52 | JANUARY 27 • 2022

MYSTERY IN 8 ACTS;
BETTY CELEBRATED;
GAME-CHANGING
VACCINE? AT&T STAR
UPDATE
The Afterparty is an Apple+
series that premieres on
Friday, Jan. 28. It centers on
a murder mystery at a high
school reunion. Each one of
the series’ eight episodes
features a retelling of the
same night from a different
character’s perspective.
Each episode has its own
unique visual style and film
genre to match the teller’s
personality. Ike Barinholtz,
44, Ilana Glazer, 34, and Ben
Schwartz, 40, play members
of the high school reunion
class. They each have “their
own” episode.
Dave Franco, 36, plays
Xavier, the murder victim, and
Tiffany Haddish, 42, plays a
police detective investigating
Xavier’s death. Advance
reviews are quite good.
Celebrating Betty White:
America’s Golden Girl is a
one-hour special that will air
on NBC on Monday, Jan. 31,
at 10 p.m.. The special will
feature friends and co-stars
of White. It will also include a
lot of great Betty White clips.
I was a bit surprised that
the special is on NBC, since
White’s most famous roles
were in two CBS shows:
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
(MTM) and The Golden Girls.
But, during her long career,
she appeared many times
on NBC and even starred in
a short-lived NBC sit-com in
the ’50s.
No guest list has been
announced as I write this. No
doubt, many Jewish folks will
appear. Sadly, none of the

stars of MTM or The Golden
Girls will appear. White
was the last surviving main
cast member of both these
shows.
I am virtually certain that
James L. Brooks, 81, will
appear. He praised White
right after her death. Brooks,
a three-time Oscar winner,
co-created MTM and even
once had a cameo role on
the show, playing a rabbi.
He co-wrote the show’s first
episode and seven others.
It would be great if Ed.
Weinberger, 80, and Susan
Harris, 81, appeared on the
special. Weinberger wrote
the episode in which Betty
White first appeared on MTM
(as Sue Ann Nivens, The
Happy Homemaker). He
wrote or co-wrote another
19 MTM episodes. Harris
created The Golden Girls,
and she wrote the first
episode.
Back in March 2020, I
wrote a column item that
included Dr. Peter Hotez,
now 63. Here’s what I said:
“[Hotez] is the director of the
Texas Center for Vaccine
Development. He frequently
appears on MSNBC and
CNN. He’s been working
with India on a COVID-
19 vaccine. In 2017, he
received the Distinguished
Achievement Award from
B’nai B’rith International.”
Hotez has remained a
frequent news show guest.
He’s always remotely
interviewed in his office and,
most of the time, you can
see a biography of Israeli
diplomat Abba Eban behind
him on a bookshelf. The front
of this big book is facing out.
This “Eban/Israel plug” is
clearly intentional.
In late December, it

was announced that a
COVID-19 vaccine that
Hotez co-developed with
one American colleague
had been authorized for
emergency use in India and
Bangladesh. The vaccine
is not being patented (so
cost will be very low). India,
and other lesser-developed
countries, have existing
factories that can massively
and cheaply produce this
“low-tech” vaccine. It could
be a global “game-changer.”
You might be curious
about the AT&T fictional
salesperson, “Lily”, in TV ads.
Long ago, I reported that
Lily was/is played by Milana
Vayntrub, now 34. She was
born in the former Soviet
Union. Her Jewish parents
were tired of antisemitism
and came to the States in
1989. Milana was then 2
years old. The family settled
in Los Angeles.
Milana was a modestly
successful child actor who
didn’t have much career
success as an adult actor.
Then she got the Lily role in
2013. The Lily ads ended in

2017, only to be revived in
2020. Milana has been an
ace salesperson for AT&T.
Sales soared when she
appeared (as Lily) in 2013
and went down until she
returned.
After seeing a recent AT&T
Lily ad, I was curious if there
was anything new to say
about Milana. Well, there is.
First of all, she now directs
the ads she is in. Second,
the Lily character is now
always filmed so she appears
friendly, but business-like,
with little attention to her
body.
Why? Because, like a lot
of female celebs, Vayntrub
has been photographed
on Hollywood red-carpets,
etc., in a low-cut dress and
she has a voluptuous figure.
These photos attracted
the attention of idiots who
bombarded her personal
and corporate social
media (Instagram, etc.) with
inappropriate and sexually
harassing messages. Steps
have now been taken
to quickly delete such
messages.

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NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE
Ed. Weinberger

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