Mailbag

Hi Bob,

We haven't met, but I've read your stuff over the years…. and truly admire your insight into so many things musical. I'm writing at this way after midnight hour…well, because I'm feeling truly sad.I just learned that Joe Smith has passed away. He was a great executive, A&R man, and a true friend, … and he changed my life in many ways. He took me with him to Fairfax, Ca. to meet Van Morrison. He ok'ed the deal with the "Doobie Bros", and he was always checking to see if I were ok health wise. While a teetotaler during my time pretending to be a singer in a pop group ( one in which, Joe was guest on record as "Smilin' Eddie Fatootsie"). I later fell prey to various substances that bands have their own code names for. If from Pasadena, it was "Krell" … if from Boston, "Bleeze" etc... which required something to take the edge off..…. anyway… Joe would always call me up, or write me a note to say "How's your health"? … A wonderful caring person.. and a man of letters, I learned a great deal from him. I will never forget hearing my first hit record on the radio... driving from Pasadena to Burbank. Ronnie Montrose playing the intro to "Wild Night"… I pulled my car over, listened till the end, and then shut it off. I said "Thank you Van, thank you Warner Bros and Lenny (my mentor)..and "thank you Joe"! I'm also out of sorts because one of my closest and dearest friends in the world ( also an artist) is fighting for his very life right now, and I somehow, thought that you….. would understand why my heart is filled with sadness.

Warmest Regards,
Ted Templeman

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From: Harlan Coben
Subject: Thanks from Harlan

Bob,

Can't thank you enough for the shoutout for THE FIVE and the kind words about TELL NO ONE. A half dozen friends have forwarded me your missive tonight, and I'm really pleased. I've loved working on shows overseas. It's given me a unique sort of freedom, I think.

At the risk of sounding overly self-promotional -- let's politely just call it "FYI," shall we? -- it may interest you to know that I'll have three more Netflix Original crime dramas streaming worldwide in 2020, all filmed in Europe. First up, I'm back with my THE FIVE producing/writing team adapting THE STRANGER as an eight-episode Netflix Original in the UK. THE WOODS has just wrapped filming in Poland (6 episodes) and THE INNOCENT (8 episodes) is now filming in Spain directed by Oriol Paulo and starring Mario Casas. And yep, Netflix presses a button and all the episodes go out at one time to something like 190 countries, including ours. Heady stuff.

Again thanks for the insightful words on my work. It means a great deal to me.

Best,
Harlan

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From: Steve Postell
Subject: Re: Billie Eilish/Van Halen

Very well said, this trend has been branded by sociologists and psychologists as "horizontal referencing", learning only from your peers as opposed to "vertically" from those who proceeded you. This eliminates a lot of depth from the music getting made today, and it's not a new phenomenon. I was producing an artist at Atlantic Studios in the mid 80's, and we had one of their top young staff engineers. At one point I mentioned I'd like to get a sound similar to Jaco's on Hejira. It was acceptable that he didn't know that album, and even that he was not familiar with Jaco Pastorius ... but he didn't know who Joni Mitchell was!! Back in the day, if you didn't know the roots of where the music came from, you weren't allowed in the room!

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From: Jason Hirschhorn
Subject: Re: Billie Eilish/Van Halen

Kids today have so much to choose from that the archive means nothing. I heard a major rapper say he had never listened to Run-DMC. The canon have no place is seems.

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From: chris stein
Subject: Re: Billie Eilish/Van Halen

Many of us in the biz don't have a clue as to how uninvolved the masses are in regards to music personalities.

I was recently in a room full of adults, 40 and up, and Pharrell appeared on TV.

None of them knew who he was.

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Subject: Re: Re-The Irishman

Wow. This Irishman thing has really been an interesting hot potato to toss around. I liken it to the division we have in this country concerning the president. The proportion in percentages are about the same. Around 30% of the folks being absolutely loyal to Scorcese remind me of the die hard Trumpsters who will just flat out lay down in road for their king.

We all agree that the acting is great and why wouldn't it? And yes it's a cult sleeper already that will most likely garner awards. But will I sit through again and again like Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino and the like? Probably not. And I know the other 70% who agree that this movie is like another One Upon a Time in New York. Another movie festooned with great actors that just grinds your molars into your skull with the length and lack of human feeling arc.

At least Gangs of New York had a vengeance motivation which drove the resolve and made the length worth it at the end. In The Irishman our only resolve we are left with is a guilty conscience over not making a frickin phone call? Really? That's the whole payoff? That's like saying you voted for Trump because his name is on the top of a few buildings.

Kenny Lee Lewis

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Subject: Re: More Irishman

A friend and I decided to go see the Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers movie Sunday afternoon at a neighbourhood multiplex. I hadn't been to a movie theatre since the summer when we went to see the new Tarantino.

On Sunday afternoon, the multiple ... uh .. needs a mopping, to put it kindly. We had checked the showtimes the day before online. We go to the ticket counter and the teenager on duty says, "Sorry, that screening is cancelled. The projector broke Friday night."

"A broken projector!?" we say. "Two days ago? You can't be serious."

"Yeah, a lot of people have been mad," the kid says.

We went for a late lunch instead.

That's the last time I will darken the door of that shithole. It's the home screen for me. Looking forward to the new Noah Baumbach on Netflix this weekend.

Morley Walker
Winnipeg

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From: Michael Fremer
Subject: Re: More Irishman

It's as much about the awful movie theater clientele these days as it is about movies I don't want to see.

When I do go, the people are talking through the movie, lighting up the area around me with cell phones and it's not a pleasant experience anymore and it's not because I'm old!

When I was a kid and people talked I had no problem telling them to STFU!

Today though, who knows who's got a gun?

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Subject: Re: Atypical

Hi Bob

Thank you for writing about "Atypical." I hope more people give the show a shot.

I wanted to comment on your remark, "Sam Gardner is autistic, but he doesn't resemble any autistic person I know."

That is precisely why I love the show. The truth is that Sam Gardner represents many autistic people we know, we just don't see that they are autistic. I never knew this until I had an autistic daughter of my own. When people meet her (and her autistic friends), they think that she is just "off" or a little weird. They believe this because they don't understand the full spectrum of autism, and my daughter doesn't represent the portrayal of autistic people represented in media.

Until "Atypical," the only media representations of autism were socially awkward people with superpowers (Ben Affleck in "The Accountant," Freddie Highmore in "The Good Doctor") or someone with obvious cognitive disabilities also with superpowers (Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"). While there is nothing wrong with those shows/movies, they are not the reality for 99.9% of autistic people and their families. While it's not perfect, I applaud "Atypical" because it's the first show that attempts to deal with our reality.

I can't tell you how many times I've shouted, "Yes! Yes!" during scenes in Atypical. When Sam freaked out on the bus because the texture of his pants was too much for his senses, I've been there. When Michael Rapaport was at the support group in season one, and the other parents kept correcting him for not using the right adjectives, I have been there. (I'm still not sure if its "autistic people" or "people with autism.") When Sam freaked out and ran home because kids were laughing at him, and he told his parents that he doesn't understand why people laugh at him, I cried because that is what my wife and I fear for our daughter every day.

Some parents of autistic kids trashed the show on Twitter because it doesn't ring true for them. But that is the point. Autism is a vast spectrum, and each person is unique. No autistic character resembles the autistic people we know because each one is different.

Thanks again for spotlighting the show. I love your newsletter. Keep up the great work!

- Josh Babyar

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