Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock & Oona Yaffe On the Big Screen Before They Know It by Jay S. Jacobs It makes sense that Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock’s first film looks at the downtown New York theater world, because that was where it all began for them. The two met years ago in … Continue reading
Jen Kirkman Living in a Material World by Jay S. Jacobs This year is comedian Jen Kirkman’s 20th year doing standup. Just don’t expect her to do anything big to celebrate that fact on her “All New Material, Girl” Tour. “No! No, no, no. Just touring is always special,” Kirkman laughed to me recently as … Continue reading
TOP FIVE (2014) Starring Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, J.B. Smoove, Sherri Shepherd, Anders Holm, Romany Malco, Leslie Jones, Michael Che, Jay Pharoah, Ben Vereen, Hayley Marie Norman, Karlie Redd, Luis Guzmán, Charlie Rose, Bruce Bruce, Taraji P. Henson, Gabourey Sidibe, DMX, Jim Norton, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam … Continue reading
Fred Stoller – Sitcom Staple by Ronald Sklar The in-demand character actor describes the unique dilemma of typecast success. Fred Stoller goes though life watching people slowly recognize him. Point at him, snap your fingers, scratch your head, search your memory. You don’t know his name, but you’ve seen him on TV, most notably in … Continue reading
When Comedy Went to School (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review) Like most people under a certain age, I missed the hey-day of the Catskill Mountain Resorts, which mostly was from the 1930s to the early 1960s. However, I do remember in the early 1980s, while on a road trip to Canada, stopping in New York state … Continue reading
The Merv Griffin Show 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time (Alpha Home Entertainment-2006) The problem with Merv calling this 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time is that it’s strictly based on Merv’s opinion. Not that we disrespect Merv for a minute – he’s given us more than our share of TV memories … Continue reading
Everybody Loves Raymond The Complete First Season (HBO-2004) The terrific Everybody Loves Raymond is the situation comedy structure stripped down to its barest elements. Because the sitcom genre peaked with Seinfeld and had nowhere else to go, the Raymond creators instead traveled back to the ‘50s, to the very inception of this odd but immortal art form, and hit the refresh button. Its … Continue reading
Tom Verica American Dad by Ronald Sklar Tom Verica stars as family patriarch Jack Pryor on the NBC sleeper hit American Dreams. The role calls for the strong silent type: a challenge which is not always as appreciated as it should be in a medium that often displays the dad as the house fool. Here, Verica … Continue reading
Colin Quinn – Tough Guy by Ronald Sklar Originally posted on Mar. 10, 2003. We as Americans have always taken for granted that we know Colin Quinn intimately. Of course, as a nation we’re bound to make that presumption since we feel that we have more or less grown up with the dude. Sure, we learn more than … Continue reading
Peter Krause Helping to Make TV Safe for Smart People by Jay S. Jacobs The fall of 1998 was a tough time for television comedy. The networks tried to come up with a plan for post-Seinfeld TV, but the best they seemed to be able to come up with were tired retreads like Jesse, Two of a Kind and Maggie … Continue reading
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