Two late night interview show hosts of different generations. Both of the Johnny Carson linage. Tom Snyder covered a lot of bases: radio personality, news anchor, late night interview. By the time he accepted the invitation to follow Johnny Carson at midnight, Snyder had carved out a long news career. Ha anchored news shows in … More Conan and Tom Snyder
A more 1980s film? Certainly there are many films that reflected the decade, but I argue Harry and Sally could have been made practically anytime with the “can men and women be friends” theme. Each decade would have different nuances, but thematically, it works regardless of the time. What made it such a 1980s cultural … More When Harry Met Sally: Revisited
Remember this saying? Actually, every generation has some affinity for this innuendo or put-down. In its least suggestive form, telling someone to “eat a peach” was akin to suggesting they “eat my shorts,” a favorite of high school boys in the 1970s. While Bart Simpson may have been the great provocateur of the phrase, he … More Eat a Peach
What do Ernest T. Bass and Mayor McCheese have in common? They were both played by by actor Howard Morris. Ernest T. Bass only appeared in five episodes of the Andy Griffith Show as the character. That’s right, only five episodes. He directed more episodes (eight) of the show than he appeared as Bass. Ernest … More Howard Morris
The sitcom is like Keith Richards, it will never die. Even as generations change, the format is same. Take a show from 2020 and compare it a show from 1955. One is in color and the other in black & white, besides that, the underlying conflict and how the characters interact to solve the storyline, … More Best Situation Comedies of Each Decade
“The Al Franken Decade” was a running joke on Saturday Night Live. Al Franken had a persona of having a rather large ego, and “The Al Franken Decade,” complete with Franken’s name superimposed on the screen whenever he mentioned it, was a great touch. While it was a joke, Franken has had some interesting decades … More The Al Franken Decade
I wanna join the space force To sail among the stars Planting my country’s flag And colonizing Mars With visions of Star Trek Armed with deadly warheads We’ll blast any alien bodies And set up American homesteads Kissin’ space babes like Captain Kirk With fasers set to awesomeness Recruiting TV model space cadets Based solely … More The Space Force
I picked up a book the other day, strangely drawn to its subject: The Peanuts Papers. The book is primarily a collection of essays about the Peanuts strip, characters and impact on the lives of the writers. Honestly, it took me about a week to get very far into the book, and then I read … More Peanuts Revisited
What a heartfelt and funny film. The story of a remote satellite dish (radio telescope) in Australia that plays an important role in relaying transmissions of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I have to say, this is one of my favorite films. It is charming, has great characters and incredible warmth. You want a film … More The Dish (2000)
After Henry died, the media was flooded with his obit and remembrances. He was one of a kind. I waited awhile to post anything about him, then saw him the other night on a rerun of Saturday Night Live. It was his first hosting role on the show. Henry hadn’t been in the limelight for … More Buck Henry
