Actor changes it up on new series Interest in Beanie Babies worries Grandma
Milo Ventimiglia was looking to change things up after six seasons on NBC’s “This is Us” — both physically and professionally. He found that opportunity with the ABC series “The Company You Keep,” a high-stakes romance story that’s a remake of a Korean drama, “My Fellow Citizens.”
Ventimiglia plays Charlie, a successful and stylish con artist who needs to pay off a large debt to a dangerous man. He meets a CIA agent named Emma (Catherine Haena Kim). Each tries to keep their identity from the other while their entanglement grows as they face external dangers because of their jobs.
Speaking to journalists at a recent event for TV critics, Ventimiglia said it was nice to play someone closer to himself, living in the present day — where he could lose
Jack Pearson’s facial hair and clothes. He relished the opportunity to shave and not “pull my pants up a little higher because it’s the ’80s.”
“I couldn’t just put on a character anymore. I just had to do this and just be myself,” he said.
He hasn’t completely left “This is Us” behind, though: Ventimiglia, who is also an executive producer on the series, said he brought roughly “90% of the ‘This is Us’ crew” to work on “The Company You Keep.”
The new series will premiere Feb. 19.
Blanchard gets Lincoln Center celebration:
Terence Blanchard, the first Black composer whose work has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera, will be given a yearlong celebration at Lincoln Center starting in March.
The Met, New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Film at Lincoln
Center, the Juilliard School and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will focus on compositions by trumpeter Blanchard.
“I thought I was going to be a jazz musician writing for jazz ensembles all my life,” Blanchard, 60, said during an interview. “When I look back now, there were amazing opportunities that came my way, and those have just opened the doors to others.”
Blanchard is a two-time Oscar nominee and fivetime Grammy winner.
His 2019 opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” sold out eight performances at the Met in 2021 and is being revived for the 2023-24 season.
Dancer Duncan dies:
Arthur Duncan, who kept tap dancing visible on TV and broke ground as a Black entertainer, has died at age 97. He died from complications related to
a stroke and pneumonia Jan. 4 at a care center near his California home.
Duncan was best known for his 18-year run on “The Lawrence Welk Show” as the only Black cast member, and is widely regarded as a trailblazer for mainstream TV variety shows. During his tenure on the series from 1964 to 1982, Duncan was virtuoso tap dancing at a time when the art form had become virtually invisible.
His career also included appearances on TV shows, in films and in theaters.
Actor Lou Antonio is 89. Vibraphonist Gary Burton is 80. Musician Bill Cunningham is 73. Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 73. Musician Robin Zander is 70. Actor Gail O’Grady is 60. Actor Mariska Hargitay is 59. Singer Marc Nelson is 52. Journalist Norah O’Donnell is 49. Actor Tiffani Thiessen is 49.
Jan. 23 birthdays:
Dear Amy: I am a retired woman. I find joy in the simple things in life: taking walks around my property and collecting things like Beanie Babies, some of which are valuable. This is where the problem lies.
I have two granddaughters, both in their late teens, who come over from time to time. They eye my collection, and instead of seeing collectibles, I am afraid that they see dollar signs.
At first, they were rather reluctant, having an attitude toward me, shutting themselves in my guest room and burying themselves in their cellphones.
However, when they took note of my Beanie Baby collection, things changed. Now when they visit, they are cheerful, engaging me in pleasant conversation and helping me around the house.
I would like to believe that they are simply maturing, but a part of me is afraid that they are being nice to get at my collection. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but am I being naive?
— Suspicious Grandma
Dear Grandma: The whole collectible Beanie Baby phenomenon is either a very weird valuation “bubble” of sorts, or a genuine gold mine — depending on what Beanie Babies you possess and what source you check to determine their value.
Your attitude toward your granddaughters is … less than ideal. Of course these teens are interested in this collection of yours! Isn’t this something you have in common?
You could connect with them by enlisting their help to research the value of some of these toys.
Questions to ask yourself are: Do you view these toys as an investment, with plans to try to sell them someday? Or do you simply enjoy the process of collecting them? How do you imagine that your granddaughters would
“get at” your collection? Do you believe they are hoping that you will give them some of these collectibles, or leave these toys to them after your death? Do you fear that they will be tempted to take them?
I suggest that you choose to see your granddaughters as being like the most valuable Beanie Babies in your collection: in pristine condition, complete with their original tags.
If you expressed as much interest toward them as you have invested in your collection, your relationship would be more solid, and you might be closer and more confident about their motives.
Dear Amy: As an adoptee and a birth parent, I have to correct your advice to “Anguished Aunt,” the sister who disregarded her brother’s wishes to have contact with his biological daughter.
Going against her brother’s wishes to connect with his daughter was bad enough. Please do not encourage her to violate his wishes again by getting the grandmother involved. This sister has no sense of boundaries, and I doubt she knows when to stop.
If he were dead, I’d say go for it, but he is the father, and while he’s alive, it is his choice. This is his life, his daughter, his decision.
DNA results can open up pain and resentment once thought (and often promised) forever in a vault.
— Anonymous
Thank you for offering your perspective. Other readers agree with you.
This was not described as a case of a child surrendered for adoption with sealed records, but of a biological father who simply did not know he had fathered a daughter, 40 years ago.
The adult daughter was finding and welcoming contact with her biological family members — as it is anyone’s right to try to do.
The biological father did not want to have any relationship with her, which is his choice to make. But he also didn’t want any of his family members to have a relationship with her.
In my opinion, he should not be able to control all contact with other biological family members.
They are all adults, and should be permitted to try to form relationships with one another, if they choose.
Dear Anonymous:
The questions you receive about weddings — and controlling “Bridezillas” — astound me. Thank you for quoting Miss Manners recently: “Wedding guests are people, not props.”
Dear Amy:
Dear Grateful: Miss Manners is a true fount of timeless wisdom. I borrow from the best.