From Friends to The Thick Of It, the TV sitcom has evolved – but it’s no longer in rude health. Enter offbeat shows like Stath Lets Flats, bringing joy and potential redemptionThe sitcom has a long history of being dead. According to the former NBC president of entertainment, Warren Littlefield, in the early 1980s many people believed the sitcom was over. In 1999, Entertainment Weekly noted the genre’s demise. In 2005, so did Victoria Wood. The following year, the former ITV director of programmes, David Liddiment, made a programme called Who Killed the Sitcom? In the decade and a half since, similar questions have been posed repeatedly by publications on both sides of the Atlantic. Declaring the sitcom dead now seems more like an annual ritual than a convincing take on the state of comedy. But what if this time it’s actually true?There are a few reasons why the sitcom seems, if not comprehensively deceased, then at least less responsive than it has ever been. In terms of the comedy zeitgeist, the sadcom – a frequently bleak drama hybrid – continues to rule (see: I May Destroy You, Feel Good, This Way Up, Insecure). Streaming giants increasingly shape our viewing habits, and they don’t tend to make sitcoms (their discrete episodic plots mean they are not very bingeworthy, for a start). The newly established National Comedy Awards, meanwhile, doesn’t include a sitcom category, while Bafta dropped its sitcom award in 2015 and replaced it with one for scripted comedy: this... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-10-26 14:35:04 UTC ]
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Tom Spurgeon, author, editor, comics critic, blogger, and executive director of the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus comics festival, died of unknown causes in Columbus, Ohio, on November 13. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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On May 17, 1973, the first witness to testify in the Senate’s Watergate hearings took the stand. It wasn’t former White House Counsel John Dean, or former Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, or the burglar James McCord, but Robert C. Odle, Jr., a “baby-faced” 29-year-old who had been the office... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-11-13 13:14:35 UTC ]
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In “The Andromeda Evolution,” Daniel H. Wilson tracks a new infection that threatens humanity. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-12 13:16:00 UTC ]
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In "The Andromeda Evolution," Daniel H. Wilson tracks a new infection that threatens to destroy humanity. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-11 09:48:48 UTC ]
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Two digital media veterans say the industry isn’t dying, just taking a different shape. Bleak headlines about the demise of the media world seem to appear almost daily. Is it possible for digital media to even survive?Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-11-07 16:45:58 UTC ]
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Set in 1946 in Little, Rock, Ark., 'Two Dead' by Van Jensen and Nate Powell is the fictional story of Gideon Kemp, a returning WWII veteran and trained law enforcement officer, secretly recruited to the police force by the city’s mayor in an effort to put an end to the sadistic, violent tenure... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Dead Reckoning, the graphic novel imprint of the Naval Institute Press, has teamed with Marvel Comics to produce 'Atlas at War,' a hardcover collection of classic combat comics stories created by a group of now-acclaimed artists, among them Jack Kirby, Bernie Krigstein, and John Severin. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Please Don’t Eat Me,’ ‘The Poison Eaters,’ ‘Fight for the Forest’ and ‘Look Both Ways’ Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-21 23:13:39 UTC ]
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This week on The Maris Review, John Hodgman joins Maris Kreizman to discuss his new book, Medallion Status, now available from Viking. On the genesis of his new book: John: I just came back from the Barnes & Noble store managers’ conference in Orlando. Maris: Wow. What was that like? John:... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-10-17 08:48:15 UTC ]
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The audiobook version of “Catch and Kill” features first-rate reporting and some wince-worthy character work. (You do NOT want to hear him do Trump’s voice.) What: The least necessary vocal inflection in recent memory.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-10-16 14:20:58 UTC ]
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Lime Pictures has acquired television rights for Malcolm Duffy's young adult debut novel, Me Mam. Me Dad. Me., about a young boy trying to make sense of his mother's abusive relationship. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 00:42:15 UTC ]
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Liverpool indie Dead Ink has bought Cat Step, a novel by Alison Irvine, author of The Road is Red, in what publishing director Nathan Connolly called a "significant" acquisition. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-14 02:38:41 UTC ]
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Hachette Children’s Group will publish Diary of a Confused Feminist by debut author Kate Weston next year, after striking a two-book deal with the former stand-up comedian. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-13 15:30:58 UTC ]
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MGM Television has bought the rights for Eoin Colfer’s first fantasy novel for adults, Highfire (Jo Fletcher Books). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-13 12:09:59 UTC ]
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Don Brown’s graphic nonfiction book “Fever Year” skillfully brings young readers directly into the (gruesome) action. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-10-07 16:04:59 UTC ]
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Sometimes an ad gets just a little too truthful for its own good. By the time this 1972 full-pager for Benson & Hedges 100’s ran in Life magazine, smoking was widely understood to be associated with a range of serious diseases. So, sure, let’s equate using our product to jumping out of a... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-30 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Cressida Cowell has argued that the industry will become "dead in the water" without more support for children's reading, as she reiterated her campaign to make school libraries a statutory requirement. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-24 04:02:45 UTC ]
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The Walking Dead artist and former UK Comics Laureate Charlie Adlard is publishing a collection of illustrations from across his career with BHP Comics. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-16 11:43:20 UTC ]
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Orion Fiction has signed a “laugh out loud” debut by former English teacher Gillian Harvey about what happens with a PR whizz and clean-eating influencer’s life falls apart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-04 09:34:13 UTC ]
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Audible's push into original content now includes a team-up with a company best-known for its comic books and TV shows. The Amazon-owned audiobook service has struck a deal with Skybound, the team behind The Walking Dead, to create multiple Audible... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-08-13 18:43:00 UTC ]
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