Tag Archives: TV

One Long, Last Look at The Office

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tom Garrett

Last week’s penultimate episode of The Office gave us a frustrating glimpse of what might have been. In a season filled with mediocre comedy, intelligence-insulting plot choices[1], and inexplicable character development, we got a flawed but good episode centered largely … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged Andy Bernard, Commentary, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Michael Scott, Pam Beesly, Reviews, SitCombat, Sitcoms, Steve Carell, Television, The Office, TV | 1 Comment

SitCombat 3/1/12

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Tom Garrett

The Office has hit an unexpected stride with a bifurcated workforce. The NBC demographic powerhouse has won two consecutive weeks despite the fact that half of the employees of the titular place of business have been in Tallahassee. The show … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Adultophobes, Alexis Goodlooking, Archer, Commentary, Georgia Engel, Nikki Finke, Reviews, Richie Havens, SitCombat, Television, The Office, TV | Leave a comment

SitCombat: 1/19/12

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Tom Garrett

30 Rock took the first SitCombat win of 2012, but Tina Fey and company didn’t have to tangle with Archer. The much-anticipated return of the FX comedy comes after a strong run to end the second season, followed by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin, Amber Nash, Archer, Burt Reynolds, Commentary, FX, NBC, Reviews, SitCombat, Television, The Office, Tina Fey, TV | Leave a comment

The Return of SitCombat

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Tom Garrett

I figured the season premiere of 30 Rock was as good a time as any to renew the weekly comedy showdown known as “SitCombat.” Archer comes back next week, so the opening contest of the year will be a one-on-one … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin, Archer, Commentary, Ed Helms, James Spader, Jane Krakowski, Reviews, Television, The Office, Tina Fey, TV | Leave a comment

An Abridged History of Pro Wrestling’s Ethnic Identity Crisis

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Tom Garrett

Highlighting ethnicity or nationality to help get certain professional wrestlers “over” is a technique as old as the business itself. The WWWF (later the WWF, now the WWE) used the origins of Bruno Sammartino (Italian), Spiros Arion (Greek), and Pedro … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sports, Television | Tagged Commentary, Ethnicity, Fritz Von Erich, Gorilla Monsoon, Ivan Koloff, Johnny B. Badd, Kofi Kingston, Mark Mero, Mohammad Hassan, Nikita Koloff, Pro Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, Race, Racism?, Razor Ramon, Scott Hall, Sports, Sports Entertainment, Television, The Iron Sheik, The Undertaker, TV, Vince McMahon, WWE, Yokozuna | 13 Comments

Awkward Moments in Entertainment History: The Worst Sitcom Joke of All Time

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Tom Garrett

Sitcom fans born during the last twenty years have no idea how good they’ve had it. The ebb and flow of conventional wisdom changes the tone of the genre every generation or so. The early days of television had fanciful … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Television, Videos | Tagged 1980's, 80's, All in the Family, Cheers, Commentary, I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, Mr. Belvedere, Newhart, Seinfeld, Sitcoms, Television, Til Death Us Do Part, TV, Videos | 2 Comments

Ahead of Its Time

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Tom Garrett

Magnum, p.i. circa 1984: T. C. sends a text message.

Posted in Commentary, Pictures, Television | Tagged Anachronisms, Commentary, Magnum p.i., Pictures, Roger E. Mosley, Television, Theodore Calvin, TV | Leave a comment

The Artisan

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Tom Garrett

It’s all too easy to dismiss professional wrestling as a mongrel form of entertainment that achieves neither the excitement of legitimate competition nor the imagination of true performance art. Yet, I’ve always thought those who try to pigeonhole the endeavor … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sports, Television | Tagged Art, CM Punk, Commentary, Kayfabe, Monday Night Raw, Money in the Bank, Pro Wrestling, Punk, RAW, Sports, Sports Entertainment, Television, TV, Vince McMahon, WWE | 8 Comments

SitCombat: 5/12/11

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Tom Garrett

Akin to age-old queries concerning the sound of one hand clapping or a tree falling in a wood devoid of an audience, we now find ourselves faced with an edition of SitCombat without any actual combat. Well, let me re-phrase: … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged Commentary, Dwight Schrute, Rainn Wilson, Reviews, SitCombat, Sitcoms, Television, The Office, TV | 1 Comment

SitCombat: 5/5/11

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Tom Garrett

It’s the dawn of an exciting and frightening new era on The Office, as we’re treated to our first post-Michael Scott episode (although, as I said last week, the real test won’t come until the beginning of the 2011-12 season). … Continue reading →