As we have all seen, both in the entertainment world, and in the very real and scary world for which we live in, there have been some very interesting, exciting and unpredictable events that have taken place in 2016.
We have all had good and bad times throughout the year, we can all rejoice in the great entertainment these medium – television, movies, music and books – have provided.
Have a wonderful New Year!
PS: Thank you all so very much for visiting my site. I hope you will continue to visit as often as you can.
To many out there, Carrie Fisher is, and always will be, Princess Leia Organa, member of the Rebellion and General in the Resistance. She’s Leia to me (and will be for all time), but that was not where I first met Carrie Fisher.
As a young girl, impressionable and naive, there were few bands that were “kid” appropriate for long drives across California, or through Illinois and the Midwest. But there was Paul Simon. It wasn’t just “Graceland” that defined the days in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the entire collective works. I was introduced to “Heart and Bones” about “one and one-half wandering Jews” and being curious, I learned that Carrie Fisher was the one-half Jew of the song.
From that point on, I have one thing in common with her. It was curious to me to know that a woman who was the child of celebrities found herself intertwined with other celebrities. And she sounded conflicted and determined in the song, even if I knew the relationship didn’t last.
But she was there and she inspired a heartfelt song.
A few years later, as a teen When Harry Met Sally entered my lexicon. It was grown-up (“I’ll have what she’s having” and that scene probably was my first introduction to the concept of an orgasm) and it was not just Harry and Sally that I fell in love with, but with Jess and Marie.
Marie is a supportive, strong friend, who manages to get her friend the best (and gets the best for herself too). Sure, Marie is complicated – no qualms about dating a married man – but she is the support for Sally in good times and bad.
Even if When Harry Met Sally is about Harry and Sally, Marie (and Fisher) steal the show in quiet ways.
Here – fighting over a wagon wheel coffee table – Marie is herself and still funny. (Others have already pointed out how good Marie’s lines are.)
This is the Carrie Fisher I want to remember. Strong, funny, complicated.
PS: While Carrie Fisher is symbolic for Hollywood, so too is her mother, Debbie Reynolds. Reynolds dying just a day and a half after her daughter is heartbreaking and I wish the Reynolds, Fisher and Lourd families well.
I have been putting together my year-end round-ups on all things entertainment industry related for over a decade now. Just thinking about how long I have been compiling these round-ups is surprising to me. As I have said before, every year it is an interesting experience keeping track of the unique events that take place in the world of entertainment.
Of course, it’s impossible to focus on every single thing that has happened over the past year, but I sure do enjoy focusing on all the good things that have taken place throughout the year.
I have been a big fan of television since I was a child, becoming “the walking encyclopedia of the entertainment industry” (at least for my small hometown back in Pennsylvania) by the time I was in my mid-teens. In fact, I like to joke that I was IMDB before IMDB existed. But, I also love reading, and for the past decade I have set a goal for myself to read at least 20 books a year.
For avid book readers that total is pretty small, but given the fact that my small business is just going into its second year of existence, all the freelance writing I do throughout the year and – well, real life – getting through 20 books is a lot for me.
Among the books that I enjoyed the most this year included a trilogy of books by authors Susan Mallery, Veronica Roth and Nora Roberts as well as several Jane Austen inspired books by Alexandra Potter and Kaitlyn Saunders. I also really enjoyed Deadly Heat by Richard Castle, The Heirloom Girls by Chris Culler and the Diana Gabaldon novel Voyager (in preparation for season three of Outlander).
Just like last year I attended Paley Fest in Los Angeles, but unlike every other year for the past few years, I only attended one panel for Supergirl. I also enjoyed attending WonderCon and Comic Con; a panel for the Syfy TV series 12 Monkeys at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills as well as the Paley Center’s annual Preview Parties for each of the five major networks. As a big fan of Outlander, I also got to see the cast and creative minds behind the show in March as well as the Outlander Exhibit at the Paley Center
That’s enough about me, though. Starting tomorrow my first year-end round-up focusing on the best and worst of television will go live and for each day throughout the rest of the year I will spotlight the year that was: 2016.
NOTE: I apologize in advance for any omissions, spelling errors or oversights I may have made, but I don’t apologize for any of the choices I made.
I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you enjoy the time with your friends and family over this long holiday weekend.
Please know that while I am obviously observing the holiday, the news waits for no man or woman, which means I will be posting occasionally over the weekend, bringing ratings results as they are released and other news items that come along over the next 4 days.
Please stay tuned and I hope you will visit as often as you can over the holiday.
I just want to take a few moments to welcome the latest addition to the staff here at Rueben’s Rambling!!
My good friend and fellow NiceGirlsTV contributor Roz has been brought on board to be Rueben’s Ramblings new, regular guest commentator, covering many facets of television [especially genres that I typically do not cover], current events and even sports.
For nearly a decade, Roz and I have been friends, sharing our love of television as well as attending events like Paley Fest, Wonder Con and Comic Con (just to name a few); and it will be fantastic to have a new perspective on all things pop culture here at the site.
And given that it has been two years since I added a new staff member and six years since I officially started Rueben’s Ramblings now seemed the right time for the site to grow and change.
Please join me in welcoming Roz to the staff!
The “Staff Info/Coverage” Page will be updated soon so please check there shortly for new details.
On the first full day of the convention – Thursday, July 21 – I got to see the pilot episode of the new USA Network drama Falling Water that is unlike anything I’ve seen on TV in quite some time and could be one of the most buzzed-about shows of the new season.
Here is a trailer for Falling Water:
You can read my report on the Falling Water screening at TV Equalshere.
That was followed by panels for the TNT post-apocalyptic series The Last Ship; the Amazon digital series The Man in the High Castle and the fan favorite Syfy series Dark Matter.
The Last Ship (thanks to Entertainment Weekly):
You can read my report on The Last Ship panel at TV Equalshere.
Here is the trailer for season two of The Man in the High Castle:
You can read my report on The Man in the High Castle panel at TV Equalshere.
Dark Matter (thanks to Entertainment Weekly):
Here are some pictures that I took inside the convention on the second day:
It’s been just a little over a week since Comic Con 2016 ended, and I wanted to take a look back at the screeners I got to see and the panels I got to attend throughout the 4 and 1/2 day event.
On preview night – Wednesday, July 20 – I got to see several screeners of new shows that will air this fall. The first was the new “teen Twin Peaks”-like drama Riverdale that will debut on The CW during mid-season.
Here is the trailer for Riverdale (for however long it stays online, as the network has been removing them as quickly as they go up for whatever reason):
I got to see the Riverdale pilot a second time on Saturday evening during a moderated panel that included most of the main cast and creative minds behind the show. The cast is very attractive and the basic premise should have made it very compelling to watch, but unfortunately it was predictable and a bit dull.
You can read my report on the Riverdale panel at TV Equalshere:
I also got to see the pilot for the NBC DC Comics comedy Powerless that will star Vanessa Hudgens, Danny Pudi and Alan Tudyk in a world where employees of an insurance agency deal with living in a world filled with superheroes. Sadly, a trailer has not been officially released by the network.
Then there was the pilot screening of the upcoming TBS comedy People of Earth that includes Conan O’Brien as one of the executive producers. Here is a trailer:
Both comedies were funny, but since I haven’t been a fan of sitcoms since the 1980’s, I won’t be watching anything more of either of them.
Lastly, there was the new ABC drama Time After Time that stars Freddie Stroma (UnReal) as H.G. Wells and Josh Bowman (Revenge) as John Stevenson/Jack the Ripper.
Here is the trailer:
The show may seem preposterous, but thanks to the charm of Stroma, the pilot – at least – really worked for me.
Here are a few of the pictures from outside the convention center that I took on the first day:
I am in San Diego for Comic Con 2016 as of this morning.
This will be my 15th year going to the annual convention and my 8th year covering the event as press.
Please visit both NiceGirlsTV and TV Equals as well as here at Rueben’s Ramblings for stories on various television shows like The Last Ship, Man in the High Castle, Dark Matter, Starz’s new show American Gods, Orphan Black, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Arrow, the new shows Riverdale, Frequency and Time After Time as well as the returns of Prison Break and 24: Legacy.
Once again, I’ll be in San Diego for a week – with a number of the other NiceGirlsTV staff – so my daily updates, ratings reports and breaking news posts will be delayed until after Comic Con is over.
Rueben's Ramblings 