Day 999: Buh-Bye, So Long And Hallelujah

originally published September 25, 2014 It’s a completely valid question. For the past 50 or so days I have been fielding one question more often than most: what am I going to do for Day 1000? Will the final kilograph reflect upon the 999 that came before, like some extended clip show of my greatest […]

Day 823: Trolling The Trough-Crusties – Worst TV Part 7

originally published April 2, 2014 Posting a list of bests and greatests opens the door to debate, dissent, and the occasional inter-cubicle pelting of office supplies. Posting a list of worsts never seems to stoke the same ire. I have offered a tankard of derision for the insipidly successful sitcom According To Jim throughout my […]

Day 784: Show Me That Smile Again

originally published February 22, 2014 Lately I have found myself falling back in love with All In The Family. The jokes are still funny, the characters still compelling, and it’s the only show from the 70’s that can still be called ‘edgy’ by today’s standards. I wanted to do a piece about the show, but […]

Day 771: On Tonight’s Show… History

originally published February 9, 2014 Once the collective click of a few million TV sets shutting off had resonated throughout North America in the shadowy hours of February 9, 1964, the pentimento of American culture as it existed before that day was almost invisible. This is the news blurb that kids – and I include […]

Day 757: Best Care Anywhere – 23 Things I Didn’t Know About MAS*H

originally published January 26, 2014 Up until the recent spate of Platinum-Age television brilliance forced me to redefine the parameters of small-screen excellence, I had always placed M*A*S*H upon a mighty khaki pedestal. The show wasn’t perfect, but it blended riotous comedy with deeply human drama and did so often within the same scene. As recently as last week […]

Day 740: You Bring The Gags, Charley Will Bring The Laughs

originally published January 9, 2014 It was once so commonplace, so natural, so subconsciously integral to the very essence of comedy that we hardly noticed it. The laugh track came with the medium; it was swept in as part of the original package, like the wheels on the first car or the door on the […]

Day 712: Big Bucks… No Whammy… Ever!

originally published December 12, 2013 As a child raised within the warm glowing bosom of television, coming down with a cold had its advantages. A day off meant I’d have access to those glorious programs with the flickering lights, sonorous bells and adrenaline-drenched, screaming contestants. The game shows. Sale of the Century. Card Sharks. The […]

Day 707: Live From The Internet, It’s (All About) Saturday Night!

originally published December 7, 2013 Some topics are simply too large to fit into a thousand words. When Wikipedia’s magic Randombulator dumped me on the page for Saturday Night Live, I struggled with how to approach a thousand-word breakdown of a 39-season-long show that has somehow affected or entertained nearly everyone in the known universe […]

Day 706: One-Thousand Word Rock!

originally published December 6, 2013 If someone were to stop me on the street (or some other such location where I’d be removed from easy access to my braintrust, the internet) and ask me how a Canadian bill becomes a law, I’d have no idea. I know we have a legislative branch, and that there […]

Day 703: Come Children, Let’s Gather ‘Round And Hate

originally published June 3, 2013 Sometimes I really hate humans. What started out as a jocular journey through the goofiness of North Korean barbershop propaganda turned remarkably dark and sinister, and suddenly I was watching a dime-store Mickey Mouse knock-off get beaten to death by an Israeli interrogator. You know, for the kids. Propaganda can […]