I hesitated in observing this particular anniversary as I have some many others in this space, but a friend that I was actually making in-person lunch plans with yesterday made the fatal mistake of pointing out the milestone to me. Plus, it was a relatively slow media news day, and I simply don’t have the … Read more
In the opening scene of the HBO series WINNING TIME that premiered last night, John C. Reilly, literally reincarnating Dr. Jerry Buss with his performance, exclaims “God damn! Basketball! It’s like great sex!”. As the camera pans out, it’s revealed that he’s likely naked, in the Playboy mansion with a model curled up next to … Read more
ABOUT LAST NIGHT recently premiered on HBO Max, yet another deliciously addictive reality half-hour where an entire season can be binged in one evening. Hosted by Ayesha Curry and her NBA superstar hubby Steph, the show features three celebrity couples attempting to match answers to intimate questions about their relationships and, in the end game, … Read more
MEMO TO: CHRIS LICHT, INCOMING CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CNN GLOBAL FR: STEVE LEBLANG. MEDIA CONSULTANT RE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW Dear Chris, First of all, may I be the millionth or so person in the last 72 hours to congratulate you on your appointment to this prestigious position. Based on your accomplishments of the past … Read more
For the first time in far too long the entertainment industry held a good old fashioned fancy awards ceremony. The 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were handed out last night in Santa Monica, with actual human beings wearing actual dress clothes on an actual red carpet and eating actual food which almost looked a … Read more
Last night I spent sunset reconnecting with long-lost friends and business colleagues at the foot of the Pacific Ocean, thankfully in person and most without masks. Tragically, it took yet another premature death to make that happen. Unless you lived the lives of the beautiful people in these photos, you likely never heard of Tim … Read more
Perhaps the most surprising success story of this fractionalized television season has been ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, a mid-season ABC sitcom that quietly launched with its pilot as a lead-0ut from the LIVE WITH A STUDIO AUDIENCE special in early December which then migrated to Hulu over the Christmas holidays. Airing on the half-hour, the show got … Read more
I just got back from a wonderful and much needed respite away from the torture chamber I call Los Angeles. While the temperature was far colder, the reception was warmer. Dear friends became closer, a beautiful special friend in particular, and I learned I should never, ever allow myself to be talked into Little Caesar’s … Read more
A new season of THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL dropped this weekend on Prime Video. For me and millions of other devotees that was big news, and you better believe I found time to watch it. For each of the show’s first three seasons, that devotion produced a dilemma of the proportion of the angst that … Read more
Recently I engaged in an online debate with a fellow game show geek who insisted on referencing the anniversary of the birth of a now deceased celebrity as a birthday. My argument, admittedly snarky, referenced the fact that the person whose date of birth was being honored was no longer able to have a presence … Read more