Back In The Game on ABC Wednesdays

The high point of last week's new shows for me was BACK IN THE GAME on ABC. It stars James Caan as a curmudgeony, baseball loving father of grown divorced daughter with a son returning to live with him.

Yes, it's another show about a grown child returning to her parent's home, but this one actually works. The cast is great and the characters querky. It brings to mind THE BAD NEWS BEARS all grown up, right down to James Caan at his grandsons baseball game with a can of beer in a brown paper bag. 

It's on Wednesday nights,check your local listings. I mean it!

If you missed the first episode of BACK IN THE GAME you can get the full episode online.

Showtime Homeland Season 3 and Marathon of 2

Credit:  Kent Smith/SHOWTIME

Homeland returns to Showtime this Sunday! Hooray for all of us that have been waiting to find out how things will unravel from here??? Congratulation to Claire Dane's for her Emmy win earlier this week for her work on last season.

If you haven't seen season 2 of Homeland or just can't quite remember all the twist and turns of last season, fear not. Showtime is running a Homeland marathon of seasons 2 beginning at noon on Saturday and Sunday.

So be sure to get all caught up in time for the main event. The premiere of Homeland season 3 Sunday night on Showtime. I've seen the first two episodes and Carrie is in "it" up to her neck as usual. How she will ever dig out of her current predicaments is unfathomable, but I can't wait to watch her attempt it.

TCL/Grauman's Chinese Theatre Renovation Pictures

Check out the new TCL/Grauman's Chinese Theatre! Here you can see how the screen is now set back a bit from the arch that it use to hang from.

Side curtains are now open so you can see the beautiful Xavier Cougat mural in silver on the brick walls, as well as, the red lanterns (that look more yellow in these shots unfortunately). The original floor was where the closest pillar to the screen ends.

If you've been in The Chinese Theatre before you remember how dark and dull  this light fixture had become. Not only is it beautifully restored but also lit with changing center colored lights. Gorgeous!

               

     Here are some shots of the lobby. The latern in the entry way. Dorothy's dress from the Wizard Of Oz on display for the grand open of the new IMAX Chinese Theatre run of The Wizard Of Oz in IMAX and 3D.

Mad Men Season 7 Coming Soon Or Not

AMC has just announced news regarding the final season of MAD MEN. I think it's a case of good news bad news. There will be 14 episode in the final season is the good news. The bad news is they will be aired in 7 episode installments a year apart. The first 7 episodes will be aired in the Spring of 2014 and the last 7 in the Spring of 2015.

Excuse me while I go have a hissy fit. Apparently this technique did great things for the viewer numbers for the final season of BREAKING BAD. But for us viewers it is cruel and unusual treatment. We just want to know what becomes of all of our damaged friend on Madison Avenue.

Alas we will have to wait. But I am etching some choice hobo code symbols on AMC's fence!

For all my MAD MEN obsessive post

Agents Of Zeitgeist

So here is my new project, Agents Of Zeitgeist. It's a podcast I'm co-hosting with Donna Schwartz Mills and Anne Bannon. We meet Thursdays at 10 am and talk about all things entertainment. This morning we focused of this week's shows premiering for the fall season on TV.

This is only our second shot at it so it's still a bit rough around the edges, but I promise we will get better. We record our one hour show live so you get to hear all our little mistakes and technical difficulties.

Hope you enjoy it, and check back next week!

Check Out Television Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with MOMocrats on BlogTalkRadio

9/11 Remembered

On the Tuesday morning of 9/11/01 I was asleep in bed in Santa Monica, California with the TV on as my soon to be husband got ready for work. (we would be married a week and a half later) He woke me to see the news. It was horrible, it was devastating, but that is not the part of 9/11 I remember most.

The thing that has stayed with me was the pulling together of our country in the weeks that followed. That was the one time in my life I felt a real sense of patriotism, a sense of how this huge country is all connected, and my responsibility to everyone in it as a citizen.

Even in Lefty Southern California there were flags everywhere. Every store counter had jars to donate to the victims, fire fighters, Red Cross, you name it, and they all were running over. People genuinely were caring for one another. Everyone was aware that any person you passed on the street may well have lost someone and we protective of these strangers.

So today as we remember the terrible event, let's also try to bring back those feelings of caring for one another. Smile at a strangers on the street, give whatever little bit you can to help your fellow Americans, be kind to one another. We are still the same people we were then and we still need each other, maybe even more...

Kill Your Darlings Trailer

Kill Your Darlings will open October 16th. I really don't know anything more than the premise and actors in this film, but I am intrigued. It stars Danielle Radcliff as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Houston as Jack Kerouac, and Ben Foster as William Burroughs, all of whom were at Columbia University together in 1944. Doesn't just that draw you in?  Well, if it doesn't, it seems there is a murder that some how entangled all of them too.

This will be a must see for me.

Last Tango in Halifax on PBS

Last Tango in Halifax is a great new series on Sunday nights on PBS. It's the story of lost love found in later life. The first episode was last night and it will run through Sunday, October 13th. Check Local listings.

The show stars Derek Jacobi (Alan) and Anne Reid (Celia) as the once teenage lovers who through a series of misunderstandings never actually got together as kids and have found one another again through social media in their retirement. Both are widowed and have grown daughter's with children and problems a plenty. There are sure to be fireworks from all corners.

Don't miss it!


You can see the first episode of Last Tango in Halifax here.

Good Food, Good Times at L.A. County Fair 2013

Hello everybody, Elise has let her husband, John (me) go to an LA County Fair food preview, and write about it.  So here it is.


Are you in the mood for carousing with farm animals, travelling up in the air on exciting rides, or eating unique foods?  All of these things can be done in large amounts at the Los Angeles County Fair through the month of September.

The folks at the Fair invited us to preview some of the food that will be available.



Chicken Charlies never disappoints. Their Krispy Kreme burgers and sloppy joes were good, but the kabobs made of battered and fried kosher pickles wrapped in bacon were delicious. And their deep fried twinkie with chocolate sauce is a fair food must eat.


 Harold and Belles to Geaux Creole food is a must if you want crawfish etoufee, catfish nuggets, or spicy boiled crawish to suck down.  Tasti Chips home made potato chips can be ordered "Dirty" with chipotle beef and blue cheese. Yum!

The BBQ brisket was super-good at Texas Style BBQ, either on a bun or as a sundae over mashed potatoes.


Ten Pound Buns has been a fair favorite of mine for many years. Large freshly baked sourdough bread halves with garlic, butter and cheddar cheese baked on top. Or go with one of the 7 other topped buns.  I had the meat lovers!


We sampled corn dogs at Monster Grill, which also has hot dogs, hamburgers and great seasoned curly fries.  Go to Fresh Frys for chili cheese fries and their blooming onion

 Last ,but not least, was the Cornucopia Cafe where fresh fruit smoothies, big salted pretzels, and fresh cinnamon rolls heaped with sugar frosting were available for sampling, as well as their long coffee menu including iced coffees.





Of course this is just a small sampling of the food available at the Fair. All of these food stands that we sampled can be found between the miniature train yard and the exhibit halls. The fair this year is going to have sea lions! I also heard that one or more baby miniature donkeys will be available to see, and are quite cute.  Cant wait to go.