November 2007

TV isn’t just our profession — it’s our passion. So while coming up with a countdown of the 40 best programs, people, networks, moments and more from the year in cable was hard work (though not as hard as the jobs in #23), it was a labor of love. We argued and fought for our favorites with the ferocity of a Hip-Hopopotamus (see #9), and we didn’t earn nearly the paychecks of the two guys who fought in #16. And we did it all for you. And we’ll keep on doing it for you … if that’s what you’re into. […]

Long before Oscar Madison and Quincy, Jack Klugman had an important role in a little film that made big waves: 12 Angry Men. This month, the veteran actor hosts the film when he visits TCM Nov. 12 as part of its ongoing Guest Programmer series, also introducing a range of films that he cites as being vastly important to the development of his art: City for Conquest, None but the Lonely Heart and the controversial Inherit the Wind. All of the titles have meaning for Klugman, who, at 85, still delights theater audiences nationwide. Understandably, 12 Angry Men, which put […]

Crime in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area seems to have been decreasing lately. Perhaps that is because of all the +1 maces and Daggers of Inquisition that are being wielded in the area. No, these weapons aren’t being carried by police. These fictional items and other elements of an intricate fantasy world are being used by the folks who inhabit Darkon – an imaginary medieval world that is played out in live re-enactments throughout the real-life Maryland/D.C. area. Moving beyond the tabletop world of 20-sided dies and pencil and paper, and even online arenas like World of Warcraft, the role-players of […]

During October, you SCI FI Channel viewers may have seen some Battlestar Galactica “mini-sodes” that aired during episodes of Flash Gordon (although, given Flash‘s lukewarm reception with audiences, maybe you didn’t catch them. But they are still available on scifi.com). Whatever the case, these shorts looked at the original Cylon War, when a young William Adama (Nico Cortez) discovered a dangerous Cylon weapon that would come back to haunt him and his crew 40 years later. These shorts lead up to a two-hour special TV movie called Battlestar Galactica: Razor, which makes its eagerly awaited debut Nov. 24. Honing the […]

By Charles Meadows He boasts one of the longest resumes in Hollywood, and well he should — at 90 years old, Ernest Borgnine hasn’t tired of working and this month adds another title to the list. In Hallmark Channel‘s A Grandpa for Christmas (premiering Nov. 24), the Academy Award winner plays Bert, an octogenarian who takes in the 9-year-old granddaughter he’s never met when her mother — from whom Bert has been estranged — is injured in a car accident. And just like a doting grandfather would, Borgnine has nothing but praise for his young costar, Juliette Goglia, who shines […]