Michael Russnow
- Birthday
- March 29
- Bio
- Screenwriter, columnist, former Member of the Writers Guild of America, West Board of Directors and former U.S. Senate Aide
MY RECENT POSTS
- Survivor Finale: Why Was Erik
Reichenbach Ignored?
May 13, 2013 05:37AM - LA Fitness Customer Service:
Got Complaint? See What
Happens
April 23, 2013 05:07AM - Why MacFarlane's John Wilkes
Booth Joke Didn't Work
February 27, 2013 06:20AM - Oscars: Seth MacFarlane Best
When Not Trying To Be Funny
February 25, 2013 04:54AM - What's Happened to the Los
Angeles Times and Other
Dailies?
February 19, 2013 05:01AM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “But as we are in a
political system and these are
political
offices with
candidat…”
May 14, 2012 09:01PM - “Many thanks, Frank, and
I think more agree with us
than
don't.”
February 10, 2012 06:16AM - “Thank you, Moore, and I
apologize. It was very late --
no
excuse, but I stand
co…”
January 04, 2012 04:52PM - “Well, I don't think it's
exactly the same as with
the
Democrats in 2008, as
Obama…”
January 04, 2012 12:01PM - “Thanks, Patricia, and,
as to your husband and his
parents
saying that our way
is…”
September 15, 2011 03:57PM
Michael Russnow's Links
Survivor Finale: Why Was Erik Reichenbach Ignored?
Erik Reichenbach was a contestant on CBS' Survivor twice, first in Micronesia and the most recent season, in both instances coming in fifth out of twenty contestants, indicating pretty good game play on his part.
However, in the first outing at age 22 his exit was precipitated… Read full post »
LA Fitness Customer Service: Got Complaint? See What Happens
LA Fitness, a national gym chain which took over Bally's locations in Southern California, has an almost impossible methodology regarding customer complaints. If you go to their website, you will find no telephone contacts or even an email address to communicate with someone in the corporate… Read full post »
Why MacFarlane's John Wilkes Booth Joke Didn't Work
In the aftermath of my review of the Oscars and that of many others who seemed to agree Seth MacFarlane's humor was often wanting, I thought I'd offer a postscript as to why for most people the John Wilkes Booth joke didn't work.
It had nothing to… Read full post »
Oscars: Seth MacFarlane Best When Not Trying To Be Funny
This year's Oscar show on ABC has wrapped after a bit over three and a half hours and there were a bunch of great moments, a bit of tedium with a lot of disappointment over the tasteless antics of host Seth MacFarlane.
Look, I'm not a prude,… Read full post »
What's Happened to the Los Angeles Times and Other Dailies?
In Saturday's Los Angeles Times' Calendar section on the TV listing page there was a note to readers, which informed us that starting February 26 they will no longer show the TV schedule, directing us to search on-line for each day's programming. They also tell us… Read full post »
Frank Eudy's Ouster on Big Brother Showed No Integrity
I've never written about Big Brother before, having not considered it as noteworthy as shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor. But I have watched every season and it can be intriguing at times, with some contestants fascinating to watch with their inflated egos and overblown personalities.… Read full post »
Romney's Speech Pleasant, but Mostly a Crock
If Mitt Romney wanted to connect with his audience, he mostly succeeded, at least with the audience inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum. He was measured in tone, not really bombastic and full of pronouncements of love about his family and what he hopes for America.… Read full post »
Obama Would Be a Citizen Even if Born in Kenya
All this nonsense about Barack Obama's citizenship, recently alluded to by Mitt Romney, who lamely insisted it was a joke, should have long ago been dismissed as untrue.
Not because he was born in Honolulu, which records submitted by Mr. Obama through long and short-form birth certificates… Read full post »
Last week I got my sample ballot for the upcoming California primary and opened the booklet to the page for the United States Senate candidates.
I was almost blinded by the array of twenty-four candidates listed randomly in one huge roster. It was not even alphabetical,… Read full post »
2012 Oscars: Billy Crystal Has Been Better In Past Years
The Academy Awards was a lot better than last year's offering and generally moved along pretty well. However, Billy Crystal's performance was mixed. Sometimes he was spot on and in other instances resorted to forced humor that missed its mark.
After Morgan Freeman's opening we… Read full post »
The Obama Conundrum: Is Accepting Super PAC Money Hypocrisy?
What's all this nonsense about liberals on the far left accusing President Obama and his team of hypocrisy because they've decided to level the playing field with the mega-rich Republicans by accepting Super PAC money to rev up for this year's presidential campaign?
Not to mention carping… Read full post »
The 2012 Golden Globes: The Taming of Ricky Gervais
For the past two years I've written reviews of The Golden Globes excoriating Ricky Gervais for mostly tedious humor and lapses in judgment that resulted in so-called jokes that were in severely bad taste.
I'm not a prude and have enjoyed Gervais in the past when he… Read full post »
In reviewing the Iowa Caucuses, wherein former Governor Mitt
Romney achieved his desired victory with a margin of eight votes
over former Senator Rick Santorum, I can only conclude that the
votes demonstrate conclusively Shakespeare was right about the
masses and their follow the pack mentality.
Refer… Read full post »
Some Memories of Hollywood Great Hal Kanter
The great writer/director/bon vivant wit Hal Kanter died on Sunday at the ripe old age of 92. And it got me to remembering, and I decided to share the thoughts with you.
Many of you will recognize the name of the creator of Julia, many Bob Hope films, and… Read full post »
Last week I was among hundreds who gathered in downtown Los Angeles, having been summoned for jury duty. It was my first time in awhile -- I've been out of town a lot -- and, with a political background, was
… Read full post »In reading all the stuff about Anthony Weiner and his foolish tweeting escapades, I can't help feeling the media has once again expanded the significance to gain ratings. Don't get me wrong. I don't condone what Congressman Weiner did
… Read full post »Chekhov Alive and Well in Hollywood
Texting in Theatres: Create Apps to Obstruct Rude People
I'm a fan of new technology and was among the first on my block to buy a VCR. I've also been surfing the Internet for many years and bought a cell phone not long after plans became affordable.
So, I'm
… Read full post »I don't write much about CBS' Survivor series, but I occasionally chime in on the finales, as I did a year and a half ago to blast Russell Hantz' utter lack of class and to cheer on Jud "Fabio" Birza's unexpected victory this past
… Read full post »Citigroup Continues its Dance With Reverse Splits: Why?
Citigroup just sent me its annual statement and ballot to vote on suggestions from its Board of Directors, which, among other things, extends its flirtation with a reverse split that began two years ago.
For those unaware, a reverse split is
… Read full post »Celebrity Apprentice on NBC is an occasionally intriguing and amusing show wherein celebrities battle each other ostensibly to raise money for charity, but often boils down to whose ego will triumph.
It's also interesting what constitutes "celebrity," and while there
… Read full post »The Academy Awards on ABC opened very well. Okay, not so original, inserting Oscar hosts into nominated film clips, but it was fun. Plus, considering the question mark of having non-comedian movie stars James Franco and Anne Hathaway
… Read full post »Charlie Sheen Ought to Stop Channeling Mel Gibson
Heretofore, I have never been a Charlie Sheen fan nor have I disliked him. I've been disappointed as have many others with his apparent shallow lifestyle and risk-taking with his career. A career he was blessed to have entree to thanks to his father Martin
… Read full post »As I was leaving the Hallmark Of Fame reception at 20th Century Fox' commissary, a studio guard wished me a good night to which I replied, "I can die now, I've met Betty White."
You have to understand that I grew up knowing about Betty White, though… Read full post »
Golden Globes Got Lots Right: But Not With Ricky Gervais
The Golden Globes awards show is reputed to be the most fun of all the industry events, because it mixes motion pictures and TV, focuses on glamour rather than technical categories and everyone is sitting at dinner tables, drinking and
… Read full post »
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com