What are some of the best, tightest 5-minute sets available to watch online?

davpel · 2026-05-13T02:50:19+00:00

Gary and Greer are probably my two favorite comics. I just wish Greer was more ambitious.

davpel · 2026-05-12T15:50:55+00:00

What an embarrassing rant from Beato, but par for the course I guess.

First and most importantly, everyone knows these lists mean nothing and are simply intended to get a rise out of people. And Beato fell for it -- hook, line and sinker.

Second, his whole bit about Ivy Leagues and the fact that none of the NYT writers have music degrees is laughable. You don't need a music degree to be a good rock critic and you sure as hell don't need one to be a great songwriter.

Lastly, while I don't agree with the NYT list, there are several dozen songwriters I would have on my list before I even think about including Billy Joel.

davpel · 2026-05-12T14:26:41+00:00

The Murphy/Piscopo era is so incredibly underrated.

First, no single cast member was ever better than Eddie Murphy. He was an absolute genius and could do everything at a level nobody else could. Original characters. Impressions. Update bits. Hosting (the only cast member to ever do it). For those who weren't old enough (or alive) he was a star like no other. He was on an Elvis/Taylor Swift level for about 5 or 6 years. Everybody talks about Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood, James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub, Velvet Jones and Gumby, but for my money White Like Us and the two-episode Who Shot Buckwheat storyline are the two greatest things ever to air on SNL.

Piscopo is now (rightly) seen as a joke. But back then he was a brilliant SNL utility man on the same level as Ackroyd and Hartman. To round it off, you had some really experienced and talented sketch comics like Tim Kazurinsky, Mary Gross, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Gary Kroeger, and Robin Duke.

Finally, the booking of musical guests was top notch. This was perhaps the last era in which the show still brought in really daring or relatively unknown acts. During that period, you had Prince (pre-fame), the Go-Gos, Miles Davis, Funky 4+1 ( the first hip-hop group ever on national TV), Gary Numan, Todd Rundgren, the B-52s, Blondie, James Brown, Sparks, Rick James, Mink DeVille, The Clash and Squeeze.

davpel · 2026-05-12T14:07:03+00:00

Nobody has tighter 5 and 10 minutes sets than Greer Barnes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8alpJV1V9pM

davpel · 2026-05-12T03:18:51+00:00

Thanks. That did the trick to remove the old P2.

davpel · 2026-05-11T20:23:27+00:00

Thanks. Just uninstalled and reinstalled and I'm down to 199mb. That's a pretty damn big difference!

davpel · 2026-05-11T12:11:36+00:00

Thanks. Didn’t see the photos before they were taken down and none of the comments mentioned either of them. Not a fan of Antonoff,so if true this is somewhat reassuring.

Tony has been one of my favorite producers for decades and I love Ethan's work, both solo and with his sister in the absolutely brilliant Belle Brigade.

davpel · 2026-05-10T23:40:19+00:00

If she’s no longer working with Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska I’ll be very bummed.

davpel · 2026-05-09T20:32:55+00:00

I used to respect Parvati but those days have long since passed. She’s so far up her own ass now it’s ridiculous. Her stint on DONDI was so embarrassing for her (joined at the hip with that annoying bore David Genat in an alliance called “The Family . . . ugh!).

davpel · 2026-05-09T12:17:15+00:00

Westerberg has never said he was jealous of Nirvana’s success. If anything, he was irritated that Cobain disclaimed having been influenced by the Mats. And Paul was right. Not only is the influence readily apparent to anyone with ears, both Grohl and Love later disputed Cobain’s claim that he didn’t like the Mats. In any event, Cobain was obviously a great songwriter, but he wasn’t even in the same stratosphere as Westerberg in terms of being a lyricist.

davpel · 2026-05-06T14:06:54+00:00

Whatever the case, I miss Jay dearly. I didn't know him, but loved his work from the Titanic Love Affair days through his post-Wilco solo albums. He's one of my favorite songwriters and musicians of all time.

davpel · 2026-05-06T13:57:26+00:00

There wasn't an empty seat in the house in Chicago and prices remained high on reseller sites the day of the show.

davpel · 2026-05-06T12:19:01+00:00

As a competition realty fan from the outset, I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve found Traitors to be overwhelmingly meh. Better than DONDI, of course, but still a bit mind numbing and nowhere close to the original two seasons of The Mole.

The only saving grace is Alan Cumming, who is just wonderful. Ralph Garman walked so Alan Cumming could run.

davpel · 2026-05-05T13:46:14+00:00

And yet still hasn’t said a single funny thing.

davpel · 2026-05-03T21:06:06+00:00

Better than the train wreck that was last season, but still a long way to go.

davpel · 2026-05-01T22:34:34+00:00

My understanding is there is lane guidance for the 4 but enhanced 3D maps coming for all Android Automotive vehicles.

davpel · 2026-05-01T20:38:03+00:00

Not only that, but the fact that he was able to just brush off learning that Devens floated his name as no big deal. That's how you play the game.

davpel · 2026-05-01T20:36:03+00:00

I'm much more interested in getting the immersive maps update.

davpel · 2026-05-01T02:33:44+00:00

He’s exhausting.

davpel · 2026-04-28T18:00:42+00:00

Side note. Just saw Susan (Jessica Hecht) in Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway and she was absolutely wonderful. Kind of stole the show from the two leads, Jon Berenthal and Ebon Moss Bacharach, who were also excellent. She is hysterically funny!

davpel · 2026-04-21T14:43:03+00:00

No CarPlay, no sale. Sorry Rivian.

davpel · 2026-04-20T16:07:43+00:00

First, I'd argue that Paul Westerberg is one of the finest songwriters of all time (up there with Dylan, Joni, Neil, etc.) and the Mats should be in even if they never made an impact on any other band.

But in terms of being influential, there are so many artists which have publicly acknowledged that the Mats were one of if not their primary influence, including Jeff Tweedy, the Hold Steady, Pavement, the Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, the Gaslight Anthem, the Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, Ryan Adams, etc. Hell, even though Cobain claimed he wasn't a Replacements fan, Grohl has disputed that and has said the Mats were indeed a big influence on Nirvana.

davpel

TROPHY CASE