I always thought Groundhog Day was a welcome winter event. not to mention a hilarious movie. When it normally arrives on February 2nd, it typically signals that winter has reached its apex, with Punxsatawney Phil, everybody’s favorite rodent who has never earned a dime from Disney, either seeing its shadow and signaling winter has six … Read more
One of the most fascinating developments of pandemic-era television has been the exponential growth of FAST channels, both in terms of adoption and relevance. While the majority of industry attention has been toward the holy war being waged by trillion-dollar tech and media companies with tentacles in SVOD and PVOD and eight and nine-figure investments … Read more
The entertainment world lost other comedy star yesterday, this one far too young and soon. Bob Saget, just 65, was found dead in an Orlando hotel room hours after he did a stand-up act. For who was arguably the quintessential sitcom dad for Gen Xers (and even fringe boomers like myself who couldn’t srop binge … Read more
As the new year starts and the Warner Discovery merger moves toward completion current “business daddy” (God, I love John Oliver!) AT&T released some information yesterday touting how successful HBO was in 2021. For a service that already boasts the brilliance of such series as SUCCESSION, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and yes, LAST WEEK WITH JOHN … Read more
The entertainment world has again lost a brilliant mind with a strong game show connection. Jay Wolpert may not have been as famous as Betty White, but he was an important part of my life and his story is one that deserves to be heard. Jay was a self-described nerdy kid from Brooklyn who became … Read more
America is clearly at an impasse. –Literally half the Senate belongs to a political party as diametrically opposite of the other as at any point in their histories. — In 2021 per Nielsen, 52% of the combined total average viewership of the three most-viewed news and opinion cable networks belonged to MSNBC and CNN combined; … Read more
Those of us seasoned enough to remember when late night television was actually watched late at night recall when Johnny Carson would trot out his Carnac the Magnfiicent act, blithely and sarcastically guessing the answers to questions that were hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall’s porch since noon that day. (My … Read more
Caught WEST SIDE STORY in a nearly deserted movie theatre on Christmas Night. As someone whose earliest memories of his childhood involve the original Broadway cast LP of the 1956 stage play that started it all being played at least once a week on the console RCA Victor turntable despite the many scratches the album … Read more
Last week was the final Thursday Night Football game for FOX, a significant event if only because it was the first time in FOX’s 27-year association with the league that it let a package of games they acquired go. One could have also watched that game on Prime Video. Since I’m a person who prefers … Read more
MEMO TO: WENDY MC MAHON, PRESIDENT AND CO-HEAD, CBS NEWS AND STATIONS CC: JOHN BUDKINS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMING AND SCHEDULING FR: STEVE LEBLANG, MEDIA CONSULTANT RE: JEOPARDY!/WHEEL NEGOTIATIONS Dear Wendy, Belated congratulations on your recent appointment to these two crucial positions. I am writing you to help you justify what I believe could be … Read more