Whining About the Surreal

with Jesus Weinstein

On Wednesday, October 27th Comedy Central aired The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Jerry Stiller. Roastmaster Jason Alexander's opening act was a song beginning with: "Not long ago on my machine--a message from the friars dean." This message told Alexander that he was to host a roast for "Jerry"--but was then cut off, so Alexander was left in a state of joyous wonder "as [he] thought of all the Jerrys it could be." The ensuing showtune mentioned the likes of Gerald Ford and Jerry Lewis. However, I was totally blindsided as halfway through the song Alexander broke in with "Jerry Goldsmith scores a movie--he would score a roast that's groovy."

Neither the Musical Director (John McDaniel) nor the Music Supervisor were Marc Shaiman. I can't imagine who would have suggested these lyrics--nor how Alexander could have let them slide. There couldn't have been two people in the entire auditorium who had any idea what Alexander was talking about, despite Jerry's 70th birthday bash and all. There isn't enough of a shortage of Jerrys in Hollywood to justify Goldsmith's shocking inclusion in this song.

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