Television

Season 5, Episode 3: ‘The Guy for This’That didn’t take long.Mere days after Jimmy became Saul Goodman, and started pitching his services to the criminally inclined, he’s been recruited by Lalo Salamanca and is now enmeshed in the imminent war between the Mexican cartel and Gus Fring. Let the record show that the first step to hell was lucrative — $8,000 for a half day’s work. But it’s sure to be terrifying, eventually. Signing up with Lalo means working against the interests of the formidable hometown drug team, whose heavyweights include Mike, a.k.a., the world’s most menacing senior citizen.“If there’s blowback, I don’t want to be in the middle of it,” Jimmy tells Nacho once his jailhouse consultation and debriefing with Lalo are over.“It’s not about what you want,” Nacho says. “When you’re in, you’re in.”This week’s episode, “The Guy for This,” is about the looming, deeply unpleasant sense of “in,” as experienced by both Jimmy and Kim. For Kim, “in” means a tighter tether to her corporate client, Mesa Verde, which entails skimping on pro bono clients, who appear to be her only source of professional satisfaction.“Mesa Verde keeps the lights on,” says the simmering Richard Schweikart (Dennis Boutsikaris), her corporate law overlord. “We can all agree on that.”Moments later, Kim is leaving the courthouse and heading to a mostly empty plot of land where Mesa Verde wants to build a call center and where a lone hold out, Everett Acker (the “Northern Exposure” veteran Barry Corbin), is refusing to budge from his home of 30 years. Acker is a cranky ol’ cuss, who gets one of the episode’s best lines (“I’m going to spread my legs out like this and just to finish it off, why don’t you give me a swift kick in the balls”) and makes Kim feel like the worst variety of heartless corporate suit.She isn’t, as we learn in a revealing soliloquy about her childhood. She was raised, it seems, by a single mother, who was in such arrears with the rent that young Kim would routinely high tail it from landlords before she had a chance to put on shoes.This might help explain Kim’s fondness for helping the underprivileged, as well her guilt over booting a man from his house. Mr. Acker thinks Kim’s back story is part of a con. He’s one of the few characters in this show who isn’t getting played, all the while certain that he is.For Jimmy, “in” means a jailhouse charade with his new client, Domingo (Krazy-8) Molina. His acting performance — he feigns an effort to talk Mr. 8 out of snitching — is for the benefit of none other than Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada), the dauntless duo who provided the face of federal enforcement, and in Hank’s case so much more, in “Breaking Bad.”It’s great to have these gents back, and they get a suitably insouciant entrance, with Hank pulling an illegal U-turn and then cutting the line for jailhouse visitors.“Breaking Bad” did a remarkable job of highlighting Hank’s savvy as a D.E.A. agent, while keeping the main suspect, Walter White, right under his nose. And as he negotiates with Saul and Domingo, we see his formidable side, even as he gets snowed. He pegs Saul’s act for as a farce (“I feel like my chain is being pulled, and not in a good way,” he says), but for perfectly understandable reasons, he has no idea that he’s about to do the bidding of a drug kingpin.That kingpin is Lalo, who is getting played, too. By Nacho, who reports to Gus that his “dead drops” are now under federal surveillance. This makes Gus very unhappy.Can we pause for a moment to consider Nacho’s plight? First, he appears to be living with a nutter. Specifically, a woman who is, for mysterious reasons, compelled to solve puzzles — the real kind, like a jigsaw, and the self-created kind, like how to clean a remote control.But an unhinged roommate is the least of Nacho’s worries. He wants nothing more than to run for his life, the end of which he can clearly foresee, and to encourage his father, who is the quintessence of integrity, to run as well. In a poignant scene, Nacho the Elder (Juan Carlos Cantu) says he won’t retire or flee, even if his son secretly tries to buy him out of his upholstery store for an extravagant sum.Poor Nacho. Who on this show is more miserable?Maybe Mike, who is underemployed and idling alone in a bar, trying to drink away his anguish. These feelings must now include remorse for the trauma he inflicted on his granddaughter when he yelled at her in the previous episode. He’s in a flinty mood, and for reasons as yet unknown, he’s triggered by a photograph of the Sydney Opera House.What did Australia do to you, Mike? We’re here to help.The episode ends with Kim and Jimmy, tossing beer bottles off their balcony, which explode in the parking lot below. I took this as a howl at the sense of “in” that they would dearly like to escape. And yet this is probably as “out” as they’ll be. Certainly, Jimmy is about to get in way over his head.Odds and Ends:The opening scene — ants, swarming over ice cream, melting on the sidewalk — is not just an awe-inspiring feat of directing and sound engineering. (The noise of the ants over the chorus of yodelers is a pretty genius combination. Very Coen Brothers-esque.) It’s also a great symbol for the cosmos of “Better Call Saul.” There is the law-abiding citizenry of Albuquerque, which walks the pavement, blithely unaware, as represented by the pedestrians who don’t even notice the ice cream feast. And there is the criminal underworld, which is savage and somehow operating in plain sight while also completely invisible. You watch an opening like that and know you are in the hands of maestros.Speaking of master strokes: At Nacho’s house, we briefly see a television commercial for Numilifor, a nonexistent medication. The creative minds behind “Better Call Saul” have nailed the look and feel of TV drug ads, in much the way they nailed the look and feel of fast food commercials for Los Pollos Hermanos, in “Breaking Bad.”Maybe Numilifor cures the urge to clean remote controls. Let’s hope.Do Hank and Gomez seem especially irritated by each other? I remember their banter as somewhat warmer.Lalo gets the best line in the episode. Which isn’t a line, actually. It’s more like a noise, which he emits right after telling Jimmy, “You’ll make time,” for future cartel-related legal work.“Kla!” he says with a smile, before getting into his muscle car.I wonder if that was in the script.Anyone else struck by the lack of erotic spark between Kim and Jimmy? Nary a cuddle or a kiss. Even when Kim says she’s celebrating the coming work day, and Jimmy says he’s had his most lucrative 24 hours as Saul Goodman, nada. In another show, we’d at least get a hug. “Good for Saul,” is the most that Kim can muster. Maybe she’s souring on the guy. But the reality is that this pair have never demonstrated much physical interest in each other.What’s up with that? Please weigh in, and if you ever find an old can of vanilla frosting, don’t eat it. Give it to Gomez. More

James Lipton, who plumbed the dramatic arts through perceptive, mostly admiring interviews with celebrity actors as host of the Bravo television series “Inside the Actors Studio,” died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93. The cause was bladder cancer, his wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton, said.Mr. Lipton was a knowledgeable interviewer who focused on craft while avoiding gossip, winning the trust of his famous guests as well as an international audience.During his 23-season run as host — he left the show when it moved from Bravo to Ovation TV in 2019 — “Inside the Actors Studio” became a coveted stop for writers, directors and performers, who would give some of their longest and most unguarded interviews to Mr. Lipton.His manner was sympathetic — fawning, to some, and often lampooned — but the formula worked, and among the 275 or so stars he interviewed were some of the brightest: Paul Newman, Alec Baldwin, Neil Simon, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper and Sidney Lumet, to name a few — and they came along in just the first season.His association with the Actors Studio began in 1992, when he was invited to observe a session of that storied and exclusive workshop for actors, writers and directors. At the time, its existence was threatened because it had no steady income; membership was by invitation only, and attendance was free.Mr. Lipton brokered a solution: the creation of a master of fine arts program whose tuition would support the Actors Studio. The program began in 1994 in partnership with the New School in Manhattan, with Mr. Lipton acting as chairman and later as dean. The program moved to Pace University, also in Manhattan, 12 years later.“Inside the Actors Studio” also had its debut in 1994. Mr. Lipton conceived the televised sessions as seminars for the New School’s drama students. But he also recognized the potential for marketing and struck a deal with the fledgling Bravo cable channel to air the episodes.The format was unorthodox and low-budget. Mr. Lipton sat across from his guests at a simple table on an unadorned stage. He flipped through questions written out on blue note cards. And he kept the discussion on an intellectual plane.Nonetheless, the show became a hit. In 1997, it won the CableACE award for the year’s best talk show. It was nominated for 21 Primetime Emmys over the years. In 2013 it won the Emmy for outstanding informational series or special. And in 2016, Mr. Lipton won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for best reality show host.His raw interviews lasted four to five hours and were then edited down to one hour for television. He had a talent for eliciting unexpected disclosures — what he called “omigod” moments.Ben Kingsley cried while speaking of his mother’s death. Jack Lemmon revealed his alcoholism so casually that Mr. Lipton did not know whether the actor was describing himself or a character in a movie. Sally Field suggested that Mr. Lipton had read her diary. Julia Roberts asked whether he had called her mother.In fact, a researcher assembled material for Mr. Lipton, who then spent two weeks poring over it, culling facts and drafting questions.Louis James Lipton was born on Sept. 19, 1926, in Detroit, the only child of Lawrence Lipton, a noted Beat poet who left the family when James was 6, and Elizabeth (Weinberg) Lipton, a teacher.Early on, Mr. Lipton’s mother plied him with books, instilling in him a love of language and the arts, particularly theater.He won his first professional acting job in the 1940s, when the live radio program “The Lone Ranger” cast him as the voice of Dan Reid, nephew of that Western’s intrepid title character. Still, as a young man, Mr. Lipton, shied away from immediately pursuing a career in theater, having associated the arts with his delinquent father. Instead, he enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit determined to be a lawyer.A stint in the Air Force cut those studies short, and he eventually headed to New York, where he was enrolled for a time at Columbia University. In need of an income, he sought out acting jobs.He trained with the prominent acting instructor Stella Adler and, later, with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis, but more often than not he appeared in failed productions or in limited engagements that could hardly catapult him to stardom.There was one exception: For about a decade, until 1962, Mr. Lipton portrayed Dr. Dick Grant — the surgeon with the golden hands — on the soap opera “Guiding Light.”He fared better as a writer. His work included scripts for the soap operas “Another World,” “The Edge of Night” and “Guiding Light”; the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical “Sherry!” (1967); the novel “Mirrors” (1981); and the made-for-television movie “Copacabana” (1985). He also tried his hand at nonfiction, writing “An Exaltation of Larks” (1968), a popular book that explained the etymology of terms like “a pride of lions.”Mr. Lipton found his niche midway through his career, when he became a producer. In 1977, he produced President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala, the first ever to be televised. He produced a dozen star-studded birthday specials for the comedian Bob Hope. Other galas followed, all regarded as successes.Mr. Lipton was also one of the most castigated talk-show hosts on television. Critics described him variously as pompous, sycophantic, unctuous, oleaginous and obsequious.While his manner reassured his guests, it also provided grist to comedians.On television, he was lampooned relentlessly by Will Ferrell on “Saturday Night Live.” A cartoon version of him was murdered on “The Simpsons.” And he was targeted by the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen on the abrasive HBO comedy “Da Ali G Show.”Mr. Lipton responded to the attention good-naturedly. He invited Mr. Ferrell to appear as a guest on “Inside the Actors Studio.” He provided the voice for the cartoon version of himself on “The Simpsons.” And he noted all of the comedians’ antics in his memoir, “Inside Inside,” which was published in 2007.Mr. Lipton was married to Shirley Blanc and then to the actress Nina Foch, from 1954 to 1958, when they divorced. In 1970 he married the model Kedakai Turner, who was often present in his show’s television audience, and who, in what became a running joke on the show, forbade him to get a tattoo. She is his only immediate survivor.Mr. Lipton portrayed himself in youth as something of a scoundrel. He alluded to numerous romantic conquests and recounted a period of months that he spent in Paris earning a living as a “mec” — or pimp — for a young prostitute.His image on “Inside the Actors Studio” was far more staid. Famously, he completed each episode by asking his guests a series of questions employed, among others, by the French television host Bernard Pivot. He answered the questions himself only once, in an appearance on Mr. Pivot’s show. His answers, in part, were:Q. What is your favorite curse word?A. Jesus Christ!Q. What is the profession you wouldn’t have wanted to practice?A. Executioner.Q. If God exists, what would you like to hear him say after your death?A. You see, Jim, you were wrong. I exist. But you may come in anyway.Julia Carmel contributed reporting. More

For 24 seasons, “Judge” Judy Sheindlin has reigned as the stern, hallowed matriarch of what has become the most watched courtroom in daytime television.But this coming 25th season of “Judge Judy,” Ms. Sheindlin said, may very well be her last. In an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airing on Monday, she said that CBS would be airing reruns after the coming season ends next year. She also raised the possibility that she would compete with “Judge Judy” with a new show.In a statement to The New York Times on Monday, Ms. Sheindlin suggested that her breakup with CBS was not necessarily a smooth one.“CBS has been a fine partner for 20-plus years,” Ms. Sheindlin, 77, said in a statement to The New York Times. “They have decided to monetize their ‘Judge Judy’ library of reruns. I wish them good luck with their experiment.”Ms. Sheindlin, a former criminal and family court judge in New York City, is the highest-paid television host in the country, reportedly earning $47 million a year. For the last 10 seasons, “Judge Judy” has been No. 1 in first-run syndication, according to CBS Television Distribution. In 2017, Ms. Sheindlin sold CBS the rights to her show’s library for a reported $95 million.It was unclear whether CBS, which declined to comment, had failed to agree on a new contract with Ms. Sheindlin, or if it simply decided it did not need more new episodes now that it owned the library.In her interview with Ms. DeGeneres, Ms. Sheindlin seemed to place the onus on CBS, with whom she said she has had a “successful” 25-year relationship.“CBS, I think, sort of felt they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program, because now they have 25 years of reruns,” she said in a clip released by “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Monday morning.“But I’m not tired,” she added, “so ‘Judy Justice’ will be coming out a year later.”Ms. Sheindlin didn’t elaborate on where her new show would air, but she implied that it wouldn’t be on CBS. She is betting that, for her fans, there is no such thing as too much judicial Judy.“The following couple of years, you should be able to catch all the reruns that CBS has sold to the stations that are currently carrying ‘Judy,’” she said. “And ‘Judy Justice’ will be going elsewhere. Isn’t that fun?” More