Picture Of The Day
This is one of the rare current "SNL" sketches to actually make me laugh. It's about how networks and broadcast outlets overreact to feedback from viewers (and listeners). It was bad enough when execs made content decisions based on focus groups, but now with instant...
A Big Bowl Of Columbo
I was a big fan of the TV series "Columbo," thanks mostly to the way Peter Falk played the lead character, but also because of the cleverly intricate plots the writers developed. Michael Sheen, star of Showtime's "Masters Of Sex," loved "Columbo," too, and when he...
The Virus With No Cure
The graphic on "Good Morning America" read "Ebola-Free America," now that Dr. Craig Spencer no longer has the virus in his system and has been cleared. But I wonder if anyone in the media -- or politicians like Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and Bill DeBlasio -- has...
Two Showbiz Items
Disney has announced that its Pixar division will produce "Toy Story 4." It sounds like a bad idea because TS3 did such a beautiful job of wrapping up the tale of Andy's toys. Then again, TS3 didn't sound like such a good idea when it was first announced. What I...
Snake Eats Man?
The Discovery Channel is going to run a show next month called "Eaten Alive," in which a man is supposedly going to be consumed by an anaconda. Whenever I hear about bizarre reality television events, I always turn to Andy Dehnart of RealityBlurred.com, who joined me...
Best Thing I’ve Read Today
Jim Nelson, managing editor of GQ, remembers his days in Hollywood as assistant to a team of comedy writers... Across the hall, through the glass door of the reception room, I can see my bosses laughing hysterically in their office. They sit facing each other at two...
Message On My Voicemail
Last week, Jimmy Fallon had Sting on "The Tonight Show" and asked him to try to imitate cell phone ringtones with his voice. The bit was cute, although like almost everything else on late night talk show, not at all spontaneous. Fallon always acts like he's asking...
A La Carte Before The Horse
In the last 24 hours, HBO and CBS have announced services you can pay for which will allow you to watch their shows and behind-the-scenes filler without a cable/satellite subscription. Some see this as the first step towards a la carte television, where you only pay...