John Stamos

John Stamos launched his career in 1980s daytime television as Blackie Parrish on General Hospital.  In turn, Stamos became a heartthrob.  And he’s never looked back. In 1984, Stamos tackled prime time with Dreams, a short-lived CBS show about a rock and roll...

Desperation in the Vast Wasteland

In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow decried television as a vast wasteland.  Nearly a half-century later, Bill Carter analyzed the landscape, coalescing his findings into the 2006 book Desperate Networks. A television show reaching the prime time airwaves is a...

Doctors in the Windy City

Chicago has been the setting for two television shows set in emergency rooms.  ER and E/R. Both had multi-racial casts, unique characters arriving for medical attention, and humor as a defense mechanism to guard against emotional pain of working in a trauma situation....

Dreams of the Diamond

Rogers Hornsby did it after an illustrious playing career. Leo Durocher did it after a not-so-illustrious one. Joe Torre did it as a journeyman, not achieving success for a couple of decades. Billy Martin did it with the only team he ever loved. Gil Hodges did it with...