Today, January 12, marks 60 years since the caped crusader hit the small screen. On that date in 1966, TV’s original Batman landed with a Bam! Pow! Splat! For me and other eight-year-olds in schoolyards across North America, it was a mind-blowing moment. I can still recall the excitement of watching the very first episode.
I survived the great Chevy Chase Show debacle of 1993. Members of the Television Critics Association, in Los Angeles for our semi-annual network television press tour, were shuttled to the home of the doomed talk show in advance of the premiere. It was not that much in advance as an ambitious makeover had not finished
We called him “President for Life” of the Television Critics Association, but Eric Kohanik was always really its greatest ambassador, the glue that held the whole thing together. The TCA’s semi-annual press tours, prized by TV critics and editors across North America for unequalled access to executives and talent, would not have lasted as long
“Memories,” the tune from “The Way We Were,” probably came back to many fans of Robert Redford on news of his passing. An Oscar winner as a director (1980’s “Ordinary People”), Redford passed away in his sleep September 16 at his home in Provo, Utah. He was 89. Redford, of course, is best remembered for
I’ve known Jay Bobbin for over 40 years. Over that time, the nationally syndicated feature writer has asked more smart questions at Television Critics Association press gatherings than any other reporter. TCA press tours would not have been the same without his FM radio voice. Today on Facebook he posts the following informed and comprehensive
With semi-annual press tours to Pasadena, Calif., shut down, two colleagues from the Television Critics Association, Roger Catlin from Washington and Neal Justin from Minneapolis, decided to cross the border into Toronto. These guys go everywhere — they even went to the Red Skelton Museum in Vincennes, Indiana. Neal, who had already arranged a Second
While it is sad to see him gone, George Foreman had a happier ending than many of his world champion peers from the golden age of boxing. The 6-foot-3, two-time heavyweight champion passed away March 21 at 76. While he may always be remembered for being upset by a rebounding Muhammad Ali in 1974, his
Back when Twin Peaks premiered in 1989, there were no little people speaking backwards on television. Plenty of double talk, but nothing even close to the nightmarish, fascinating world of David Lynch. The award-winning filmmaker, painter and artist passed away Jan. 15 after years of declining health due to emphysema after a lifetime of smoking.