BROOKLYN NINE-NINE and LAST MAN STANDING Just Got a New Lease on (TV) Life!

Despite the fact that my other favorite TV programs Designated Survivor, Lucifer and The Last Man on Earth will be no more after this season, I'm so glad that Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing (LMS) will be back to grace the boob tube sometime later this year! In regards to Last Man Standing though, online reports suggest that two of the sitcom's most hilarious stars, Kaitlyn Dever (Eve Baxter) and Molly Ephraim (Mandy Baxter), will only make recurring appearances and not be regulars on the show's revival. That's a bummer, though in Ms. Ephraim's case, not a surprise. I've been one of Molly's loyal Twitter followers for over two years now, and her constant tweets and re-tweets of posts attacking Trump (which I have absolutely no problem with) since before the 2016 presidential election have probably caused her to sour to the thought of being on a show where the main star (Tim Allen, who plays Mike Baxter) is a Trump supporter in real life and on this show. Of course, this is a huge assumption on my part...and Ephraim may surprise and excite LMS fans next week by announcing that she'll be fully aboard with playing Mandy on the sitcom once more. If Molly only decides to appear on LMS sporadically and focus on other projects instead, might I suggest that she does theater again? I attended her play Bad Jews in west Los Angeles almost three years ago, and it was delightful.

So yea, I'm really glad that Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing are back...even though the latter might be missing two of its most awesome cast members when it returns. Brooklyn Nine-Nine will air on NBC next year (which will kind of suck for me since I get crappy reception on this channel; my TV is hooked up to an antenna and not to a cable or satellite receiver) after being on FOX for five seasons, while LMS will make its debut on FOX after being on ABC for six seasons. Anyways, lookin' forward to seeing Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) get married during the Nine-Nine's season finale on May 20—while I can't wait to see what type of anti-liberal comment will be made by Mike Baxter in the LMS Season 7 premiere. Even though I myself am a liberal...but it's all good. Welcome back, Mike! And screw Trump. Have a Happy Mother's Day weekend, everyone!

So I Just Came Up With The Weirdest Word (In My Sleep)...

"Oboe biking?" What the heck is that? Even though I said this during a dream I had last night, I'm mad at myself for saying that to my celebrity crush—who appeared in the dream. For most of the fantasy, I was standing next to this girl while she was mingling with other people. It was towards the end of the dream where she finally turned to me to ask a question, and I replied with that odd phrase mentioned at the start of this entry. She corrected me with the actual wording (I forgot what it was) before telling me to walk away. Ouch. That was a crappy first impression that I left during my REM sleep. Anyways, in case you're wondering who my celebrity crush is, I typed about her in this entry...or just click on the first keyword listed below. 'Kay, that's enough cryptic talk for this morning. Happy August!

DARN IT— I Should've Removed My Sunglasses!

So earlier today, I was working at a TV studio in Studio City when I finally ran into a cute actress who I've had a crush on for almost three years. Won't mention her name (though you'd probably figure out who she was if you browsed through my journal entries for June and July of this year), but I will point out that every time I work at this particular lot, I pass by the soundstage her show tapes in just to see if she's loitering nearby. Of course, I probably wouldn't say 'hi' to her—as I either run the risk of her shrugging me off (as the saying goes: You should never meet your idol), and her alerting me to security—just because. I do background acting work; it's definitely a 'no-no' to approach principal actors unless they approach you first. However, methinks that this only applies to the specific show I'm working in that day. I haven't worked on the show this actress is on since November of 2012, so it might not have been as risky just to give her a quick 'hello' (and to tell her that I'm a big fan of her sitcom—hint, hint) before walking away. Didn't want to bug her as she was too busy browsing on her smartphone...which is what she was doing while sitting outside of her soundstage during a quick break this afternoon.

Even though approaching this actress to say hi was out of the question, I should've at least removed my sunglasses so we could make direct eye contact. The upside of this: She would've remembered me for a couple of more (milli)seconds as I walked away to head back to my car (this encounter took place right after I finished my job assignment inside another stage). The downside: The fact that she knows how I looked like might compel me not to stroll past her soundstage as much anymore. If I did run into her again, she'd recognize me, wonder why I keep passing by her area, and of course, probably alert security. I'm really not making myself look good in this story. But yea— I wish this actress could get a stint on a comic book TV series like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which is on ABC, the same channel that her sitcom is on...hint, hint), CW's The Flash, FOX's Gotham or CBS' Supergirl (which premieres tonight) just so she could do an autograph signing or photo op at an expo like Stan Lee's Comikaze...which I'm attending on Halloween (next Saturday)!

Anyways, that's all I have to say about today's quick but memorable moment. And in case you're still wondering who I'm talking about, just click on the keyword at the very bottom of this entry. I saw her in person two previous times this year. Carry on.

Bad Jews: One Last Encore!

So a few hours ago, I drove down to the Geffen Playhouse to attend another showing of the play Bad Jews before its run came to an end at the Los Angeles theater today (it was originally supposed to end on July 19). Needless to say, this show was just as enjoyable tonight as it was when I watched it more than a month ago! As mentioned in the link that I just provided, Molly Ephraim (as Daphna Feygenbaum) had such great lines to work with...while I realized tonight that Liam Haber (portrayed by Ari Brand) had equally witty dialogue as Daphna's nemesis. (One memorable line was when Liam joked that Daphna wanted to be an "Uzi-toting Israeli warlock superhero" because of her strong devotion to Judaism.) In my previous entry, I pointed out that Raviv Ullman (who played Liam's brother Jonah) didn't have as much to work with as his three co-stars (the third thespian being Lili Fuller, who played Melody). I was wrong. Don't know if he was given more lines since the June 10 preview that I watched, but it became more apparent that Jonah was the level-headed family member who wanted to avoid conflict and bring peace among his kin (which was pretty much a failure if you watched the show). Liam and Daphna's goals were to hold onto or obtain an old family heirloom known as the 'Chai,' no matter what it took, while Jonah "didn't want to get involve" with his kin's dogged pursuit of that MacGuffin (Google this term). Melody's goal was also to bring peace between Liam (her boyfriend) and Daphna as well, but her attempt—just like those of Jonah—would cause the situation to become worse and inevitably lead to Bad Jew's both humorous and tumultuous climax.

Will I ever watch another show at the Geffen Playhouse, you ask? That's a good question. If Molly Ephraim gets cast in another show at this venerable theater, then definitely. Other than that, we'll see what the future holds. By the way, tonight marked the second time I parked at the wrong structure for this show [I paid $7 (just like on June 10) instead of the $4 that I would've dished out if I parked at the garage that was mentioned on my printed ticket for Bad Jews]. Oh well.


Michael Lamont - Hollywood Reporter

Parman's Review: Bad Jews

On Wednesday, June 10, I drove down to the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles to attend a play written by Joshua Harmon that's titled Bad Jews. The name of the production speaks for itself...with four characters (played by talented actors Raviv Ullman, Molly Ephraim, Ari Brand and Lili Fuller) embroiled in a 90-minute-long conflict about what it means to live like a true Hebrew during the 21st Century (in New York City, to be exact). I myself am Catholic, so I basically watched this play to see a darkly comical/dramatic take on modern Judaism without really getting the nuances of it. (Okay, I'll confess— I mostly watched Bad Jews because I'm a huge fan of Tim Allen's ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, and Molly Ephraim's hilarious character Mandy Baxter, in particular.) But this didn't take away from the fact that the four actors gave fine performances in the show, and I enjoyed it a lot.

As stated in the last sentence above, the four performers who breathed life into Bad Jews were very commendable...though I reckon that Raviv Ullman (who played Jonah Haber) preferred that he had more to do than just lean against the side of a wall or constantly pulling something to eat or drink out of the fridge while Daphna Feygenbaum (Ephraim) engaged in numerous diatribes about their family's devotion, or lack thereof, to Judaism (more on this later). Ari Brand, as Liam Haber, did a nice job conveying extreme frustration and annoyance as Daphna called him out (and almost ruined certain plans of his) on his life decisions when he arrived at the family apartment with his girlfriend Melody (a Christian character who Lili Fuller portrayed in a performance that was a mixture of sweetness, empathy and naïveté). Now in terms of Daphna Feygenbaum...

Whereas in Last Man Standing, Molly Ephraim got to act amusingly ditzy as Mike Baxter's (played by Tim Allen) second oldest daughter Mandy on the show, in Bad Jews Ephraim gets the best (and most intellectual) lines during the production as she plays Daphna—a well-educated and opinionated girl who planned to move to Israel to serve in the military after graduating from college (Daphna attended Vassar, I think). Ephraim did a very terrific job reciting lines that dealt with Delaware and genocide (yes, both were mentioned in the same sentences)...as well as tattoos and stardust (again, she also mentioned these in the same sentences). By the end of the play (well okay, several minutes into it), it's clearly obvious that Daphna is the antagonist of the show. But like Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels (nice analogy, eh?), her intentions were for the best as she tried to obtain a prized heirloom known as a 'Chai' that her family had in its possession since World War II. But by the conclusion of Bad Jews, Daphna tried so hard to do what's best for her family that she almost ended up tearing it apart instead. While Anakin ultimately failed in his attempt to save his family, Daphna succeeded in retrieving that heirloom...but in a way that most likely obliterated her relationship with her relatives; Liam, in particular.

I obviously won't spoil the ending of Bad Jews, but there is a silver lining with the conclusion of the show in that Daphna finds out that she isn't the only one trying to preserve her family's Hebriew heritage. Bad Jews is being shown in theaters across the country [New York, Florida, Texas (Yes, Texas. Houston, to be exact) and Memphis, Tennessee] as well as London, England—so check it out now! Bad Jews is directed by Matt Shakman...who helmed episodes on a lot of big TV shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Revenge, The Good Wife, Mad Men and the upcoming mini-series, Heroes Reborn. That's pretty cool! Carry on.


Michael Lamont - Hollywood Reporter