Skeleton Crew is my pick of the week

Skeleton Crew leads my picks this week, with a more reserved endorsement of Erin Markey's A Ride on the Irish Cream. You can skip Our Mother's Brief Affair, though. The low-down is here.

Cats is a musical that can end friendships

Cats is back and I'm happy about it! Read my take on why this show is so divisive here.

London Spy

Spying is almost an afterthought in London Spy, an excellent new miniseries on BBC America. Rather, the show looks at the construction of identity, and how said identity helps us construct our lives -- or contributes to ruin our lives. My review's here.

TV characters and their tragic flaws

Of course characters must be multi-faceted, but does one of those facets must include a drug addiction? Some examples and more in my piece here.

Mercy Street

PBS tries its hand at original drama, with unsteady results. Did we really need the brilliant surgeon to have a morphine addiction?!? My review's here.

Noises Off

One of the best things about the new Noises Off is the playbill for Nothing On, the show-within-the-show. As for the rest, this is a textbook example of a production being less than the sum of its sterling parts. My review's here.

Gillian Anderson talks X-Files

I talked with Gillian Anderson again (be still, my heart!), and this time it was about the return of The X-Files. I admit it: I got emotional when I heard that theme music again. Click here for the chat.

Looking back at MADtv with Nicole Parker

I've long been a Nicole Parker fan so it was a pleasure to chat with her about MADtv. Click here for our convo, as well as some choice YouTube clips.

January's theater festivals

What CMJ is to music fans, January is to theater lovers — especially if they go for experimental fare, because Broadway this ain't. I picked five shows that looked promising, at least to me, because in the end the one requirement is: What would I go see? Click here for more deets.

My weekend with Cristin Milioti

Cristin Milioti's in Lazarus until the end of the month, and just finished a stint in Fargo's second season. Busy! Fortunately she still goes out on weekend. See you at Bareburger!