MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Adam Sternbergh

  1. Because We ForgiveNo. 34 As you contemplate your year-end resolutions and attempt to rectify the misdeeds in your recent life, consider this: New York is all abo […]
  2. Repeat After MeCatchphrases are the new punch lines.
  3. Beware the Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations!Well, it’s official: If you haven’t yet seen ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ there’s no way you can see it now without being at least a little disappointed.
  4. Holiday JittersWe were busy ticking off our pre-holiday to-do lists: power shopping (check); hunting bears in New Jersey (check); undoing a year’s worth of ca […]
  5. Touchy FeelyIn fact, last week resounded with animosity. But come on, folks, it’s almost the holidays—let nothing you dismay!
  6. History of ‘The Producers’: Part IIIThe filming of Mel Brooks’s Broadway triumph was supposed to be a rollicking event. But sometimes even in comedy, tragedy intervenes.
  7. The In-TowniesNatives could take this holiday moment to step back, take stock, or better yet, get the hell out of Dodge.
  8. Beware the Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations!ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy has built up just enough positive word of mouth to ensure that, when you finally tune in, you’ll be slightly disappointed.
  9. Win and LoseWhile there’s never really a good week to be a white guy with Jheri curls, last week was a particularly bad one.
  10. Sometimes a Candle Is More Than a CandleAn innocent gift can send all kinds of messages, depending on whom you’re giving it to. The meaning of presents, unwrapped.
  11. ClarificationBeloved blues musician or muttonchopped POTUS?
  12. Canceled TV D.A. Leads Jury, Can’t Find her Mark“The first couple of times I approached the grand jury, I was looking around for my mark,” Carlson says.
  13. Turn On. Tune In. Take Over.Viewers, light your torches! The television revolution is at the gates.
  14. Beware the Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations!Oscar buzz works on a reverse sonic-boom principle: Your hear it (the buzz) before you see it (the movie).
  15. Shrewd AwakeningKim Cattrall spins her HBO mojo into a message of sexual empowerment. Hey, there are worse ways to get typecast.
  16. Arch RivalsDavid Spade and Stephen Colbert are the Goofus and Gallant of Comedy Central. So why is Goofus’s show better?
  17. Beware the Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations!The first-wave audience is pleasantly surprised, but the second-wavers feel let down; then the third wave finds it’s not as bad as they’ve heard […]
  18. One Night. Five Open-Mike Shows. Hundreds of Lousy Jokes.A Monday spent on the front lines of comedy.
  19. ClarificationIndie satire or swimsuit model?
  20. Sweet and ViciousNine years ago, Magnolia started a revolution. But now the bakery’s children are going to court to fight over the crumbs. The sticky tale of […]
  21. Mommy Dearest: Jessica WalterAnyone can play a bitch. The trick is to play a bitch we can root for. In the first season of Fox’s Arrested Development, Lucille Bluth, the fam […]
  22. Desperate CouplesInconceivable finds the heartbreak in infertility—and the comedy.
  23. Mensch and SupermenschIn Head Cases, Adam Goldberg proves once again that neurotic wack jobs can be sexy too.
  24. Turn Your Head and GiggleMark Leyner and an M.D. pal squeeze a best seller out of bodily curiosities.
  25. Dorothy SnarkerComedian Kathy Griffin either loves to hate Hollywood or hates to love it. Just so long as she’s part of the show.
  26. Instant ReplayMocking the 2004 election—again.
  27. Totally Hot Fake Couples!For publicity-savvy celebrities, a sultry summer romance is the ultimate photo op. Forget Brangelina. Jennifer Aniston, meet W. Mark Felt.
  28. Bad Boy: Bobby Brown“Everybody wants to know what Bobby Brown is doing, so I figured I’d give it to them without the middleman.”
  29. I Want My Gay TVWhich television series appeals to a lesbian soccer mom, a Chelsea gym bunny, and you? Ask Brian Graden, the mastermind behind the new cable c […]
  30. Don’t Look BackWhen Felicity graduated, so did Keri Russell—to New York City and freedom.
  31. Polymath: Betsy CarterI wrote the memoir, and there are certain people I still expect to jump out of the bushes and kill me. This way, no one’s going to hold me accou […]
  32. Left Hook: Al FrankenWe’re halfway between what Imus does and what Stern does. Imus’s show goes out live on MSNBC. With Stern’s there’s a lot more postproduction and […]
  33. Loudmouth: Mario CantoneI’m sure I’ll lose, but I’m in there with the biggest heavy hitters in the comedy world. I feel included for the first time.
  34. HBO overactsSomeone might want to tell HBO that the business of acting is disproportionately interesting to actors themselves.
  35. We’re All Nerds NowThe cycle started by Star Wars has hijacked the culture, creating a paradise for nerds. And guess what? You’re one, too.
  36. AftershockSince the “Sensation” explosion, Chris Ofili has turned inward—and gone to the beach.
  37. Gone PublicRemember back when reality stars were anonymous nobodies? A lament for the good old days.
  38. Actor-Director : John TurturroUsually, if I put my mind to something, by hook or crook I get it done. I’ve made a career of doing that. Maybe I’d be better off if I took some […]
  39. Getting the HookAs rumors of cancellation spread, Arrested Development rages against the dying of the light.
  40. Wit: Christopher GuestI find it really appalling when people talk about comedy. The minute you start pontificating, it’s like, “Please don’t be alive anymore.”
  41. Good-bye, ‘NYPD Blue’!The last cop show with characters.
  42. Smarty PantsThe star of Thom Pain is the talk of the town. Will success get James Urbaniak just what he deserves?
  43. Lizzie Grubman’s Star VehicleIs the original Power Girl a new woman?
  44. Back in a FlashJennifer Beals has finally shed her girl-in-a- torn-sweatshirt image in favor of a decidedly different, grown-up kind of sexuality.
  45. Dispatchers: Joe and Harry GantzTaxicab Confessions is exactly what it sounds like: backseat confessions, captured by hidden cameras.
  46. The Passion of the ChristosThe Gates, in Central Park, 26 years in the making, mile upon mile of billowing fabric, is the largest artwork since the Sphinx. But […]
  47. Gal Friday: Traylor HowardNatalie on Monk
  48. Sidekick: Tom PostonCommitted has surprising charm, thanks to offbeat touches and inspired casting, most notably a role for the deadpan Tom Poston as “Clown,” a dyi […]
  49. Parental Units: The Perverse Charm of Stunt CastingStunt casting—in which a character’s parents turn out to be a pair of famous actors—has recently become a favorite ploy for both sitcoms and the […]
  50. Bicoastal DisorderArrested Development star David Cross is returning to New York with an old-school comedy show. With indie cred galore, why does he st […]
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