you of what they are doing. In recent weeks in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the spotlight has shone on the likes of late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon for past use of blackface for comedy sketches. And among the multitude of voices calling for these celebrities to face consequences for their past actions are a number of conservative figures and media outlets. The list is endless: Justin...

I just won a bet I made in 2002 with physicist Michio Kaku. I bet him $1,000 that “by 2020, no one will have won a Nobel Prize for work on superstring theory, membrane theory, or some other unified theory describing all the forces of nature.” This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, which recognized solid work in cosmology (yay Jim Peebles!) and astronomy, was Kaku’s last chance to win before 2020. Kaku and I made the bet under the auspices of Long Bets, a “public arena for enjoyably competitive predictions, of interest to society, with philanthropic money at stake.” Long...

Quote from Robert DiNiro from "What I've Learned" in the January issue of Esquire Magazzine: The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You're in a conversation and everybody's agreeing with what you're saying—even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear.

There's no better example than political commentary from a Hollywood elite to demonstrate how low some conservatives are regarded. According to actor Ted Danson, some conservatives just being manipulated by Rush Limbaugh and organized religion because they're not smart to formulate their own beliefs. Danson, who has starred in both "Becker" and "Cheers," appeared on HLN's Nov. 2 "The Joy Behar Show" and was asked to respond to Rush Limbaugh's criticism of Barack Obama on Nov. 1 "Fox News Sunday." Danson questioned the notion that Limbaugh, who is a self-made success, is really "one of the people." Instead, he accused...

~EXCERPT~ SAN FRANCISCO – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s big fundraiser here got off to a great start on Friday night. And then, well, the air went a bit out of the balloon. Kicking off the party at the Orpheum Theater was Sam Malone, a.k.a. Ted Danson, the “Cheers” actor, who introduced Mrs. Clinton with the sort of adjectives that dazzled Diane Chambers, Rebecca Howe, and umpteen other ladies of Boston. “Warm,” “wonderful,” “beautiful,” and “intelligent,” Mr. Danson said of the candidate – who, dare I say, from the mezzanine of the theater, was radiant in full blush and wide smile....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS RELEASE January 8, 2007 Contact: Rob Wasinger Leading Massachusetts Social Conservatives Endorse Brownback “We know consistent leadership when we see it. For this reason, Senator Brownback is the clear choice.” BOSTON, Ma. – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback received endorsements today from key social conservative leaders in Massachusetts. The following individuals announced their strong support of Brownback for President and pledged their help in educating social conservatives around the country that Senator Brownback is the true choice for those who care about the right to life and the sanctity of marriage: • Professor Dwight Duncan of Cambridge,...

A former Texas A&M University student has publicly apologized for his role in making a video showing the degradation of a white student in blackface. In a letter to the school's student newspaper, "The Battalion," the unidentified ex-student apologized to the school and to blacks, ABC News reported. The 3 1/2-minute video was made two years ago and raised protests when it surfaced last week. In it, a white student using a belt as a whip admonishes and whips another white student in blackface makeup. University President Robert Gates issued a statement last weekend saying the three students involved had...

LOS ANGELES – Actor Ted Danson, who served drinks on the TV show "Cheers," used a bottle of bubbly to christen a ship that will search the high seas for signs of pollution and threatened marine life. Danson on Friday christened the 71-foot catamaran Ranger at Marina del Rey. He is a board member of the conservation group Oceana, which plans to sail the vessel on a five-month, 11,000-nautical mile voyage to areas of Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe that are threatened by pollution and overfishing. "Ranger will be Oceana's eyes and ears in the oceans," Danson said....

The star of "Cheers" where everybody knows your name had some trouble Saturday remembering the name of his wife's new television series. Ted Danson, who played Sam Malone on "Cheers" for 12 seasons, and his wife, actress Mary Steenburgen, have been campaigning in New Hampshire for retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark. Introducing his wife at a rally Saturday afternoon, Danson mentioned that she's the star of the movie "Elf" before coming up blank. "Oh my God, I can't believe this," he said, struggling for a few seconds before blurting out her TV show, "Joan of Arcadia." "He will soooo pay...

Another episode of the CBS sit-com Becker, which stars the liberal Ted Danson playing a doctor in a one-man practice in New York City, airs tonight on CBS. In last week's episode, upset by the closing of a "residential life" home for the mentally- challenged, "Becker" went to see the city's Deputy Director of Social Services, who launched into a lengthy rant about the evils of how tax cuts have reduced the amount of money available to government and will lead to "crappy schools which will turn out yet another generation of voters who are too stupid and greedy to...

Bill Maher has made another stab at career suicide. The Bush-bashing comic stunned some of Hollywood's most powerful liberals by joking about Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions at a benefit honoring Sen. Hillary Clinton. New York's junior Senator was accepting an Oceana Partners award in Los Angeles last Wednesday for her work on environmental issues. Maher emceed the event, which also honored marine explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau, as well as Ron Howard and his Imagine partner, Brian Glazer. Among the unamused in the audience were Oceana board member Ted Danson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kiefer Sutherland, Diane Lane, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Kirsten...

Ok, I watch "Becker". Last night's situation involved NY city closing some sort of "house" where mental patients were kept - the former inmates are now overruning Becker's office and his g/friend's diner. So, he goes to see a city official who complains that he cannot do anything about this because the, "Federal government cut funding to the city because they chose to cut taxes which seems to be the only thing people care about any more, etc." In short, the point was that because the feds have cut taxes the (trickled down) outcome was to put mental patients on...

I finally got around to reading this week's issue of TV Guide. Pg. 46: Left-wing poop drama "Mister Sterling" has not been renewed. Also, Ted Danson (he and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, are major Clinton brown-nosers)'s show "Becker" has not been renewed, but could return in mid-season. With The West Wing's ratings dropping and Sorkin leaving, The West Wing could be the next show gone.

It's a place where the Clinton presidency lives on in the personage of Martin Sheen and where JFK is always a hero. It's where problems really can be fixed by throwing money at them and where the rest of the world wants peace, too. It's where death-row inmates have been "framed'' and pedophiles are victims under Megan's Law. It's where raising taxes improves an economy and where unlimited social programs still leave the budget balanced. In short, it's where liberal policies work, because what sounds good on paper and works in theory also works in the movies and on TV.

I called my dad today to wish him a happy birthday. During our conversation he told me he had added Ted Danson to his list of "a$$h*les" along with Clooney, etc. Apparently Danson's character on Sunday's episode of "Becker" made a nasty remark about Republicans which really ticked him (Dad) off. He wondered if I had read or heard anything. Anyone...?

ANOTHER REASON NOT TO WATCH NETWORK TV Last night I found myself in the unusual situation of actually watching some network television. When I turned the TV on it was tuned to some sitcom starring Ted Dansen. Well, I used to like Cheers and the writing seemed decent so I decided to give it a thought for a moment or two. Evidently Dansen plays a doctor. During one scene he is handing some teenage kid a bag of condoms. The kid tells Dansen’s character he isn’t really concerned about HIV because, after all, they have some sort of a cocktail...