Why have Roman numerals endured, maintaining a hallowed (if not necessarily useful) place in Western culture? Better: How many people read that sentence and either ignore it or answer, “No idea,” and don’t think twice about it; versus my predilection to flashback to a MCMXC’s Arsenio Hall-bit that infiltrated pop culture enough to inspire aContinue reading “The MMXXI Birthday Post: Upon turning L”
Category Archives: Television
On the “Breaking Bad” finale – Walt didn’t win: Don’t forget Walter Jr.
(Obviously, spoilers present. 'Nuff said.) The relationship between Walt and his son forms the primary foundation at the heart of "Breaking Bad." (Photo credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC) I suppose I'm not surprised that many felt less satisfied with the "Felina" – excuse me, the finale – of Breaking Bad than I was. I've read tweets andContinue reading “On the “Breaking Bad” finale – Walt didn’t win: Don’t forget Walter Jr.”
The oldest of them all: The history (and rivalry) between Showtime & HBO (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Showtime)
Each time I interview another cable network programming head, the conversation gets my brain abuzzin' on larger stories among the film and television landscape. As I planned for and spoke to David Nevins for the third interview in this series at Indiewire, I kept thinking about Showtime in relation to HBO, much more so thanContinue reading “The oldest of them all: The history (and rivalry) between Showtime & HBO (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Showtime)”
The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)
In the second of my interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire, I spoke with President and General Manager of Sundance Channel, Sarah Barnett. Sundance Channel made noise earlier this year with the premiere of Jane Campion's limited series Top of the Lake and the six-episode first season of Rectify. Both received a greatContinue reading “The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)”
Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!
Perry SImon of BBC America What a great way to start a (Jewish) New Year: For some time now, I've been working on putting together a series of interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire. Today, they published the first of these: my chat with BBC America General Manager Perry Simon. As IContinue reading “Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!”
“Casting By”: An underappreciated job and the woman who changed it and Hollywood
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences made history when it elected Cheryl Boone Isaacs as its new president, making her the third woman and first African-American to lead the organization. But another monumental shift also occurred last week that may not have seemed so important to casual observers: After decades ofContinue reading ““Casting By”: An underappreciated job and the woman who changed it and Hollywood”
Studying The Brady Bunch finally pays off
Today Indiewire published a piece I wrote about the portrayal of kids coming-of-age on The Brady Bunch. It's the third in a series of five stories they're running this week to mark tomorrow night's launch of Participant Media's exciting new cable network pivot. As I think about all those afternoons trying to one-up my UCLAContinue reading “Studying The Brady Bunch finally pays off”
The new TV season: First Take — Lone Star
Kyle Killen, the creator of the new Fox series Lone Star, wrote an open letter beseeching the greater American television audience to watch his show. Why would a writer need to do such a thing? Well, in case you haven’t heard, Lone Star debuted to terrible numbers: In today’s television landscape, a 1.3 rating equatingContinue reading “The new TV season: First Take — Lone Star“
The new TV season: First Take — Outlaw
Earlier today, fans of NBC the world over rejoiced at the news that NBCU topper Jeff Zucker has finally stopped failing upwards. I’m sure he shall live comfortably for the rest of his years, and he will soon run some other sort of media company, but at least he will no longer be able toContinue reading “The new TV season: First Take — Outlaw“
The new season: First Take — Boardwalk Empire
“You can’t be half a gangster Nuck.” The new TV season is underway. As always, The CW got out of the gate early, and for what seems like the first time in a while, the four major networks are all launching the vast majority of their new series during the exact same premiere week, beginningContinue reading “The new season: First Take — Boardwalk Empire“
Out of Focus 