The song of the Sneedling . . .
For the record.
Sneed was recently the recipient of 15 seconds of fame.
My name was mentioned in the final segment on last Sunday’s episode of “The Good Wife,” a popular CBS TV show starring actress Julianna Margulies.
OPINION
I had just put a column to bed on the last hours of Gov. Pat Quinn when my cellphone started dinging texts and burping tweets.
Then my phone started ringing.
I might add that the dinging and the tweeting came before the ringing, which is now last on the list in the news alert world these days.
So while my cellphone was dinging, my old friends were ring-ringing me to find out if I was going to interview Alicia Florrick, who is running for Cook County state’s attorney.
What?
Who the hell is Alicia Florrick?
“Did you know your name was mentioned on television tonight . . . in ‘The Good Wife’?” one asked.
No.
“Did you know your name was highlighted in the last segment of ‘The Good Wife’ and they said wonderful things about you . . . and they were going to set up an interview with you with the star of the show, Julianna Margulies, who plays Alicia Florrick — who is running for state’s attorney?” queried another.
No.
Then a tweeter bleated: “Is Sneedlings heading for television?”
Even my boss, Jim Kirk, weighed in on the television mention. “Did you know?” he messaged.
“You held out on me. Why didn’t you tell me you were mentioned on ‘The Good Wife,’ ” said the Sun-Times’ James Smith.
So what did this curious, technologically inept columnist do?
I, duh, asked someone born since the tech world began to help me locate a taping of the show.
Sneedless to say, three days later, I hit the On Demand button on Comcast.
So here’s the gist of Sneed’s 15 seconds of fame:
• The story: Attorney Alicia Florrick, played by Margulies, is running for state’s attorney and her campaign manager, Johnny Elfman, tells her she needs to talk to the Sun-Times.
• The script: Quoth Elfman to Florrick:
“We need to ready a statement for tomorrow’s Sun-Times and I need you to get on the phone with Michael Sneed in five minutes . . .
“Michael Sneed is a great lady. I’ve known her for a long time. She’s not going to come at you with anything crazy, she’s going to talk about family . . .”
There you have it, folks. Fifteen seconds of fleeting fame and I might add, there was no follow-up phone call five minutes later — according to the script — from Julianna Margulies.
But what a hoot! What a kick! An unexpected Chicago shoutout in a TV media world populated by the Washington Beltway boys and the New York newsies.
The last time I saw Margulies was years ago, when she held court with her “ER” co-star George Clooney at a table accidentally placed next to mine in the 1990s at Alex Dana’s Rosebud on Rush eatery.
She was bubbly and beautiful and having a great time as Clooney regaled their tablemates with hilarious stories, which, of course, I overheard.
Their raucous chit-chat was a lot more interesting than my assignment to overhear what Frank Sinatra was advising his tablemate, President Richard Nixon’s disgraced former veep Spiro “nattering nabobs of negativism” Agnew, one night at the Pump Room in 1974.
My old editor had reserved a table next to them. “Got an evening gown?” he said. “Meet me tonight at the Pump Room.”
• Hmmm. Having cut my reporter’s chops in the era of scoop journalism nearly 50 years ago has given me pause.
• Hmmm. Maybe I should find out beforehand if Alicia Florrick actually wins the job as Cook County state’s attorney.
• Hmmm. I think I’ll ask Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez if she knows.
Stay tuned.
Rahm ’em . . .
The Rahmster hosted 60 trade and building union heavy hitters at Gibsons for lunch Thursday — and told these harshest critics from his first election to expect more cranes in the skyline next year.
Sneedlings . . .
Friday’s birthdays: Cardinal Francis George, 78; Kate Moss, 41, and Sade, 56.
