What happens a career hits a dead-end? I was thinking about Eric Clapton the other day. In the early 1973, Clapton was addicted to drugs and his career was in the dumps. Not very many people remember those times, in part because he rebuilt his career, and his guitar legacy only grew. In America, second … More Left for Dead: Amazing Career Resurrections
Comedy gold. Saturday nights in the Fall of 1973. CBS was the place to be. Years later, ABC would have a formidable Tuesday night anchored by Happy Days! and Laverne & Shirley, and NBC had a must-see Thursday night lineup built around Cheers and ER. This CBS lineup was my favorite. All in the Family, … More Best Television Schedule Lineup: Saturday Night Comedy, 1973-74
Part 2 of my list of outstanding British sleuth television programs. Broadchurch (2013-2017) A somber, aching police drama that centers on the murder of a boy in the small coastal village of Broadchurch. Starring David Tennant and Olivia Coleman as the police detectives on what turns into a complex and horrifying case that stretched over … More More British Sleuthing
Some of the best television mystery comes from Great Britain. Perhaps it stems from Agatha Christie, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or maybe Charles Dickens. It might be the genetic influence of William Shakespeare. There have been some wonderful television mysteries, some of which Americans have enjoyed courtesy of viewings on PBS, where many of … More My Favorite British Television Sleuths
Several weeks ago, I watched Steve Martin and Martin Short co-host Saturday Night Live. Martin has hosted the show 16 times and Short three times. Short was also a cast number. On SNL, they read eulogies they wrote for each other: “So Marty, I dedicate this eulogy to you,” Martin started. “Wow, not much of … More Steve Martin and Martin Short
If you watch TV at all, you’ve seen the commercials from Progressive Insurance, about Dr. Rick cautioning others about becoming their parents. It’s a humorous series of commercials about the quirky habits of older people that are deemed annoying or not socially appropriate. Becoming your parents is called parentamorphosis. The commercials are good for a … More Becoming Your Parents
The U.S. and the Holocaust is a three-part, six-hour series focused on the Holocaust from the American involvement leading up to, during, and immediately following World War II. This Ken Burns series stirred a lot of discussion, certainly on the Holocaust, but more importantly, on the United States’ failures in responding to the Final Solution. … More The Holocaust: Ken Burns and Assorted Thoughts
I am combining two book reviews and my own observations on the rise and fall of network television. Three television stations, with a foot antenna or rabbit-ears. Maybe a PBS station, and later, difficult to clearly receive UHF (mostly independent stations). Those were the options. Not a lot of channel surfing in those days, and … More Dick Ebersol: From Saturday Night to Sunday Night, and the evolution of network television (book reviews)
If you watched the recent Matthew Perry’s interview with Diane Sawyer, or others he did while promoting the Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (2022), you pretty much know the story. The interview is the small version of the train wreck, the book is the long, slow-motion derailment and repeated ordeal. Like most train … More Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: Matthew Perry (book review)
Mystery is my favorite genre of fiction. Crime mysteries populate my night table, and occasionally my nightmares. Each year, my favorite authors publish new books, which makes autumn such a special time of the year. I’ll be sharing books I’ve just finished, and my thoughts, but I won’t be giving away any clues. I’m even … More New Fiction by my Favorite Mystery Writers: Best Sellers Reviewed
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