Last year at this time, we were reporting that DirecTV, the system via which some of us receive our satellite television programming, was about to drop Trio. This is the eclectic cable channel that runs old episodes of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Late Night With David Letterman and many intriguing specials and shows, as well […]
Let's discuss the rockumentary/mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap. This is a great movie…as I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone who's wise enough to visit this website. What you may not know, however, is that the film is even better on DVD, and that the current DVD release is quite different from the first […]
Dan Rather has become such a quirky relic that it's easy to forget he was once a pretty good newsman. During the Nixon Administration, he was the guy who asked the blunt, cut-through-the-spin question…the kind that few have put to any president in a long time. I think all chief execs, including the ones I […]
I'm a big turkey eater and it doesn't even have to be Thanksgiving. 365 days a year, I'm quite happy with a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I don't even mind when they arrange the slices like a little tent atop the dressing to make it look like you're getting […]
How much would you bid for Ringo Starr's stapler? Meryl Streep's? Donald Trump's? How about Florence Henderson's stapler? Well, here's your chance. What are you waiting for? […]
As predicted here — and I'm not bragging 'cause this was an easy one — the Writers Guild has just overwhelmingly voted to accept the newly-proposed contract. Here are the details of the vote. I still think this was a crummy contract but I understand why it passed. Very few members spoke up against it […]
We recently wrote here about the Tom and Jerry cartoon series — not the cat-and-mouse but the earlier one about a short guy and a tall guy. We forgot to mention how available their cartoons are if you want to cruise by the cheapo DVD displays at some department stores. I generally find that most […]
Jonathan Franzen on growing up with Charlie Brown. Not the best piece of this nature that you'll ever read but worth a click. […]
Somewhere on this page, you'll find a wise and perceptive review of this book. […]
I've read an awful lot of "Why Bush Won" articles the last few weeks. Democrats are too nice. Democrats are too nasty. Democrats need to be more like Republicans. Democrats need to be more like Democrats. Democrats have to look more to the future. Democrats have to remind America of their past achievements. Democrats need […]
I write a lot about TiVos here because…well, because I have several and think they're the best thing to happen to television since Chuck Barris stopped producing shows. But really what I'm enthused about is Personal Video Recorders, of which the TiVo is but one brand. Here's a site that compares and contrasts several different […]
The folks over at TV Party — a fine site which you should visit often — have posted video clips of a 1985 interview with the great Jack Kirby. As you'll see, Jack had a tendency to wander in his thoughts when he was being interviewed. You'd ask him about A and he'd reply about […]
Tom Shales discusses the man in charge of the Federal Communications Commission. [Washington Post, registration perhaps required] The only thing I'd quibble with in this piece is that I'm more bothered by Michael Powell's love of media mergers — the kind that annihilate small, privately-owned stations — than by his slapping fines on broadcasters who […]
Here's Congressman Ron Paul on Federal spending. I don't agree with everything this man believes but I agree with everything in this speech. […]
Michael Kinsley says that the current mess in Iraq has become a war that many people think is wrong but don't wish to stop. [Washington Post, registration probably required] […]