One of the nice things about social media is that occasionally some folks that are little more than Facebook friends with really good stories to tell choose to do so in long posts, usually when some seminal event in their lives triggers it. When Betty White passed away a couple of years ago, one such … Read more
Today’s LEBLANGUAGE is devoted to the business prescience of John Landgraf, FX Chairman. A good deal of Landgraf’s executive success has been due to his alliance with Ryan Murphy, who first came to the FX family with the breakthrough drama NIP/TUCK 20 years ago and exploded into a full-fledged reliance on him for content greatness. … Read more
I’m disappointed at times that I haven’t quite been able to communicate exactly how I feel about FX Chairman John Landgraf. On many occasions, I’ve called him out on his seemingly quioxtic obsession with driving home the point that there’s simply too much TV being made, that a bubble bursting was inevitable, and we should … Read more
The next time you choose to eschew alcohol, think of how the namesake of the signature teetotaler drink may have really needed one. Way before Drew Barrymore ever froze at the sight of a snowy television screen, back when her relatives John, Lionel and Ethel commanded Hollywood, Shirley Temple was America’s sweetheart. Per Wikipedia, Shirley … Read more
It was somehow both fitting and sobering that on the anniversaries of both the day and the day of the week that Johnny Carson took over THE TONIGHT SHOW 61 years ago and forever changed the viewing habits and the way a majority of people learn about the news that the STRIKE FORCE FIVE all … Read more
Long before the Dodgers, let alone yours truly, migrated to the West Coast from points East, the nascent film industry had done the same. As a frustrated Mets fan staring into the abyss of yet another loooooong off-season sans a championship, that point is driven home aggressively on days like this. But it wasn’t just … Read more
When a rare case of a completely new show actually gets a chance to be seen on a widely viewed network, that’s cause for celebration. When one of the key creatives connected with it just happens to be a good friend, well, that’s cause to devote an entire musing to it. So while the public … Read more
I’m not and never have been a parent, but I’ve learned enough from a generation of students, relatives and eye-rolling colleagues that dredging up what I might perceive to be the good old days isn’t always the best ice-breaker. To them, it’s the stone age, and hopelessly irrelevant. At least, that’s what they say when … Read more
2023 has unquestionably been a year of losses for my most recent full-time employer, Sony Pictures TV. They bid goodbye to two veteran scripted series, THE GOLDBERGS and THE BLACKLIST, the last link to the three-headed presidency that I had the honor of working for, and plenty of my respected one-time colleagues that somehow seemed … Read more
I was all set to offer up a few musings on the circus of name-calling, posturing, futile public castigations and pleas for America’s votes that took place on the WEAKEST LINK-type set that was set up in the shadow of Ronald Reagan’s jet and legacy last night in Simi Valley. Once they all but ignored … Read more