So, I do not have Paramount Plus. I do have Hulu; but Hulu does not carry the Frasier redux that premiered last Thursday on streaming platforms (or whatever they're calling it now). Maybe Hulu does carry Frasier...I'm not sure. But, CBS aired the first two episodes of the new show last night and I watched. So, you've probably read my previous blog about the Frasier reboot. In any case, here's what went down in the Universe on Tuesday.
I was working on my sitcom pilot, Pages. In it, our lead character, Cooper Reilly, is on his way to a job interview to be a page at "Penultimate Pictures Studios." He's wandering around the massive lot, lost. But it doesn't keep him from doing a little sight-seeing. As he's gawking at an Oscar (TM/Reg./Pat. Pend.) in a display case, an actor dressed as his character from the sci-fi TV show, Planetary Pursuit, comes up behind him. So, I'm thinking, what funny name could we give this character? I start babbling nonsense words. I think, in comedy, there are certain words that are just funny. Usually, they are common words that perhaps, refer to, in many cases, bodily functions. For example: belch. Or burp. Or maybe just urp. Or fart. Like, saying "fart" is funny; as opposed to saying "passing gas"; which is more just mildly amusing. Often these words have very guttural sounds. Lots of "U"s. And in many cases accompanying clashing consonants with hard "K" sounds. "Ca-ca" a word we learn very early in life. And it's almost always humorous. So, the word "yak" comes out of my mouth. Yak! Meets all the criteria. "Yak," in all it's forms, is comedic. Even the animal, which is actually quite regal and handsome, has been rendered comical by its' very name. So then I riff on "yak" and come up with the name "Yaakvaar" for the alien character. And then I pictured a yak-headed man in a Star Trek uniform and there he was. And then I threw in some (always) hilarious alliteration: Yeoman Yaakvaar from the planet Vraak.
I was working on my sitcom pilot, Pages. In it, our lead character, Cooper Reilly, is on his way to a job interview to be a page at "Penultimate Pictures Studios." He's wandering around the massive lot, lost. But it doesn't keep him from doing a little sight-seeing. As he's gawking at an Oscar (TM/Reg./Pat. Pend.) in a display case, an actor dressed as his character from the sci-fi TV show, Planetary Pursuit, comes up behind him. So, I'm thinking, what funny name could we give this character? I start babbling nonsense words. I think, in comedy, there are certain words that are just funny. Usually, they are common words that perhaps, refer to, in many cases, bodily functions. For example: belch. Or burp. Or maybe just urp. Or fart. Like, saying "fart" is funny; as opposed to saying "passing gas"; which is more just mildly amusing. Often these words have very guttural sounds. Lots of "U"s. And in many cases accompanying clashing consonants with hard "K" sounds. "Ca-ca" a word we learn very early in life. And it's almost always humorous. So, the word "yak" comes out of my mouth. Yak! Meets all the criteria. "Yak," in all it's forms, is comedic. Even the animal, which is actually quite regal and handsome, has been rendered comical by its' very name. So then I riff on "yak" and come up with the name "Yaakvaar" for the alien character. And then I pictured a yak-headed man in a Star Trek uniform and there he was. And then I threw in some (always) hilarious alliteration: Yeoman Yaakvaar from the planet Vraak.
The above image is very much what I pictured, except he'd have a mop of yak hair bangs in his eyes. The above image was created by AI; not at my request. Some STNG fan generated it on some site. I do not condone AI. Arts and Letters should be created by humans, not computers; and not humans relying on computers to create content. So there.
Anyways, that night, as I'm watching Frasier on CBS for the first time, there was a bit about...get this...and I'm not making this up...YAKS. Yes. Yaks. And not just once. The joke got a call-back later in the show. You see, Frasier was attempting to tempt his estranged son into living with him. One of his lures was luxury bedding made of yak fur that was so soft, Sherpas(?) were known to fall asleep on it and slide off their yaks.
I mean, come on. What are the odds. This is not mere coincidence. This is not synchronicity. This is flat out prognostication. You, see this is what I think is going on. My husband is a Pisces. Apparently Pisces are known for their penchant for prescience. Portents. Foreknowledge. Call it what you will. The Shining, maybe? Well, he definitely has it; and I think, after some twenty odd years, it's rubbed off on me a bit. I'll just leave it at that. Either that or we really are living in a Matrix and the system hiccupped on Tuesday night. Or maybe the writers at Frasier knew that "yak" was simply a funny word.
But do you know what I had for dinner on Tuesday night?
TOSSED SALAD AND SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BOSTON BAKED BEANS!!!
Just kidding. Although, apparently scrambled eggs and beans seems to be a thing.
Anyways, that night, as I'm watching Frasier on CBS for the first time, there was a bit about...get this...and I'm not making this up...YAKS. Yes. Yaks. And not just once. The joke got a call-back later in the show. You see, Frasier was attempting to tempt his estranged son into living with him. One of his lures was luxury bedding made of yak fur that was so soft, Sherpas(?) were known to fall asleep on it and slide off their yaks.
I mean, come on. What are the odds. This is not mere coincidence. This is not synchronicity. This is flat out prognostication. You, see this is what I think is going on. My husband is a Pisces. Apparently Pisces are known for their penchant for prescience. Portents. Foreknowledge. Call it what you will. The Shining, maybe? Well, he definitely has it; and I think, after some twenty odd years, it's rubbed off on me a bit. I'll just leave it at that. Either that or we really are living in a Matrix and the system hiccupped on Tuesday night. Or maybe the writers at Frasier knew that "yak" was simply a funny word.
But do you know what I had for dinner on Tuesday night?
TOSSED SALAD AND SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BOSTON BAKED BEANS!!!
Just kidding. Although, apparently scrambled eggs and beans seems to be a thing.
Ciao babies!
CFR 10/19/23
CFR 10/19/23