They did it for ten years before they cut it.

This week, starting last Friday to be exact, HBO’s airing a special with Dick Cavett and Mel Brooks. Watch it.

But even better was the hype on Sirius XM. Where Tom Papa interviewed Mel Brooks. It rivaled Bob Costas’s brilliant extended exchange of two decades past, on his dearly departed 1:30 AM talk show "Later", which should be boxed and watched because unlike Leno and Letterman, Costas listened, he extracted the meat…and the caviar too.

Actually, Mel Brooks made a comment about Jay and Dave. How they were different from Johnny Carson. Johnny truly loved comedians, and when you were on the couch he smiled, asked questions and let you flow, whereas Jay and Dave are not really on your side, they’re waiting for that one moment when they can make a crack and have the audience laugh at you. Brilliant analysis. Only a true professional could put it into words.

Anyway, Papa and Cavett ask Mel about the 2000 year old man.

And the explanation of the history, the genesis, and it began with Jesus, was detailed. But what struck me most was the development. Not only were Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks writers/comedians, they improvised this and did it at parties until they had it right, which took ten years.

And they still weren’t going to commit it to wax, you know, anti-Semitism is rampant, but they did it at an A-list party in 1960 and when it was done, George Burns approached them and asked them if there was a recording. When they said no, he said to make one quick, or he was going to steal their act.

So they went into the studio. Took them two hours and forty seven minutes. But they weren’t quite sure what they had.

So Carl sees Cary Grant walking on the studio lot, whom he knows a bit, that’s an hilarious story in the Papa interview, Mel talking about meeting Cary, wherein the legendary actor says he’s a big fan of MEL!, and Carl asks Cary if he’ll have a listen, he gives Cary a phonograph album.

A week goes by until Carl sees Cary again. Whereupon Cary professes that he loved the record, and could he have TWELVE!

Twelve.

Think about that when you’re pushing your crap down someone’s throat. You think you’re getting ahead, but you’re not. You know you’ve truly made it when people PULL your content, when they ask you for it when you’re not selling it, because it’s so damn good and they want more.

For his friends in England Cary says, they speak English there too you know!

And when he comes back Cary says the Queen Mother LOVED IT!

That’s the power of art. You’ve got no idea where it might end up, who it might touch.

And in the HBO show, Carl Reiner tells the story of the 2000 Year Old Man. And he contradicts a bit of what Mel said on Sirius XM, but it’s so comprehensive, you believe this is the definitive version.

Carl talks about the inspiration. Seeing another TV show and getting the idea.

The people he was writing for said no way, it was a bad idea.

Ain’t it always the bad ideas that end up being best. Only the creative people can see them. The suits don’t get it.

And it’s not something you can learn in school. It’s a sensibility, which is developed over time.

So fire up your satellite radio, and/or your HBO. And if you don’t have them, you probably don’t pay for Spotify either, you’re a cheap bastard.

But cheap bastards are left out.

The cost of entertainment is a sliver of that for staples you consume every day, not only rent and transportation, but dinner and lunch.

So listen to Mel.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.

And you’ll see how it’s done.

You don’t kill the first time out.

But if you stay at it, you can saunter down slowly and screw all the cows.

P.S. Be sure to catch Cavett’s story about Chico Marx and Tallulah Bankhead. Positively priceless, you’ll be repeating it ad infinitum. And Dick’s Jack Benny elevator story is almost as good. You’ve got something to look forward to.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

It’s been a lackluster season. It didn’t really warm up until Larry got to New York. And the arrival of Leon in Larry’s Prius, not wanting to endure airport security for a cross-country flight, was a masterstroke.

But the piece de resistance was not last night’s stunting with Mayor Bloomberg, or even the Parkinson’s-addled Michael J. Fox, but Jennifer’s son Greg.

My two favorite "Curb" moments ever were:

1. When Larry cuts the hair off of Jeff and Susie’s kid’s doll and Susie finds out and yells, "Larry, YOU SICK FUCK!"

Maybe it’s being Jewish, knowing women who know no bounds, who say what they feel and believe they will be loved anyway…I understand this performance. But I’ve never seen it on TV. You’re attracted as you’re repelled. In a world where everybody’s duplicitous, fearful of speaking the truth, playing the game to get ahead, Susie Greene is not just a breath of fresh air, she’s a hurricane, a tornado, an undeniable force.

2. The episode when Larry and Cheryl go to the ski chalet. And Larry ends up on the broken chairlift with the Super-Jew (that’s what we Reform Jews call the ultra-observant), and the sun is setting and the young woman says she can’t be with a man overnight, Larry’s going to have to jump. And Larry says…ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?

That’s the way we say it. And Larry’s been playing along, trying to fake it for the whole stay in the mountains, but this is just too much. Another Jewish moment… When pressed against the wall, you speak the truth.

And last week’s show with Mister Softee was good.  And the orgasm-inducing Prius.

But last night’s final episode had a gem for the ages. The aforementioned performance of Jennifer’s son Greg.

Larry’s waiting for Jennifer to get ready, to go out, and he’s doodling a Hitler moustache on a pic in a magazine. And that comes back into play, as things do on "Curb Your Enthusiasm", isn’t it funny to know all these years later that the genius of "Seinfeld" was Larry, not Jerry. Like the marble rye. But it’s the boy’s performance that has me smiling right now.

This year’s Larry has been a bit less obstinate than the old Larry, almost normal, almost like you and me. And when he’s confronted with this kid who says that "Project Runway" is "The best show ever!"…

You’re thinking exactly what Larry is. This seven year old is gay.

And when Larry buys Greg a sewing machine for his birthday, his mother is appalled, but Greg is THRILLED! Susie implores Larry to get another gift, which ends up being a violin, which placates Jennifer and Susie, but…

Greg will have nothing of it. He LOVES his sewing machine.

As for what he makes with it, his gift for Susie, if you saw the show you’re laughing right now…

ENTOURAGE

It jumped the shark. So who expected a finale so good?

Vince’s character has always rung hollow, he’s the emptiness at the center of the show, Johnny Drama and Turtle are more convincing, even though they’re second-bananas, but Vince was the key to this episode.

Yes, his instant marriage was ridiculous, like that "Vanity Fair" reporter would really do a 180 and agree to date him, never mind marry him, as if Vince could suddenly become faithful, as if an intellectual could find happiness with an actor…didn’t work for Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, he ended up shtupping his educated coworker! But Vince is the one who brings everybody together. As lame as the underlying concept is, of buddies living together, the underlying loyalty is appealing, taking a bullet for one another (wait, that was on Larry’s show!) So, when everybody races about trying to do the right thing, it’s incredibly appealing in a world where no one does the right thing, certainly not immediately, certainly not on instinct.

Which is why we accept Ari leaving the agency. Finally, he sees that his marriage and his kids are more important than any job. As for that wife, I’d leave her for Dana in a minute. If she doesn’t eat soon, she’s gonna die! When they look that skinny on TV, you know if they turn sideways in real life you’ll miss them.

With all the stunt casting and ridiculous plot turns "Entourage" had become about the trappings, the substance had evaporated.

And Raisin Face was on the show last night, that’s what Perez Hilton used to call Rachel Zoe before he took his inane pledge to be nice. But he was right. If Perez doesn’t make fun of Zoe, who will?

Just like the Kardashians…  The brood showed up at the U.S. Open and the announcer said the stars were here. Howard Stern questioned this. Can we all agree the Kardashians are nitwits and stop giving them our money, so they’ll get an education and get real jobs and work for a living?

And the coda was ridiculous, just a set-up for the eventual movie.

Couldn’t Ari go out as a changed man, who realized who he was, did not deny elements of his personality, like calling the protesting Lloyd "The gay son he never wanted.", but didn’t capitulate to his dark side?

Ari’s the only adult on the show, in a sea of adolescents. He was a beacon of truth. Couldn’t truth be that there’s something more important than Hollywood?

I guess not.

But the "Entourage" finale brought a tear to my eye. Because when stories are done right, you believe the people involved are those characters, they become your friends.

Like I said, I never believed Vince as a movie star.

And Eric wasn’t believable as a manager.

But Dana was a spot-on biological time clock ticking cutthroat studio executive, who wants to be soft, but never can be, because she’s playing in a man’s world.

And Scott was the conniving, hungry manager Eric never was.

And Ari was L.A. personified. Everybody’s friend until he no longer needed to be. And then friends again when it was expedient.

The moral code of Hollywood is nonexistent. It’s every man for himself. That was Ari’s battle, between morality and money, between humanity and power.

Last night humanity won.

Until the very end.

I’d cut off that coda in reruns. We want to believe in redemption. And last night "Entourage" redeemed itself from years of idiotic, devolving behavior. I’ll miss it. Like you do with all your good friends.

Please don’t dominate the rap Jack
If you’ve got nothing new to say

Either those lyrics are burned into your DNA or you’re clueless, there’s no middle ground. If I play you "New Speedway Boogie" you won’t say RIGHT, I remember hearing that on the radio… Either the closing track on side one of "Workingman’s Dead" is more memorable than anything you learned in college, which is probably where you heard it first, or you’re clueless.

And those clueless are a bigger tribe than those in the know, but those in the know are linked by this music, and their number is HUGE!

After the breakthrough of "Workingman’s Dead" and "American Beauty", Jerry Garcia cut a solo album. It was not a sales juggernaut, but it penetrated the brains of everybody in higher education in those days, the early seventies. And what’s staggering, it’s got legs. They laugh and say no one will be playing the hits of the nineties and early aughts at weddings in the future, but "Sugaree" is as relevant, as much a part of the culture as it was back in ’72, even though Jerry’s been dead for a decade and a half.

Sure, you heard "Sugaree" a bit on FM radio. I’d argue you heard "Deal" more. But you really didn’t hear much of either. These tracks lived on record and live, where the Grateful Dead played them over and over again, never exactly the same. Just like you look different from year to year, Dead staples evolved, changed, they were not calcified, they were alive.

To the point when Jackie Greene lit into "Sugaree" on Saturday night at Club Nokia, it was like your best friend walking through the front door, like hearing a hit of yore, that you know every note of.

In Mr. Greene’s hands, "Sugaree" lived again. It was the same, yet a little bit different. And in classic Dead fashion, when the vocalizing ended the noodling began, the improvisation, the jamming that gets a bad name but is so riveting when you experience it live.

And this goes on for a while, until Jackie has changed the riff. Yes, could it be, NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE?

This was the best song written about Altamont. It’s my favorite on "Workingman’s Dead", I thought I was the only person who noticed the change Saturday night. But soon everybody in attendance gave a whoop! And when Jackie reached the chorus, he stopped singing, and the assembled multitude yelled out MOUNTAIN!

Yup, "Spent a little time on the MOUNTAIN, spent a little time on the hill, Things went down we don’t understand, but I think in time we will."

What we understand now is everybody but Neil Young sold out, ran for the bucks. Reagan legitimized greed and the acts went for it and the business has never been the same since. All we’ve got is endless complaints that you just can’t get rich.

But somehow the Dead figured it out.

Sure, they ended up signing to Arista and having a hit with "Touch Of Grey", Jerry Garcia even designed ties, but if anything, those mainstream efforts detracted from the band’s image and its success. You see long after the Dead’s run in the mainstream’s consciousness, to the degree that was even achieved, the band went on the road and played to an ever-increasing audience, to the point where it was a problem, everybody who showed up without a ticket and wanted to hang on, from city to city.

Imagine that today. A band that’s too successful. YEAR AFTER YEAR!

And they’d work in some new songs. Eventually recording took a back seat, unless you’re speaking of the tapes traded amongst the faithful. To truly get the Dead you had to go, and so many did.

And people say the band was successful because they gave it away for free. That was an element, but the real reason the Dead lived on was the music itself, fans liked it, lived for it, never burned out on it.

You might think the history of music can be quantified. That you can go back into the charts and see what was happening. But that’s untrue. After all the hit bands have faded, gotten plastic surgery and are eking out a living in dives, if that, the Grateful Dead are still monstrous.

It was the music. And Jerry’s image as one of the people who cared about the people.

A hit is not a song on the radio.

It’s something everybody knows.

And more people know "Sugaree" and "New Speedway Boogie" than so much of the dreck that reached mass consciousness once. That tripe has faded away. The Grateful Dead gems live on.

"Sugaree"

"New Speedway Boogie"

I don’t know how it works economically, taking a six piece on the road to play clubs.

Hornsby’s hits are decades behind him. And he’d be relegated to soft ticket dates or the dreaded day job if he didn’t take a left turn and play with the Dead. What looked like a mistake way back when has not only kept his career alive, it’s reenergized it. People don’t go for the hits, they go for the experience.

And what an experience it was.

Made me want to go home and practice so I could get up on stage too. You see they were having so much fun!

There’s no set list. It’s like a bunch of friends, musicians, gathered in the basement to play. You can see them interacting, trading off solos, having fun.

When was the last time playing a gig was fun?

It’s what you do to get paid, to stay alive. It’s on hard drive to meet audience expectations. It’s draining, you’re fatigued, you’re going through the motions. But the pure joy of playing was palpable Saturday night.

You can argue all day long about the implosion of recording revenue, or you can go on the road and play. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Playing?

And Bruce didn’t only tickle the ivories on his Steinway, he did a few numbers on a dulcimer, and then there was the accordion.

And the hits that were played were reworked. It’s like Bruce listened to Dylan and got it. Do you really want me to go on the road for decades playing the same damn hits the same damn way? I’ll die inside!

I don’t care if you think you don’t like this kind of music, if you were there, you would have been drawn in, you would have been closed. This is the musical tradition that’s gone on for centuries, this is not spend a lot of money to run a single track up the chart, this is learn your instrument, be able to play without thinking and go out and blow.

This was a treat.

In an era where everybody has access to recording, where everybody can fake it in the studio, where so many are just making music to get rich, Bruce Hornsby is a revelation.

And it’s not only him.

There’s the reed player and the bass player resembling a spinning top, so energized by the music he can only burn off the energy by moving his body with the notes.

And the guitarist who doesn’t fight for attention, but adds accents, who only takes over when the assembled multitude gives him the reins.

And the second keyboard player.

And a drummer who doubled on spoons.

You can’t really describe it, you’ve got to feel it.

And Saturday night, we did.

Bruce and troupe got a standing ovation. Not because people wanted more so much as they wanted to pay respect, reward the players with the adulation they deserved.