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      Mourning Matthew Perry at the ‘Friends’ Museum in New York

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      The day after the actor’s death, fans paid tribute at a storefront re-creation of the sitcom’s famous sets.Every night, Marnie Stein, an elementary school principal from Montreal, falls asleep to the lullaby of “Friends” streaming on her TV.At school, the decorations in the teachers’ lounge reference Central Perk, the Manhattan coffee shop where the show’s main characters held court. “All we do is quote ‘Friends,’” Stein said of her and her colleagues.So on Sunday afternoon, while on a trip to New York City with her daughter and best friend, Stein took a pilgrimage to a storefront at East 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue, where sets from the long-running sitcom have been recreated for fans in a two-floor tourist magnet that is part museum, part photo opportunity.After the news on Saturday night that Matthew Perry, one of the show’s lead actors, had died suddenly at his home in Los Angeles, the trip to the “Friends” Experience turned into a moment to pay tribute to the 54-year-old star, who had been open about his long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. No official cause of death has been released yet.“He was in pain and he had so many demons and he suffered for so long,” Stein said as “Friends” clips flashed on a screen behind her. “As I’m trying to come to terms with it, I hope he’s at peace.”Stein, 49, watched “Friends” from its early days, when it premiered on NBC in the mid-1990s and quickly became a pop culture touchstone, with its portrait of a close-knit group of 20-somethings navigating friendship and relationships. The show has maintained its cultural cachet into the streaming era, producing a legion of Gen Z fans who are just as eager to take a photograph alongside a recreation of the “Friends” fountain as their parents’ generation is. (Stein’s 22-year-old daughter, Maggie, is a fan, too.)A sardonic jokester with a mysterious job and a sometimes painful awkwardness when flirting, Perry’s character, Chandler Bing, was a central pillar of the show during its 10-season run, and his relationship with Courteney Cox’s character, Monica Geller, is one of the most beloved romantic arcs in TV history.A re-creation of the “Friends” Central Perk coffeehouse.Jeenah Moon for The New York TimesOutfits worn by the cast of “Friends.”Jeenah Moon for The New York TimesIn his recent memoir, in which he chronicled his road toward sobriety, Perry described the show as a “safe place” and a “touchstone of calm” for him. “It had given me a reason to get out of bed every morning,” he wrote.He also described the character as deeply personal to him. Chandler’s trademark way of talking — “Could she be more out of my league?” and “Could I be more sorry?” — came from a speech pattern he and his brothers took on in grade school.“From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us,” the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and an executive producer, Kevin Bright, said in a statement on Sunday.There was a sense of shock among fans, who had seen the cast together as recently as 2021 when they got together for a much anticipated reunion special. To those who have watched and rewatched the 10 seasons, often streaming them in the background of daily life, the actors have become reliable companions.“You know when you get that kind of sinking feeling?” said Olivia Freer, 28, a tourist from England who had bought tickets to the museum with her friends after learning the news. “I feel heartbroken. You don’t know them so you don’t think it’ll affect you, but it does.”The broad and enduring loyalty to the show has fueled enough demand for “Friends” pop-up shrines not just in New York, where the show is set, but in Miami and Salt Lake City, as well as around the world in Melbourne, Dublin and Amsterdam. Like many so-called immersive experiences, the event revolves around getting photos in the show’s trademark settings, including the orange couch at Central Perk and the blue cabinetry of Monica’s kitchen.Fans can recline in a La-Z-Boy chair like the ones Chandler and his pal Joey were known to sit in, and pose as though trying to finagle a sofa up a staircase, as Chandler did with Rachel and Ross in Season 5. Glass cases display props and costumes from the series, including Chandler and Monica’s wedding invitation and vows, as well as the outfit Chandler wore in a Thanksgiving episode in Season 8 in which Brad Pitt guest starred.So what is it about this show that turns props into precious memorabilia and faraway actors into what start to feel like cherished companions?For Amy Taylor, who was traveling with Stein, it’s the sense of comfort and ease that episodes of “Friends” give her — it was a balm for her during the pandemic in particular, she said. And it’s the common language it provides her and her loved ones. (In a reference to a running joke in the series, Taylor has a chick tattooed on her leg, and her cousin has a duck tattoo.)“I just hope he knew,” Taylor said of Perry, “that his character brought so much comfort to people.” More

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      Matthew Perry Made It Look Easy

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      Even as he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, the “Friends” star Matthew Perry, who died at the age of 54, made it all look easy.A confession: When I received a news alert that the actor Matthew Perry had died, my mind adopted the particular cadence that Perry perfected as Chandler Bing, the character he played for 10 seasons on the NBC sitcom “Friends.” Here is what I thought, “Could this be any sadder?”Perry, 54, died nearly a year after the publication of “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” an unusually candid memoir of addiction and recovery. As he detailed in that book, he spent many of the best years of his career oblivious, avoidant, numb — conditions that don’t typically encourage great acting. But he was great. And it had seemed reasonable, if rose-colored, to hope that sobriety might make him better, returning him to the nervy, instinctive brilliance of his peak years. That hope is now foreclosed.A professional actor since his teens, Perry had appeared in more than a dozen sitcoms before landing “Friends” in 1994. I first remember seeing him years earlier, on an episode of “Growing Pains” screened by my school during a special assembly meant to advertise the dangers of drunken driving. Mostly it advertised Perry and his anxious, reckless charm.To say that he never did anything quite as good as “Friends,” before or after, is not to diminish his achievement. Even among the irrepressible talents of his co-stars, Perry stood out, for a rubbery, heedless way with physical comedy and a split-second timing that most stopwatches would envy. If you have seen more than a few episodes of the show — and many, many millions have, including fans born years after its initial airing — you will have absorbed Chandler’s rhythms, his catchphrases, the way Perry’s handsome, moony face would stretch like spandex, the better to sell a reaction. He had both an absolute commitment to what a line required and a way of gently ironizing that line. His character was the butt of jokes. Perry was in on those same jokes. There was a boyishness to him that seemed to excuse his characters’ worst behavior, on “Friends” and in subsequent roles.Those roles never served him as well and the shows he attached himself to rarely survived to a second season. His co-stars found other movies and series to showcase their talents. Perry’s latter projects, despite fine work on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “The Good Wife,” were largely grim, forgettable. It can be hard for boys to grow up.The cast of “Friends.” From left, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc.Via Getty Images Warner Bros. Television/Hulton Archive, via Getty ImagesIt seems to have been hard for Perry. “I wanted to be famous so badly,” he told The New York Times in 2002. “You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant. I didn’t think what the repercussions would be.” Those repercussions included the enabling of his addictions and the loss of any anonymity. (It had the occasional upside, too. In his memoir, he wrote that after a reaction to an anesthetic stopped his heart, a worker in the hospital in Switzerland performed CPR for five full minutes to restore rhythm. “If I hadn’t been on ‘Friends,’ would he have stopped at three minutes?” he wondered, darkly.)His struggles were an open secret, then they weren’t even a secret. (He was speaking openly, if optimistically, as early as 2002.) And it’s a miracle, really, that he could perform as he did, in and out of rehab, even as various cast members confronted him about his alcohol use. He seems to have fictionalized some aspects of this in “The End of Longing,” a play he wrote and starred in. While the Times critic was cool on the drama, he wrote that Perry was “genuinely scary as a jalopy of a man running on ethanol.”Speaking to The Times last year, Perry treated his hard-won sobriety as serious and tenuous. “It’s still a day-to-day process of getting better,” he said. “Every day.” Onscreen he could disguise that struggle. This was the genius of “Friends” and the genius of Perry, to make it all look easy. “Friends” was always a fantasy, a whitewashed vision of urban life, in which the characters had apartments with the approximate footprint of palazzos and infinite leisure time. (What was Chandler’s job anyway? Why did he so rarely go there?) But to watch it, as I did late Saturday night, for hours, was to relax into the confidence of its comedy, of Perry’s excitable charm. Onscreen, in that fountain, in some horrible, short-sleeved cardigan, he is there for us, still. More

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      Matthew Perry Is Mourned by Friends and Colleagues

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      Fans and celebrities paid tribute to Perry, who died at age 54 on Saturday.Celebrities, actors and entertainment and political leaders shared tributes to Matthew Perry, who starred on the hit television series “Friends” and died on Saturday at the age of 54.His death was confirmed by Capt. Scot Williams of the Los Angeles Police Department’s robbery-homicide division. Although there was no immediate cause of death, there was no indication of foul play.On social media on Sunday, Perry’s fans and colleagues celebrated the actor, who played the sardonic Chandler Bing on more than 200 episodes of the NBC sitcom “Friends,” which followed a group of young professionals living in Manhattan.On the show, Perry starred with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.Fans and colleagues remembered Perry for his acting talent and kindness.The show’s Facebook page said: “He was a true gift to us all. Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans.”NBC, which aired “Friends” from 1994 to 2004, said on Facebook that Perry “brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world with his pitch perfect comedic timing and wry wit.”The network added, “His legacy will live on through countless generations.”“Saturday Night Live” featured a black-and-white tribute card of Perry at the end of this weekend’s broadcast. He hosted the show in 1997.Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler Bing’s mother on “Friends,” wrote on social media that she was “heartbroken about the untimely death of my ‘son’, Matthew Perry.”“The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock,” she said.Cast members of “Friends.” From left to right: David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Perry as Chandler Bing, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay and Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani.Warner Bros. Television, via Getty ImagesMaggie Wheeler, who portrayed Chandler’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice and who had a memorable laugh on “Friends,” posted a photo of herself with Perry on Instagram.“What a loss,” she wrote. “The world will miss you.” Wheeler added: “The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on.”Perry, who grew up in Ottawa, was also mourned by Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who was a childhood friend.“Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening,” Trudeau said. “I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them.”The Ottawa Senators hockey organization also paid tribute to Perry, writing, “Saddened to learn about the passing of Matthew Perry, one of Ottawa’s proudest sons and 𝑡ℎ𝑒 biggest hockey fan.” The post included a clip of Perry attending a game.The actress Selma Blair, who appeared in an episode of “Friends,” posted a photo of herself with Perry on Instagram. She described him as “my oldest boy friend.”She added: “All of us loved Matthew Perry, and I did especially. Every day. I loved him unconditionally. And he me. And I’m broken. Broken hearted. Sweet dreams Matty. Sweet dreams.”In an Instagram story, the actress Rumer Willis recalled hanging around Perry and her father, Bruce Willis, when they worked on movies together, including the 2000 film “The Whole Nine Yards.”She said that Perry “was so kind and funny and sweet with my sisters and me and I think his physical Comedy and that movie still makes me laugh so much.”“I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy,” Willis continued, adding, “I hope he can rest peacefully.” More

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      What’s on TV This Week: BravoCon and a Classic Rom-Com

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      Andy Cohen’s annual convention airs on Bravo, and HBO plays “Definitely, Maybe.”Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Oct. 30-Nov. 5. Details and times are subject to change.MondayHALLOWEEN BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP 9 p.m. on Food Network. Though I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, sign me up for anything that involves spooky-looking desserts. On the most recent episode of this competition, hosted by the stand-up comedian John Henson, contestants were judged on their torta della nonnas (an Italian custard tart) with monster tattoos added on top and then a healthy but tasty chocolate orb. It ended in one elimination with three bakers heading into the finale.TuesdayAlexander Karim, left, and Oliver Masucci in “The Swarm.”Fabio Lovino/Beta FilmsTHE SWARM 9 p.m. on the CW. This week, the CW is back to doing what it does best: bringing international shows to a U.S. audience. This show, which originally aired in Germany, is a science fiction story about the fight against swarm intelligence living in the ocean. If you are like me and had no idea what “swarm intelligence” is, it refers to the collective behavior of a natural or artificial self-organized system — a.k.a., some spooky stuff. The first season wraps up this week.WednesdayINK MASTER 9:30 p.m. on MTV. This show about tattoo pros is beginning its 15th season this week. Hosted by the Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden, this competition will have 15 tattoo artists competing against one another. The show was briefly canceled in 2020 but was brought back onto Paramount+ last year. This season, the artists are not just competing for the title of “Ink Master” but also aiming for a $250,000 prize.ThursdayBAD MOMS (2016) 10 p.m. on TNT. Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn are one of the funniest teams to hit the big screen. In this movie, they play overworked and overtired moms who finally let loose and go a little wild before deciding to face Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), who, along with an army of other perfect moms, rules the P.T.A. “What makes ‘Bad Moms’ funny (aside from its lineup of gifted performers) isn’t that Amy and her friends go wild; they don’t, not even close,” Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The New York Times. “It’s the women’s shared, near-orgiastic pleasure in their freedom and friendship.”LOVE ISLAND GAMES 10:30 p.m. on Bravo. With Bravo’s “Winter House,” ABC’s “Bachelor in Paradise” and MTV’s “All Star Shore,” it seems like there is a trend in reality television: Gather up known reality stars and put them all together on a different reality show. That is the gist of this “Love Island” spinoff, with contestants from the British, American and Australian versions of the show, perhaps most notably including the fan favorite Curtis Pritchard (the professional ballroom dancer) from Season 5 of the U.K. edition. This is not all that different from the original version of the show; there are just more couple and group challenges.FridayGroucho Marx in “Duck Soup.”Paramount PicturesDUCK SOUP (1933) 8 p.m. on TCM. The Marx Brothers are one of cinema’s most famous comedy groups, and this movie was really their time to shine. The story follows Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) as he becomes the president of a tiny bankrupt country. This film isn’t so much about the plot but more about the shenanigans that ensue as the spies Pinky (Harpo) and Chicolini (Chico) are sent from a neighboring country to start a revolution. Don’t worry, Zeppo is there, too — he plays Firefly’s secretary.SaturdayDEFINITELY, MAYBE (2008) 10:45 p.m. on HBO. As a romantic comedy connoisseur, I can wholeheartedly say that this is one of the best movies to watch when you want to have a laugh, shed a few tears and feel your heart grow a couple of sizes. The story follows Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds), who, amid a separation from his wife, tells his daughter (Abigail Breslin) about the three women who he loved throughout his 20s and 30s as she tries to guess which one of them is her mom. The cast also features Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz and Elizabeth Banks.SundayFrom left: Shannon Beador, Ramona Singer, Andy Cohen and Dorinda Medley at BravoCon in 2019.Amy Lombard for The New York TimesBRAVOCON LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN: THE BRAVOS 10:15 p.m. on Bravo. Andy Cohen is hosting the event known as BravoCon for the third time but this year. But for those of us who can’t make it to Las Vegas, we get to follow along at home. A slate of Bravo-related events will take place next week during the normal “Watch What Happens Live” time slot, but the festivities are going to kick off on Sunday with the first-ever award show for the network.Eight awards will be handed out, including the “Who Said That?” Award for Colloquial Excellence, the Dorit Kemsley Award for Chicest Bravolebrity, and the Greatest Shade Thrower. Vicki Gunvalson of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” will present the biggest award of the night: the Wifetime Achievement Award. You know there is nothing I love more than a slew of “bravolebrities” in a room together. More

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      ‘Annika’ Star Nicola Walker on the Book She’d Save From a Burning Home

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      When it comes to the actress’s favorite things, give her the American version of “Alone” and a true-crime podcast from Australia.No one broods quite like Nicola Walker, whose eyes have transfixed viewers in television shows like “Unforgotten,” “Last Tango in Halifax” and “The Split.”In “Annika,” the British crime drama now in its second season on PBS, she holds that gaze as a marine homicide detective, her speedboat slicing through the waters near Glasgow.But in a video interview while just outside London, where she lives with her husband, the actor Barnaby Kay, and their teenage son, Harry, Walker was radiant and witty. When she agreed to talk about her cultural essentials — true-crime podcasts, the theater director Ivo van Hove, the harrowing reality series “Alone” — she recalled her agent asking if she was going to be truthful.“I said, ‘Is it bad if I tell them that really one of my cultural highlights this week has been sitting in my underwear, eating a bag of Spanish Lays crisps with a can of Coke, watching the ‘Beckham’ documentary?’”“Now I’m in love with both of them,” Walker added. “David and Victoria.”These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1Touching the ArtWhen I was a young girl, we moved to rural Essex, and the nearest town was Harlow — one of the new towns built post-World War II. Frederick Gibberd, the architect, thought that ordinary people should brush up against art in their everyday lives. On the way to the shopping center, I’d walk past sculptures by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Rodin. I used to climb all over Hepworth’s “Contrapuntal Forms,” and no one ever stopped you. Hepworth said statues must be touched — that’s how they begin.2Stewart LeeI’ve always loved stand-up because I could never do it, and Stewart is, for me, the best stand-up working for years now. I recommend “Content Provider.” It’s like he smashes up the rules of comedy, glues them back together and then throws them at you.3Ivo van HoveWatching Ivo or being directed by Ivo is like having an injection of energy and hope, because he makes theater in a way that you realize you’ve always wanted theater to be made.4Toni MorrisonI lost my mother a very long time ago. Too young. She bought me a copy of “Beloved” when I went up to university, and she wrote in it, “To My Beloved.” That thing they say about what you would save from your burning house, apart from pets? That book. I was 19, and it opened up the whole world.5The U.S. Version of ‘Alone’The U.K. one was like a family camping trip gone wrong: They’ve got lost in the dark and they’re scared of the foxes and the owls hooting. Then we happened to see “Alone USA.” Crikey. Ten people. Bears, wolverines. I watched a man win a series because he shanked a musk ox to death.6‘Closing Time’When I was pregnant, I played “Closing Time” on a loop, and Harry used to sort of wriggle. I don’t know whether I’ve made that up, but all I know is he loves Tom Waits. When Harry was about 3, I went for a fitting at a famous costumier, and Tom Waits walked in. I was too scared to say, “My 3-year-old knows all the words to ‘Closing Time.’” I really regret it, and my son has never forgiven me.7Sylvia PlathWhen I was 16, I really identified with her. All that introspection of youth. You’re allowed to be that doom-laden because you’re so young. As a 53-year-old, I don’t see myself. I see Sylvia Plath, and I want to literally jump in the book and save her.8Reciting PoetryI love reading poetry out loud. This might be due to studying English at Cambridge. One of my favorite poems is Billy Collins’s “Introduction to Poetry” — the idea that you have to tie the poem down to a chair and beat it into submission to give up its meaning. I felt that’s what I did as a student, and it took me ages to find my way back to poetry because, for me, it was work. But now I think it’s flesh and bones when you say those words.9Playlists for RolesThey give me the confidence to step out of the caravan and walk on set. Annika’s playlist was fabulously eclectic: Benjamin Clementine’s “Nemesis,” David Bowie’s “Fill Your Heart,” The Darkness’s “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.”10Murder ShowsI have a guilty obsession that a lot of women have (as “S.N.L.” pointed out in a very good musical skit): true crime. There’s this Australian podcast, “Casefile,” and the guy always starts with this warning, “This podcast contains stories of a sexual nature, injury to women,” or whatever. And my husband’s shouting, “Are you listening to that bloody man talking about killing women again?” Yeah, I am. Why am I? It’s the same reason we like crime dramas. Because the comfort of watching something that terrifies you and seeing it resolved makes you feel a little bit safer. More

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      Richard Moll, Towering Bailiff on ‘Night Court,’ Dies at 80

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      In a career that spanned more than four decades, the actor was best known for playing the imposing but lovable Bull Shannon on the NBC sitcom.Richard Moll, the 6-foot-8 actor who delighted television audiences with a childlike charm in his role as the hulking bailiff on the NBC sitcom “Night Court,” died on Thursday at his home in Big Bear Lake, Calif. He was 80.His death was confirmed on Friday by his publicist, Jeff Sanderson. No cause was given by the family.In a career of more than four decades, Mr. Moll played a variety of roles on television shows and in films. But he was best known for portraying the baldheaded, wide-eyed Aristotle Nostradamus (Bull) Shannon on all nine seasons of “Night Court,” which ran from 1984 to 1992 and competed with other hit television sitcoms like “The Cosby Show” and “The Golden Girls.”Mr. Moll worked as an actor and voice-over artist as late as 2018.Kathy Hutchins/Hutchins Photo Agency, via Associated PressBull Shannon’s dimwitted persona offered an air of lighthearted innocence on the series, which was set inside a fictional municipal night court in Manhattan and starred Harry Anderson, who played Judge Harry Stone and died in 2018, and John Larroquette as the prosecutor, Dan Fielding.Mr. Moll was “larger than life and taller too,” Mr. Larroquette, said Friday in a post on X.Richard Charles Moll was born on Jan. 13, 1943, in Pasadena, Calif. to Harry and Violet Moll. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, with a degree in history and passed over his father’s wishes that he pursue a law career, to take up acting.He started with theater work, performing in Shakespeare plays in California. His first television and film roles came in the late 1970s, and included a part in the 1977 movie “Brigham” and an appearance in an episode of the television series “Welcome Back, Kotter” in 1978.“Probably auditioning for ‘Night Court’ would be my first big break,” Mr. Moll said in a 2010 interview with MaximoTV. He noted that he had been asked if he was willing to shave his head for the part.“I said ‘Are you kidding?’ ” he recalled. “‘I’ll shave my legs for the part. I’ll shave my armpits. I don’t care.’”After “Night Court” ended in 1992, Mr. Moll went on to do voice-over work on various cartoons, including roles as Two-Face, a disturbed villain with a disfigured mug on the “Adventures of Batman & Robin” on Fox, and as Scorpion, one of the many adversaries on “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” on the same network.Richard Moll, far right, with the cast of Night Court in 1988.Gary Null/NBC, via Getty ImagesThough largely known for his comedic work, including in movies such as “Scary Movie 2” and “But I’m a Cheerleader,” Mr. Moll was also featured in horror and science-fiction films. His first major movie roles included the 1985 horror feature “House” and the 1986 indie fantasy “The Dungeonmaster.”Mr. Moll worked as an actor and voice-over artist as late as 2018, according to IMDb. His final notable appearance was in the 2010 live-action film “Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster,” in which he played the mysterious lighthouse keeper Elmer Uggins.Mr. Moll retired to Big Bear Lake in the Southern Californian mountains, where, according to his family, he reveled in the idyllic scenery and exercised his love of bird-watching.He is survived by a daughter, Chloe Moll; a son, Mason Moll; his ex-wife, Susan Moll; and two stepchildren, Cassandra Card and Morgan Ostling. More

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      Stephen Colbert Calls Out Mike Johnson’s First Fail

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      The “Late Show” host chided the new House speaker for offering little more than thoughts and prayers to survivors of the Maine shooting on his first day in office.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Major FailAddressing tragedies like mass shootings has become a regular part of late night. On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert spoke about a shooting in Lewiston, Maine, that killed 18 people and injured 13 others on Wednesday.“Some people are going to say ‘This is a mental health issue,’ others are going to say, ‘It’s a gun issue,’ but there’s no reason it can’t be both,” Colbert said. “For instance, some people are going to look at this tragedy and say, ‘We don’t have enough guns in America.’ That alone proves some of us are mentally ill.”Colbert pointed out that most Americans want bans on assault-style weapons and for Congress to take action to prevent more mass shootings, yet no one on either side of the aisle has successfully stopped them from happening.“So, ask your representative, ‘What will you do?’ If they don’t have an answer immediately at hand, if they say it’s too soon to talk about this, that means they’ve never really given it any serious thought. Because they’ve had plenty of time since Uvalde and Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Sandy Hook and the Pulse nightclub. So if they don’t have an answer now, they will never have an answer.” — STEPHEN COLBERTHe expressed disappointment over a lack of new ideas from recently elected House speaker Mike Johnson, “a self-professed devoutly religious man,” who offered little comfort to Americans in a statement during his first day in office, which amounted to little more than thoughts and prayers.“We’re already capable of hope and prayer ourselves. You’re capable of governing, theoretically. And I’m sorry if that sounds like too hard of a job for you. If that seems like too hard of a job, you know who’s really got a hard job now? The people in Lewiston, Maine.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“And there are very few people like Mainers. I know Mainers. I love Mainers. They’re strong people. They’ve got Moxie — literally, it’s the name of the official state soft drink. It tastes like carbonated cough syrup, but they drink it anyway, ’cause Mainers are tough. These are people whose idea of a beach is a collection of jagged rocks near freezing water. Their state flower, the Maine state flower — and this is true — is a frickin’ pine cone!” — STEPHEN COLBERT“And I dare anyone in power to show a fraction of the courage of all the families who have faced their tragedies and faced our failure to change.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Getting to Know You Edition)“Republicans yesterday elected Mike Johnson the 56th speaker of the House, which is crazy ’cause a month ago, we were only at 12.” — SETH MEYERS“Meanwhile, earlier today, Mike Johnson met with President Biden for the first time since becoming speaker. Johnson is pretty famous for being an election denier, so it got pretty awkward when he said, ‘Good to meet you, ‘President Biden. ’” — JIMMY FALLON“But the meeting was very friendly. Biden even invited Johnson to pet his dog.” — JIMMY FALLON“Biden told a story about his days in Congress, and by the time it was over, Johnson was already voted out as speaker.” — JIMMY FALLON“Johnson is also extremely anti-LGBTQ, saying: ‘Homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.’ If you’re doin’ it right.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingThe comedian Jeff Ross dressed down kids in Halloween costumes for “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutCailee Spaeny in “Priscilla.”Sabrina Lantos/A24Adapted from Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me,” Sofia Coppola’s new film, “Priscilla,” re-examines the King from his young wife’s point of view. More

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      Dave Chappelle and the Perils of Button-Pushing Comedy

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      His comments on the Mideast conflict have been the subject of news reports, but the polarizing coverage has ignored how comics have treated the situation.Halfway through a sold-out show at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday, Dave Chappelle stopped to ask the audience about screaming coming from the balcony. “I’m scared it might be the Jews coming for me,” he said, a mischievous tone in his gravelly voice.This was a reference to a previous show, in Boston, where Chappelle’s criticism of Israeli policies reportedly led to cheers and pushback from the crowd, hundreds of walkouts and one patron posting online that she never felt more “unsafe.” Press descriptions of the event were often vague. The reports of cheers for Hamas didn’t specify if they were coming from one person or a large group. But what seems clear from the reports is that along with defending Harvard students who had signed a letter saying Israel was “entirely responsible” for the violence, Chappelle had denounced the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis and got sidetracked when someone in the crowd told him to be quiet.Chappelle’s follow-up show on Wednesday was as much the work of a diplomat as a provocateur, telling the audience to pray for both Israelis and Palestinians and calling the situation for both a nightmare. At one point, he addressed American Jews, saying, “Whatever they can do to take the violence or the danger out of a situation, they should do it.” Then he added, “I’m not about antisemitism, but I’m allowed to disagree with whoever I want to.”Chappelle, wearing a sleeveless flannel shirt that hung down to his thighs, never figured out what the commotion at the top of the arena was about, but he said he had heard someone say there was a medical issue. Chain-smoking, Chappelle made a few jokes, then added: “You know what it will say in the paper tomorrow: Dave Chappelle makes fun of man as he dies.”It’s an understandable complaint. Of course, Chappelle seeks out contentious subjects — his lawyerly explanation of the antisemitism of Kanye West on “Saturday Night Live” last year does not help his cause in this current controversy — and no one exaggerates their own victimhood more. He’s still saying, “Any minute they’re going to cancel me” despite the fact that he’s performing for huge crowds and has another Netflix special on the way. But the media attention that Chappelle’s comedy gets is obsessive, polarized and often tediously literal.It brings to mind one of the most memorable bits of this century, his 2004 joke about Ja Rule being asked to weigh in on Sept. 11. Mocking how our media ask celebrities to be sober authorities making sense of tragic events, Chappelle said, “I want some answers that Ja Rule might not have right now.”This joke has aged tremendously well. Social media has only amplified the opinions of the Ja Rules of the world. The algorithms that run our feeds are making sure you have Justin Bieber and Gigi Hadid to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now every corporation and middle school seems to have its own foreign policy. Comedians have been perhaps the most outspoken of artists, with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer consistently commenting on Israel and antisemitism on social media, earning praise and condemnation. The comic Bassem Youssef went viral for his appearance on Piers Morgan’s show. Obviously, in a democratic society, it’s important for people to feel free to speak out on matters of gravity, and an emotional response on this issue is not only understandable but necessary. But it’s also reasonable to think that you should want some answers that Dave Chappelle might not have right now.Chappelle is a tricky case, because since his Ja Rule joke, he has embraced the sober truth-teller role, telling magnetic stories that sometimes end in lessons, not punchlines. His take on Israel has been mostly sober, but other comics are incorporating the issue into their work. Matt Ruby put 10 minutes of his jokes from a club set online, defending himself by saying, “This is how Jews handle crisis.” The German stand-up Shahak Shapira released a 25-minute special, “Baklavas From Gaza.” Both sounded like rough drafts, but they seem motivated less by a blunt interest in changing hearts and minds than in comforting them.The seeming hopelessness of the conflict in the Middle East has always drawn comics looking to push buttons. In one of the most high-risk “Saturday Night Live” monologues ever, Louis C.K. likened Israelis and Palestinians to his daughters fighting, with him as America trying to mediate. Since he had sandwiched this metaphor between a joke about his “mild racism” and another about trying to understand pedophilia, he managed the feat of making the subject seem safe.In recent years, several sharp Muslim comics have made funny comedy on television from the Palestinian perspective. In “Mo,” set in Texas, the Palestinian American comic Mo Amer, who plays a likable fool, gives his pitcher nephew a pep talk on the mound of a Little League game, telling the boy that he’s a Palestinian so “if there’s one thing you can do is throw things accurately.” Then, as another adult tries to shuttle him off the field, he advises the boy to imagine a tank coming at him.This show was created with another comic, Ramy Youssef, whose own superb, self-named Hulu series, “Ramy,” recorded an episode in Israel portraying daily life in the occupied territories of the West Bank, including the tedium of waiting at a checkpoint to cross over. Playing a jerky American bull in a China shop, Youssef tries to relate to a Palestinian love interest by saying he gets it, comparing the experience to traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel. Both these shows humanize the Palestinian experience in ways that feel new.No one has been funnier on this least funny of subjects than Larry David and an episode of his “Curb Your Enthusiasm” about an incredible Palestinian chicken restaurant that causes controversy by moving next door to a Jewish deli. It’s invariably high on lists of the greatest installments of the series. It ended with David walking between competing protest groups: one from the chicken restaurant led by his Palestinian girlfriend (dirty talk during sex includes her calling him an occupier and him quoting Theodor Herzl) and another made up of many of his Jewish friends waving signs in front of a deli.The anguished look on David’s face, eyes bulging, face contorting in confusion, has become a popular meme. It’s used so often that people don’t even realize what it refers to. My sense from Chappelle’s show is that he could relate.While Chappelle still jokes about transgender people, which was the focus of his last special, his new hour, due in December, throws fewer bombs than his last one. It’s a bit humbler and even has a silly side along with some moony philosophizing about the Will Smith slap, with him calling Smith and Chris Rock “fellow dreamers I met along the way.”In Raleigh, the one time he told the crowd he would do a “dangerous joke,” it turned out to be something like a parody of one: “Two Jews walk into a bar. I’d say the punchline, but there might be a transgender person here.” He smiled as if he knew how corny this sounded.When a woman in the audience yelled out, “Free Palestine,” he told her he heard her but added: “Don’t start that up or there will be a news cycle for another week.” More