Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Thursday, August 11, 2022
So, I finally saw the Stu's Show documentary. Yes, I'm a cheapskate and I was waiting to see it streaming for free instead of paying extra for it, and it finally is, with commercials, on Tubi.
Thoughts? Even though Stu told me this story years ago one of the times I visited his Chatsworth home, I never knew the depth of the story about Jeanine Kasun's recovery. I met Jeanine and Stu in 2014 when I first did Stu's Show (the podcast, not the documentary) and first heard about this amazing story, so I didn't live through it first hand, but have witnessed Jeanine's vast improvement over the years.
The documentary goes into greater detail and is actually dramatic enough that if you don't well up and shed a tear at one point, despite knowing in advance that there is a happy ending, there's something seriously wrong with you. Tears of pain as Stu bravely tries to navigate our "wonderful" healthcare system and tears of joy as you see Jeanine take her first steps, etc.
The doc is a bit schizophrenic as some have observed since if you didn't know Stu at all like I do, you might be in for a wild ride. At first, it focuses on Stu and his fanboy love of TV that eventually leads to him working for Lucille Ball. THAT could have been a documentary in itself, probably a lightweight, even dull one, but the movie doesn't stop there. Stu's eventual wife, Jeanine, enters the picture as a huge Lucy fangirl that attends Stu's later Lucy conventions, and you think every thing will have a simple happy ending for Stu and Jeanine in their mutual love of Lucy and classic TV.
THEN, the documentary takes a major left turn when Jeanine has an aneurysm, but I give many kudos to filmmaker CJ Wallis who somehow makes a schizophrenic and chaotic story very cohesive and linear and entertaining. I had seen Wallis' Perfect Bid documentary, and loved it, so I was expecting great things, and Wallis delivered!
Stu's Show is highly recommended. It may be the most unique story you'll ever see in a documentary and definitely worth your time to watch.
Too bad a few of Jeanine's jokes couldn't have made the final cut.
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