I saw a production of “Jersey Boys” recently in southern Maine at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It’s still going on, but apparently it’s sold out or almost sold out for the rest of the run—and no wonder, because watching it is … Continue reading →
The character, that is, in the series that used to bear her name. The plot line has her dying from an opioid overdose, in both a nod to a current US problem and an act of vengeance against the series’ … Continue reading →
When I was young, ticket scalping was against the law, at least that was my distinct impression and my distinct memory. It also wasn’t so easy to do. Tickets had to be bought either at the box office or with … Continue reading →
It was only 1984. And it was racial humor. But this Saturday Night Live classic is so much more gentle than today’s humor, and I think it’s genuinely funny. Murphy is mocking white people here, for sure, but he’s also … Continue reading →
I confess that I’d never heard of Les Moonves before the recent accusations of sexual harassment came out against him. I also have a general attitude against unverified allegations of this type, which I’ve expressed many times before, and it … Continue reading →
“Low-cost pheromones!!” a bot that tried to post today on the blog advertised. I used to get up to 10,000 spambots a day here, the vast majority trapped in a spam filter than I had to clean out several times … Continue reading →
You may have heard about actor Robert De Niro’s standing O performance at last night’s Tony awards. It was bleeped from the broadcast but is readily available: And so, to the question in the title of this post, you may … Continue reading →
If you’re a blogger, you need to comment on the news du jour. Well, maybe need is too strong a word. Maybe “are tempted” is better. I am tempted to cover Roseanne Barr’s firing because Roseanne Barr’s firing by ABC … Continue reading →
That’s the title of this Atlantic article that caught my eye. Actually, it caught Pocket’s eye, which decided to recommend it to me on the basis of some algorithm or other. My immediate reaction was a stomach-churning “No!!” Hasn’t TV … Continue reading →
“Re-imagining” works of art that have withstood the test of time is a trend, one I encountered last night when I attended this performance of the full opera “Hansel and Gretel” at the Yale School of Music. I’ve written about … Continue reading →
…that it usually ignores at best or insults at worst. In other words: [The first episodes of the Roseanne revival] worked, leaving many TV insiders shellshocked today by the magnitude of the revival’s ratings success that revealed the untapped potential … Continue reading →
I’m not ordinarily a sitcom viewer, but I watched about 10 minutes of the new “Roseanne” revival. Then my TV decided to have a problem, and by the time it was fixed I had forgotten about the show and it … Continue reading →