“I was given the illusion of power while the real deciders had private calls without me, and you can only be undermined so many times on an adaptation of your own life before you start… Read More
It’s a clever “what if” conceit, a plot theory to upend one of the great narratives of modern fiction. What if Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarity, deathly rivals in the work of Arthur Conan Doyle… Read More
“My thought is always, ‘It’s only downhill from here.’ That’s how I’ve always operated, ever since I began Family Guy. I had the crippling fear that I used up all the funny last week. That crippling… Read More
“It was a pudding, you know? It really was a pudding. It was a pudding of new ideas, and we were terribly excited, and I think we took it on our shoulders that we were… Read More
There’s been a mature wave of television shows that grapple deeply with mental health and its complexities (I’m thinking of The Bear and even supposedly light fare like Fleabag), but nothing is like HBO’s The… Read More
“Canada is a collection of 10 provinces with strong governments loosely connected by fear.” — Dave Broadfoot As a good Canadian kid in the Seventies, I grew up on Dave Broadfoot (not to mention Sgt…. Read More
“Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.”— Groucho Marx A pop culture fixture long before my time, Groucho Marx was still a… Read More
His name was Harold Williams, and he was often called Hank Williams. Like the country star, he had musical talent — he could expertly play the fiddle and the accordion — but, if I can… Read More
“I don’t know if anyone has noticed but I only ever write about one thing: being alone. The fear of being alone, the desire to not be alone, the attempts we make to find our… Read More
“I learned this lesson too late, frankly: Do not judge it while you’re doing it. Do not go back and fix things that are 20 pages ago when you’re already 20 pages past that. You’ll… Read More
“The great advantage of having a reputation for being stupid: people are less suspicious of you.”— Richard Curtis These words come out of the mouth of Tom, the richer-than-rich, loyal and slightly daft friend in… Read More
Amy Poehler must surely have been excited to have had Carol Burnett on her podcast Good Hang. In an episode that was released early this month, the comedy legend sat down for an expansive conversation… Read More
“Nothing recedes like success.” — Walter Winchell For decades an observer (and sometimes an instigator) of the news, the columnist and broadcaster Walter Winchell certainly witnessed and documented the rise and fall of many a… Read More
“Briefing is not reading. In fact it is the antithesis of reading. Briefing is terse, factual and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it… Read More
Winter often brings some terrific things to watch on television, and we’re caught up in a few shows currently rolling out. Here are some notes. The Pitt, second season. We quite like the first series… Read More