It’s been three decades since Woody Harrelson last tended bar at Cheers, where his character evolved from a country bumpkin cast in direct conflict with that of the veteran actor Nicholas Colasanto who he replaced upon that actor’s untimely death into a more nuanced, mature dispenser of advice and reason. And since then, Harrleson as … Read more
It’s clearly an era of transition for my former colleagues at Sony. Earlier this week it was learned that THE GOLDBERGS was sunsetting after a 10-season run, and tonight THE BLACKLIST will begin its tenth and final season on NBC. The show’s tenure has outlasted those of quite a number of its cast members, one … Read more
ABC announced earlier this week that THE GOLDBERGS, its longest-running situation comedy, will end this spring, news that honestly didn’t take me much by surprise. Its ratings this year have been modest and flatlined (essentially a 0.4 key demo rating and rarely the level of its lead-in THE CONNERS or its lead-out ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, not … Read more
I tend to get inspired for these daily musings when I sift through the alerts I get overnight (or, on many occasions, in real time as I battle insomnia). The three that stood out today pretty much sum up how creatives and business people are operating in parallel universes: — Our old friend Yosemite Zas … Read more
I’m far from the target audience for the MCU. The Marvel titles were a clear third on my pecking order of spending my allowance, with the DC Universe first and foremost in my heart (blame the campy 60s TV version of BATMAN, the first show I was allowed to stay up past 7:30 for), with … Read more
I once had the chance to eavesdrop on what can only be described as locker room talk between a couple of male billionaire media moguls. One was recently married, and happily so, effusive in his love and affection for a strong woman who he professed rescued him from a life of serial dating and horndogging, … Read more
When my first car was totaled when I foolishly lent it to my college roommate when two girls he had invited over to “study” needed a lift back to campus. I need a replacement set of wheels badly. A big bodybuilder friend of his claimed to have a “steal” for me, a low-mileage, late-model sedan, … Read more
As an elementary school kid, I looked forward to February more than many other kids did. I wasn’t a huge fan of school during those earlier years, what with not being challenged by the watered-down curriculum my deportment and my draconian principal relegated me to. as well as regularly getting beaten up and ridiculed for … Read more
The beginning of the 1980s was considered a desert for fans of unscripted daytime television, After a decade where game show production, both for broadcast networks and first-run syndication, reached an all-time high, the success of only a scant few, coupled with many of the 70s hits running their course, resulted in pivots on the … Read more
I was never invited by anyone to storm the Capital, certainly not on January 6, 2021. But slightly more than a decade before that, I was forcefully requested by a superior to “napalm Oldsmar”. Oldsmar, Florida is the Tampa suburb that at the time housed the Nielsen Company. I worked directly for FX, and tangentially … Read more