You’re the channel TV watches… Kill your television? No, idiots. Television’s thinking about killing you… (Brisbane, California, January 2018. See my other work here and here.)
The menacing glow
Big Bang Theory presents: top ten reasons men should pursue careers in the sciences
Hey boys – what should you be when you grow up? I know a lot of young men out there are trying to decide what to do with their lives. Fireman? Policeman? […]
How I met your premise: HIMYM finale about as real as sitcoms get
Many critics and fans felt cheated by twist in How I Met Your Mother finale. They should feel grateful. by James Brown There are three types of TV viewers: the surfers, the […]
Big laughs, Broad City
Broad City explores typical New York tropes through a fresh lens with hilarious results. by James Brown It’s easy to compare Broad City, the latest sitcom from Comedy Central to Lena Dunham’s […]
Those were the days: RIP Jean Stapleton
Jean Stapleton is dead at 90. She was most famous for her portrayal of the longsuffering Edith Bunker in All in the Family, one of the most important shows in television history. As the tragically underappreciated […]
TunesWeek: ’90s video and Spike Jonze
Part 4 in a series. It sometimes seemed like MTV in the 1990s was little more than a video résumé for one Adam Spiegel, aka Spike Jonze. He seemed to be the guy […]
Five reasons why soccer will eventually surpass football in the US – #3: Soccer is already blowing up in America
Part three in a series. Thanks to expanding TV deals, smart entrepreneurs in the MLS and a Millennial-fueled supporter culture, soccer is the fastest growing spectator sport in the country. There has […]
The truth about Mayberry
There’s a famous scene in a season one episode of The Andy Griffith Show, “Ellie for Council.” A battle of the sexes erupts when the local pharmacist (and Andy Taylor’s first love […]
Good night, Andy
I suspect I am not alone in saying that for me, Andy Griffith was like family. It’s not just that he was from North Carolina, my native state, or that Mayberry was […]
RIP Andy Griffith: he was more than Mayberry
The Andy Griffith that I grew up with was the kindly, somewhat bumbling sherriff of Mayberry, North Carolina. I can’t remember whether I was introduced to him first on the Andy Griffith […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 