Hollywood's New McCarthy Era

Redbone, Reservation Dogs, Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

May 12

Good morning from Tulsa! Where I woke up to the sounds of tropical birds (or at least they sounded tropical), green-upon-green streaming through the windows, and my hair expanding to twice its size. This is a family trip - I am visiting my daughter, who works in the set decorating department of the TV series Reservation Dogs (which I’ve written about here before). (Fun fact: the difference between set decoration and prop department is, props are anything the actor touches, set dec is anything they do not.) No rushing this trip, which I thought about yesterday while leisurely waiting to board the plane, as opposed to when I was in Ukraine in March, sitting on the floor at the boarding gate madly typing the last bits into an article. I’ll carry on from here to Houston, to Austin, back here, maybe drive all the way back to New York, maybe stop in Florida, who knows? “We work for money,” my Lyft driver told me yesterday, and also, how he valued his freedom; that he could make $100K a year driving, as opposed to the $40K he made working out at JFK for 19 years. He also told me this awesome story.

Nancy Rommelmann @NancyRomm

A good and satisfying story of justice served! Also, scam alert!

So yes to the freedom, yes to being able to work on the road. I’ll interview Zahn McClarnon if our schedules mesh, and here is he is talking about Redbone. Any non-Natives that can tell me what “snaggin’” is, do it in the comments! Of course I know, geez, I had a kid with a Creek who grew up in Okmulgee, where Rez Dogs is filmed.

Speaking of “Come and Get Your Love,” the Fifth Column boys discuss the song on their latest episode. Yeah yeah, I had to tell them that was a fancy dance in the video (blue satin shorts indeed awesome if not tradish!) and not a rain dance, but I love them anyway, go follow them over on Substack.

And speaking of Substack, here’s the latest Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, in full. Please subscribe! I’ll hit you up later down the road xx

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9: Hollywood's New McCarthy Era

Frank Langella and Fred Savage get poleaxed for vague reasons because "intention doesn't matter," while Sarah and Nancy discuss the expanding definition of abuse

Nancy and Sarah tackle the curious case of Frank Langella, the celebrated actor fired from Netflix’s Fall of the House of Usher after a young actress complains about an on-set interaction, while Fred Savage gets disappeared from The Wonder Years reboot for “abusive behavior,” though we’re not sure what kind. On the Depp-Heard beat, Nancy and Sarah consider body language in the courtroom, “mutual abuse,” the problem with psychiatric diagnoses, and why women are the most complicated characters. Sexy selfies are discussed, but not enough (future episode!). Meanwhile, the fire over Roe v. Wade keeps raging, but Sarah finds hope and wisdom in another podcast, and Nancy has a message for anyone who thinks motherhood is the end of freedom.

Also, Sarah rewatches Citizen Kane, prompting the memory of Orson Welles commercials for Ernest & Julio Gallo wine, though it turns out to be Paul Masson, but we’re not sure Welles remembered that either: