Will Ferrel has been funny precisely twice:

1. The first time he played Alex Trebeck on SNL with The Mimic (can't remember his name) playing off of him as Sean Connery. That was good.

2. His "I'm not dead, but very badly burned!" riff as Mustafah in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."

That's IT. He has ruined every film he's been in, even when surrounded by funnier actors, as in "Ron Burgundy." He's like the black hole of comedy - no laughs escape.

The only reason this horse's ass has a career is because of the Lorne Michaels-Bernie Brillstein-Brad Grey Axis. They tried with Tim Meadows, Chris Kattan and various others, and failed. With Ferrel they somehow succeeded, but I strongly suspect that's only because shit floats.

Saturday Night Live still has a loooooong way to go before it is consistently funny again, let alone relevant. Many of the young folks watching the show today may be unaware that in the late 80s/early 90s the show was absolutely electrifying, not to mention hysterically funny. But I understand it will take a while to undo the damage wrought by the ghastly likes of Chris Kattan, Will Ferrel, Fey and Tracy Morgan (nice of her to get him a gig on her new show, wasn't it? ugh).

As for HRC, she did ok.

SNL started its loooong slide downhill after Sandler, Spade and Farley left the show in '93. Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows and Ana Gasteyer were the only decent comic actors left, but they were soon gone and then Jimmy Fallon was hired and Scarfa--er, Tina Fey was brought as Head Writer and things really went down the shitter. And it was at THAT time that the aforementioned celebrity walk-ons started, and by the way the one by DeNiro/Pesci on the occasionally amusing "Joe Pesci Show" was Godawful. Truly terrible.

Anyway, lets hope the show continues to improve. But frankly, Michaels has to go. Last year he and Paul Simon were featured in some televised hagiography of the show, and they both looked very old and very tired. The show needs new blood.

Who or what is that THING in the hat??

And as to Gygax, for some reason everyone I knew who played D & D - both in high school and college - hated his guts. Never understood it. Sorry he's gone.

..which they grill on a giant George Foreman.

Sure, the man's movies are pure cheese, but entertaining cheese. More Wisconsin Hard Cheddar than Velveeta. Stargate was much better than "ok", as was Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. Godzilla was God-awful, basically bungled because - ironically - Emmerich wanted to avoid the cheesy unreality of the Japanese versions. Bad move; seeing a new-and-improved 'Zilla tear apart Manhattan with his bare and mighty claws would have been openin' up a whole can of fun!

Let's just remember this isn't Ed Wood we're talking about.

This show was on from my 5th through 9th year, and sometime around age 8 I inadvertantly saw some episodes. I would sneeeeeak down the hallway to the living room, my footy pajamas masking the sound of my approach. Then I would peak around the corner and watch from where my mom and dad couldn't see me. Why did I want to watch the show? Well, the theme song and the opening. Aside from that I didn't know what the hell I was looking at.

It's Everex. I honestly can't believe that company is still around. Back in the early-mid 90s their PC clones were notorious for being the absolute worst. I'm talking worse than Packard Bell, folks, and that's really bad technology. So it's no surprise they've managed to fuck up Linux. A lot of you have made valid points about the various aspects of Linux that are less than desireable, but I assure you the real villain in this tale is Everex.

...what were the feds doing investigating a local brothel?

Can you say "Dan Siegelman redux"?

I knew you could.

During the documentary about the '67 Moneterey Pop Festival there is a moment when Ravi Shankar goes into orbit with his scytar, the audience goes nuts...and right in the middle of them, his face rapturous with joy...is Mickey Dolenz.

Then there is the fact that the live version of "Last Train to Clarksville" simply smokes. One of the best live performances of a rock song in that era.

And, of course, their hits: "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "I'm a Believer", "Daydream Believer" (their only genuinely cheesy song), "Not Your Steppin' Stone", "Last Train to Clarksville", "Circle" and, of course, "Hey, Hey We're The Monkees", all of which are exceptional tunes.

Yes, George Harrison liked them, but then so did a lot of other contemporaries (who also liked the anarchic spirit of the TV show, which is watchable and oftentimes hilarious to this day). Even back then Mike Nesmith was respected in the industry as a serious songwriter, musician and, especially, producer. If Frank Zappa tried to get him in TMOI, you KNOW he had serious cred.

And yet, and yet...

Their "reunion" tour in '85 was a national joke, inspiring a VERY popular t-shirt that read on the front "Davy Sucks Cock" and, on the back, "We Sucked Then, We Suck Now - The Monkees Reunion Tour."

They were assembled by the man who would go on to produce the utterly forgotten "Don Koishner's Rock Concoit" in the late 70s. Their "dreamboat" was a stage musical hack. Peter Tork was, and remains, seriously weird.

The one thing you can say about The Monkees is that they are all still very much alive. And on a simply human level that's something to celebrate.