Nancy Drew is iconic to say the least. She's OG. She's been a teenager way longer than Bart Simpson has been a ten year old and has been inspiring readers, boys and girls alike, for decades. She has a very deep bag of tricks at her disposal. Codebreaking? Nancy's on it. Deductive reasoning? No problem. … Continue reading Page To Screen: Nancy Drew
Shall We Dance?
*click* I've said this before, but I'll say it again: One of my favorite shows growing up was (and still is) The Wonder Years. For those who might not be familiar with the series, it's first set in 1968 and ends in 1974, and follows Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his friends, Winnie (Danica McKellar) and … Continue reading Shall We Dance?
Being the Ricardos (Frank Analysis With A Few Spoilers)
OK, when I first heard about Aaron Sorkin's new film, Being the Ricardos, I hesitated, particularly when I found out Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem were playing Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz--they're not the first people who come to mind when I picture a Lucy-Desi biopic. I don't picture anyone in a Lucy-Desi biopic because I don't … Continue reading Being the Ricardos (Frank Analysis With A Few Spoilers)
Of Marriages and Mortgages
Hello, Mr. Brett... When Carissa announced this blogathon I felt a wee bit giddy because Sherlock Holmes always comes to mind when I think of Jeremy Brett. He IS Sherlock Holmes in my opinion, no offense to any of the other guys who have played the character. However, I wanted to look at Brett's other … Continue reading Of Marriages and Mortgages
Before Stars Hollow, Part Two
On to our second gallery of Gilmore Girls luminaries, and as you'll no doubt notice, the names here are decidedly bigger than yesterday's, not that yesterday's were too shabby or anything. Again, I had to make a lot of deep cuts, but it's all good. Off we go... Liza Weil (Paris) Two years before she donned Chilton's … Continue reading Before Stars Hollow, Part Two
Before Stars Hollow, Part One
November seems to be Gilmore Girls Month on Taking Up Room. I don't know why. Maybe it's because November is when their limited series hit Netflix. Anyway, I was watching The Sentinel a few months ago and saw a familiar face pop up. Who was it? I'll tell you all later. Long story short, it occurred to … Continue reading Before Stars Hollow, Part One
Anne Meets Mrs. Fanning
Hello, Ms. Bancroft... Anne Bancroft was, of course, a busy lady of both stage and screen, and every once in a while those two planes collided, such as in the BBC production of Paddy Chayefsky's The Mother. The play is set in the Bronx, New York in 1954 and deals with family, aging, and accepting reality. … Continue reading Anne Meets Mrs. Fanning
Oz Goes Highland
Ye Scots, wha wish auld Scotland well! One of the most popular characters on the Christy TV show was, by far, Doctor Neil MacNeill, and one of the most popular show arcs was the triangle between Christy (Kellie Martin), Neil and preacher David Grantland (Randall Batinkoff). Neil was wonderfully played by Stuart Finlay-McLennan, who seemed to burr with the … Continue reading Oz Goes Highland
Page To Screen: Anne Frank Remembered
Miep Gies was the last of the Secret Annex helpers to survive, passing away in 2010 just shy of her 101st birthday. She and Anne had a special sisterly relationship from the time Anne was four, and naturally people wanted to know more about that. In 1987, she published a book, Anne Frank Remembered, with Alison Leslie … Continue reading Page To Screen: Anne Frank Remembered
Oh, It’s You, Mr. Lee
Hello, all... One of the interesting things about Sir Christopher Lee is that he never turned his nose up at a good part whether it was large or small, and over the course of his career he amassed quite a selection of bit roles in various films and TV shows. There wasn't a lot of … Continue reading Oh, It’s You, Mr. Lee
Onward, Duplicitous Humies
Who here has seen JourneyQuest? If not, what are you waiting for? Not to be confused with the Colorado rafting company, JourneyQuest premiered in 2010, the brainchild of writers Kate Marshall and Matt Vancil, the latter of whom also directed a few episodes and played a character named Wharrgarbil. The show has caught on in … Continue reading Onward, Duplicitous Humies
Be Kind, Rewind
Click... Ah, Red Dwarf. Part Star Trek send-up, part Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy and part sitcom, it's original enough that it's taken on a life of its own since its 1988 debut. It's such a big deal that the Red Dwarf Fan Club holds a convention every year, with cosplay and panel discussions with cast members. There … Continue reading Be Kind, Rewind
I Just Want To Be Evil
Joan Collins, darlings, and not a swimming pool in sight. As we've talked about before, Hollywood lined up to guest star on the Batman TV show, and one of the favored few was Joan Collins, who played a wily woman known as the Siren. She was fresh off an appearance on Star Trek and not well-known to … Continue reading I Just Want To Be Evil
A Partial Defense of “Bunheads”
Amy Sherman-Palladino once said that she peaked with Gilmore Girls. "It's me under a bus after this." Well, you can't keep a good writer down, and Sherman-Palladino is still at it. Her second artistic follow-up to Gilmore Girls was 2012's Bunheads, a show that brought in mixed-to-favorable reviews and unfortunately only ran for a single season. The … Continue reading A Partial Defense of “Bunheads”
We Gather Together
What are you thankful for? OK, you all know one of my all-time favorite shows is Christy (read my earlier thoughts here). The show had a short life, but they did manage to make one feature-length holiday special, "The Sweetest Gift," which originally aired on November 24, 1994. As it leads up to Thanksgiving and … Continue reading We Gather Together
Holy Guest Star, Batman
Mr. Johnson's back... When Batman was on TV in the 60s, it seemed like every star in Hollywood lined up to take their turn at being a villain, and one of these was Van Johnson. Early in Season Two, he played the Minstrel, a devious lute player who sets his sights on the Gotham City Stock Exchange … Continue reading Holy Guest Star, Batman
The Binge Goes On
Aaaaand we're still quarantined in California. I won't give my opinion of certain people in charge of my state except to say, "Question everything," and "Consider the source." We do have light at the end of the tunnel, of course, but staying inside is definitely having its effects. A couple of weeks ago my dad … Continue reading The Binge Goes On
Taking Up Room 