One Night Only. And What a Night For Don Rickles and Spike TV
Remember the old Dean Martin celebrity roasts that ran for 10 years on NBC starting 40 years ago, where Martin skewered the top names of the day like Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Stewart, Phyllis Diller, Jack Klugman and even Ronald Reagan? When it came to roasting Martin himself, it was Don Rickles who did the honors. Cut to 2014, specifically Spike TV on Wednesday night. It is the inestimable Rickles’ turn to be the man of the...
Upfronts, Center and Sideways, All Over the Map for TV Hopefuls
Attending upfronts is a bit like partaking in an all-you-can-eat buffet: something you do once a year–in which some of the offerings are pretty tasty, some inedible, several of which that are incredibly delicious and leave you hungering for more, others that can best be classified as comfort food, plus some new offerings sprinkled here and there throughout the line. It all amounts to the net effect of leaving you sated, if...
Orange, Black and Masters of Sex at the Bates Motel
It’s not often outside of awards season that creators of some of television’s most riveting and successful dramas get together in one room for a deep dive into what goes into making their hit programs. That was the agenda for Michelle Ashford (Showtime’s “Masters of Sex”), Carlton Cuse (A&E’s “Bates Motel”) and Jenji Kohan (Netflix’s “Orange Is The New Black”), the headliners of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society’s...
HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Satirically Nails the Gold Rush Geekdom of High Tech
Here’s the definition of a geek entourage, straight from the mouth of one of the characters on Mike Judge’s new HBO comedy, “Silicon Valley:” “It’s weird. They always travel in groups of five, these programmers. There’s always a tall skinny white guy, short skinny Asian guy, fat guy with the ponytail, some guy with crazy facial hair and then an east Indian guy. It’s like they trade guys until they all have the right group.” Many will...
HBO Goes Behind the Scenes for Making of Springsteen’s High Hopes
Fans of the Boss appreciate not just his music, but getting inside his head for the thought processes behind the songs. And that’s exactly what they’ll get in a new documentary about his most recent release, “High Hopes,” airing April 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. “High Hopes” was Springsteen’s 18th studio album, released in January and debuting at number one, and recorded in the middle of a tour with Rage Against the Machine guitarist...