I was saddened to read today of the death of Davy Jones, one of the Monkees. Jones died of a heart attack at age 66. When The Monkees TV show first began airing and their songs dominated the airwaves, Davy Jones became the heartthrob of millions of adolescent girls. He was one of the first [...]
Posts Tagged ‘TV’
Davy Jones, R.I.P.
Posted in Growing Up, Music, Music videos, TV, tagged Davy Jones, Growing Up, Music, Music videos, Teen Idols, the '60s, The Monkees, TV on February 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The Disappearing Drunk Act
Posted in Humor, TV, tagged Alcoholism, Comedians, Comics, Dean Martin, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Drunk Comics, Foster Brooks, Humor, TV on February 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Times have changed. Years ago, comedians who feigned drunkenness, and milked their inebriated state for laughs, were commonplace — and successful. Now, the increasing sensitivity about the societal costs of alcoholism and the focus on drunk driving, among other changes in our cultural mores, have made the drunk comic a thing of the past. In [...]
A Favorite Commercial
Posted in sports, TV, tagged Men, sports, sports fans, TV, TV Commercials, Women on February 18, 2012 | 1 Comment »
This is my favorite current commercial. It’s hilarious, mostly because the male actor perfectly captures that sorry excuses that most American men are when it comes to romance. About 99.9% of the guys I know could be sitting in the sports fan’s chair.
Lonesome Dove
Posted in TV, tagged Danny Glover, Lonesome Dove, Mini-series, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, TV, TV Shows on February 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I don’t watch much TV anymore. I’ve heard there are good shows out there, but few of them really capture my interest. And, one of the TV genres that I enjoyed the most — the mini-series — seems to have fallen completely out of fashion. You can argue about the best TV show ever, but [...]
Lessons Of The Lunar Nazis
Posted in Books, Movies, TV, World, tagged Books, Fatherland, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Inglourious Basterds, Iron Sky, Movies, Nazi Germany, Nazis, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Star Trek, TV, World, World War II on February 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The hottest ticket at this year’s Berlin Film Festival is a self-proclaimed “B Movie” called Iron Sky. Its consciously over-the-top plot features Nazis trying to conquer Earth from a swastika-shaped base on the far side of the moon. I doubt Iron Sky will ever make it to our local multiplex cinema, but the movie’s popularity [...]
Popeye For President!
Posted in Humor, Politics, TV, tagged Bluto, cartoons, Humor, Politics, Popeye, Presidential Campaigns, TV on February 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Tired of the mewling irritation of national politics? I sure am! Return with me to a simpler time. A time when politicians campaigned in top hats. A time when votes could be had for the price of a few cigars or the completion of a few chores for Olive Oyl. A time when a candidate [...]
House’s End
Posted in TV, tagged Dr. Gregory House, House, Hugh Laurie, TV, TV show finales, TV Shows on February 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Hugh Laurie and David Shore, the main creative forces behind the TV drama House, have announced that the series will end this year — after eight years of putting the acerbic, misanthropic Dr. Gregory House into every imaginable situation and seeing him solve every imaginable diagnostic problem. House has been one of my favorite shows [...]
Halftime In America? (II)
Posted in America, Politics, TV, tagged America, Chrysler, Clint Eastwood, Detroit, Politics, President Obama, TV on February 6, 2012 | 2 Comments »
As I suspected, the Clint Eastwood “Halftime in America” commercial for Chrysler that aired during last night’s Super Bowl turned out to be quite controversial. This AP article discusses some of the reaction to the ad from various points on the political spectrum and quotes Eastwood as saying the ad was not intended to be [...]
Halftime In America?
Posted in America, TV, tagged America, Chrysler, Clint Eastwood, Detroit, Super Bowl commercials, TV on February 6, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I expect that the most talked-about commercial from the Super Bowl is the Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood. In the commercial, the gravelly voiced Eastwood says that just as it is halftime in the Super Bowl, it’s halftime in America, too. Times are tough, he says. We’re down and out of work, we don’t understand [...]
Tuning Out
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, TV, tagged America, Politics, President Obama, recession, State Of The Union speech, The Economy, TV, Unemployment on January 26, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I didn’t watch the President’s State of the Union speech earlier this week. It turns out I’m not alone. According to the New York Times, 37.8 million viewers watched the President’s speech. That’s down from 42.8 million in 2011, 48 million in 2010, and 52.3 million for the President’s 2009 speech to Congress. In short, [...]
Ending Endorsements
Posted in America, Politics, TV, tagged America, Chicago Sun-Times, Fox News, MSNBC, Newspaper endorsements, newspapers, Politics, TV on January 23, 2012 | 1 Comment »
The Chicago Sun-Times has announced that it will no longer endorse particular political candidates for election. The Sun-Times concludes — accurately, in my view — that people don’t pay a lot of attention to newspaper endorsements anymore, that there are lots of other sources of information available to voters now, and that many people just [...]
Hot Cereal Days
Posted in Breakfast Cereal, Growing Up, TV, tagged Bewitched, Breakfast Cereal, Coco Wheat, Cream Of Wheat, Growing Up, Hot Cereal, Malt O Meal, Maypo, Quaker Oats, TV, TV Commercials on January 21, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In the Webner household during the 1960s, there was a hard and fast breakfast rule: during the winter months, you ate hot cereal, period. No Frosted Flakes or Quake! No sir, winter was for Malt O Meal, Cream of Wheat, Coco Wheat, Maypo, and particularly Quaker Oats. On a cold day like today, my mother [...]
Getting To Choose A Super Bowl Commercial
Posted in Humor, TV, tagged Doritos, Humor, Super Bowl, Super Bowl commercials, TV, TV Commercials on January 11, 2012 | 1 Comment »
If — like the vast majority of viewers — you watch the Super Bowl only to see the commercials, you now have a chance to influence what you really care about. Doritos is sponsoring a contest that allows us to visit this website and vote for which of five commercials should be aired on Super [...]
That Pesky Inner Jonny Quest
Posted in America, TV, tagged Adventure, America, cartoons, Humor, Jonny Quest, Men, Snowmobiling, TV on January 10, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Hey, ladies! Do you ever wonder why . . . well, why men seem so stupid? Why men seem to crave taking dumb risks? Why men go sky-diving, and bungee jumping, and engage in X Games sports when they could be curled up in cozy pajamas, drinking warm cocoa with marshmallows in it and having [...]
The 24 Movie
Posted in Humor, Movies, TV, tagged 24, Deadwood, Humor, Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland, Movies, Star Trek, TV, Twin Peaks on January 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
When a popular TV show ends, it’s not unusual for fans to be promised that a movie will be forthcoming. Sometimes it happens (think Star Trek, for example) but often it doesn’t. Deadwood fans were told movies would happen, but they haven’t. (More’s the pity!) It’s looking more and more like 24 will actually make [...]
