Musician’s Notebook

Gotta admit: I’m a tremendous fan of the Fox drama “House”, with actor/comedian Hugh Laurie as unconventional doc Gregory House. Not only is he an accomplished actor and pianist, but his character’s probably the closest that series-TV has come to rock.

And get this: according to ratings agency Eurodata TV Worldwide, the team of House gathered more than 81.8 million viewers last year — making it the most-watched fictional TV show in the world.

Now, when ya figure his show beat out, “CSI” (the original), and its spin-off “CSI: Miami”.

Here’s how they came up with the numbers: They collected data from 66 countries around the world (including the U.S.) — countries that represent a potential audience of 1.6 billion couch potatoes.

The runner-up? Desperate Housewives (though I’ve never known any personally!)

And, in case ya haven’t heard, Chastity Bono — daughter of Cher and the late Sonny Bono and gay rights activist in her own right — is undergoing a (wellll, here’s how media put it) gender transitioning from female to male (ummm, are there any other “genders”?).
That doesn’t mean she’s getting “the operation”. Instead, it means, for her, a social change — where she wants to be viewed and thought of as a man!

As her spokesman, Howard Bragman says, “He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz’s (what she wants to be called now) hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his ‘coming out’ did nearly 20 years ago.”

Sorry, dude … or dudette: I’m not buyin’ it! If ya wanna be a “man”, then get the friggin’ operation to MAKE it so! If ya don’t, then stay yer own gender!
It didn’t hurt Melissa Etheridge, Ellen DeGeneres or kd lang, right?? So why should you be any different??

‘Nuff said for now. Until later this evening (when the PC’s due back from the repair. Right now, I’m usin’ a borrowed one) …
see ya on the flip side!

If there was ever been a movie that promoted women’s rights, it was the 1981 classic, 9 To 5, with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman — and, of course, the great Dolly Parton.
In fact, Dolly debuted the show as a Broadway musical on April 30, and fans of both Ms. Parton and the movie were excited to see how it played onstage!

With Alison Janney taking the role of super-secretary Violet (played originally by Tomlin), Stephanie J. Block playing the divorcee Judy (played by Fonda in the movie) and Megan Hilty acting the part of Doralee (Parton’s famous role), the show had the talent to be a great one. Even their interaction with Marc Kudisch (as Mr. Hart, Coleman’s movie role) was spot-on.

But, alas, the critics have jumped on this show like starving dogs with just one pork chop between ‘em!
The New York Daily News said, “Not every tune is a home run, and some lyrics are too plain-spoken. But enough of them stand out…”
The New York Times? They said, “[T]his show feels assembled by an emulous shopaholic who looked around at the tourist-drawing hits of the last decade and said: ‘I want some of that. And that. Ooh, and can I have that, too?’
Even the Associated Press thought it could’ve been better. Their critique was, “Durn. You kinda want [it] to be better than it is.”

Y’know, there are some movies that just won’t work onstage. At other times, a stage show will bring the expected comparison with the movie of the same name. Now, there’s still a possibility that the Broadway “9 to 5″ can be tweaked and modified as it goes on — something that’s rare in film. But, as it stands now, there are those in the business who are giving it a 5-to-1 chance of being short-lived.

Dolly Parton is definitely solid gold — but maybe it’s best if she stuck to singing, songwriting, occasional acting and running her tremendously-successful theme park.

I mean, after all, ya can’t do everything …