EVENING NIGHTCAP: Elmo's Question Goes Off The Rails. Bob Odenkirk's Surprising Relatives. RIP To Chita Rivera.

 

 

 ► Poor Elmo. He recently went on social media to ask people a simple question and..oh boy...did it turn ugly. The lovable Sesame Street character became the Rodney Dangerfield of the puppet world as he got no respect from people. The question Elmo asked was, "How is everybody doing?" People must have been in a foul mood because Elmo got an earful. Below are some of the responses. Read More

"Elmo, I'm gonna be real, I am at my f***ing limit," responded Lebanon-based journalist Séamus Malekafzali.

"The world is burning around us, Elmo," said football YouTuber Steven McInerney. 

 "Not feeling too tickled about life rn, Elmo" a user with the handle @RodzillaOF wrote.

 "Elmo we're all one bad day from moving in with Oscar, it's BLEAK out here bro," a user with the handle @CeeHawk replied

 "Elmo, each day the abyss we stare into grows a unique horror. One that was previously unfathomable in nature. Our inevitable doom which once accelerated in years, or months, now accelerates in hours, even minutes," Mr Abdurraqib wrote.

Elmo. Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty for HeadSpace/Independent.co.UK

Comment: I'm sure some folks responding to Elmo were being facetious. However, it goes to show that people in general are scared, upset, and concerned about the way things are going in the world and the state of humanity in general. Since I deleted my Twitter account when Elon the dickbag took over, I wasn't able to respond to the lovable red fur ball with a more positive attitude than what has hurled at him. So Elmo, if you're  PW Manor reader...I'm doing A-Okay. My back is feeling better. Thanks for asking!

► Chita Rivera, the 2-time Tony Award winning Broadway actress, singer, and dancer has died. She was 91. Chita was born in Washington, DC. She shot to fame when, in 1957, she originated the role of Anita in "West Side Story".  From there, she continued to blaze a trail for Latin performers on Broadway by starring in, "Bye-Bye Birdie", "Chicago", "Guys & Dolls", "Threepenny Opera", "Sweet Charity," "Kiss of the Spider Woman", and "Kiss Me Kate" among many, many other Broadway shows.  In 1986 her dancing career took a huge setback when she was involved in a car accident that resulted in her left leg being broken in 12 places. Always the fighter, Chita underwent numerous surgeries and physical therapy and made a comeback.  Chita is survived by daughter, Lisa. Read More

Chita River at the 2018 Tony Awards. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision AP/The Guardian.com

Comment:  In addition to her 2 Tony awards, she also received a Tony Lifetime achievement trophy, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 from President Obama. If you've never seen Chita perform, she was magnetic. She had such a mesmerizing presence on stage. Chita was not only a trailblazer for Latin performers but for establishing a high bar of excellence for all actors on Broadway that few have been able to surpass. Condolences to her family. 

► On PBS "Finding Your Roots", actor Bob Odenkirk (of Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul) found out that he's the 11th cousin to King Charles. Apparently, Bob's 6th great grandfather was the Duke of Plon in Germany; and back then royals intermarried other royals in Europe. King Chuck's dad, Prince Phillip, was German. So...there you have it. It was hilarious listening to Bob trash the concept of royal families before finding out he was related to King Chuckles. Now we know where Prince Waaagh gets it from. BTW,  I wonder if this means Bob will get a holiday card from King Chucky and Camilla?   Read More
 

Comment: I've always wanted to do an ancestry search for my family. But I'm hesitant because of  the horror stories about some of these companies using a person's DNA and then selling it for any number of reasons such as "research" or "cataloging" of human genome - whatever that means.  I know...I know...conspiracy theory. But you gotta wonder what these companies do with the samples. Anyway according to my family's urban legend, we're related to Pablo Picasso. Um, more like the schmucks who lived next door and told him he was wasting his time with artwork that didn't make sense...and told him to go paint houses for a living.