Randy and Burton and Candy and Liz

Slowly over the last decade, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings evolved into the Sweeney Sisters.

It was like one of those 3-D illusion pictures where you look at it, look at it, look at it ... then Bang! It's the frickin Sweeney sisters!

The first time Bachman and Cummings did something together after years of estrangement, it was unexpected and great. We just couldn't believe they were performing together again.

Then they started doing the occasional special event as The Guess Who. We couldn't get enough of them.

Then they started telling stories about the old days and how songs came to be. We loved it.

Several years in, I got off the bandwagon and starting asking, Why do people still get excited that these guys continue to play together?

Then it happened. They became Bachman & Cummings. They released a CD. They did a concert for TV. Burton's youthful black hair was a stark contrast to his geriatric skin. Their stories about the good old days became lounge-act banter.

Then they showed up live in the studio at WNED, the Buffalo, N.Y. PBS station. They talked to the host and played live during fund raising intermissions of their TV special. They nattered about how much they enjoy PBS television while the camera panned between them and the volunteers taking pledges on phones.

I have nothing against PBS or fund raising. I like The Guess Who, BTO, and some of Cummings' solo material. It's just that their transition to elder entertainers has been more caricature than graceful.