Rant #1,669: Bits and Pieces

Here are some of my thoughts on a few current items in the news that don't really deserve full Rant coverage, but some mention, however small.

William Schallert Dies: William Schallert passed away at 93 years old yesterday, and if there was a Hall of Fame for TV character actors, he would certainly lead the list of inductees.

This guy was probably one of the most ubiquitous actors on TV during the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. Along with Charles Lane, Schallert was certainly the leading character actor on TV during this period, racking up credits on such disparate shows as "Star Trek" and "Get Smart," and seemingly every show in between.

He might be remembered best, however, for a show that he was a regular on, the gimmicky "The Patty Duke Show," where he played Patty's dad and Cathy's uncle.

Sure, he played second banana to the frenzied Patty/Cathy portrayal by Duke, but he seemed to be a point of calm versus Duke's wild star turn, and he seemed to be that throughout his career.

He had that voice, he had that look, and he carried it all off with panache.

He was perhaps better known inside the acting world as a former president of the Screen Actors Guild, but to the public, he was basically a face without a name, which the best character actors all aspire to be.

And he worked into his 90s, including a brief, recent guest spot on "2 Broke Girls."

He will be missed.

Yankees Playing Better, But ... : The Yankees returned home after an absolutely horrid 2-7 road trip and have promptly looked more like the team that they were supposedly set up to be, winning three of four against two pretty good teams, the Red Sox and the World Champion Kansas City Royals.

The problem is that the question has come to at least this guy's mind: were the Yankees designed to tank this year?

Reports are that Aroldis Chapman, the supposed spouse abuser who just came back from his suspension, might be dangled out there before the trade deadline in a few months if the team from the Bronx stays out of contention.

The Yankees proclaimed that they had the "best bullpen ever" when he was signed for this season only, joining an already excellent bullpen, including Andrew Miller and Delan Betances.

But you can't have three closers on one team, and Miller, last year's Fireman of the Year in the American League, got pushed out of that spot by Chapman. Whose ego wouldn't be hurt by such a move, even though Miller is on record as saying that he is a team player, and he will do whatever he is told to do.

Chapman is only signed for this season, and stories in the papers lately have been saying that he will be dangled to contending teams if the Yankees aren't in it, and with so many injuries and with such an old team, that just might happen.

The Yankees were the only team in baseball that did not sign a free agent this off season, and while they supposedly upgraded themselves at second base by trading for Starlin Castro, they did not fortify their starting pitching, which was suspect from the get go--and they could have at least made an offer to David Price, but declined to do so, while every other team in their division noticeably improved themselves, including the hated Red Sox.

Instead, they went in with at best, questionable starting pitching, and an offense that relied on guys way past their prime.

And it is well known that they have penny pinched since old man Steinbrenner died.

Hmm ... what would Chapman get them in a trade? You can bet a bushel of young players, and maybe that was the plan all along, seeing how old and lifeless this team has looked for most of this season.

New Monkees Song Does Not Make the Hot 100: No surprise here, because with what is on the Billboard Hot 100 right now, it would really take a miracle for pop stations to play "She Makes Me Laugh" alongside tunes from Beyonce and Kanye West.

The song is getting airplay, and people are buying it, but it is getting airplay on alternative stations, and the weight that they have can never and will never equal that of Top 40 stations.

The strength of the Monkees' newest recordings will be on the Top 200 albums chart, where I am sure it will be placed when the album is released on May 27. Pre-orders are supposedly very strong, and I am pretty sure that this will be reflected by its placement on this chart.

Just four years ago, when Davy Jones passed away, a recent Greatest Hits album of theirs made its way into the top 20 on that chart, and I feel confident that the newest offering, "Good Times!" will also find its way into the upper reaches of that chart.

That chart really is as close as it used to be as possible, meaning that it includes items that actually exist as a commodity that you can hold, in CD and LP form, as well as digitally. The Hot 100 is totally comprised of digital songs, not really singles, and there really aren't singles being produced in this country anymore, so we are talking about downloads here, which have as much to do with the actual singles of yore as I do with, well, let's say Superman.

Anyway, it will be worth the wait to see how this album does on the Top 200, because by all reports, it looks primed to be a big hit ... but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it just yet, until it actually happens.

Newsday Screws Up Sunday Newspaper: The Sunday newspaper used to be one that I could savor in a relaxed atmosphere over my breakfast during one of my days off on the weekend, but our local newspaper has basically flip-flopped what we get on Saturday with what we get on Sunday, and in doing so, has taken the "oomph" out of the Sunday paper.

What they have done is switch all the features of the Sunday paper into the Saturday paper, probably to boost readership of the Saturday paper, which traditionally has the lowest circulation of any paper during the week.

So, in other words, the special entertainment section, and the wealth of ads we get with coupons, are now given to us as part of the Saturday paper, and the Sunday paper has literally become the Saturday paper, just a newspaper with no extra features included.

For me, this just doesn't work. Saturday is a day that my wife and I run around, do our shopping, get our son to his bowling league, visit my wife's father in the hospital ... in other words, we have no time to read the paper on that day.

On Sunday, sure, we do some running around, but we have more time to savor the newspaper, and take it a bit easier than Saturday.

But with the paper flip-flopped, I have little time to read it on Saturday, really scan it more than read it, and on Sunday, when I have the time, I can get through the newspaper in maybe 30 minutes.

I understand why Newsday has done this, but for me, it simply doesn't work ... and I am betting that I am not the only one who feels this way ... or am I?

That is it for now, so another Bits and Pieces session is over. Feel free to comment on anything I said, because I do welcome the feedback.