BUT, FIRST...
Matt Lauer has been relieved of his TODAY show anchor duties thanks to reports of sexual misconduct. I WOULD say I'm surprised, but after his tempestuous relationship with Ann Curry which ended in her demotion to international correspondent, not so much. Fancy a lump of coal, old chap? Other last minute bad boys: Garrison Keilor, formerly of A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, Jonathan Schwartz,former DJ and WNYC radio air personality,and Russell Simmons, hip hop legend. (Attention Boston-area readers: Not even Fannee Doolee likes Matt Lauer and Russell Simmons. Nuff said!)
OOOOOOOKAY. PREVIOUSLY IN STEVE'S BLOG Santa Steve's Naughty List
10. MARK HALPERIN
9. CHARLIE ROSE
8. JUDGE ROY MOORE
7. PLANET FITNESS
6. KELLYANNE CONWAY
5. PEOPLE WEEKLY
4. TIME INC.
3. SINCLAIR BROADCASTING
2. DONALD J.TRUMP
1. CHARLES MANSON
And the countdown continues...
10. FIRST RESPONDERS
Some may criticize me for putting you guys at the bottom of the table, but you guys, police, fire, medical etc., did such a great job responding to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (Although our President could have helped a lot more in Puerto Rico!), and this nice list is gonna be VERY crowded, consider it a perfect ten!
9. LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
I was once told "Remember where you come from." The man behind HAMILTON certainly does, and his efforts to help his ancestral homeland of Puerto Rico deserve more than an honorable mention!
8. TOM PETTY
This Florida native combined country, rock, and punk elements to become a voice of his generation, if not THE voice! From his work with his own band, The Heartbreakers, to the Traveling Wilburys sessions with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, Petty's influence was anything but. Not only did he write and sing "I Won't Back Down," he also lived it. That song also became an anthem of unity against the terror of the Las Vegas hotel shooting, and deservedly so. Hope you get that Rickenbacker guitar and Chuck Berry songbook you always wanted on Earth for Christmas up there in Heaven, Tom!
7. LEN WEIN
Lively Len went from idolizing comic masters such as Stan Lee, Carmine Infantino, and Julius Schwartz to working alongside them. To paraphrase his "baby," Wolverine, he was the very best he was at what he did.
6. JIM NABORS
Behind that hick persona and his beloved character Gomer Pyle (which grew out of a cabaret act) was a multi-talented performer with an operatic singing voice. From his annual performance of "Back Home Again In Indiana" at the Indianapolis 500 to his regular appearances on THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, Jim, one of the earliest gay performers to come out and an honorary Marine Corps seargant, among his many accomplishments, was an all-around entertainer and a truly great American. Golllly, will he be missed!
5. HUGH M. HEFNER
Called everything from "The Walt Disney of sex" to "Mr. Playboy" to names best not quoted here, "Hef" launched an empire which was equally praised and assaulted for its approach to sophisticated men's entertainment, including the wildly successful Playboy Club concept, which launched the careers of such famous "Bunnies" as punk rocker Deborah Harry, Hanna-Barbera voice actress B.J.Ward, and actress/writer/entrepeneur Kathryn Leigh Scott, among others. Through the pages of his signature magazine, PLAYBOY, Hef introduced an often-imitated-never-duplicated approach to magazine interviews, fiction by authors such as Philip Roth and Ray Bradbury, and superstars such as Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy, who acknowledged that Hef DID use her, but she also used HIM as a steppingstone to bigger and better things. To paraphrase cover copy written by Stan Lee, some loved Hef, others hated him, but one thing remains: Nobody will ever forget him.
4. ERIC McCORMICK AND DEBRA MESSING a/k/a WILL TRUMAN AND GRACE ADLER
If any show REALLY needed a reboot in Trumpmerica, it was WILL AND GRACE. The platonic pair, flanked by Megan Mullaly as the loud and proud Karen and Sean Hayes as "JUST JACK!", not only celebrate the LGBTQ population, but also America as a whole as a place of freedom, and are not afraid to throw vocal pies in the face of Mr. Trump and those who support him. If I may borrow a line from their recent Christmas show, "Peace on Earth, goodwill and grace!"
3. HOUSTON ASTROS
They didn't only win the World Series, they won the hearts of their hometown fans and people, not just baseball fans, around the country, and, possibly the world, as proof that the people of Houston are resilient and not going to let a silly little thing like a hurricane stand in their way. Not just the eyes of Texas, but the eyes of the world were upon them, and we liked what we saw! Congratulations to the 'Stros in general and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Co-Sportsman Of The Year Jose Altuve on stepping up to the plate in more ways than one!
2. ALYSSA MILANO
She may no longer be part of the witching Charmed Ones, but she still has power as a major advocate of woman's rights, an actress, a mom, and a businesswoman. Who's the Boss? After reading your tweets and hearing about your accomplishments in the #MeToo movement, you are, 'Lyssa! (In honor of the Power Of Three that held the Charmed Ones together, this blog will donate three dollars to UNICEF for whose benefit Alyssa recorded the classic "We Need The Children.")
And now, we're up to the nicest newsmaker of the year, and a real life fairy tale beyond the wildest dreams of Walt Disney, the Brothers Grimm, or anybody else.
Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away, August 4, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, to be exact, Rachel Meghan Markle was born to an Emmy-winning Caucasian lighting director and an African-American social worker.Clearly, this was no Cinderella story in the traditional sense as her parents were divorced. When she was only 11 years old, she successfully persuaded Ivory Snow to change a commercial she viewed as sexist and was the subject of a Linda Ellerbee interview on NICK NEWS.In 2003, she graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor's degree in theater and international studies, and ten years later,she told VOGUE magazine that despite running short of credits to complete her junior year.She began her run in show business as an extra on GENERAL HOSPITAL and ultimately became a "suitcase girl" on the game show DEAL OR NO DEAL and a guest on CSI:NY, CENTURY CITY, and THE WAR AT HOME, but her breakout role was as Rachel (ironically enough) Zane on the USA series SUITS, which was filmed in Toronto, ON, where she met Prince Harry on a blind date a mutual friend had set up in 2016. After an unexpectedly smooth courtship, Clarence House announced in November of 2017 that they would marry in May 2018 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, thus making her only the second American and first mixed-race woman to marry a British woman. Although the wedding is,unlike others, not a bank holiday, it will, no doubt, have a positive effect on women in particular and the world in general. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of Wales, we now pronounce you our Steve's Blog Nicest Newsmaker Of 2017, and, in your honor, we will divide US $20 between the Invictus Games Foundation,the HALO Trust, the London Marathon Charitable Trust, and Walking With The Wounded. We wish you nothing but the best, and that you live happily ever after.
And there you have 'em, the Top 10 Naughtiest and Nicest Newsmakers of the year ending December 7, 2017.We would like to thank Bettijane L. Eisenpreis, Alice Steinberg, Scott Shannon, Patty Steele, Kaitlin Monte, Scott Menville, and especially Louie Pulice for their support (We WOULD like to thank Matt Lauer, but for, obvious reasons, THAT is out of the question!) over the past year, and of course, we would like to thank you, our readers, because without you I would be playing to an empty room, and who wants that? We continue to thank our troops, police officers, and first responders around the world for their efforts in the defense of freedom. Until, January 2018, when once again we will cover the world from our own unique perspective, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HAPPY HANNUKAH!
GOOD KWANZAA!
Steve out!
