TV
HBO’s “The Leftovers” is way off the reservation, and Tom Perrotta let it happen
“Eh, the book was better.” Said anyone who ever read a book before watching a movie or TV adaptation of said book. “The Leftovers,” the HBO series starring Justin Theroux and Liv Tyler, met “The Leftovers,” the literary novel with genre pretensions by Tom Perrotta at the end of June and … the streak remains…
Read MoreA twist in the tale: Why too many ‘Twilight Zone’ endings can ruin the surprise
One summer, I spent my days lounging around the pool, reading “The Twilight Zone.” Not watching. For one thing, “The Twilight Zone” reruns were on way late at night. I wasn’t quite a teenager, VCRs were in other peoples’ homes, and the Internet was still a good decade or so away. So I’d only seen…
Read MoreAnd then we came to the end: Why the series finale is the most important episode of all
In the last seconds of “The Sopranos” finale seven years ago (yes, it has been that long), my television set suddenly cut to black. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” cut off right on the word “stop.” Crap! My cable died just at the exactly most important moment of the entire iconic series? Then I got it.…
Read More‘Revolution’ will no longer be televised, and it comes down to guns, and hair
Ugh, the guns. The guns and the hair. The guns, the hair and the complete lack of forward motion. Hello all, and welcome to the ongoing shiva service I’m holding for the death of NBC’s Revolution, a show for whom the end of the world came twice: Once when the series started – the premise…
Read MoreServing up lamb in a rare, delightfully nasty way
One of these days I'll write a longer post about the joys of discovering the fiction Roald Dahl wrote for adults, rather than children (most of us only know him by his "Matilda" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" books). It's twisty, detailed, tightly-written and often delightfully nasty. But for now, I'll send you to…
Read MorePacing 101: The Walking Dead, and how not to end a season
UPDATE: Long term fans of "How I Met Your Mother" may also be experiencing bouts of pacing whiplash. I didn't watch the series except hither and thither and liked the ending, but I'm not invested in it. Either way, this article makes points I'm also making here: Too much, too late, ruins things. (Hey, spoilers…
Read MoreType it, and the words will come. Trust me on this.
As I told M Sunday night around 12:15 am (so okay, it was early Sunday morning), it's easier than breaking rocks to get paid to cover the Oscars from the comfort of your own home office … but six hours in front of the TV and computer screen ain't for wusses, either. We got home…
Read MoreLife lessons in song, courtesy “American Idol” and Peter Cetera
"American Idol" is back on again, and it really is oh, so easy to look at those people and say: "Shit, I could do that." And though there's less meanness and crappy singers on than in the Simon Cowell years, it's even easier to say, "Those people are morons. Can't they hear themselves?" Answers: No,…
Read MoreSci-fi/fantasy will eat itself (or) HBO’s bid for literary success
Just returned from the sci-fi convention Arisia, up in the surprisingly temperate zone of Boston, in which I spent several hours on panels talking about sci-fi/fantasy films and TV. (I also sold a book, but that's for another post.) Lesson learned: It is possible to get about 20 people in a room to talk about…
Read MoreAwards Season adrenaline rush: Thank you, Joan Cusack
One of the reasons I got into journalism originally was the newsroom rush. You've seen it — on just about every Hollywoodization of how a TV news or newspaper room works; the hollering, the deadlines, the last-minute frenetic typing or calling of sources, the figuring things out in the moment, and making things happen that…
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