A Final Look At TV’s True First Family
I’m sure there are those who want to look at the 2010s and say that the TV family represented America were the Dunphy-Pritchett clan at the center of Modern Family. Isn’t it pretty to think so. I think a far more accurate accounting of not only American television families but a closer view of America itself are the Gallaghers, the South Side clan at the center of Shameless; Showtime’s longest running series which came to a close last night.
I say ‘close’. One would like to say there were happy endings, but…
The Answer is…Not Dr. Oz
More Opinions From the last Month
Dr. Oz: From the announcement of his appearance on this series, there has been an unusual amount of hostility towards this TV ‘doctor’ from former Jeopardy champions outraged that this charlatan who made a living selling false supplements as cures would dare to take on Alex’s role. I was willing to give him a certain amount of rope, and sad to say, he’s completely hung himself with it.
Having never really seen Dr. Oz in action, I’ve never been able to give a judgment as a TV Personality. What…
Conclusion: Where ER made so many mistakes
One of the things that ER did that was radical for network television was not only would it have episodic stories (usually four or five small ones in the course of an episode) but multi-episode arcs that could go on anywhere for three to four episodes to the entire season. And often they would lead to some of the most brilliant moments in 1990s TV. Some still resonate with me more than twenty years later — Dr. Ross’ troubled relationship with a street child named Charlie (Kirsten Dunst in one of her earliest…
A Look Back On A Great Show — But Also A Flawed One
During this past year of enforced lockdown I, like millions of other people, found myself watching a lot of old series. I explained in an earlier article that I never got in on The Office kick, but I did see a lot of Parks and Rec, The Simpsons and probably every episode of the original Law and Order. (Admittedly, I was close to that point before the pandemic).
But perhaps the most appropriate series that I ended up getting caught up on was one that I’ve always…
City on a Hill is back for Season 2
Kevin Bacon has been so ubiquitous that its all too easy to forget what a great actor he can truly be. Whether in prestige films Apollo 13 or A Few Good Men, sly comedies like Crazy, Stupid, Love or big Oscar winners like Mystic River, he always gives quiet understated performances. As he’s gotten older, like so many other great actors, he’s migrated to TV, hunting serial killers in The Following or the twisted subject of devotion in the too-short-lived Amazon series I Love Dick. …
I Try To Pick The SAG Winners For Television
Those of you who have been following my column for awhile know that I love awards and awards shows as well as trying to handicap them. There has been one exception to this over the years — the SAG Awards.
Part of it is due to the fan that I’m still not wild about how they group all actors — lead and supporting in the same category — male actor or female actor. And I still don’t know why I have more than a quarter of a century they haven’t bothered…
Why Can’t ABC Just Let This Show Go?
Personal Note: This is the 900th Post on my Blog. I’ve decided going forward that every 100 posts from here on out will have a more personal touch. What better way to go forward then with one of my own personal bugbears?
I know that Grey’s Anatomy is no longer under the discretion of my arch nemesis Shonda Rhimes and that it would be easier to just ignore it. But given the current circumstances of where the series is, come on, it’s just too good an open to let go.
No one…
In Memoriam: Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter was one of the great actresses of any medium, both because of her acting talent and an incredible voice. In a career that spanned over seven decades, she was memorable in just about everything she did, drama, comedy, or animation. Her resume consists of nearly every major or minor television series you can possibly name, from The Defenders to The Love Boat, Ironside to The Streets of San Francisco, Murder, She Wrote. She was even given a few series of her own to lead — an Ironside spinoff called Amy Prentiss.
With her brusque…
Part 1: In Memoriam Yaphet Kotto
I don’t always pay tribute to actors or writers in TV who have recently passed away, unless they have made a significant impact on the medium as a whole. However, in the past two weeks, two of my favorite actors who played two of my favorite characters since I’ve begun watching television critically have passed away at comparatively young ages as opposed to some of earlier ones. (As much as I will miss Hal Holbrook, Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson, it’s been awhile since any of them played characters who meant a lot to…
Frankie Shaw and the sad end to a good show
There is room for ambiguity in the story of The Affair. There is far less room for doubt in the story of Frankie Shaw and SMILF, which happened roughly the same time on the same network.
From the moment it debuted it debuted in the fall of 2017, SMILF actually seemed the rare high value property that would live up to its name. Based on short film written and directed by series creator Frankie Shaw, the series dealt with Bridgette Bird (Shaw) an early twenty-ish single mother, living on the…
David B Morris
After years of laboring for love in my blog on TV, I have decided to expand my horizons by blogging about my great love to a new and hopefully wider field.
