Phyllis is an uneven show, and kind of a mess, but like Jamie says, its best episodes are pretty great; Mother Dexter is awesome. (Until she died.)

Yeah, the Lou Grant clone was terrible - if played by a perfectly competent actor - and the show introduced a series of swinger/lounge singer types, which never really worked. Still, the show had three pretty great characters - Rhoda, Ida, and Brenda (plus Cartlon) -  but never really realized their potential; it was…

When I was a kid, I remember coming downstairs one morning and seeing my grandmother, who was staying with us and was somewhat eccentric. You should have seen her rave about Rhoda's wedding, which had just aired the night before. "Mary Tyler Moore was there!" You would have thought her own daughter had just gotten…

My Black Adder advice is skip the first season entirely. It isnt' that great and really doesn't go with the rest of the series.

The people at Woodbury must be the dumbest people in the world. First, they want to leave the compound, and face almost certain death. Then they are turned around by a ridiculous speech by Andrea.

"Just One Person" is a wonderful bittersweet song.

Don't dis Lou and Mary. It was the backbone of that show.

It's pretty striking how the Lou-Mary relationship (grumpy older man, idealistic young woman) still basically provides the template for the Jack-Liz relationship and the Ron-Leslie relationship on Parks and Rec.

The Murray-falling-for-Mary episode (a few episodes before) is well-handled and incredibly well-acted, if a little out of nowhere.

Her horrible cameo on Hot in Cleveland may be the last thing she does. Which would really be sad, given the career she's had.

To Little Red Covette (haven't figured out how to tag):

The theme song in MTM's last season vaguely reeks of disco.

The mother, sister and Rhoda are all great characters, and yet Rhoda is often pretty meh. (IMO, of course.) The wedding episode is definitely a classic. I remember my grandmother the morning after it aired, she was so excited, it was like her own child got married.

One in the many many things I don't like about Hulu Plus is it constantly features ads for this movie. 

Yeah, I love Randy, but not 12 Songs. Can't see why people like it; I find it a huge bore. Good Old Boys and Sail Away all the way. Some of his modern stuff, like Bad Love, is pretty good too.

Well you are entitled to your opinion, but the main reason it works for me is because he's also a damn fine tunesmith and songwriter. Lyrics are one thing but in the end you want hummable tunes.

Heartbreak Kid and Mikey and Nicky are both amazing and are two of my favorite films of all time. HK in particular is a pioneering cringe comedy, but with a little more heart and humanity than the cringe comedy of today. And MIkey and Nicky just rules, as sloppy as it is at times.

I haven't seen Alice in years, but it struck me as one of those 70s sitcoms, like Good Times or One Day at Time, that may have started out trying to explore a serious subject matter (in this case, working single blue-collars moms; the original opening ended with her soaking her aching feet) and just ended up…

A few years ago I watched Cooley High and was shocked how What's Happening - the lovable goofy show I used to love as a kid (and found surprisingly entertaining when reruns aired on Nick at Nite) - was the product of such a depressing, tough-minded movie. I can't even say whether Cooley High was good or bad - I was…

A few years ago I watched Cooley High and was shocked how What's Happening - the lovable goofy show I used to love as a kid (and found surprisingly entertaining when reruns aired on Nick at Nite) - was the product of such a depressing, tough-minded movie. I can't even say whether Cooley High was good or bad - I was…