Deaths of celebrities, especially popular celebrities whose body of work demands universal praise, appreciation, and affectionate regard, are often difficult for both fans and followers of the media that made the late artist famous.
A celebrity whose life is ended prematurely by violence is bound to be mourned by multitudes, and rightfully so.
Rob Reiner's death by murder last week elicited a widespread outpouring of grief.
Not only was a beloved actor, filmmaker, and bona fide star taken while remaining productive and enjoying his life, but his killing becomes the stuff of eternal drama as his likely murderer is someone to whom he gave life, his younger son, Nick.
Murder is sad enough. Patricide gives Reiner's death a patina of tragedy and makes people, even those who may not be familiar with his prolific and top-quality volume of work, feel his loss more and respond to it more intensely.
One knows favorites are someday going to pass. At this time of year, I constantly think of the late Debbie Reynolds, one of the first performers, I, an entertainment buff since childhood, loved and later got to know.
Celebrity deaths take their toll.
Reiner's death was particularly horrible and horrifying. His son's alleged crimes not only took his life but that of his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, the 32-year-old man's mother.
Both Reiners, ages 78 and 70 respectively, had more to contribute to a world they already entertained with style and sense of providing audiences a thoughtful good time.
I find myself concerned about the aftermath of their deaths.
As victims of savage crime, throats slashed and multiple stabbings by their own offspring, I mourn the idea neither Rob nor Michelle Reiner will be able soon to rest in peace.
I'm not referring to anything metaphysical or religious. I am talking about the circumstances of their murders and the practical investigations, analyses, articles, and books their dreadful passings will generate.
The lives of Rob and Michelle Reiner, and their relationship with Nick, is bound to be examined by everyone from quick-hit publishers to people purporting to do deep psychological studies of their household.
Spates of material have begun to emerge already. People seem driven to tell a whole story.
Maybe that whole story is warranted and will find an interested audience, but I worry it will take some dignity away from the deceased, further shatter a family, particularly the Reiners' older three children, one of whom is a daughter from Rob's marriage to Penny Marshall.
Whatever future reports and texts reveal, it should be remembered that Rob and Michelle Reiner were central figures in an important and grueling industry for several decades.
Rob Reiner directed popular movies, but they were popular because they were good and had the tone appropriate to each of them.
They were popular because they spoke to some human trait, recognizable human traits, that gave the comedy or pathos some reference and depth.
Rob Reiner directed with heart. He came to prominence as one of the four principals in one of television's breakthrough series, "All in the Family," but he captures the public's hearts and respect by producing or directing some of the most memorable and loved films of recent decades.
"All in the Family" is important, but so is the legacy Reiner received from his father, Carl Reiner, one of the great TV comedians and writers who is also a prolific and talented movie director.
The delight with which audiences greet the unique and hilarious "This is Spinal Tap" (1984); the modern and intelligently romantic "When Harry Met Sally" -- 'I'll have what she's having,' spoken by Reiner's mother, Estelle (1989); the astute look at children entering adolescence, "Stand By Me" (1986); the tense military drama, "A Few Good Men" (1992); the chilling depiction of self will in "Misery" (1990); the charming "The American President" (1995); and the spoof that becomes a prized fairy tale in its own right, "The Princess Bride" (1987) will last and last and last, as a testament to Reiner's ability to entertain while engaging our better and happier emotions.
This delight, this gift of cinematic joy, cannot be lost in a murder trial or, worse, someone wanting to diminish the Reiners and make some case about their parenting of Nick more or just as important as this laudable artistic legacy.
No one will stop the stories, or even some people's possible sympathy for Nick, but it is crucial the vital, eternal work of Rob Reiner, part of American culture 30 and 40 years after its release, be preserved and enjoyed for what it is.
In my mind, a man and woman were murdered in their beds.
The murderer whatever his motives or illness, can be pitied -- Rob and Michelle Reiner pitied him -- but not given a higher or more esteemed position than the people whose lives he took.
Please have the opportunity to at some time rest in peace, Rob and Michelle Reiner.
Friday was bittersweet for Channel 3 morning man Jim Donovan.
The sweet part was being able to go home and throw away the alarm clock that has been waking him at 2 a.m. for somewhere near a decade.
Sweet also were the tributes Jim received from colleagues, past and present, as his last appearance as a full-time member of Channel 3's news team wended towards its close.
The memories were more than nostalgic and the kind words more than the right thing to say. They were full of warmth, humor, affection and sincerity.
Bitter was the departure itself. More than 20 years at one station, always in a visible role and always earning attention for excellence, is difficult to say good-bye too.
The work ethic and studio camaraderie become part of one's life, especially at a television station wherepersonalities and funny comments are broader and more frequent than at most work places.
That type of liveliness and intensity can't help but being missed.
Turning back to sweet, Jim has his future to map. He retired young and on his own terms.
He loves to travel, so new adventures may be in the picture. He has the option to keep telling stories at hours more conducive to an ordinary life.
Continuing with sweet, on Friday's last show, Jim revealed that his name will be in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the owner of more unique pairs of socks than anyone who has reported such a collection and submitted it for review.
In the weeks leading up to his retirement, Jim's Facebook page was loaded with views of Jim wearing different colorful and often-themed hose.
The amazing thing was each pair he modeled sat perfectly on his feet. No sags, rolls or wrinkles. Except for once when a pair of beige socks bubbled at the point where it met the tongue of his shoe.
Something else Jim did in the weeks before his farewell was organize, photograph and catalog his collection.
That effort yielded a digest of 262 pages.
Mainly because Jim Donovan, holder of the Guinness World Record for sock ownership, organized, photographed, and catalogued 1,531 pairs of socks, some gifts from Channel 3 viewers.
A crude, rude, but common "guy joke" earned Flyers radio play-by-play announcer Tim Saunders a two-day suspension following the NHL team's loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Saunders's misfortune was the riposte, a sexual request, came while a studio mic he thought was muted turned to be live.
Oh-oh, broadcasting catastrophe No. 1 in progress!
Saunders made his gaffe while the Flyers game was on hold to give television stations a chance to air some ads.
The break is called a "TV timeout." He didn't realize the WPEN (97.5 FM, The Fanatic) radio broadcast wasn't breaking as well.
Once the comment was unzipped, it was too late for retreat.
Saunders spoke and his micmate, color commentator Todd Fedoruk, immediately said, "I think we're still on the air, Tim."
"We're not, are we?" was Saunders' response.
The Flyers issued a statement saying, "We are aware of the inappropriate comment made during last night's radio broadcast at the TV timeout of the Flyers-Sabres game."
Saunders's two-day suspension is the right slap on the wrist for a randy but ultimately harmless blurt.
Saunders has been announcing Flyers radio games on radio since 1997. He has worked with Fedoruk, a former NHL player who spent two stints with the Flyers and one with the Philadelphia Phantoms, since 2023.
First film experiences can last a lifetime. Mine has.
It not only leavened my life. It informed it.
I remember everything about that day in 1953 when, at age 2, I was taken to my first movie. For most of my life since, especially from age 10 on, I have seen an average of 100 movies a year.
That first time was at the bygone Stanley Theater, one of Philadelphia's great movie palaces. The movie was "Pinocchio."
My first sight of a big screen was through the glass that separates the Stanley's lobby from its auditorium. I remember holding my father's hand and being thrilled by the images before me.
I can picture the scene as I'm writing it.
Right now, I'm in Las Vegas with two of my cousins. We compared our first movie experiences.
All were animated Disney movies, mine "Pinocchio," one cousin's, "Sleeping Beauty," the other cousin's "Fantasia."
His memory can be relived as early as the Jan. 2-4, 2026. That's when the Philadelphia Orchestra, the ensemble heard on the soundtrack when "Fantasia" premiered in 1940 (and, of course, ever since), presents three live performances of the movie accompanying the Disney masterpiece at the Marian Anderson Hall in Ensemble Arts Philly's Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia.
Aram Demirjan wields the baton for performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2 and 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3 and Sunday, Jan. 4.
The shows not only celebrate the breakthrough in animated film and classical film scores "Fantasia" represented in 1940, but the 125th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Speaking of the score, assembled by Leopold Stakowski, who conducted the Orchestra and "Fantasia" in 1940, it includes works by Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Ponchielli, Debussy and Dukas.
I am particularly fond of the dance duet between the hippopotamus and alligator to a Ponchielli tune everyone knows, whether aware or it or not.
Reviewing my list of candidates for 2025 Most Valuable Player in Philadelphia broadcast media, I noticed a couple of recent exits from the market that make my choice more difficult.
As noted a few weeks back, Annie McCormick left the reporting team at Channel 6.
Meanwhile, Aziza Shuler, the energizing anchor of Channel 3's weekend evening newscasts has advanced to being a weekend morning anchor at WCBS-TV, Channel 2 in New York City.
Each had gifts that made them among the most important people at their stations in the market in general.
McCormick was old-school in her approach to finding and reporting the news. She showed the curiosity and journalistic prowess to go beyond the obvious in the stories she covered while never overlarding them or exaggerating their urgency.
She was one of the market's few Goldilocks reporters who stuck with facts, related them with intelligence, and found the balance, or more precisely, the right weight of each story.
Shuler was unique among current anchors with the ability to light up the screen, and the room in which it was situated, every time she came on the air.
Local news has become formulaic and unenterprising to the point of being dull.
Shuler was an exception to the blandness or studied joviality that has become the style of most newscasts.
She made hearing the news exciting. She and Don Bell being on the same show gave Channel 3's weekend shows a pulse, a genuine drive that seems to be discouraged or feigned on many local programs.
McCormick, pending further announcement, is devoting time to writing non-fiction books on true crime stories, the ideas for which derive from stories she's covered and on which she did further research.
Shuler continues to brighten the screen at WCBS, now referred to at CBS News New York.