My generation frustrates me sometimes. Let me recap a conversation I had with someone last week:

Person: I can't wait to see "Starsky and Hutch." Ben Stiller is so darn funny.

Me: Well, he comes by it rightly. He has fabulous comedy genes.

Person: What?

Me: You know, his mother and father are known for being comic geniuses. His mother is Ann Meara and his father is Jerry Stiller.

Person: That guy on "The King of Queens?" He wouldn't have even gotten that part if he hadn't have been Ben Stiller's dad. Way to ride on your son's coattails.

Me: Whatever.

Josh noted yesterday an article stating that 21 percent of those aged 18 to 29 get their news from the "Daily Show" or "Saturday Night Live." I suppose it's good that they are getting news from somewhere. But, these shows are NOT giving them the full picture. My generation has NO CLUE about the entertainment greats from generations past. It's really quite sad. I bet very few people I know could name me 3 or more Jimmy Stewart movies. Odds are, most in my generation probably think Anne Meara got her big break on "Sex and the City" playing Steve's mother.

As for Jerry and Anne, CNN has a great article about them, especially noting their talent and charisma on "The Ed Sullivan" show.

Posted by Lawren at March 3, 2004 08:55 AM

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