Monday TV: Remembering Moms Mabley
Jackie "Moms" Mabley got her start on Vaudeville, raised by the popular act Butterbeans and Susie. Soon she was a prime attraction on the chitlin circuit using the persona that…
Eastbound and Gone
I was generally repulsed by "Eastbound and Down" in its first season. I took too seriously how big a jerk Kenny Powers was in adjusting to a post-baseball career. The…
Sunday TV: ‘Almost Human’ Almost OK
For all its futuristic hype, the new series "Almost Human" (Fox, 8 p.m.) is pretty much another buddy cop series that begins with one partner really disliking the other. The…
Music Review: Randy Newman at the Library of Congress
At the Library of Congress Randy Newman concert Saturday, it was kids beware. If they came to hear one of his many songs from Pixar animation -- certainly his most…
Saturday TV: Tyson Chews Scenery, Too
A charm offensive from Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion and felon, convicted rapist, brawler and ear biter doesn't quite succeed. There's just too much to overcome and we're not…
Playlist 11-15-13
2Started a little bit late -- the day, after all, started in northern Michigan. But also stayed late again. Began with Cream for some reason, turned toDevil Makes Three and…
Friday TV: ‘Raising Hope’ Returns
The fourth season of "Raising Hope" (Fox, 9:30 p.m.) starts,and by now Hope is practically in kindergarten. The cast of Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Lucas neff and Cloris Leachman is…
Four Women Cut from ‘X Factor’
The double elimination on "The X Factor "Thursday was double that as the one female group, Sweet Suspense, had a sour moment right off the bat, with the trio eliminated…
Thursday TV: McGinley on ‘Ground Floor’
The jutting jaw of John C. McGinley, the in-your-face Dr. Cox on "Scrubs" for nearly a decade, returns as the head of another new workplace comedy. In "Ground Floor" (TBS,…
Eating Grubs and Pride on ‘Survivor’
With the lopsided alliance forging ahead on the single, newly-merged tribe on "Survivor," tribal councils can be pretty predictable -- even when an episode has two of them, as Wednesday's…