Drop Dead Diva Is Lifetime's Clever New Comedy...And Did We Mention Margaret Cho?

Drop Dead Diva introduces Brooke Elliot in a snappy comedy which will include many special guest stars in this Heaven Can Wait meets Ugly Betty sort of plot. Mary's review is a yes...hey it's summer! Oh. Did we mention it also stars Margaret Cho?

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"Warehouse 13" On SyFy (Sci-Fi Channel)

If you saw some of the teaser commercials you might get the idea that this Warehouse 13 is a magical warehouse like the one at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark where all the mystical stuff nobody knows what to do with is kept?  Right! Mary's review in the LA Times makes this sound as much fun as we hoped. Tonight on the re-named Sci-Fi Channel. Oh yes, renamed to SyFy.

"The X-Files" meets "Fringe" by way of "The Librarian" with a little " Indiana Jones" and maybe even "Bones" thrown in for good measure, "Warehouse 13" is unapologetically and delightfully derivative, happily plucking the best stuff from our favorite shows and leaving all the heaviness behind. In this loud and angry world of post-mythology and damaged heroes, how nice to see a television show satisfied with being simply entertaining.

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The Return Of Miss Marple (And Just In Time)

The classic Masterpiece Mystery! comes at the end of a hectic couple of weeks in the celebrity-industrial complex.  How nice to have class acting in a class act in the best of all mystery series.

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What Do You Say About A Man Who Had Everything And Nothing

The news anchors in the cacophony of reportage (non-stop black hole news coverage which explanded to the point where one might ask, "What news did we ever have for news before Michael died?") seemed perplexed on how to deliver an instant eulogy.

Mary covers the coverage on television of Michael Jackson's death here in the Los Angeles Times.

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Farrah Fawcett Feminist?

Mary McNamara has a "appreciation" in the Los Angeles Times and makes a good case for Farrah Fawcett as a groundbreaking feminist. Not as whacky as you think. Read it here. Sphere: Related Content

Oscars To Increase Best Picture Field To Ten!

Does this mean Oscar Season will BE EVEN LONGER!? We hope so...see Oscar Season: The Novel to the left. Here is the story from the Los Angeles Times.

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"The Cleaner" Firing On All Cylinders

The second season premiere is hits all the right notes with a terrific guest cast. Read the review in the Los Angeles Times.

"Tonight's season premiere is a good example of the show firing on all cylinders, and not just because Whoopi Goldberg and Gary Cole costar. "

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"Make It, Or Break It!" Focus Group Tested By The Neighborhood Kids

ABC Family's new series has alot going for it: not the least is that there is no singing, no dancing. Mary tests the new series out on the neighborhood kids and it gets many an A+ from them...and Mary. Read the review her in the Los Angeles Times. Sphere: Related Content

Can't Get Enough Of The Oscars?

Some poeple loved it, some people didn't. The internet was accused of being rude: boy it is good they didn't come to our Oscar party. But if you would love to know what really goes on in the run-up to the Oscars and backstage of the big show it is all there in Mary McNamara's Oscar Season now in paperback. If you like your mystery novels with an insider's flair for reporting, this is your ticket.

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The Starlet

Once upon a time a young reporter for the Los Angeles Times who was sent to the Cannes Film Festival and along with reporting news stories was asked to keep a diary. The diary became very popular and many who might never have a chance to go to Cannes or the festival felt like they were THERE! That reporter later wrote a book about the Oscars called Oscar Season: A Novel which was published by the glitzy Simon & Schuster publishing house and made an appearance on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. It also came out in paperback and in the UK. It was full of the real life detail from behind the scenes.

Simon & Schuster has bought a second novel from our reporter friend (Mary McNamara of course) which involves our heroine Juliette from Oscar Season who has escaped to Italy leaving her life in Hollywood far behind. Juliette might have thought she was going to get away Hollywood, but Hollywood is everywhere and soon she is saving a strung out starlet from self-destruction in the wake of her co-star’s death by overdose (or was it?). Before you know it, the filmmakers have descended on her Tuscan estate, where sex drugs and death is the order of the day.

We hear it is called The Starlet. Bellisimo.

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