September 2005

When I wandered through the newsroom this morning, several people went out of their way to say how much they liked "No Direction Home," the Bob Dylan documentary that continues on PBS tonight. Yes, they are all about my age and so have a sense of Dylan at his most iconic. Still, it was a [...]

In Saturday's Beacon Journal I had a story about "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" shooting part of Sunday's telecast — "The Rodriguez Family" — in Akron. (You can find the story here.) I singled out Yanke Bionics, which was the reason the show came to Akron, and mentioned a couple of local dance instructors who took [...]

At the end of a new Fox press release was the most important line: "Head Cases," it said, "has had its last air date."
The Chris O'Donnell comedy-drama was of no great distinction and had gotten no traction with audiences in two telecasts. Indeed, my colleague Alan Sepinwall looked at the numbers after the first showing [...]

I was feeling pretty good about this season's "Survivor," not least because Stephenie was back; her grittiness on the last "Survivor" made her one of my favorite contestants ever.
But tonight's mud-covered tug of war was one of the silliest challenges I've ever seen, and the reward challenge wasn't all that interesting either.
And where's the stuff [...]

I finally grabbed enough time to get through "Threshold" (although there are newer shows backed up in my DVR, thanks to the fall season). Didn't like the second hour as much as the first. Executive producer Brannon Braga has said that he wants the show to be scary, but sometimes the horror-movie cliches seem to [...]

I know "Law & Order" (the original series) has made a lot of cast changes over the years. Still, you'd think the folks at NBC could keep up.
The network's official site for the drama notes that Annie Parisse is in the cast now. But at this writing, the cast photo on the main page doesn't [...]

A review tape of "Ghost Whisperer" arrived today, all set for review before its premiere on Friday. The only problem is, the tape has a lovely crack in the spine.
Stuff happens, after all. I've talked to CBS, and they're sending out a new tape, so I should have it in plenty of time to take [...]

One of the quirks of my job is that — unlike many TV critics — I don't have to watch and review the Emmys. That's fine with me. I can check out the final list of winners and losers and deal with them all in a single round of teeth-gnashing.
Of course, I record it, in [...]