Gothamist: Three years after buying The Village Voice, and a year after the paper shut down its print edition, owner Peter Barbey told the remaining staff today that the publication will no longer be posting any new stories.“Today is kind of a sucky day,” Barbey told the staff, according to audio obtained by Gothamist. “Due to, basically, business realities, we’re going to … Read More
Trump Disinvites Eagles To White House
It is a sports tradition. The champion football/baseball/basketball/hockey team visits the White House. Not so, the Philadelphia Eagles. Largely, because of Trump’s stance on NFL football players kneeling, fewer than ten of the Eagles have RSVPed that they would attend the Eagles celebration ceremony at the White House. So Trump dis-invited them to avoid the embarrassment, although of course, it … Read More
As Expected, Trump Weighs In On Roseanne Cancellation, But Makes It About Him
It’s a typical tone deaf tweet. When ABC and/or Igor says that ABC does not tolerate comments “like those”, it is clearly referring to racist comments, like the ones Roseanne made. Is Trump saying he was the victim of racist comments by ABC? Or does he not understand that this is about racism? Last night, after facing the consequences of … Read More
Roseanne Barr Tweets Racist Comment; ABC Says Nothing [UPDATE: ABC Cancels Roseanne]
Barr is currently starring in a wildly successful reboot of her old comedy series “Roseanne” on ABC, but has faced rising backlash from some online over her combative Twitter presence. Despit that, her show was renewed for another season two months ago. Trump called Barr to personally congratulate her after her show debuted to a massive 18.2 million viewers in March It’s not the … Read More
Breaking: Bill Cosby Guilty
BREAKING: Bill Cosby found guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand pic.twitter.com/exJ0dSwil9 — MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 26, 2018 BREAKING: Bill Cosby lashes out at prosecutor in expletive-laden tirade in courtroom after conviction in sexual assault retrial. — The Associated Press (@AP) April 26, 2018 During court discussion on whether Bill Cosby is flight risk, prosecutor … Read More
A Primer On Disinformation
The most under-discussed problem of my time. A primer:
“Roseanne” Is Back For The Trump Era
Last week, Roseanne Barr’s 90’s hit show, “Roseanne” got a reboot, and it was apparently just what people wanted, because it really racked up the ratings for the night, drawing an impressive 18 million viewers. The original cast (including the kids, now grown with kids of their own) are all there. So is Roseanne’s husband (played by John Goodman), even … Read More
Disney Buys Most Of Fox
Big entertainment news: The Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal valued at $52.4 billion to acquire much of the Hollywood holdings of 21st Century Fox, the global television and entertainment conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family. The deal occurs against a backdrop of swift changes to the industry’s finances and uncertainty about succession plans at both companies. The … Read More
Black List 2017
The Black List was compiled from the suggestions of over 275 film executives, each of whom contributed the names of up to ten favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2017 and will not have begun principal photography during this calendar year. This year, scripts had to receive at least six mentions to be included … Read More
50 Years Ago Today: The Debut Of Star Trek
A lot of ink and pixels being spilled about Star Trek and its cultural impact. Many of these articles are personal, and I was going to write one myself. But here’s the thing about Star Trek — you either get it or you don’t. And if you are a child of the 1970s like me, you get Star Trek in … Read More
You Can Now Make Star Trek Movies….
… and you won’t get sued for copyright infringement, as long as you follow these guidelines, just released by CBS and Paramount: Guidelines for Avoiding Objections: The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, … Read More
Lady Dynamite: A Review
I have had a girlfriend with bipolar issues, and another who has since developed identity diffusion disorder* (formally known as multiple personality disorder). I’ve worked with informal counselling of families and friends of people stricken with mental illness. Because of that, I can attest to the fact that it is no picnic to be in their shoes, or anywhere near … Read More
This Is Slightly Obscene
I saw “Hamilton” with the original cast (except Anthony Rannells was substituting for J Groff) last October, a couple of months after it opened. I knew it would be big and a tough ticket to get in a few months, but I had no idea. Check this out. Of course, these are tickets for one week from now, and Lin-Manuel … Read More
Tony Nominations 2016: Hamilton Is The Show Where It Happens
To almost nobody’s surprise, Hamilton took the most nomination this year at the Tonys, with a record-breaking 16. The Best Featured Actor in A Musical has 3 of the five nominees from Hamilton. I saw Allegiance, which I thought was fairly good, so I am surprised it didn’t get a nod anywhere. Would have loved to have seen George Takei … Read More
Spot-On Review of Maria Bamford
Forget Amy Schumer. Yes Amy is funny, but she’s becoming a bit of a Johnny One-Note. (Yes, we get it, Amy — you are beautiful even if you’re not a size 4, but how many times do we have to applaud your body and being “brave” about it?). But for my money, the real edge-y woman of comedy is Mario Bamford. Which … Read More