They gave me a free subscription to Hulu so I could watch Beau Willimon’s “The First.”

The female lead was miscast and Sean Penn was so macho it was a turn-off. Penn needs to prove that a little guy can have cojones too, and you just have to laugh, he seems to take himself so SERIOUSLY!

But “Killing Eve” does not.

That’s the confounding thing, the tone, you’re not sure whether it’s serious or comical and then you decide just to run with it.

It was on BBC America and my e-mail implored me to watch it but to be truthful the commercials ruined it and after two episodes, we gave up.

But then I found out it was on Hulu, and I wanted to finish it before my three month subscription ran out.

Now “Killing Eve” is not as good as “House of Cards,” which Beau Willimon ran so well. “House of Cards” was the breakthrough streaming show just like “The Sopranos” was the breakthrough cable show. Oh sure, HBO had “Dream On” and “Larry Sanders” before, but neither of them pushed the format to the point where television eclipsed movies. I still remember Meadow manipulating her parents, telling them to punish her by taking away her gas card. It’s these little insights that bond you. Kids today manipulate their parents, they’re best friends with their parents, nobody in the boomer era EVER said their parents were their best friends, but today…

And “House of Cards” was full of wisdom.

And stunningly, “Killing Eve” is too.

First of all, it’s a small coterie of people who control the world. Forget whether Russia was meddling with the election, the fact that Trump knew these people and interacted with them begs the question…WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

But what if there are no sides. What if the same cabal runs the entire world. Especially those you’ve never heard the name of.

That’s one big point in “Killing Eve,” the TWELVE.

The other is the line uttered by Irina deep into the series, when she delineates the power of information, the world runs on it, and those who have it and can analyze it triumph in the end.

It works on every level, macro and micro. And you can use this information to manipulate or to take a stand but one thing’s for sure, you use it to discover where the game is going. He who knows this continues to play, he (OR SHE!) who doesn’t, is ultimately left behind.

That’s what ages you, when the game overwhelms you, when it’s just too much. When someone starts complaining about streaming and smartphones and social media, know that they’re on their way out, the game has overwhelmed them, they’re never gonna pass GO! and get two hundred dollars ever again.

And “Killing Eve” is a female-dominated show. It’s not about giving women male roles, but creating female roles and letting women shine.

Like Sandra Oh.

I know, she was on that medical drama. But I’ve never seen an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.” That’s entertainment, I’m looking for life, the essence. And that was depicted in Oh’s starring role in her feature debut, 1994’s “Double Happiness.” Back when I used to read the reviews and go to the theatre, when being a fan of foreign and indie film was a pursuit, before Sundance led the studios into the territory and it all collapsed.

And sure, she’s got that wonderful hair, but first and foremost, Sandra Oh can act! Can do things with her face the models cannot. She illustrates acting is a profession.

As for Jodie Comer, she was hard to figure out. Was she too cute, or not quite beautiful enough. Was it her awkward, unbelievable smile? But when Sandra talks with Anna and you find out Jodie’s history, it all comes together.

And speaking of Anna, Susan Lynch embodies Russia in this role. She’s not classically beautiful, she’s got some miles on her face, she’s not stick thin, she’s a working woman, who is passionate and fulfilled by her work, but it doesn’t eclipse the absence of her husband.

And the episodes in Russia make the series. Maybe it’s just our preconception of the country, but the imperfection, the shabbiness, it rings true. And when I was there eight years ago, I was stunned that there was a window open in the Hermitage, right by a Picasso, whereas climate control is key in western museums, and our guide was playing the game of payoffs to get her daughter into a good school, and this is what makes art, when it’s more than story.

And when it takes you away.

Like I said, you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, whether to be engrossed or skeptical, but eventually you go with the flow. It’s almost like a James Bond movie starring women, but with a Bond not as bogus as Roger Moore or as one dimensional as Daniel Craig.

And what is life anyway?

As Villanelle says, it’s about a great flat, a fun job and having someone to lie in bed and watch movies with. That’s it. Sure, accomplishments are fun, fame can pay dividends, but neither necessarily make you more happy.

And Villanelle wants to be happy. She can never quite get there, but she wants it so bad.

And so do we. We’re searching for it all the time.

A fun job. What a concept. Not a status job, or a well-remunerated job, but one that makes you smile and laugh. Is being an assassin fun?

To Villanelle it is.

So I’m not saying to put “Killing Eve” on your must-list.

And now that I’ve got Hulu I haven’t bothered to watch “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Funny, the bigger the buzz, the more I don’t want to catch up on it. If everybody’s watching it, like “Game of Thrones,” I don’t need to. I’ll catch up a couple of years after the series is completed, when it’s all not dribbled out episode by episode, when no one’s talking about it at the water cooler and viewing it will seem like going down into a rabbit hole alone, having a private experience.

But limits are being tested on television all day long. Sure, it’s overwhelming, sure there are too many shows, but it’s like having too many websites, no one complained about that during the advent of the internet.

Enjoy it. It won’t last forever. Just like blockbusters killed the movie business. Imagine if there was no “Jaws,” no “Star Wars,” imagine if film continued to be about real life, story…

Then you’d have television.

Then you’d have “Killing Eve.”

The “Washington Post” says the Russians interacted with fourteen of Trump’s team and the Fox News site leads with Hillary Clinton.

We live in silos, reinforced by our media consumption, but one thing’s for sure, if you’re not watching Fox, the world is in turmoil. Huawei, Brexit, the stock market and…

Kevin Hart.

He was picked to host the Oscars and then he was booted after it turned out he made homophobic remarks in the past.

All seems sensible until Michael Che weighs in and…

That’s the funny thing about old school media, the SNL story on Sunday was about DeNiro’s appearance, it wasn’t until today that the Che story blew up.

I read it first on the “New York” magazine site. You see most stories break on alternative sites, the big outlets don’t have enough manpower, but it’s those on the beat elsewhere who pick up the details of smaller stories and then they are amplified.

And in case you still don’t know…

“‘Well, that was short,’ Che began, ‘Kevin Hart had to step down as host of the upcoming Academy Awards because of homophobic tweets from 2011. But didn’t the Academy nominate Mel Gibson for an award just last year?’

‘Also, if Kevin Hart isn’t clean enough to host the Oscars, then no black comic is. The only black comic I know that’s cleaner than Kevin Hart is booked for the next three to 10 years,’ Che concluded his rant as a picture of convicted comedian Bill Cosby’s photo appeared.”

‘SNL’ Star Michael Che Defends Kevin Hart Amid Oscars Exit, Says Academy Nominated Mel Gibson Last Year (turn on the volume to watch the clip)

Proving, once again, distribution is king.

Placement is part of distribution. If SNL opened with this clip, all hell would have broken loose. But it was buried in the middle of the show. Then again, was this intentional? That’s what the left wing does, bury controversial remarks while the right delivers them up front and center.

Now the funny thing is Che is right.

Or maybe it’s that African-Americans have more power than Jews. Kevin Spacey is banned from show business, Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose too, but Mel Gibson gets a pass…is it because he’s attractive and generates cash?

Oh, you can say that Gibson’s comments were in the past.

But so are Kevin Hart’s!

And now it’s not only Michael Che supporting Hart, but Nick Cannon, and whitey Kevin Kline!

This is how the Academy gets itself in trouble, by not knowing what they’re getting into. Kinda like putting Kid Rock on the tube and being astonished when he shows up. Meanwhile, Rock pays off the layaway bills for 350 Wal-Mart shoppers and few know about it, because that does not fit in with the Robert Ritchie narrative:

Kid Rock pays off layaways for 350 families at Nashville Walmart

But one thing you’ve got to say about Rock, he doesn’t stray from his story, he’s always true to himself, and that’s why he’s got so much money he doesn’t care if you’re not paying attention to him, his fans support him.

That’s a modern day rock star.

But back to Kevin Hart. Turns out Chelsea Handler, Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman also have a history of homophobic statements, are they not banned because they’re’ white?

Then you’ve got someone saying these women have gay audiences and therefore…

We’ve got to decide where the line is, we’ve got to decide if someone can be rehabilitated, if someone can change.

Ever since Grover Norquist made Republicans sign a pledge not to raise taxes, changing your mind has been anathema in Congress. Look at the campaigns, candidates always point out competitors’ “contradictions.”

Meanwhile, the rank and file change their minds all the time.

But the tribalists insist on purity. Even though so many of us are not tribalists, rather our characters are chiaroscuro.

This is a problem on both left and right. It’ll be hard for the left to win if it doesn’t manage the infighting of special interest groups. Only the pure and bland can be nominated, those without history and experience, and that’s not a winning strategy.

But there’s no kumbaya on the left, the party of kumbaya. It’s the left that is excoriating Elizabeth Warren for her DNA test. The right is laughing. Same deal with Al Franken. That’s a bad trade, Al Franken for Kristen Gillibrand. Does that make me sexist? In the eyes of some lefties it does.

Oscar ratings are tanking. And it’s a show supported by advertisers who want young ‘uns when only oldsters are watching. So the Academy tries to make adjustments, like the “Popular” Oscar. Then the organization is rightly excoriated. Never play outside your sandbox, your lack of understanding is always revealed.

So, there’s got to be a continuum, and where someone is on it has to be factored in. Louis C.K. is not Harvey Weinstein, no way. And by casting him as such, it just reinforces that no one should ever admit they’re wrong, they should just stand their ground, and deny, deny, deny, like our President.

And times have changed. Things people said and did in the past they wouldn’t today. And some deeds are actionable, and some are not. A zero tolerance policy never works, just like three strikes and you’re out, every case must be judged on its own merits. But not in America, where it’s about rules, and the only ones winning are the cheats who are bending them, the rank and file just get caught and fall further behind.

But no one wants to have this discussion. And everyone’s afraid.

Men are afraid.

Musicians are afraid.

Comics are afraid.

And if they weigh in, there are consequences, just like with Michael Che.

But isn’t this what we want in society, limit-testers, people who make us look at situations a different way, with new eyes?

I now know the Kevin Hart expulsion is more complicated than it looks. Like Brexit. Once you can see the consequences, maybe you make a different choice.

But most people are uniformed, they’re so busy rooting for their tribe that they don’t want to hear anything that challenges their preconceptions.

As for the old saw that you can never change someone’s mind, hogwash. People won’t change on the spot, but after digesting the new information they’ll oftentimes adjust.

Then again, most people are just tuned in to the news in their own silo. They’re afraid of being challenged.

But when it comes to subjects other than politics, we find so many of us switch sides regularly, we are a much more homogeneous society than we admit.

But right now, we’re all addicted to the news. Not only Mueller, but tariffs and…

It’s like watching a ping-pong match.

Then again, Fox News hits against the wall, playing with itself. Used to be Republicans were the antidote to Democrats, now they’re just plain crazy. That’ll get my e-mail going. Then again, you know you’re doing it right when people react.

Kudos to Michael Che for pointing out the Academy’s hypocrisy.

As for SNL and my previous excoriations, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and if you’re not willing to keep an open mind, the loser is you.

The music business should be much bigger than it is. But the old guard running on fumes is running on self-interest and there’s no vision. Usually we rely on artists for vision, but as a result of income inequality the best an the brightest don’t go into music and the “artists” we do have are brands, the penumbra is more important than the essence. The clothing brand, the fortified water, if you can make a buck, they say yes. Which is kind of interesting, because that’s how we got into this snit, because it used to be you could make big bucks in the music industry, whereas today you can’t. Sure, you can make millions, but techies and bankers make much more. Then again, they tend to be skilled. The great thing about music is there is no barrier to entry, but that does not mean we need lowest common denominator.

1. The Charts

It’s ridiculous. The labels utilize them for bragging rights, it’s an insiders’ game, but the public is exposed to the chart every week in the media. This is not the pure dollar chart of film, that’s the streaming numbers. Rather this is a manipulated chart of streams and sales, but it’s even worse, now you get to number one by add-ons, tickets, merch, to the point where the chart is completely meaningless. Truly. It’s a disservice to our business, because for many people that’s the touchpoint they experience.

2. Streaming Top 50

If streaming is the new radio, isn’t there a responsibility to expose the public to new artists?

Oh, they call that the playlist. Where you have to wade through excrement to get to the good stuff.

We need a new chart that will illuminate that which is happening even if it’s not streaming tonnage. Don’t tell me about the viral chart, the backwaters, I’m talking front page. The streaming service has a responsibility to break artists.

3. Streaming Top 50-2

It’s all hip-hop, and fifty percent of the public hates hip-hop. So they’re left out?

4. Tour numbers

This is what the public should be seeing. But they don’t. Except for year-end totals. If you see something is happening in Denver or across our country, you’re inclined to check it out.

5. Tower of Babel

People want to belong, they want to converse about music. But with so many niche acts, however large, this cannot happen.

6. The acts themselves.

No one is shooting for the moon, no one is saying no. I’ll say it another time, Adele is so big because she said no. At first she played small buildings, paperless. She turned down sponsorships. And she’s still white hot. Sam Smith played arenas on his first tour and suddenly he’s ice cold. It’s about building a fan base that will support you.

7. Acts 2

The business people run the business, not the acts. I know, I know, we keep paying fealty to the acts, but believe me, no one’s so hot that they can’t be replaced. Taylor Swift was big before she went pop. Then she lost the plot, she was suddenly me-too. Foo Fighters are working class at best. All the acts listen to their handlers. And the handlers want to get paid! So they tell the act to do things against their interest, the manager can always get another act, as for the act itself…good luck reinventing yourself.

So what we need is a handful of acts that have universal mindshare based on their music. Kanye has turned into a cartoon. It’s more about sneakers than tracks. The music needs to stand on its own legs. But we are not encouraging those acts, because we’re too involved in milking the past and brand extensions of those with any mindshare. So the music business thinks it’s winning, when the truth is it’s losing, it keeps edging further and further from top of mind. At best, the music is grease, background for a videogame. It used to be primary, but to be primary the track has to be exceptional and everybody has to get behind promoting it.

The Grammys are completely irrelevant. Because of the Balkanization of the business. No one is a fan of all these acts. Expect ratings to be horrific. The Grammy organization is on its way to cult status, especially after CBS fails to renew its TV contract. There are too many categories with too many awards. But a bright spot is Brandi Carlile. This is the future of the business. She’s been around for years, was on a major label and then not.

But then she recorded “The Joke.”

It only takes one track, but it’s really hard to write and record one. But somehow, despite being a non-player in the traditional infrastructure, the TV, the press, the stuff labels do that is ignored, Brandi succeeded via word of mouth, like Chris Stapleton before her. Meanwhile, everybody in Nashville keeps lauding Stapleton but on the coasts we’re into edgy crap that most people can’t relate to. But Brandi can sing and wrote a song with a message that she executed extremely well.

This used to be the formula. We were looking for home runs.

Now a bunt suffices. Most of the acts selling few tickets don’t deserve to sell more, the music isn’t good enough.

As for what we call home runs… It’s positively niche.

If Brandi wins, it’ll be like Bonnie Raitt thirty years ago. People who had no interest will glom on to the music. But they’re not glomming on to most of what we’re purveying, ever wonder why?

We’re setting our sights too low.

No one is willing to sacrifice.

It’s still a street business in a tech era.

We need more acts that can appeal to more people. It’s just that simple. And when we’ve got them, the music business will matter once again. Right now it’s cruising along, raining down bucks, but it does not matter.

Not that anybody in the business will acknowledge that.

Jamie said the customer doesn’t want to know about the fees, they’re scared off if the fees are baked into the ticket price.

Jake said baby bands can’t develop because sometimes the fees are as much as the tickets.

A promoter said he had a show with seven pre-sales, and the end result was thirty tickets sold.

Marc said the biggest issue was awareness, people don’t know tickets are available. Meanwhile, Metallica sells fifty percent of their tickets before the general on-sale.

Greetings from Aspen, Colorado, where attendees are experiencing the twenty third iteration of what is now called Aspen Live. It used to be called the Aspen Artist Development Conference, back when labels sent their people and records were the music business driver. I ask you, how can Drake be the streaming victor and be unable to sell tickets in certain markets? Were the prices too high, or is live a separate sphere from recordings.

On the dais was David Marcus, a bigwig at Ticketmaster.

I was the interviewer and first I got his history, going to law school, hustling as a sole practitioner, working for music startups, then gigs at Ticketmaster and Warner, back when Lyor said every deal had to be a 360 one, to getting blown out after Lyor was axed, to working at ScoreBig, which failed. He had to cope with the failure, it’s tough. And then going back to Ticketmaster, with a different owner, heading up the concert/artist division.

And David laid out pretty clearly how he was working with acts to further everybody’s happiness and career. He said it was about identity, we don’t know who our customer is. Amazon does. And if we know who has the ticket and quash the bots…

But the fees are high because the venues take the money, from Ticketmaster, as an advance. The public is clueless as to this.

And the emphasis on the secondary market can halt primary ticket sales. And although Ticketmaster keeps touting the efficacy of Verified Fan, no one outside the company believes in it, and Ticketmaster won’t reveal the secret sauce.

So you know who is left out?

THE CONSUMER!

Ticketbastard, that’s what it’s called.

But Ticketmaster is only one part of the obfuscation food chain. Hell, who knows where they’re gonna be a year from now, better to sit at home and buy your ticket on StubHub the day before the show. Sure, you’ll pay more, but you’ll sit where you want, and you can always get a ticket.

But the public is ignorant too. People think they should be able to sit in the front row for sticker price for every show. IGNORE THEM!

And people buy extra tickets not knowing you cannot compete with the brokers, no way. List your ticket online for $100 and the brokers will underprice you at $99.99, instantly. That’s technology folks.

In other words, we’ve got the business we want, totally opaque, working for us.

But the consumer can’t understand it. Never mind the government, which is lobbied by the secondary market whenever policies are questioned.

And there’s this belief that we can continue to raise the prices and the public will tolerate it because they need to go and experiences are king.

FOR HOW LONG?

People would rather sit at home and watch the NFL on the big screen. That’s what hi-def and 65″ screens delivered.

Any business that is consumer unfriendly is headed towards destruction.

That’s what Napster taught us. People don’t want to pay twenty bucks for one good track on a CD.

Napster gave them an option.

Right now there is no option for tickets.

But the wheel always turns, change always comes.

Look at it this way, while we fought the future we ended up with fifty percent of recorded music revenues. You’ve got to disrupt yourself. This industry is afraid of change.

Meanwhile, the skiing is great.