A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

In 1975, when I was a fifth-grade student at Tropical Elementary in Miami, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" was anchored by the wonderfully funny Chevy Chase. Back then, the show was still known as NBC's Saturday Night, and the cast (known as The Not Ready For Prime Time Players) included Chase, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, Dan Ackroyd, and Garrett Morris. Anyway, back in '75, SNL writers gave Chase one of the show's earliest catchphrases - "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead...." when they decided to spoof the seemingly endless reports on NBC Nightly News earlier that year about the Spanish dictator's long string of illnesses that culminated in his death on November 20, 1975. Apparently, the running gag (there would be many Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead updates over the next two seasons) was a comedic swipe aimed at Nightly News anchor John Chancellor, who insisted that the newscas...

One month into his tumultuous Presidential term, Donald J. Trump’s approval ratings remain abysmally low. According to the latest Gallup polls, only 42% percent of Americans approve the way Mr. Trump is doing his job as the nation’s Chief Executive. Although Mr. Trump enjoys strong support from Republicans (87% of GOP voters who participated in last Friday’s poll say he is doing well at his job), 92% of Democrats and 65% of independents think otherwise.  ‘ Of course, Mr. Trump and his supporters dismiss polls that do not reflect positively on the President’s policies or his personal behavior. Don’t believe me? This is Mr. Trump, in his own words: “Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.” What goes unsaid, of course, is that any positive polls are real news. As opposed to Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts.” Speaking of “alternative facts,” Mr. Trump (and n...