By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
And it just ends; Ghost shirt dust-up; Digging into Freaky Friday
On April 1, there was a surprise announcement about “And Just Like That … ” The 3rd season of the HBO/Max series will be the last season of the program. The 3rd season, and the series, will end with the August 14th episode.
Michael Patrick King, the series’ head producer and lead scriptwriter, said this in a press release: “Along with Sarah Jessica Parker [star actress]… we decided to end the popular series this year with a two-part finale [August 7 and 14].” King also said that when he finished the script, for the last (10th) episode of the 3rd season, he realized that “And Just” was in a “good place to end the show.” He and Parker then agreed to make two more 3rd season episodes to tie things up.
Of course, “And Just Like That” was a sequel to “Sex and the City” (1998-2004). “Sex and the City” was a critical and popular hit for its entire run. It starred Parker, now 60, as Carrie Bradshaw, a magazine columnist. Much of the series focused on Parker’s three very close friends.
I have to believe bad audience numbers factored into King and Parker’s decision. “And Just” got good ratings in its first season, but viewer ratings fell off badly in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. Critics were always so-so about “And Just.”
One last time, here are main Jewish connections in the two series: Parker’s late father was Jewish, her mother was not. She’s not religious, but she identifies as Jewish; “Sex” was created by DARREN STAR, now 64. Bradshaw’s friend, Charlotte (Kristin Davis), “very seriously” converted to Judaism after falling in love with Harry Goldenblatt, a Jewish lawyer (EVAN HANDLER, now 64). Charlotte and Harry were also main characters in “And Just.” Sanford, Carrie’s great (gay) friend, was played by WILLIE GARSON. The role was recurring, but important. Garson was in all six “Sex and the City” seasons. He also was in the first two “And Just” episodes. Garson was only 57 when pancreatic cancer took his life (2021).
“Americana” is a crime thriller film that opens in theaters on August 15. It got very good reviews when it played a major film festival in 2023. I suspect its big opening, now, owes something to Sydney Sweeney, a lead actress in “Americana.” She has recently become an A-list actress.
The plot is very involved. Suffice it to say that quite a few characters vie for a “ghost shirt.” Native Americans believed such magical shirts could stop an arrow or a bullet. Well, in this move, the ghost shirt really works.
ERIC DANE (Dillion), 52, and SIMON REX (Roy), 51, play sleazy guys who really want that shirt. Sad note: I recently saw an interview with Dane, 52. He was recently diagnosed with ALS, a fatal muscular disease. He’s already lost control in his right arm and leg.
Dane’s mother was Jewish and he was raised Jewish. Dane, a very handsome guy, is best known for playing Mark Sloan (“McSteamy”) on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“Freakier Fridays” opened in theaters on August 7 and, no doubt, it will be theaters for a month. It is a sequel to “Freaky Friday,” a huge 2003 hit. In the original, Jamie Lee Curtis, 66, played Tess, a mother who “magically” exchanges her mind (for a time) into her teen daughter’s body (Anna) and vice-versa. Lindsay Lohan played Anna.
Shoot ahead to the present: Anna (Lohan) has a daughter, and she and Tess (Curtis) discover that lightning may strike again.
The new “Freaky” was co-written by JORDAN WEISS, 32. She is best known for creating and writing “Dollface” (2019-2023), a Hulu sitcom.
As I reviewed these two Freaky movies, I thought about MARY RODGERS (1931-2014). She wrote the original “Freaky Friday” novel (1972), and she wrote two sequel novels. I long knew she was the daughter of RICHARD RODGERS, the famous musical composer. I also know that her mother, DOROTHY RODGERS, was a magazine columnist and, oddly, the inventor of the Johnny Mop toilet utensil.
I just became aware that a series of interviews with Mary Rodgers was published (2022) as a book. It’s called “Shy.” It’s a very honest memoir. Her parents were “very difficult.”
But, going to back to “Freaky Friday” — that book is in the memoir too.
Mary Rodgers wrote the music for “Once Upon a Mattress,” a huge Broadway hit in 1959. In “Shy,” she said that her follow-up musicals didn’t do nearly as well as “Once” and that’s when she decided to write books for children. Mary said her music wasn’t like the “God-like” music (her term) of her father or her son — and she turned to writing.
Her son is ADAM GUETTEL, now 60. He’s best known for writing the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals “Floyd Collins,” “Light in the Piazza,” and “Days of Wine and Roses.” He’s won four Tony awards.
