It’s no exaggeration to say that one of the most highly acclaimed shows on television right now is the comedy-drama “Somebody Somewhere.” The hit series has just been renewed for a third season on HBO and was recently named one of The Best Shows of 2023 So Far by The Hollywood Reporter. Locally, even some fans of the show don’t …
The latest guilty pleasure at our house — not that we need another one — is a BBC sitcom called “Mrs. Brown’s Boys.” It can be found on Britbox, a nice break from all those British murder mystery series. Actor/writer Brendan O’Carrol plays the foul-mouthed but kind-hearted head of a Irish household. In drag. Sort of Archie Bunker meets Dame Edna, …
Like a lot of others, I’m looking forward to CNN’s new six-part documentary series “The Story of Late Night,” a look at the history of late night television talk shows. The first episode at 8 Sunday night will likely focus on Steve Allen, the co-creator and first host of NBC’s “Tonight Show.” It was network television’s first late-night talk show. …
If only the TV Add People Powers That Be would ask, I would be happy to tell them. I’m sure I could save them millions of dollars. I’m talking about superannoying, insipid, TV ads that drive me up the wall. They certainly don’t have the intended affect to have me drive to the nearest shop to purchase what they’re selling! …
As a kid, I used to look forward to the new television season each fall. The return of TV shows I liked and the start of new ones. Lately, not so much. Except this year. I’m going to be very disappointed if a new show called “The Cool Kids” on Fridays on Fox turns out to be a dud. It …
With Labor Day weekend just ahead, we tend to think a little more than usual perhaps about the nature of work and the men and women of America who do it, especially those who do actual, physical labor. My first exposure to real work was picking potatoes for an area farmer on the edge of town, the town being Hillsboro, …
If he was gonna do it, Ed Schultz should have expired July 4. It would have fit his sense of theater. After all, he was a football All-America quarterback and in many ways reflected America itself — high achiever, pugilistic, self-centered, generous, mercurial, brilliant, reckless and fearless. It was one of the few times Ed missed his mark. Then again, …
One thing about the Super Bowl is that if you’re not disappointed by the outcome of the game, you can be disappointed by the halftime show. This year it was Justin Timberlake’s turn to disappoint. Part of the problem is that we’ve set the bar for the game’s show unreasonably high. Also, everybody is a critic, myself included. To begin, …
Even with hundreds of television channels, HBO and all the rest to watch, and Netflix, Amazon and Hulu to stream, sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be “much” on TV. So, every once in awhile, Ginny and I like to watch “What’s My Line?” The 1950s and ’60s game show is seen currently in all its glorious black and white-ishness …
Like millions of others, I’ve now watched all 10 episodes of the moving Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary, “The Vietnam War” on PBS. My thoughts are filled with the stories and images in this film and with my personal Vietnam War memories. After we’ve watched each compelling episode, my husband and I talked about his Vietnam War memories. He served in the …
Today is Don Rickles’ birthday. It’s also my mother’s birthday, but that’s another story and another post. Don Rickles died a month ago. If you’re like me and you always wanted see him live but never did and you feel cheated, the next best thing may be to watch the terrific John Landis documentary “Mr. Warmth.” Johnny Carson was the first to call …
This has never been a very easy story for me to tell. For that reason, I haven’t told it very often. It had been a very long, very hard day. There had been a lot of April days like that during the 1997 Red River Valley flood. They were long days whether or not you were a television reporter. It was about a week after …
“Bates Motel” has been one of my very favorite guilty television pleasures for the past couple of years. The A&E series is a prequel, of course, to arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s most popular film, “Psycho.” I saw “Psycho” back in the 1960s, when I was way too young. Apparently, they didn’t check IDs back then. Anyway, I was too young to have an ID. Suffice …
For me, about the only good thing to come out of the whole sorry, sordid Donald Trump/Billy Bush/”Access Hollywood” tape affair is that I have new respect for Nancy O’Dell. O’Dell is the anchor of “Entertainment Tonight.” She is clearly talented, classy and — even by Donald Trump standards — beautiful. But until this past weekend, I’ve always been a bit ambivalent toward her, good at her …
Have you ever just turned on the TV and watched — really watched — how the cable news channels discuss issues? I’ve been paying close attention lately, and I sure hope our youth of today are doing the same … and see exactly how the supposed “adults in the room” go about it. Intelligent discussion and debate? Not-t-t! The first …
It would be tempting to say these are the worst of times for traditional media ― for the long-established newspapers and broadcasters who come to mind first when media fortunes are tossed about. Logical, but not quite certain: You never know what’s just around the corner. Nevertheless, the news grows ever more dismal for our mass media. While newspapers’ dwindling …
It seems as if we’re losing a lot of entertainment industry folk this year. The latest, Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke, who died early Tuesday morning at the age of 69. I had the great pleasure of spending a few minutes of television time with her a couple of years ago. Patty Duke won fame playing a young Helen Keller in “The Miracle …
The 88th annual Academy Awards presentation is coming up. I look forward to it every year. For me, it marks the beginning of the end of winter. Or, at least, the beginning of the last half of winter — or something. I enjoy the Oscars, not because I’m so into movies or rich people handing over awards to other rich people. And …
It’s a thrill for me to join friends like Charley Johnson and Bill and Marietta Ekberg and others like Pat Miles and Don Shelby in the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Association of Television Art and Science’s Silver Circle. The award is given for 25 years or more of service to the television industry. Congratulations to fellow inductees Tim …
Saddened to learn of the passing of long-time WDAY promotions director Roy “Pete” Peterson. I didn’t know Roy personally. I wish I had. I did know his work. He played a huge role in shaping WDAY’s identity as a station in its early days, as well as how we think of North Dakota State University and the city of Fargo …
I watched the “CBS Evening News” last night. Not surprisingly, the lead story was about another shooting. But because this one involved journalists, in a small market, covering an everyday story about a worthwhile community activity, it resonated a bit more. No, this wasn’t KXMD in Williston, N.D. Or KXMB in Bismarck. Or KXJB in Fargo. But the faces of …
It’s been quite the (traumatic) year for those of us who enjoy the late night talk shows, what with the recent departures of Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show” and David Letterman from “The Late Show.” Earlier, Craig Ferguson from “The Late Late Show.” And earlier still, Jay Leno from “The Tonight Show.” It seemed like a good time to pick …
Country music star Lynn Anderson left us this week, much too soon. She died at the age of 67. “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden” became a gigantic crossover hit in the early 1970s. In her career, she had a dozen No. 1 hits. She won a Grammy and seven Grammy nominations. Twice she was named the Country Music Association’s …
I thought I knew everything. But until I read Mike Sacks’ terrific new book about comedy writing called “Poking a Dead Frog,” I had never heard the name Peg Lynch. Even though in her day she was a huge star. She was a comedy performer on radio and later television in the 1940 and 1950s. But her even larger talent was …
Once there were a ton of them, television variety shows. Shows like “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Andy Williams Show” with big names and big production numbers. Then, suddenly, they were gone. It was almost as if television executives had all gotten together to set the price of gasoline or something. Much is riding on a new television variety show …
So, “Mad Men” has ended with a something of a whimper rather than a big bang. The series ends with the lives of most of the major characters taking somewhat uncharacteristically positive turns. The one exception was poor January Jones’ character, who continues to die (beautifully) of lung cancer. She also continues to smoke in her final scene, but what …
The following was written at the request of WDAY alum Larry Gauper for his excellent Wordchipper.com blog. Larry has been instrumental in organizing monthly WDAY-WDAZ alumni lunches in Fargo. They are a blast. I always leave them laughing. Larry asked me to chip away at letting people know a little bit about my shady past and my current state of …