April 2010 Archives

So Long, Bill Moyers: Television Will Be Poorer without You

April 29, 2010 5:29 AM

[UPDATE: Today's Fresh Air with Terry Gross will include Terry's past interviews with Bill Moyers -- as well as my new review of the Tom Lehrer CD/DVD collection.]

Friday night at 9 ET on PBS (check local listings), the host of Bill Moyers' Journal presents an expanded 90-minute edition of his superb program, then says goodbye -- putting a self-imposed end to a stellar TV career that began 40 years ago. It's safe to say, given Moyers' reliable excellence and the qualitative demise of most network news and public affairs shows, we're unlikely to see his equal again...

In television, Moyers is ending as he began, thoughtfully dissecting important issues and interviewing inspirational people on Bill Moyers' Journal for PBS. The first time he presented and hosted his Journal, both he and PBS were young: It was 1971. Midway through that decade, Moyers also served at CBS, where he rose to senior news analyst and commentator for CBS -- the last person at that network to hold that post.

I still remember Moyers, commenting on Ronald Reagan's rise at the Republican National Convention of 1980, noting that we were witnessing a giant sea change in our national political mood. He was dead on -- but there was a sea change occurring in network news at about the same time. For the first time, news programs were seen as profit centers, at the same time there was a shift to giving viewers what they wanted, instead of what they might have needed.

Moyers clocked some time at NBC, then, with wife Judith Davidson Moyers, devoted his full energies to the creation of Public Affairs Television, which allowed him to follow his instincts and his passions, with audiences gladly following along.

One of his first efforts for his new production company stands, to this day, as one of the finest TV interview series ever presented: the six-part Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, which took a brilliant teacher's lifetime of study and, in the end, boiled it down to its unforgettable three-word essence: "Follow your bliss."

Arguably, Moyers has done that ever since, interviewing poets, leaders, philosophers, activists, workers -- anyone he finds of interest. And if he found them of interest, we did, too.

"I know television's potential," Moyers told me once, explaining that he knew it because of the thousands of letters he got, from ordinary people, after broadcasting challenging series on religion, politics and other topics. "One of the great myths of our time," he said, "is that public broadcasting only reaches the elite."

Moyers explained, on last week's show, that he wasn't being forced out of his job -- but simply that, as he's about to turn 76, he has other activities he wants to pursue, which the demands of a weekly TV series make impossible. So, of course, he's earned the time off, having served the viewing public admirably for, count 'em, five decades. And that's after his previous careers, as, among other things, publisher of Newsday and press representative for President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

So go off and enjoy yourself, Mr. Moyers. Television is poorer without you, but is richer because of you.

My only regret is that -- and I guess I can tell this backstage story now -- Tom Smothers and I were booked to appear on an installment of Bill Moyers' Journal at the start of the year, when my book was first released, to talk about CBS and censorship and LBJ and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

It would have been a very proud moment for me, and a nice bit of full-circle harmony, after having covered, interviewed and praised Moyers for more than 30 years. But then some guy tried to set off an explosive in his underwear on that plane on Christmas Day, and Moyers and company chose to pursue the breaking news story of airline safety and terrorism instead.

The passengers thwarted that particular attempt, and no one was harmed. But from my very selfish and limited perspective, the terrorists won.

Oh, well. Even to have been considered interesting by Bill Moyers, I guess, is honor enough.

So thanks, Bill. Enjoy your final show. I know I will.

Then enjoy life after television. Someone has to...

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Actor Joe Pantoliano Becomes A Director, And Champions Compassion for "Mental Dis-Ease," In New Documentary

April 27, 2010 3:18 PM

Beginning today, Amazon has begun offering exclusive distribution of a new documentary by Joe Pantoliano, the actor long familiar from such films and TV shows as Risky Business, EZ Streets and The Matrix. But this time, as writer-producer-director of No Kidding?!! Me, Too!, the performer known as Joey Pants isn't hiding behind a role. He's being as honest as he can, about his personal battles with depression and other forms of what he calls "mental dis-ease," and is encouraging others to do likewise...

The approach behind No Kidding, which is several years is the making, is to get people to talk -- and to listen closely as they do -- about various mental ailments and stresses facing them. Pantoliano, as his own Exhibit A, talks to his therapist, his loved ones and to strangers, about his own problems dealing with fame, self-worth, substance abuse and other things. He's open, and honest, and, in this context, very vulnerable.

But what he's after, as both the maker of this documentary and its principal correspondent, isn't to tell his own story, but to listen to other people tell theirs. "To know all of you," he says, "is to know me." And while that may sound self-centered or selfish, it's actually the reverse. Listen to these stories, he's saying, and you may learn about yourself.

And it's not just theory. Joey Pants talks, individually and collectively, with a handful of people who have been through a lot. A suicidal surgeon. A young woman who becomes a self-mutilating cutter. A young man who throws himself out a ninth-story window. And so on, from military veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury to others with clinical depression.

Near the end of No Kidding, several of them are gathered, in an intimate circle, to tell their stories. Jordan, the attempted suicide, tells his story of surviving that attempt, and deciding to move forward with his life, despite crippling injuries. As he's talking, Casey, the young woman who had cut herself repeatedly, so relates with Jordan, and considers him so brave, that she grabs his hand, then weeps openly and gratefully.

"I've had those same thoughts," she says, referring to his checklist of ways he would and wouldn't consider killing himself. Hearing someone else admit to the same things, she tells him, gives her strength.

Most of this touching, tender documentary is like that. In another scene, Pantoliano is walking, in front of the Vietnam Memorial, with Kelly Kennedy, a health reporter for the Army Times, who recounts some of the stories she reported from the current war. As her stories get more horrifying, the camera gets closer, so that only her face, and her words, fill the space.

When she's through describing her first-hand account of war,the impact is both emotional and instructive. It's not amazing that many soldiers who survive come home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What's amazing is that anyone doesn't.

No Kidding?!! Me Too! can be purchased from Amazon, in its full 73-minute length, by clicking HERE. Next month, on May 24, a shortened version will be televised on public television by New York's WNET, and may get wider distribution elsewhere. But why wait?

If you think you, or someone you know, could benefit from the facts and stories and examples in this non-preachy, casually acessible documentary, there's no better move than to act now. For more information on Pantoliano's nonprofit organization, visit the No Kidding Me 2! website HERE. And for the latest, celebrity-filled public service announcement about this topic, featuring Harrison Ford and others, watch the YouTube video HERE.

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"Glee" and "Lost": Two of TV's Most Inventive, Original Series Are Must-See Tonight... But Are On Opposite Each Other

April 20, 2010 2:35 PM

Two of television's most exciting, inventive and original broadcast network series right now, Fox's Glee and ABC's Lost, present can't-miss episodes tonight. Unfortunately, they're on at the same time, so a little time-shifting is required. But see them both, by all means...

Glee, tonight at 9 ET, presents its much-hyped Madonna episode. (She doesn't appear, but music inspired by her does, in ways that often outshine the original recordings.) It's a brilliant episode, from its romantic and female-empowerment story lines to the sheer audacity of its production numbers.

I'd describe them, because I've seen the episode, but a lot of the fun is discovering them for yourself. But trust me, it's a great hour. And it's no fluke, because next week, which marks the return of Kristin Chenoweth as a former glee club star, is just as good. The talent she displays isn't surprising, but it IS jaw-dropping.

And jaw-dropping applies, just as well, to what's going on at Lost. Last week's episode ended with Desmond being thrown down a deep well by the smoke-monster Locke in the island reality -- and, in the alternate reality, Desmond taking aim at Locke and driving his car right into Locke's wheelchair.

This sort of shockingly unexpected, innovative stuff, on broadcast TV, is getting to be more and more of a rarity. That means we should appreciate it all the more -- and this is official notice that TV WORTH WATCHING appreciates Glee and Lost. A lot.

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Speaking and Watching at the BEA: My Weekend in Vegas

April 17, 2010 3:11 PM

This weekend capped the latest frenzied round of what passes for my life, with a presentation about my book at the Broadcast Education Association convention in Las Vegas. But what I was most excited about at the convention was the King Foundation Awards show, which selected and honored the best student and faculty productions in various media categories. Our scholastic and artistic future, based on these winners, is in very good hands...

The winners of the Video Competition, just to name one category, were also awarded special grand prizes for best overall faculty and student entries.

Dean Yamada of Biola University won for Jitensha, which translates as "The Bicycle," and is a story about a Japanese man whose bicycle is stolen -- but piece by piece, not all at once -- and the thief taunts him into searching for the hidden pieces. Yamada collaborated on the story with his students, and recorded it on location in Japan. I haven't seen the entire movie yet, but the clips shown were compelling and impressive.

The same goes for Inner Demon, the winning student entry in the same category. Dave Dorsey of Florida State University won, for a piece about a tortured artist -- a piece whose special effects and visual images were astounding, especially considering a budget of, and this is no typo, $150.

It was thrilling, though, to hear the eagerness and enthusiasm of all the winning students, and the dedication of the winning faculty members. The last time I attended and spoke at a BEA event, it was as a "civilian." This time, I arrived as a full-time college faculty member -- and because of that, the inspired students and their high-quality projects were inspirational to me as well.

By the way, the BEA show is why I've been so sluggish with TV WORTH WATCHING updates this week. My apologies. But guess what? The ever-threatened website redesign is closer than ever, maybe a month away at this point.

Don't give up on us yet. Good things are coming...

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Singing the Praises of Fox's "Glee": It's Back, and Even More Delightful

April 13, 2010 11:03 AM

When last we saw the musical misfits of Fox's Glee, they had won the Sectionals, the first step in becoming state champs for their singing glee club. Well, after a few months off, they return tonight (9:27 p.m. ET), basking in their newfound glory -- for about 10 seconds. Then, once again, the reality and cruelty of high school sets in...

The confident swagger of the show itself, though, is obvious and undaunted. Before the opening credits, series creator Ryan Murphy throws more plot twists and turns than most shows generate in an entire episode. Characters return, break up, pair off, square off, all in a briskly choreographed sequence that reintroduces everyone at the same time it moves them to another place.

Most of it I'll keep secret, but one new addition is worthy of note because it's such a cool piece of guest casting. Jonathan Groff, who co-starred in Broadway's Spring Awakening with Glee regular Lea Michele, begins a recurring role as the star of a rival high-school performing troupe who begins romancing Michele's Rachel. They're great together (see their picture at top), as are all this second season's often unexpected pairings.

In tonight's return episode, the music performed ranges from AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and The Doors' "Hello, I Love You" to the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye." No complaints -- it's all done with exuberance and flair. And when I praise a TV show using Beatles music, you know it's doing something right.

And next week, when the show and cast tackle the Madonna song catalogue, the unexpected treats, both musical and dramatic, are a giddy TV treat. Jane Lynch as cheerleader coach Sue, and Matthew Morrison as Will, leader of the New Beginnings glee club, are superb antagonists, and the two performers savor the snarky delivery of every traded insult.

This is one show that's really well-named: Glee delivers that very emotion. Lots of it.

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HBO's "Treme": Tasty, Musical, Defiantly Different, Just Like New Orleans

April 9, 2010 10:22 AM

The newest HBO drama from David Simon and company, Treme, is a quality cousin to his previous classic examination of a specific urban landscape and populace,The Wire. But where The Wire was set in Baltimore and exuded an air of grim hopelessness, Treme, set in a post-Katrina New Orleans, exudes something else entirely: defiant, indestructible hope...

Treme, which launches Sunday night at 10 ET, begins three months after Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf Coast. Like David Milch's Deadwood, another stellar series based in part on actual events, Treme plans to track what actually happened in New Orleans and elsewhere, in the months (and, if the series is renewed, years) that followed, as experienced by its squadron of fictional, feisty characters.

The cast of Treme, assembled by Simon and co-creator Eric Overmyer, is a quality TV lover's dream. It's almost like a One Degree of Separation game, linking each actor to a previous beloved TV series. Look! There's John Goodman from Roseanne! Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters from The Wire! Kim Dickens from Deadwood! Melissa Leo from Homicide: Life on the Street! Khandi Alexander from The Corner! Steve Zahn from... well, okay, so not EVERY player has a jaw-dropping TV legacy.

But everyone IS a delight. I especially love, in the first three episodes, Dickens, who plays never-say-quit restaurant owner Janette, and Zahn, who plays her less dependable deejay boyfriend. And, among many others, Pierce, as Antoine, the trombone player who has problems with money, and women, and everything that doesn't involve music. Or food: This is a series that should come with its own TV dinners.

Oh, and the music. It's not only central to Treme -- it's vital. While the local slang and vocabulary can be tricky to parse, the music is universal and instantly accessible. The joy, the yearning, the creativity, the individuality -- it's all there. And it's all delightful.

In an early scene, when Antoine joins a parade line tardily and blows his first notes to trumpet his arrival (or, literally, to trombone it), the music lurches into a higher, giddier gear. At the same time, so does Treme.

The premier episode is directed by Agnieszka Holland, and written by Simon and Overmyer. Subsequent episodes will be directed by Ernest Dickerson, Simon Cellan Jones and others, and written by, among others, George Pelecanos and the late David Mills, who died suddenly last week on the set of Treme.

Make room on your must-see list for one more hour of television. Treme already has earned its spot there. The only down side is that it's directly opposite another must-see show, AMC's Breaking Bad. Plan your viewing, and recording, accordingly.

[To read or hear my review of Treme on this past Monday's Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR, and to hear Terry's interviews with David Simon and Eric Overmyer, click HERE and HERE.]

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STUDENT BLOG #4: The Sun Should Set on Fox's "Sons of Tucson"

April 8, 2010 11:28 AM

[Bianculli here: I asked Rich Greenhalgh, who last wrote on the subject of anime, to take a look at one of the new shows aimed at young viewers, and write about whether it did or didn't work for him, a college student at Rowan University. Here is his not-so-glowing report on Fox's newest sitcom...]

"Sons of Tucson" Deserves Banishment... To the Tool Shed

By Rich Greenhalgh

The more I watch television, the more I wonder if Hollywood is just trying to save a buck due to the recession.

At this very moment, discarded actors are pining for pilots, and writers are putting a fresh coat of paint on that quirky new sitcom concept or drama series. With all the built-in risks and difficulty in even getting on the air, you would think the creators or producers of new shows would want to hedge their bets, learn from the mistakes of others, and push the envelope.

On the other hand, you could do the opposite, and make Fox's Sons of Tucson.

This series, televised at 9:30 p.m. ET Sundays, features a concept full of untapped potential, an awkward yet edgy post-modern family style sitcom with a twist. The truth is that, in execution, this new sitcom matches its protagonist's flaws and lack of preparation all too well.

The creators, Greg Bratman and Tommy Dewey, started with a clever twist on the single-father sitcom. What if he's not their real father? What if, instead, he was a complete stranger, thrown into a "guardianship of convenience" role by kids whose father is away in prison, requiring a stand-in dad to prevent them being shipped off to child services.

Already I'm curious. And Sons ups the ante by hiring, in the central slacker role of Ron Snuffkin, comedic actor Tyler Labine, formerly of such cancelled series as Reaper, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Action Man and Dead Last). How bad could it be? (Wait -- HOW many cancelled shows?)

As the series began, Ron Snuffkin was a cashier at a sporting goods store, living in his car when he gets propositioned by three school boys who need a father figure to make "face time" with school administrators to sign them up for school. The boys were skeptical and scheming, to say the least, but Ron charmed and fumbled his way through all the important meetings, even though he couldn't even remember his kids' names.

The hook is that, after pulling off the initial deception, the boys still need Ron to show up for various teacher conferences and such. Ron is desperate for cash and a place to live, and the boys need an adult for show. There's potential to spin several seasons of awkward pairings and bizarre bonding excuses -- but, to my regret, the show's jokes, casting, and general flow maintain a 70 percent lame to 30 percent clever ratio in their presentation.

The series becomes painful to watch when even the smart and pretty school teacher, played by Natalie Martinez, gets invited to family dinner and buys into this train wreck. Where's the danger? Where's the conflict?

In one episode, Ron and the kids photoshop photos to fake "old" family pictures, yet are caught when the teacher notices an Obama bumper sticker on a car in a photo presumably taken years before Obama ran for President.

That was a clever touch, but there was nothing clever when the discrepancy was hastily dismissed by Ron, who claimed he was a supporter even back then. That's it? And Ron's pretty future "love interest" (even MORE implausible) just accepts it, like she's too stupid to piece it together? Or does Fox just think VIEWERS are?

Sons of Tucson is too simple and plodding to be a guilty pleasure, or even suitable for young viewers. The middle child gets saddled, by his older brother, with the catch phrase "What Up Slut?" That might be funny, or acceptable, if this were Daria or Glee, but this show wants to be family-oriented one minute and hip to teens the next. It never mixes well.

I'm hoping this sitcom soon gets sent to the non air-conditioned tool shed in which the kids originally forced Ron to live. I wonder: did Fox just want a "stand-in sitcom" to hold the time slot until next fall?

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The Beatles on "Idol," "Amazing Race," "Glee": Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, or No, No, No?

April 7, 2010 8:36 PM

I hate it when any Beatles music shows up in a TV commercial, as when "Hello Goodbye" is covered during a Target ad. But when music associated with the group or its former members is showcased on prime-time network TV, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Depends...

When The Amazing Race, as it did last month, takes time on its whirlwind around-the-world race to locate a pit stop in Hamburg, at the Indra Club, with Beatles lookalikes and sound-alikes playing in the background where the originals performed some 50 years ago, the sentiment is fine, even if the overall effect is tacky.

(My idea of a Beatles tribute band is the Fab Faux, thank you very much.)

And next week, when the wonderful Fox series Glee returns with a musical-production number version of "Hello Goodbye," it's a delight. Certainly a lot more welcome than a Target ad.

But with this week's Paul McCartney-John Lennon songbook competition of another Fox series, American Idol, the ongoing continuation and adoration of the Beatles catalog is a mixed bag.

It's certainly authorized: McCartney himself provided a taped hello (but no goodbye).

It's the second time Idol has cleared enough compositions to mount a Lennon-McCartney night -- the first was during season seven, when Brooke White did a lovely version of "Let It Be" and Lily Scott did justice to a well-selected "Fixing a Hole."

But for the most part, with all those songs from which to choose (or even from a reduced list provided by producers), there were more disasters than gems. Kristy Lee Cook's "Eight Days a Week" was only the bottom of a deep barrel, and even when Clay Aiken sang "Here, There and Everywhere" as a stand-alone Beatles pick all the way back in season two, it wasn't a successful rendition.

I wonder, to young viewers unfamiliar with the Beatles, whether these Idol nights of selections help or hurt the new-generation reaction to the Fab Four. It annoys me, by the way, that the musical contributions of George Harrison are overlooked in these Lennon-McCartney theme nights. An all-Harrison night, arguably, would be just as dynamic.

But with what we have, this is where we stand:

I'm typing this just before the start of Wednesday's Idol elimination, so I'm writing, as fast as possible, to show my hand before Idol shows its.

Of all the contestants this week, the most satisfying, to me, was Siobhan Magnus' rendition of "Across the Universe." Sitting on a stool, accompanied by piano and singing quietly and purely, she, and it, was beautiful.

Surprisingly good was Casey James, the only contestant to pull a song from a post-Beatles catalog. He selected Lennon's "Jealous Guy," and played tasteful acoustic guitar while a vioinist offered spare accompaniment. By far, the night's two best performances.

Katie Stevens acquitted herself with a solid "Let it Be," and Crystal Bowersox was okay with her "Come Together" -- though I noticed she swallowed the word "shoot" in the lyric "he shoot Coca-Cola," quite possibly because Coke is one of the show's annoyingly intrusive sponsors.

But the others: Yikes. I'd put Andrew Garcia's "Can't Buy Me Love," Tim Urban's "All My Loving" and Lacey Brown's Lee Dewyze's "Hey Jude" in the bottom three... but teen crushes and votes mean more, at this point, than actual talent.

AND NOW, MY POST-SHOW REACTIONS:

The three women whose performances I praised -- Katie, Crystal and especially Siobhan -- were all declared safe by Ryan Seacrest in the first vote reveal of the evening. So, not much suspense there.

And my only other praiseworthy Lennon-McCartney cover vocalist Tuesday night, Casey, was in the next group saved. So the national voters agreed with me, which, trust me, doesn't always happen.

To wit: Facing elimination in the bottom two were Andrew Garcia and Michael Lynche, and, after votes were revealed, it was Big Mike who was about to be sent home, unless the judges used the season's only wild-care save to return him next week. Mike had such impressive showings early, he deserved another chance -- and Simon Cowell and the other judges thought so, too, awarding him a reprieve unanimously. Nice moment.

What that means is that two contestants will be eliminated next week. So long as it's not Crystal or Siobhan, I'll cope -- but the national Idol voters cast their votes, and their loyalties, here, there and everywhere.

It's part of what makes American Idol so maddening, and interesting, at the same time. And, I guess, what makes the Lennon-McCartney songbook a welcome ingredient -- even if many of the singers are as clueless as the voters.

Your take?

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Tonight on "Late Late Show": Attack of the Robot

April 5, 2010 6:35 AM

Late shows and robots have been co-exisiting peacefully since the 1950s -- thanks to B movies -- but tonight marks a new, Terminator-type evolutionary moment. Tonight at 12:35 a.m., on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, we're introduced to the host's brand-new robot sidekick...

Like so many other elements of this CBS late-night talk show, the robot sidekick idea began as a one-shot remark, a playful moment, a germ of an idea that refused to die. That's how The Late Late Show got "What Did We Learn On the Show Tonight, Craig?" as a low-key ending, and Wavy the Cajun reptile and other sassy puppets, and intentionally staged "awkward moments," and so much more.

With the robot sidekick, things evolved from Ferguson bemoaning, as usual, his show's low-budget, bare-bones presentation: poor lighting, no band, no sidekick. He began musing about a robot sidekick, then invented a name for him: Geoff Peterson. Then, after diving onto Twitter, he sought out a REAL inventor -- Grant Imahara from Discovery Channel's Mythbusters -- and persuaded him to design a robot sidekick for real.

We've already been treated to the rough trials, and seen the sidekick accidentally decapitate a dummy stand-in for Helena Bonham Carter. We've learned of the "history" of late-night TV robotics, including a reasonable (and playfully disrespectful) explanation for Jay Leno.

We've also been told the three laws of Skele-Robotics, which reveals that someone on the writing staff is a die-hard sci-fi purist, a.k.a. geek.

The three laws, as enumerated, are direct echoes of Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics -- more proof that this nonsensical idea has come to fruition by being taken way too seriously, which is part of the fun.

Expect surprises tonight, and a special guest narrator - and Imahara himself, on board to reveal the "finished" Geoff Peterson. The fact that this inspired lunacy occurs less than a week after the show won a Peabody Award makes it that much more absurd.

But proper perspective has always been a Ferguson strong suit. As his puppet alter ego Wavy told the viewing audience the night those coveted awards were announced:

"I do know that this is the second time that Ferguson has won a Peabody Award -- the first time being at sleepaway camp when he was 10.

"But I do believe," Wavy added with his wide-mouth smile, "that was for a completely different endeavor."

Had Geoff been up and running, he would have laughed loudly at that one.I know I did.

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An Incidental Easter Weekend Anniversary: 41 Years Ago, CBS Fired the Smothers Brothers

April 3, 2010 8:09 AM

On Easter Weekend in 1969, CBS refused to air the program Tom and Dick Smothers had supplied for telecast on Easter Sunday -- the one containing David Steinberg's second comic sermonette -- and fired off a memo which also fired the Smothers Brothers. So unhappy anniversary, guys, but thanks for letting me tell your story...

I'm a bit premature in wrapping up the entire post-publication experience of Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.' Even though it's been out for four months now, I'm still doing media interviews and the occasional lecture and book signing. But I can say, even at this point, that for a guy whose default setting is "worst-case scenario," I'm very, very happy with how the book was published, publicized and received.

I'm happier still that the brothers themselves, Tom and Dick, are pleased with the results. Well, Tom is -- Dick still hasn't read it, though he says it's the fourth book in the pile on his night stand. (I'm kind of amazed, and amused, and enchanted by that lack of vanity.)

But I'm sad that, at least for a while, the Smothers Brothers have decided to disband, after 50 years as a performing duo. According to Tom, their last concert appearances will be next month, May 15-16, at the Orleans hotel and casino in Las Vegas. That's 50 years, and a few months, since they stopped being a trio, and went to Aspen to perform as a duo at the Limelite.

Thanks for the ride, gentlemen. Be proud of yourselves.

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