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Jack Bauer Is Back in the ’24’ Reboot ‘Live Another Day.’ Is It Worth Watching?

When last we left Jack Bauer, four years ago, he was in a world of hurt, both personally and professionally. Both the Americans and the Russians were trying to hunt him down. Then, as we fans of Bauer know, Jack…

May 5, 2014

Why Those Racist Remarks Allegedly From Donald Sterling Felt Like a Punch in the Gut to Most of Us. Will the NBA Be Able to Do Enough to Fix the Problem? And a Surprise About Racism and the Rest of Us

In listening to just a 15-minute tape of what is purported to be a conversation between Donald Sterling, the owner of the professional basketball team the Los Angeles Clippers, and his former girlfriend — which is full of venom and…

Apr 29, 2014

Sex and Nudity Take Center Stage as Creators Behind TV’s Watercooler Shows Tell All

It’s not often outside of awards season that creators of some of television’s most riveting and successful dramas get together in one room for a deep dive into what goes into making their hit programs. That was the agenda for…

Apr 21, 2014

22nd MTV Movie Awards — No Flash in the Pan, But It Went by in a Flash

“The Wolf of Wall Street” apparently didn’t howl quite loud enough to wrest the top golden popcorn trophies from the claws of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards Sunday at the Nokia Theatre, where "Catching…

Apr 17, 2014

A Tribute to the Most Enjoyable Movie Ever Made, and the TV Channel That Is a National Treasure for Airing It 125 Times in the Last 20 Years

I first fell in love with Ingrid Bergman when I was a young teenager and she was just 26 years old. She still is. My feelings for her have been rekindled each of the dozen or so times I’ve watched…

Apr 13, 2014

When It Comes to Mickey Rooney, I’m With Marlon Brando: Rooney Was Underrated. Here’s Why

Marlon Brando, who knew something about acting, wrote in his 1994 autobiography, “Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me”: “As I’ve observed before, acting talent alone doesn’t make an actor a star. It takes a combination of qualities: looks, personality, presence,…

Apr 7, 2014

With One Season Left, the ‘Mad Men’ Cast Share Their Favorite Moments From the Ground-Breaking Series About Madison Ave.

Think back to 2007, when AMC was a cable channel known for playing old movies. And then along came “Mad Men,” the 1960s era drama series that ushered in a whole new age of original programming for the basic cabler…

Mar 25, 2014

Warren Buffett and Quicken Loans Anticipated Up to 15 Million People Would Enter Their Billion Dollar March Madness Basketball Challenge. Was the Real Number of Entries Millions Fewer?

A widely distributed sports report by the Associated Press last Friday, March 21, 2014, began “The billion dollar dream is over. “A second day of upsets ended any chance of someone having a perfect NCAA tournament bracket in Warren Buffett’s…

Mar 24, 2014

Judd Apatow — One of Hollywood’s Most Successful Creators of Comedy — Says His Primary Motivation Is a TV Series He Did that Was Canceled After One Season

Nearly every television producer working today has a sad story about the one that got away – the passion project that made it to air but after usually a very short period of time was axed, justifiably or not, by…

Mar 17, 2014

Possessing ‘the Fascination of Rattlesnakes Courting in a Bathtub.’ Two Must-See Movies on TV Tonight

Watching the first episode of the return of “House of Cards” reminded me of a review I read recently that said watching certain characters on the screen possesses “the fascination of rattlesnakes courting in a bathtub." But the review was…

Feb 26, 2014