HBO is the Yankees; Chris Guest is a noble

by Spencer Doar

Nobody hates it yet to a degree matching the general despise (ha!) for the Bronx Bombers, but HBO is the new perennial winner, doling out dollars and landing stars.  Their most recent acquisition is actor/director/musician/writer Christopher Guest (of “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show” fame). 

Guest produces and directs the new 30 minute comedy “Family Tree,” an ever-so-popular documentary-styled narrative about an Englishman’s search for meaning through the exploration of his ancestry.  Guest favorite Michael McKean plays dad to Chris O’Dowd’s droll epiphany-seeker .  With a sister who utilizes a monkey puppet to therapeutically release her inner voice, “Family Tree” is tea with a biscuit—safe, simple and refreshing, but of no real consequence. The show, approaching it's third episode, airs Sundays at 9:30 p.m. CST.

But the real “family” bombshell about Guest is his own.  He is a British noble, the 5th Baron Haden-Guest of Saling in the County of Essex, a title he inherited from his grandfather, a former journalist and politician.  That makes his wife, Jamie Lee Curtis, a frickin’ baroness.  So mull on that the next time you catch an Activia commercial.