richard pryor

As the year winds down, I'm thinking about the things I didn't blog about.

I have two things to say about Richard Pryor, who passed away recently.

1) The Silver Streak was one of my favorite movies growing up. I'd see it every time it came on television. I wonder how well it holds up today.

2) There is hardly any television moment more surreal than when David Cassidy, Danny Bonaduce and the rest of The Partridge Family saves an inner city club run by (then unknowns) Richard Pryor and Louis Gossett Jr from being closed down by a loan shark. Don't get me wrong: by the standards of 1970 television, it's a decent episode of a pretty good show. But it's kind of like seeing Bob Hope and John Wayne getting into a jam, only to have the Von Trapp Family Singers come to the rescue. The concept itself is funnier than the execution could ever be.