• Where Everybody Knows Your Name

    Each November I tell myself, “Self, you should really watch more than just the “Thanksgiving Orphans” episode of Cheers this year. Then I debate whether to just watch the rest of season five, which I own on DVD,[1] or dive into the entire series on a streaming service. And, every year, I end up just watching that single episode around…

  • On SNL Legends

    A couple links related to two of the greatest SNL talents of all time. Last week the Washington Post published this feature on Chevy Chase. There aren’t really any surprises in it for anyone who has followed his career. At age 74, you wonder how many more disappointing pieces about him are left to write. Chevy Chase Can’t Change After…

  • Old TV + Reader’s Notebook

    As I’ve documented here many times over the years, sometimes I get paralyzed by the many options I have for watching quality TV. There is a long list of shows that I need to go back and watch, but I’m always torn about where to start, whether to watch one to completion on its own or to start several at…

  • Some Catch Up

    I’ve finally made my way through my RSS reader, which collected over 1800 articles while we were gone. In that glut, I found a few items that can very loosely be connected, as all are about one kind of loss or another. First, Lindsey Buckingham announced he was leaving Fleetwood Mac again. I had to wonder why this was such…

  • Friday Notes

    It’s been a busy week around these parts. First, crazy ass weather. Sunday night/Monday morning we had our fourth snowstorm in the past two weeks. This time we got somewhere between 3–4” of snow. We received almost as much snow in those two weeks than we had gotten all of this winter before then and last winter combined. Weird. We…

  • TV Stuff

    I’m working on a couple longer, more personal writing pieces to share over the next couple days. Thus, rather than writing about the Olympics or college hoops, I’ll share another link from my Instapaper stash. I had planned on doing a What I’m Watching post before the holidays. That, obviously, kind of went to shit and is tough to recreate…

  • Pretty, Pretty, Pretttttttty Super

    So, yeah, I watched the Super Bowl. I’m a goddamn American, right? Despite my lack of interest in the NFL these days, I wasn’t going to miss the biggest game of the year. Also, if I’m only going to casually watch pro football I kind of have to watch the Super Bowl, as it has become a cultural obligation. Like…

  • Thanksgiving 2017

    An action-packed Thanksgiving break in our house. We kicked things off Wednesday by heading to the post office to submit passport applications for all three girls. We are going to Mexico next spring break and wanted to give their applications plenty of time to percolate through the system. We double, triple, quadruple checked that everything was in order, talked to…

  • The Most Wonderful Link of the Year

    As I do every year, I’ve bookmarked this site and check it every day to see what holiday shows are on that evening. We’ve already recorded Home Alone and L has watched about half of it. This Saturday looks like the first big TV night of the season. Christmas TV Schedule

  • Is There Anybody Out There? Anybody At All?

    Well this checks a few boxes for me. General 80s nostalgia 80s pop culture and political sub-categories Nuclear obliteration And Kansas City/Kansas references Yep, The Day After was a pretty big deal. And, perhaps, as relevant today as it has been for nearly 30 years. The Day After traumatized a generation with the horrors of nuclear war My favorite family…