Television history was made on October 11, 1975, when Chevy Chase welcomed America to the first episode of a new late-night comedy and variety show. Featuring cutting-edge humor, an absurdist sensibility, and a scrappy cast of young, talented performers, Saturday Night Live would go on to become one of the brightest stars in the pop-culture ......
A fun and fascinating deep dive into the impact and creation of the cult-hit television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Few television shows can boast the long-term cult popularity and cultural influence of Mystery Science Theater 3000--or MST3K to its legions of devoted fans, known collectively as MSTies. Created by quirky standup comic ......
Reading Rainbow is one of the most successful PBS children's series in television history, earning numerous national and international awards including 26 Emmy's and a Peabody Award. But perhaps more important than anything else, Reading Rainbow helped generations of children cultivate a love for books. The brainchild of co-author Tony Buttino, ......
The tales of early ESPN people who gambled their careers while critics carped that "all-sports television will never work" are full of guile, luck, fear, fun, and unbridled optimism. As ESPN's founding executive producer, Peter Fox was privy to some spectacular professional efforts by a cadre of Connecticut locals who made the dream real. The ......
Science fiction has hosted some of the greatest minds and most innovative thinkers in human history. From Orson Wells to Octavia Butler, Star Trek to Star Wars, in books, on television, and at the movies, science fiction has shaped our future, pushed the limits of human imagination, and guided us within ourselves to examine the universal truths of ......
A History of American Animation from Gertie to Pixar and Beyond
A deep dive into the history of cinematic animation in the United States. Animated films started with simple sequential drawings photographed one at a time--little bits of comedic fluff to make amateur title scenes or surreal escapist sequences. Today, animation is a worldwide industry valued at nearly $300 billion and still growing in scope and ......
A fun and informative exploration of how the classic television series Bonanza differs from the reality of Virginia City, Nevada. In 1959, one hundred years after the big bonanza silver strike in Virginia City, the classic television series Bonanza made its debut and brought the small Nevada city to the forefront of households around the country. ......
While there are many books that attempt to teach people how to act, there are few that show aspiring actors what it takes to succeed as a working professional.
The Professional Actor’s Handbook: From Casting Call to Curtain Call provides struggling artists—stage and screen actors, dancers, singers—with strategies that will help them ......
How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss
White feminists performing to maintain privilege Mean girl feminism encourages girls and women to be sassy, sarcastic, and ironic as feminist performance. Yet it coopts its affect, form, and content from racial oppression and protest while aiming meanness toward people in marginalized groups. Kim Hong Nguyen's feminist media study examines ......
