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These are movies that have meant a lot to me over my life. Or that I just really love. Dr. Strangelove – I grew up thinking there was a pretty good chance I’d die in a nuclear inferno. Strangelove came out in January, 1964, when I was twelve, just fourteen months after the Cuban missile crisis. This is the movie that made me realize what satire is and how powerful and friggin’ funny it could be and inspired me to write and perform satire. Peter Sellers gives three tour d’ force performances and became my hero. It’s on Amazon and … Read More…

 Women’s Advocates has provided housing and support for survivors of domestic abuse in St. Paul since 1974. And the need is especially high right now because there has been a significant uptick in domestic violence nationwide as families isolate at home with so many experiencing tremendous financial stress. Women’s Advocates is a wonderful organization. And for years, a significant percentage of their annual budget has been raised at house parties during the spring. Obviously, that’s not happening this year. So, please help them help women and their children who have nowhere else to go. Donate to Women’s Advocates to be automatically entered for a … Read More…

The president’s daily Covid-19 pressers are, by turn, infuriating, insulting, laughable, but mostly sad. There’s the lying, the one-eighties, the self-flattery, the boasting, the lashing out. That’s, of course, Donald Trump.  But, personally, what I find the most galling is the insufferable and incessant blather from Mike Pence. Yesterday, Pence put on a maddening six-minute display of obfuscation that will guarantee him, upon retirement, an immediate and unanimous selection into the Toady Hall of Fame. This needs a little bit of a set-up: A reporter asked Trump about his decision not to extend the period for Americans to enroll in … Read More…

I was a guest on Cuomo Prime Time a few weeks ago. Watch below if you’re interested.

The president is crazy*. We see that every day. But he is the president. He won the election – technically. So, we just have to live with it – having a president who is clinically insane*. There is a diagnosis – narcissistic personality disorder*. It’s a real thing. And he has it. “I alone can fix it,” he told us at the Republican National Convention. Nothing he has said or done since would lead you to any other conclusion. He is a sociopath*, our president. It was never okay. Having a nutcase* in the White House. But somehow he had survived … Read More…

Well, it finally isn’t funny anymore – the grandiosity, the ignorance, the cruelty, the bullying, the racism, the petty insults and incessant stupidity. But especially the non-stop lying. The greatest asset that a president can bring to a crisis is credibility. On Day One of his presidency, Donald Trump chose to pick a fight with the media about the size of his inaugural crowd. On the morning of January 21, 2017, after fewer than 24 hours in office, Trump sent out Sean Spicer to tell the press corps a laughable and easily disprovable lie – that Trump’s crowd was the … Read More…

The world lost a giant this week. Earl Pomerantz was one of a small group of comedy writers responsible for a golden era of sit coms that made tens of millions of Americans laugh week after week after week after week after week when there were about 500 fewer channels for us to watch. One of the true masters of the half-hour form, Earl wrote some of the most beloved episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Cheers, and the Cosby Show. I had the privilege of working with Earl for a couple half-seasons on my NBC sit com … Read More…

There were a number of genuinely moving moments during President Trump’s State of the Union Speech Tuesday evening. Rush Limbaugh pretending to be surprised when President Trump announced that he was about to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom was not one of them. A day earlier, Rush had told us that he has advanced lung cancer, and certainly no one should feel anything but compassion for him and his family and hope that he makes it through this difficult period. But Rush famously went out of his way to mock dying victims of AIDS and condemn those who have … Read More…

I had the pleasure of being a guest last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!  While you’re here, sign up for our email list or subscribe to the Podcast or read something.

Fittingly, today you will be reading testaments to the brilliant career of Buck Henry, one of the truly great comedic minds of his generation. You will hear about so many of the iconic movies and TV shows that Buck created, wrote, and directed – groundbreaking movies and TV shows like The Graduate and Get Smart. I was privileged when I was so young, like all the rest of us, to get to know Buck who hosted so many of the early episodes of Saturday Night Live during the show’s first five seasons. Buck played a unique role among those early … Read More…

Here they are! The grandkids. By age – Joe Greenwald (6), Jacob Franken (4), Avery Greenwald (3), and Claire Franken (9 months). In the center photo, prepping the apples for her classic apple pie, are me and Franni (age unknown). But back to the Grandkids. We feel so fortunate to have four such beautiful, happy, and healthy grandchildren who provide their parents and us with so much joy and love. That is why this holiday season we are so grateful to be able to give to organizations which help families that are facing difficult and sometimes heartbreaking circumstances. If you are … Read More…

John Roberts will preside over the impeachment trial of President Trump in the United States Senate. That’s because Roberts is the Chief Justice of the United States. That’s what it says in the Constitution. Not “Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.” He is the Chief Justice of the United States. The impeachment trial of a president brings together all three branches of the federal government for this solemn process. So solemn that there is a special oath for members of the Senate who (I swear to God) will swear to God that they “will do impartial justice according to the … Read More…