JDTV
Steve Gallagher (sgallagher@lasersedge.net)
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 11:22:06 -0700
Happened upon the middle of a new sitcom the other night while supping. Not
sure of the name of it, but it stars Gregory Hines and he plays a publisher
and a father. Anyway, in this episode it was someone's birthday and somehow
this old writer ends up in Hines' New York (?) apartment, an old writer who
just happens to have written Hines' all time favorite novel. You can see
where this is going: it was an obvious Salinger metaphor. Not as good as
Field of Dreams (Salinger from Shoeless Joe), but interesting to watch. Of
course the usual dilemmas were delt with: why just one novel? Why
seclusion? Why so jaded? That's when it turned cheeseball. Aparantly, the
old writer just hated the publicity brought on by the success of his first
novel and felt enormous pressure to live up to it with a second. A bit like
the phenomenal first album followed by a piece of crap, or the all time
killer "best new artist" award. So JD was concerned that he couldn't
better, or equal, his first? I didn't agree with that or any of the
melodramatic excuses presented. I mean, he and Hines damn near kissed and
made up by the end of the whole fiasco. Anyone else see it? Made me wonder:
has Seinfeld/Kramer/George ever run into JDS?
Sgallagher