I've listened to the first three episodes, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Except to say that it's not fan fiction.
The host, who has known Richard for years, is sympathetic to him. He points out Richard's foibles (and includes sound clips of some of Richard's more embarrassing Letterman appearances), but he also treats Richard with respect. He points out that retiring from public life, if that's what Richard has done, is normal; Richard is in his sixties and has earned hundreds of millions of dollars, so he's entitled to put his work behind him and move on. And at around the time he made his retreat, Richard had several serious upheavals, including knee surgery and the deaths of all eight (!) of his dogs. So that may have triggered a life change. But the host also makes a valid point: retiring from one's public life is fine, but retiring from one's personal life - cutting off all contact with even your closest friends - is suspicious. Especially for somebody like Richard, who spent much of his free time inspiring others. People close to Richard have been deeply hurt by his absence, and his lack of response has them worried. It just seems completely out of character for him. I think what has happened to Richard is worth talking about. I'm just not sure if it's worth making a weekly series about. Especially because they don't have a concrete answer yet (is it a criminal issue, a medical issue, or something else?), and I don't know how they can find one without invading his privacy. (And on a personal note, a friend of mine has, within the past few weeks, been overtaken by a paralysis - possibly ALS, though the neurologists aren't sure and won't know for sure until one more test this coming week. He was perfectly normal two weeks ago; now he slurs his words so much I can barely understand him on the phone. And he may have to give up his business and his website completely. My point being that there are many reasons people have to retreat from public and private view. Sometimes people don't communicate because they CAN'T communicate.) What I've heard so far hasn't crossed the line into creepy. Yet. However, I could see how it could easily within a few episodes. And I haven't listened to the fourth episode, which contains an interview with Richard's brother, or the fifth. I'm going to keep listening for a while. But I wonder how long it'll be before, like Richard, I move on. -Tim On Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 11:47:29 PM UTC-4, Kevin M. (RPCV) wrote: > > I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but wondered if anyone else had? I > see it is ranked among the top five most listened to on iTunes. It seems to > me to be much ado about nothing, but wondered whether the podcast was > actually truly investigative reporting, or just, for lack of a better > phrase, fan fiction. > > Missing Richard Simmons by First Look Media > https://itun.es/us/mTBThb.c > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
