Page 29 - aruba-today-20191123

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Saturday 23 November 2019
TV comedy greats take a bow, make 'em laugh at ceremony

By LYNN ELBER ness, it wasn’t always easy
Associated Press to do what the naysayers
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — said couldn’t be done,” she
“There’s nothing I believe said. When she sought to
more than this, that laugh- exercise a contract clause
ter adds time to one’s life,” with CBS for an hour-long
Norman Lear told an audi- variety show, Burnett said
ence gathered to honor executives told her, “and
him and other four other I quote, ‘It’s not for you
television comedy greats. gals.’”
“I believe that as much as She punctuated the story
I believe my mother loved with a derisive “huh.” Her
me,” the writer-producer long-running show won
added. “She said she did. armloads of Emmy Awards
But I wasn’t sure.” on CBS.
Like the 97-year-old Lear, Tomlin, whose parade of
who made his name — characters made her a
and TV history — with hit on “Rowan & Martin’s
groundbreaking sitcoms Laugh-In” and who stars
like “All in the Family” and opposite Jane Fonda on
“The Jeffersons,” the other “Grace and Frankie,” was
honorees at Thursday’s self-effacing, saying she
Paley Center for Media Honoree Norman Lear, right, is congratulated by presenters Jimmy Kimmel, left, and Anthony couldn’t match Newhart’s
ceremony proved that tal- Anderson onstage at "The Paley Honors: A Special Tribute to Television's Comedy Legends" at the “sterling one-liners.” In-
ent is ageless. Carl Reiner, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. stead, she delighted the
97; Bob Newhart, 90; Carol Associated Press audience by reciting some
Burnett, 86, and Lily Tom- became an instant sen- to a recent role in “Angie learned as a kid and shar- of her characters’ catch-
lin, 80, each won over the sation in 1960 with his de- Tribeca.” ing an anecdote about phrases, including tele-
room with their humor and but album, the Grammy- “This is the nicest thing, to another TV comedy force, phone operator Ernestine’s
memories. winning “The Button-Down be able to do this for my Jack Benny. He called his “one ringy dingy.” Lear
“Guess this is a hell of a time Mind of Bob Newhart,” dad,” said the younger children and grandchildren was introduced by “black-
to tell you no, we’re not scored sitcom hits with “The Reiner, who gave him an his greatest pride. ish” star Anthony Ander-
coming to your Christmas Bob Newhart Show” in the arm for support as they Carol Burnett was intro- son, who said Lear’s work
party,” Newhart teased 1970s and “Newhart” in the walked onto the hotel ball- duced by Kristin Che- forced audiences to con-
Conan O’Brien after the ‘80s and won an Emmy as room stage at The Paley noweth, who lauded the front difficult issues while
late-night host introduced Professor Proton on “The Big Honors: A Special Tribute to singer-actress-comedian shedding light on common
him as “one of my all-time Bang Theory.” Television’s Comedy Leg- as one of the few who can bonds, and by late-night
comedy heroes.” The sentimental moments ends. do it all and always “with host Jimmy Kimmel, who
“He pulls off the hardest included Rob Reiner’s in- Carl Reiner, who credited such heart.” said the producer used
kind of comedy — timeless, troduction of his father, a government-supported Burnett, who starred on laughter to challenge “us
human, clean and subver- the writer-actor-producer acting program with his Broadway, as well as TV, re- to make progress.”
sive. And he makes it all whose TV career stretched childhood start in entertain- called what preceded the The night’s last word went
look effortless,” O’Brien said from the 1950s variety series ment, charmed the audi- 1967 arrival of “The Carol to Lear. “Bless you all, thank
of Newhart. “Caesar’s Hour” to creating ence by reciting lines from Burnett Show.” you all. To be continued,”
The onetime accountant “The Dick Van Dyke Show” a Shakespeare soliloquy he “As a woman in this busi- he said, smiling.q

Young priest confronts mysteries of past in Harris’ thriller

By MICHAEL HILL reader does, too, when clysm in our current time. technology and the pow-
Associated Press Harris introduces a signifi- The artifacts being col- er of the state to control
“The Second Sleep,” Alfred cant twist early in the story. lected in this post-techno- knowledge.
A. Knopf, by Robert Harris If you want to avoid that logical time include plastic There are engaging
Christopher Fairfax is a spoiler, stop reading this re- straws and an iPhone. What characters like Nicholas
newly ordained priest as- view now. did 21st-century beings use Shadwell, the heretical,
signed by his bishop in 1468 Harris has built a steady ca- these artifacts for? People wheezy researcher of the
to ride out to the isolated reer writing historical novels in the book aren’t quite forbidden past. Local mill
English village of Addicott based on the rise and fall sure. And the authorities — owner Capt. John Hancock
St. George to handle the of Cicero, Neville Cham- Fairfax’s church foremost is an overbearing capital-
funeral of its longtime vicar, berlain’s notorious “peace among them — absolutely ist always in overdrive and
Thomas Lacy, who died in our time” deal with Ad- do not want people dig- always interesting. But as
suddenly in an accident. olf Hitler and France’s in- ging up and studying the the main character, Fairfax
Well-meaning but inexpe- famous Dreyfus affair. He distant past. can come off as too much
rienced, Fairfax becomes has strayed into alternative Lacy had ignored that in- of a milquetoast.
ensnared in a situation histories, too, with “Father- junction. Inevitably, Fairfax And the end of the book
where he must deal with land: a Novel,” set in 1964 gets drawn in, too. seems kind of abrupt after This cover image released
inscrutable locals, hidden where the Nazis won World Harris is a fluid writer who some 300 pages of patient, by Knopf shows "The Second
forces and strange artifacts War II. expertly sets the scene methodical buildup. The Sleep," by Robert Harris.
dug up from the earth. This book is also set in an and then turns the screw villain gives a monologue Associated Press
Fairfax quickly finds out imagined reality, one that bit by bit to build tension. that ties up some loose It feels like a roller coaster
things are different than is hundreds of years in the The book subtly explores ends and then the book ride that ends before that
they seem at first blush. The future after a global cata- themes of faith, the risks of seems to just stop suddenly. last big plunge.q