I am a Scrooge, and yet I will listen to "All I Want for Christmas is You" in July. Both her Christmas albums are great.

Certain genres suffer more than others, I think. With comedies, the trailer is often more hilarious than the actual film itself (I adore the "Anchorman" trailer — the movie not so much). I think most offensive in the past year was "Scream 4", which telegraphed nearly every single death not counting the final victim…

Certain genres suffer more than others, I think. With comedies, the trailer is often more hilarious than the actual film itself (I adore the "Anchorman" trailer — the movie not so much). I think most offensive in the past year was "Scream 4", which telegraphed nearly every single death not counting the final victim…

I feel embarrassed that I had never heard of him before he was name-dropped in Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together."

I feel embarrassed that I had never heard of him before he was name-dropped in Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together."

I say without shame that I had "The Rugrats Movie" soundtrack as a kid and *loved* it; Mya/Blackstreet "Take Me There" still holds up.

I say without shame that I had "The Rugrats Movie" soundtrack as a kid and *loved* it; Mya/Blackstreet "Take Me There" still holds up.

"If I cover my good eye, you look just like Courteney Cox!"

"If I cover my good eye, you look just like Courteney Cox!"

"Succession" is an episode that I didn't realize how much I loved until the second reviewing. Not  only do I love all the jokes about "business juice", but Tina Fey's delivery of mocking animal researchers — "dedicating their lives to live in the jungle" — and then switching to admiration with "…and its noble…

"Succession" is an episode that I didn't realize how much I loved until the second reviewing. Not  only do I love all the jokes about "business juice", but Tina Fey's delivery of mocking animal researchers — "dedicating their lives to live in the jungle" — and then switching to admiration with "…and its noble…

The "Desperate Housewives" finale wasn't perfect, but I thought it did an admirable job of being *somewhat* ballsy with its characters futures (it was said that they never saw each other again), and it also reminded us of how many people it had killed off in its eight-year run.

The "Roseanne" finale had some craziness that was unforgivable — Darlene was really with Mark, and Becky was really with David! Jackie is gay! — but I will forever admire its concept of the ninth season all being part of Roseanne Connor's book that she wrote to get out of her grief after Dan died. When she looks at…

I distinctly remember when she was on the cover of "Teen People" and she was emphatic in her denial of the rumor — saying something along the lines of "I am one of God's children, and as a result I love *ALL* of God's children." And then the sidebar was celebrities who love Lauryn Hill, and white Jennifer Love Hewitt…

I was always tepid watching "Glee" because I knew it was from the guy from "Nip/Tuck", a show that had two absolutely excellent seasons and then things fell off a cliff. I wasn't surprised when "Glee" had a similar trajectory (I am also weird and had to stop watching when Kurt got a boyfriend because his life was no…

Sometimes I wonder if the earlier a show is cancelled, the more fondly it will be remembered. I am sure there are better examples, but I think if "Will & Grace" had ended after Season Five (and maaaaaayyyybee Season Six, which had a few gems), it would be heralded as a much funnier show that people usually give it…

Does anyone remember the ABC sitcom "Notes from the Underbelly"? Rachael was the bitchy sidekick to Jennifer Wesfeldt. The show wasn't amazing, but Rachael did a lot with a cliched character (the emotionless hypersexual power attorney), even in an episode when we find out that (gasp!) she had a lesbian relationship.

The books (at least the first 14 — I stopped following them after it finally became evident that the plots were never going to change as Evonavich refuses to let her books have a "jump the shark" moment), especially the first few, have moments of comic gold and characters that an audience can genuinely care about.…

Drew was actually offered the Neve part, but wanted to be the opening victim instead. It was a wise move in hindsight, as it's the most memorable scene of the entire trilogy a decade and a half later.

I just re-read "Charlotte's Web" last week (I was at my mother's house and was in desperate need of something to read while in the bathroom), and couldn't believe how blunt it is in its morbidity. Charlotte's actual death is punctuated with the final sentence, "No one was with her when she died." It's remarkable for…