Of course, during my in-home entertainment programming I’d long ago grown tired of the usual fare on TV. I mean, when the day comes when I won’t even dial up the Hallmark Channel, you know I’m maxxed out on predictable plots, gentle, sweet and kind dialogue, and scenic vistas I have no hope of seeing at least for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, I went searching for something that would bring a smile and I found two delightful series not on my television but on my computer, streaming their little hearts out. I also discovered several movie titles that had never arrived in my Mayberry metroplex, many of them for the delightful price of FREE, thanks to Amazon Prime.
In my search I encountered an amazing film entitled, “The Last Word,” starring Shirley Maclaine, Amanda Seyfried, Thomas Sadoski, and Tom Everett Scott. It had been out four years without my ever hearing of it, but because I write formal life tributes and memoirs among other projects, I read the plot and just had to rent it ($3.99, very reasonable).
The quick synopsis is that Shirley Maclaine is an older businesswoman who is preparing for the time when she would pass away, having had a few doctors’ appointments and taking natural next steps. She reads regularly the obituaries in her local paper of those she knew through the community and work and begins to blow a gasket as she calls them many names, most important of all—inauthentic.
She takes it upon herself to visit the local paper, introduces herself to the obituary editor, a young woman played by Seyfried, and proceeds to inform her that she got it all wrong about the people she had memorialized, breaking down their faults point for point. Yet, she wants Seyfried to write her obit, now, so she has a chance to review and improve it. The dialogue is hysterical and Maclaine is her best self in the role.
Plot twist number one is when Seyfried interviews several people in town whom Maclaine has recommended would be helpful. Turns out their opinions of her were not as high as she’d expected. Not to ruin the delightful plot, just take my advice, if you’re bored and need a lift, rent or buy the movie, despite what you think the subject matter is. You’ll give lots of things in your life a closer look, and that’s important as well.
After I’d watched the movie, I’d discovered an Easter egg in there that related to The Buckinghams. I was intrigued and started digging around to see if I could discover how that happened. The proverbial “Easter egg” is a “hidden detail left in the film” to be discovered by sharp viewers to discover and be pleased. The Buckinghams’ egg was delightful to me.
Searching the IMDB listing for the movie, I stared and stared until I figured it out. Let’s just say that I discovered a direct connection between someone with a Bacon number of 2 to The Buckinghams, with a Bacon number of 5, or one of the Buckinghams with a Bacon number of 6.
Taking out one of my favorite note cards I started sketching until I found the path between The Buckinghams and Kevin Bacon. I posted it about it in another blog, and if you’d like to read it, click here.
But then I started thinking, surely there had to be other pathways to Kevin Bacon…maybe even with me. Traditionally, the ‘real’ Bacon game relies upon “movies” that Kevin has been in and films that the others in the degrees of separation are in. Having been in videos rather than feature films, I’d be out of luck, so I decided to relax the conditions a bit and let my mind wander. Sometimes this is good.
Didn’t take long to amend the drawing I’d constructed for The Buckinghams and craft one of my own. I don’t have the same connectivity to Kevin the way they do, but I still managed to come up with one. Okay, so it’s what you do when you have nothing in your Suddenlink TIVO queue saved up to watch except "JAG" and "Magnum, PI" reruns and you’re tired of crimefighting.
The drawing, for what it’s worth, follows here.
So, what is my Bacon number, exactly? Say I am Bacon number 6, who works for The Buckinghams (Bacon number 5), and they connect with “Sweet Charity,” the 1968 stage production in Kansas City, MO (Bacon number 4), who then is identified most often with Shirley Maclaine (Bacon number 3), who was in the film “The Last Word” with Amanda Seyfried (Bacon number 2), who was in the film “You Should Have Left” with Kevin Bacon (Bacon number 1). That works. Sort of. No, they’re not all films as the real parlor game uses, but let’s face it, we’re on the fringe of logic anyway and it’s just a game.
What is really the path I thought of, separate of going left on the chart, is to actually look at the fact that we all know my #1 favorite series is (say it with me) “NCIS” (the original, no duplications please). Then, my #2 favorite series was “The West Wing” so let’s call Me (DLW, Bacon number 6), and “The West Wing” (Bacon number 5), and it was of course written by Aaron Sorkin (Bacon number 4) for at least the first four years. Sorkin also created the show, “The Newsroom” (HBO) which launched the national career of Thomas Sadoski (Bacon number 3), actor and Tony nominee, who hails from College Station, Texas.
Now, Sadoski was both in the film “The Last Word” and is married to Amanda Seyfried (Bacon number 2), who in 2020 starred in “You Should Have Left,” with….Number 1 himself, Kevin Bacon. Mission accomplished.
But there were even more paths to Kevin that would not have taken as long. First, if memory serves, as a young man, Thomas studied with and was a part of M.A. Sterling’s Brazos Valley Troupe. Boom. DLW to MAS to TS to AS to KB in just 5 connections.
Or, let’s try this. As a maturing young adult Thomas acted (stole the stage) in Theatre Company productions where he was known to at least 5 people who I can click on my Facebook page as my pals. Boom. So DLW to any Theatre Company person to TS to AS to Kevin Bacon and that’s just 4 connections. I am certain this is not how the game was meant to be played but don’t stop me when I’m on a sleep-deprived roll, right?
Now to the point of my mission wondering about Kevin Bacon…what was I thinking about him for and how was I trying to figure out ways to reach out to him? Oh yes, I remember it now…I just wanted to ask him if he wouldn’t develop and produce the new feature film “Footloose for Seniors—How to Enjoy Your Old Age at Shady Pines.” I think it would be a winner.
After all, Diane Keaton had a hit in “Poms,” and Ann-Margret and Ellyn Burstyn had a hit with “Queen Bees.” Both were set in sunny, scenic, senior vistas. Well, I’m just thinking a remake of “Footloose--Silver Sneakers” would make a fortune for Kevin, and keep the rest of us limber in our golden years, whenever they might arrive. That’s the trick to staying young, you know…just keep dancing!
Dare you to try and get this song out of your head today! Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. If it makes you smile, just go for it! Cut Footloose, and oh, message to Kevin, “Call me. I'm here all week!”
