A Tinseltown Tragedy

In 1959, George Reeves committed suicide.  Or did he? The 2006 movie Hollywoodland, directed by Allen Coulter, mixes fact with speculation about television’s Superman portrayer taking his own life in the home that he shared with Leonore Lemmon. Adrien Brody...

A Mad Man from the Reagan Era

Advertising has provided great fodder for prime television, including the characters Larry Tate of Bewitched, Kip Wilson and Henry Desmond of Bosom Buddies, Jack McLaren of The Closer, Mason McGuire and Conner of Trust Me, Ann Romano of One Day at a Time, and Don...

Baltimore’s Finest

HBO’s drama series The Wire showcased Baltimore’s politicians, detectives, and drug dealers for five seasons with a multiracial cast, compelling story lines, and locations throughout Baltimore. Created by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon and...

All in the Mafia Family

In 1985, ABC debuted Our Family Honor.  Ultimately short-lived, it lasted half of the 1985-86 television season.  Our Family Honor presented the classic format of two families battling each other, with star-crossed lovers from each family complicating matters;...

The Big Three

In the 1980s, America’s three television networks changed hands. ABC to Capital Cities.  NBC to General Electric.  CBS to Loews. Ken Auletta documented the decade in his 1991 book Three Blind Mice:  How the TV Networks Lost Their Way.  It is, indeed, a fantastic...