Hey 2022, we're keeping an eye on you - Denny Scott editorial

While many people (maybe most) faced 2022 with the hope that the year would be better than 2021 and (most of) 2020, so far, like the rest of the fledgling decade, this year kind of sucks, if you’ll forgive the crass parlance.

 

From the broad problems still being faced by those of us who haven’t had our heads in the sand, like the COVID-19 virus that has now evolved to an even more virulent strain to the death of beloved film and television stars, 2022 sucks.

 

And it’s impacting everyone, and I mean everyone. Let’s look at those celebrity deaths, for example.

 

Of course we know that Betty White passed away (and while we lost her incomparable talent in 2021, she was just short of her 100th birthday this month). White has decades of credits to her name from radio work to her own self-titled television show to staples of classic television like The Golden Girls.  She was also famous just for being herself up until her passing late last year.
I was aware of White’s fame and, of course, watched a rerun or a few dozen of The Golden Girls, however, she wasn’t an actress I went out of my way to see. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy her work, just that unlike, say, Ryan Reynolds, with whom she co-starred in The Proposal, I didn’t seek out her work because I wasn’t a big fan.

 

Then, earlier this month, the world lost the incomparable Sidney Poitier, star of the silver screen known for tackling issues of race both on- and off-screen.

 

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say I was a fan of Poitier’s work, nor was I not, since most of it preceded my time on this earth and I’ll admit that, despite him winning a Grammy for it, I had no idea he produced a spoken word album in 2001.
Regardless of whether or not I am to be considered a fan of Poitier’s or White’s work, I understand the impact both have had and the importance of their work both on- and off-screen. 

 

Over the weekend, however, Danny Tanner himself, Bob Saget, passed away and that’s when I was able to fully jump on the “2022 Sucks” bandwagon.

 

Saget, who was 65 years old, was found deceased in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando in Florida. He was in the Sunshine State for his comedy tour. 

 

While Saget is likely best known as Tanner, the best single dad ever from Full House (and its recent continuation, Fuller House), he is also well-known thanks to hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos for years. 

 

Both of those are incredibly wholesome shows that rely on, at worst, low-brow physical comedy for a laugh or two. Growing up, I always figured that Mr. Saget was likely as wholesome as they come.

 

However, as I grew up, Saget (or at least his entertainment) kind of grew up with me as I discovered his decidedly more blue comedy stylings in his stand-up routine. 

 

I’ll be honest, it was out of my comfort zone. I’ve never really been in for that kind of shock comedy, but it was interesting to know that this actor who had been one of the role model fathers on ABC’s Thank Goodness It’s Friday (TGIF) line-up for four years had this decidedly raunchy streak.

 

Heck, even Saget’s roast (a show in which comedians and other celebrities make fun of the guest of honour, as well as each other, in case you’re unfamiliar with the time-honoured tradition) was a comedic gem. It featured another great comedian we lost recently, Norm Macdonald, not following the tradition of the roast and instead telling what some might consider “Dad” jokes about Saget because he didn’t want to say mean things about his friend.

 

Regardless, Saget was an entertainer of note who has been around all my life and when he passed I certainly did feel a pang of nostalgic pain for someone who had been part of laughter in my life for so long, and a big part of family television in my youth.
So I guess there are two ways to look at this rash of celebrity deaths, the mutation of COVID into an even-easier-to-spread strain and the rest of the bad news of the day: look at it as a low point that we can only go up from or consider it as setting the tone for the year.

 

I’m going to try the former, but, given how the last two years have played out, it will be difficult to not consider the latter and just say that, like the fledgling decade of the 2020s, the fledgling year of 2022 sucks.