New Year’s Eve TV: Dick Clark Lives
Dick Clark is among those who died this year, but he's very much alive on the last day of the year in two of the biggest shows celebrating the changing…
Sunday TV: No Holiday for the Midwife
Holidays are a big thing in the UK -- not just a time for reruns, as they seem to be around here. So long after the finale of the first…
Saturday TV: A Glimpse Into the Cave
The cave of Chauvet-Pontd’Arc in Southern France, where 30,000 year old cave drawings were found by archeologists in 1994, is the subject of Werner Herzog’s acclaimed documentary, “Cave of Forgotten…
Friday TV: Behind the Joffrey Ballet
Robert Joffrey began his dance troupe with the idea of reviving the work decades earlier of Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. He did so by creating a distinctly modern ballet…
Rebirth Brass Band at the 9:30 Club
What I remember about first seeing the Rebirth Brass Band is that they were just kids and they were wholly portable. Unlike most other musical outfits in New Orleans, that…
Thursday TV: Those ’50s Girls
Retro series, from “Mad Men” to “The Hour,” can be inspiring for generations who never got to live the era. Take Dollie: Except for the tattoos, the 24 year old…
Thunderbirds Are Go: Remembering Gerry Anderson, 1929-2012
A third entertainment death to report this week, this one with a face few will be able to remember. But if you’re a TV-raised kid of a certain age, you’ll…
Confiscating Gun Shows
Deaths in Newtown, Conn., have brought some TV programmers to their senses. For example, a new show, “Best Funeral Ever,” a kind of "My Super Sweet 16" about excessive farewell…
Two Great Character Actors Die
A sad note at Christmastime came with news of the deaths of two great character actors, Jack Klugman and Charles Durning. They were 90 and 89 respectively. Both had unforgettable…
Christmas TV: ‘Doctor Who’ Returns
Christmas on U.S television means: Go spend some time with your familym because there’s nothing special on tonight. That’s the opposite of the UK where special episodes are planned for…