Top Ny Times News

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Saturday, 6 April 2013

TV Watch: Finally I understand why ABC hasn't been able to find a show to go with "The Middle," "Suburgatory," and "Modern Family"

Posted on 21:00 by Ashish Chaturvedi

Polly (Sarah Chalke, mercifully back to camera), stepdad Max (Brad Garrett), and mom Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins) in ABC's latest hit, How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life). In case you hadn't heard, Max only has one ball. You can see a "Just the Jokes" clip here.

by Ken

The things I do in the name of blogorific responsibility!

As we all know, ABC has -- for a change -- a hole in its Wednesday-night comedy lineup. Amazingly, the hole doesn't seem to have been plugged by this fall's The Neighbors, which I've seen described (and not pejoratively!) as a "suburban alien comedy." Somehow you could tell that The Neighbors wasn't going to be Third Rock from the Sun, which showed that you could actually have an "alien comedy" that was smart and funny.

So this week ABC was promoting a newcomer to the Wednesday lineup, a surefire hit called How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your LIfe)?" Well, okay, you think, shows with even hideouser titles have not totally sucked. No, I can't think of one offhand, but my memory isn't what it used to be.

Wait, two seasons ago CBS offered us $#*! My Dad Says, a breakthrough of sorts: a show whose name literally couldn't be pronounced. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. More recently ABC itself offered us the resplendent Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, which I've seen a supposedly respectable critic defend as some sort of breakthrough, though to me it seemed peopled with stunningly repellent characters I hoped would all become victims of the slasher who would be introduced in a mid-episode genre switcheroo.

It's hard to believe, but somehow I forgot to record HTLWYP (FTROYL). I actually checked ABC's "On Demand" listings, and it hasn't turned up there, at least as of yet. So I cooked up this idea of writing a post called something like "Say, did anybody watch that How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your LIfe)?"

But no, it occurred to me that I might be able to watch it online, and alas, I did. (You can too, here.) Now, it has to be possible to do a show about an adult child moving back in with his/her parents, which is certainly a theme for our times. And no, I don't mean the assaultively hideous (and now mercifully canceled) Enlightened, which at least does make it clear what a horror it is in this case for the afflicted mom, suddenly re-saddled with her monstrous self-absorbed leech of a brain-dead offspring (played, in somebody's idea of a joke, by actual mom-and-daughter Diane Ladd and Laura Dern). I've actually seen an admiring critic -- come to think of it, I believe it was the same critic who thought Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was something special who I've seen claim that Amy, the Laura Dern character, is "idealistic" and "pure." Say, is there drug testing for TV critics?

Even in the promos for HTLWYP (FTROYL), it was surprising to see so many familiar faces, or maybe I should say "recycled" faces. The tail-between-her-legs daughter-mom is Sarah Chalke, and while I am one of the few people who didn't think she absolutely sucked as "the other Becky" when Lecy Goranson took her college leave from Roseanne, and I watched Scrubs occasionally and would concede that she was by no means the most obnoxious feature of the show (with Zach Braff leading the obnoxiousness charge every week, how could she hope to be?), I cringed my way through an episode of this.

Like when her twerpy boss at the upscale food store where she's gotten work in the six months since she moved in with the 'rents turns out to be trying to get her attention to call that attention to the cute guy in the store, and she actually collars him for a date, is there anyone who doesn't know that it's going to be a disaster? At the same time, is there anyone who cares which species of TV disaster date it's going to be? For the record, he gets falling-down drunk, and forces Polly to draw on the services of her still-hanging-around ex-husband, the goofily Peter Pannish Julian (Jon Dore), who I think is supposed to be charming. You can decide that one for yourself.

Then there are Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett as Polly's mom and stepdad, Elaine and Max. Elaine may in fact be a breakthrough sitcom character: a mom who's a rummy and a slut. The only thing you need to know about Max is that he has a stud or something in one ear, and he has only one ball.

I noticed online that one writer detects some influence from Arrested Development. See note above about drug testing for TV critics.

You may be thinking, it doesn't sound all that awful. Actually, I'm not making it sound as awful as I found it -- the details are just too preposterous, and nauseating.

But watching it did make me focus on, and I think finally understand, the problem ABC is having trying to plug the holes on Wednesday night. It all goes back to the fall of 2009, when The Middle and Modern Family were introduced as part of the network's newly created Wednesday comedy night. That's two genuinely first-rate shows -- one of them in fact looking like it's going to be one of the historic TV comedy triumphs -- introduced on the same night in the same season. How often does that happen?

But what I suddenly found myself thinking was: Nobody at ABC knows (a) how those shows got on its schedule or (b) why they were successful. Certainly neither has anything in common with anything else that ABC has offered in modern times as comedy. So how then would you intentionally introduce two more shows to fill out the two-hour block? Looked at this way, it's something of a miracle that the network last season came up with Suburgatory, which looked like it was just going to be endless cheap shots at boring suburbia (which I'm assuming is what the ABC execs thought it would be) as divorced father and blossoming teenage daughter George and Tessa Altman (Jeremy Sisto and the radiant Jane Levy) move from hip New York City to stultifying whatever-the-name-of-the-town-is. However, the writers have made it something quite different from that, involving basic issues of parenting and growing up, of fitting in and not, of insider vs. outsider status, of hopes and especially disappointments.

Again, it's about as far from an "ABC comedy" as one could imagine. And that, I think, is the ABC programming department's Wednesday-night problem: having to think as if they're not ABC programmers.

I think, by the way, that's how they came up with Happy Endings, which I see has just returned to the schedule. Weh's mir. As I recall, the same critic who thinks Enlightened's Amy is pure and idealistic thinks Happy Endings is something special. To me, it's Friends with a set of characters who might have been interesting and appealing but were instead made, by virtue of arrogance, abjectness, or just plain obnoxiousness, generally revolting. I really tried with this bunch, but in the end all I could think of was hoping that that slasher found his way onto this show too.

Meanwhile, this week Modern Family had a simply spectacular outing, and made what must be incredibly difficult look effortless. Pride of place went to the Dunphy household, with Claire (the astounding Julie Bowen, doing one of the tube's stellar characterizations)


OMG, IT'S THE RETURN (FINALLY) OF MAD MEN!

Two hours' worth on AMC tomorrow night. And next Sunday it's the season premiere of Showtime's Nurse Jackie, with the final season of The Big C launching Monday the 29th. Thank you, TV gods!
#
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Middle (The), Modern Family, TV Watch | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Another Manifestation Of The GOP Civil War: Utah's 2 Republicans Parted Ways On Immigration Reform
    Mike Lee & Orrin Hatch What's a Republicano to do? The racist, hate-filled base they've nurtured equates comprehensive immigrat...
  • How Badly Will Obama's Chained CPI Error Hurt Democrats In The Midterms?
    Social Security has long been the third rail of American politics. It has generally kept Republican predators, fearful of losing their caree...
  • Sunday Classics (double) preview: Enter the bird-catcher; exit Sir Colin Davis
    Colin Davis (1927-2013) at home by Ken As I must have mentioned, one of my core LPs in the early getting-to-know-music stage was a budget Se...
  • New York GOP: Cruzin' For A Bruisin'
    I know that the New York State Republican Party had a golden age... but it wasn't during the 20 years I lived in New York-- nor in the d...
  • New Dems Vs Actual Democrats-- Chained CPI
    The Blue Dogs are a discredited, spent force, essentially wiped out in the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 when Democratic voters in their...
  • Mark Smith, Democratic Candidate For Pennsylvania Lt Governor, Rocks... In More Ways Than One
    I've only been to the Bahamas once; it was to visit the legendary, now shuttered, Compass Point Studios in Nassau, where one of our band...
  • EMILY's List Up It Its Old Tricks Again... Trying To Slip In A Corrupt Conservative Over A Progressive Because They Like The Plumbing's Better
    Except when it's bad women candidates like Michele Bachmann, Colleen Hanbusa or Katherine Clark  I got into a friendly Twitter argument ...
  • "Free" Trade-- Another Way For Conservatives To Undermine Democracy
    In the closing to his brilliant book, The Fifteen Biggest Lies About The Economy , Joshua Holland takes on the misleading notion of 'fre...
  • Will Hanabusa's Political Cowardice on LGBT Issues Come Into Play In The Hawai'i Senate Race?
    Last week we took a look at a contentious Senate race shaping up in Hawai'i between progressive incumbent Brian Schatz and more conserv...
  • The new Men's Wearhouse slogan: "You're going to look like crap probably, but now that the old guy's history, see if we care"
    "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it." by Ken Ah, so that's what it was. It seems that in the three mont...

Categories

  • 1848 (1)
  • 1896 presidential election (1)
  • 2012 congressional races (2)
  • 2014 congressional races (34)
  • 2014 gubernatorial races (8)
  • 2016 presidential race (6)
  • 9/11 (1)
  • Aaron Schock (1)
  • abortions (1)
  • accountability (1)
  • ACLU (1)
  • Adam Schiff (3)
  • affirmative action (3)
  • Afghanistan (3)
  • Afghanistan War spending (2)
  • Agriculture Committee (2)
  • Al Kamen (3)
  • Alabama (1)
  • Alan Grayson (19)
  • Alaska (4)
  • Alito (3)
  • Allen West (1)
  • Allyson Schwartz (3)
  • Amnesty International (1)
  • Andrew Hounshell (10)
  • Andrew Maguire (1)
  • Andy Borowitz (2)
  • Ann Callis (1)
  • Ann Coulter (2)
  • Ann Kirkpatrick (1)
  • Ann McLane Kuster (3)
  • Anthony Kennedy (1)
  • Anthony Weiner (1)
  • anti-Semitism (2)
  • Antonin Scalia (2)
  • Appalachian Trail (1)
  • Apple (2)
  • Arizona (6)
  • Arkansas (2)
  • arms trade (1)
  • Army Wives (1)
  • Art Pope (2)
  • Asa Hutchinson (1)
  • Ashburn (3)
  • Asheville (2)
  • austerity (7)
  • Ayatollah Khamanei (1)
  • Ayotte (1)
  • Baca (2)
  • bankruptcy (1)
  • banks (1)
  • banksters (5)
  • Barack Obama (2)
  • Barbara Buono (5)
  • Barney Frank (1)
  • Barrow (6)
  • Bartiromo (1)
  • Beethoven (5)
  • Beltway Dems (1)
  • Beltway journalism (1)
  • Berlioz (1)
  • Bernie Sanders (12)
  • Beyonce (1)
  • Big Oil (7)
  • Big Pharma (1)
  • bigotry (7)
  • Bill Johnson (1)
  • Bill McKibben (2)
  • Bill Moyers (1)
  • bipartisanship (3)
  • Blanche Lincoln (1)
  • bloggers (1)
  • Blue America (1)
  • Blue Dogs (5)
  • Bob Graham (1)
  • Bob Lord (1)
  • Bob Mankoff (3)
  • Bob Scheer (1)
  • Boehner (4)
  • Boehnerland (1)
  • Boston Marathon (6)
  • Brian Schatz (7)
  • bribery (3)
  • Brownback (1)
  • Bruno Walter (3)
  • Bryan Fischer (1)
  • Buck McKeon (11)
  • budget cuts (3)
  • budget deficits (1)
  • Burgess (1)
  • Bush library (1)
  • Bush Regime law-breaking (2)
  • Bush trade policies (1)
  • Bush v. Gore (1)
  • CA-25 (2)
  • CA-45 (1)
  • Calhoun (1)
  • California (7)
  • campaign finance reform (1)
  • Canada (1)
  • Cantor (3)
  • Carl Levin (1)
  • Carl Sciortino (4)
  • Carol Shea-Porter (1)
  • Catholic Church (1)
  • CDC (1)
  • Cecil Bothwell (1)
  • certifiably insane Republicans (2)
  • Chaffetz (1)
  • Chamber of Commerce (1)
  • Charlie Crist (3)
  • Chellie Pingree (1)
  • Cheri Bustos (1)
  • Chicago (2)
  • Chile (1)
  • Chimpy the Prez (1)
  • China (4)
  • Chocola (1)
  • Choice (3)
  • Chris Christie (8)
  • Chris Hayes (7)
  • Chris Matthews (1)
  • Chris Van Hollen (1)
  • CISPA (5)
  • civil rights (4)
  • Clarence Thomas (1)
  • class war (1)
  • clean energy (1)
  • climate (1)
  • climate change (5)
  • Club for Growth (1)
  • Coal (1)
  • Coffman (1)
  • Colbert (6)
  • Collin Peterson (1)
  • Colorado (1)
  • comedy (1)
  • Congress (1)
  • Congressional Budget Office (1)
  • congressional ethics (1)
  • conservadems (5)
  • Conservative Consensus (2)
  • conspiracy theories (1)
  • Constitution of the U.S. (1)
  • contest (3)
  • Corey Robin (1)
  • corporate governance (1)
  • corporate welfare (2)
  • corrupt Democrats (1)
  • Cory Booker (3)
  • Cory Gardner (1)
  • cost of Iraq war (1)
  • courageousness (2)
  • cowardly Dems (1)
  • crack use by Republicans (1)
  • crazy extremists (3)
  • crime and punishment (1)
  • Cuba (1)
  • Culture of Corruption (13)
  • Cyprus (4)
  • DADT (1)
  • Dan Maffei (1)
  • Dana Milbank (4)
  • Darrell Issa (7)
  • David Bowie (1)
  • David Cameron (1)
  • David Chase (1)
  • David Cicilline (2)
  • David Frum (1)
  • David Gill (1)
  • David Neiwert (2)
  • David Vitter (1)
  • Daylin Leach (13)
  • DC (1)
  • DCCC (24)
  • DEA (1)
  • Dean Baker (1)
  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz (6)
  • DEBKA (1)
  • debt ceiling (1)
  • Dede Scozzafava (1)
  • deficits (1)
  • DeMint (2)
  • Democrats (1)
  • derivatives (2)
  • DesJarlais (1)
  • Dianne Feinstein (1)
  • Diaz-Balart (1)
  • Dick Armey (2)
  • Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1)
  • Difference between 2 parties (1)
  • digital dementia (1)
  • disappointment with Obama (1)
  • Dolce & Gabbana (1)
  • DOMA (5)
  • domestic spying (8)
  • domestic terrorism (1)
  • Don Young (1)
  • Donna Edwards (1)
  • DREAM Act (1)
  • drones (4)
  • DSCC (4)
  • E. J. Dionne Jr. (2)
  • E.W. Jackson (1)
  • economic bubbles (1)
  • economic inequality (4)
  • economic sabotage (1)
  • Ed Markey (4)
  • Ed Marksberry (1)
  • Education (2)
  • Edward Snowden (4)
  • Egypt (5)
  • Eisenhower (1)
  • election integrity (1)
  • election theft (1)
  • electronic surveillance (2)
  • Elijah Cummings (1)
  • Eliot Engel (1)
  • elites (2)
  • Elizabeth Warren (8)
  • Ellen Corbett (1)
  • Elvis Costello (1)
  • EMILY's List (5)
  • eminent domain (1)
  • energy policy (1)
  • Enron (1)
  • environment (7)
  • EPA (2)
  • Eric Garcetti (3)
  • estate tax (1)
  • Etzioni (1)
  • European Union (3)
  • Evangelicals (1)
  • evolution (2)
  • extraterrestrials (1)
  • Ezra Klein (2)
  • FAA (1)
  • fake moderates (1)
  • Far Right (1)
  • Farm Bill (3)
  • fascism (5)
  • fast food (1)
  • FDR (1)
  • FEC (1)
  • federal regulatory agencies (3)
  • filibuster (2)
  • financial reform (1)
  • financial-services industry (1)
  • Fincher (2)
  • firefighters (1)
  • Florida (15)
  • Food Network (2)
  • food safety (1)
  • food stamps (3)
  • Fox Noise (2)
  • fracking (1)
  • France (1)
  • Frank Lautenberg (2)
  • Frank Luntz (1)
  • Frank Pallone (2)
  • Fred Upton (2)
  • free trade (3)
  • freedom (1)
  • FreedomWorks (1)
  • freshmen (1)
  • fundraising (2)
  • Gabby Giffords (1)
  • Gail Collins (1)
  • Gallego (1)
  • Garamendi (2)
  • Garrett (3)
  • Gary Miller (2)
  • Gatsby (1)
  • gay equality (5)
  • gay Republicans (10)
  • gender gap (1)
  • genocide (1)
  • Georg Solti (2)
  • George Carlin (1)
  • George Steinbrenner (1)
  • George Szell (1)
  • Georgia (6)
  • Germany (1)
  • Glenn Beck (1)
  • Glenn Greenwald (3)
  • Global Peace Index (1)
  • global warming (2)
  • Gloria Negrete McLeod (2)
  • GOP homophobia (5)
  • GOP racism (4)
  • Grassley (1)
  • Greece (2)
  • Greed and Selfishness (1)
  • Greg Sargent (1)
  • Greg Walden (2)
  • Guantanamo (2)
  • Guatemala (1)
  • gun control (15)
  • Haaretz (1)
  • Hanabusa (5)
  • Handel (2)
  • Harry Reid (1)
  • Hate Talk Radio (1)
  • Hawaii (5)
  • HBO (1)
  • health care (3)
  • health care reform (1)
  • health insurance (1)
  • healthy food (2)
  • Heather Mizeur (1)
  • Heidi Heitkamp (1)
  • Heritage Foundation (2)
  • higher education (3)
  • Hill (The) (1)
  • Hillary Clinton (3)
  • Hispanic voters (3)
  • History Channel (1)
  • homophobia (8)
  • Hong Kong (1)
  • hospitals (1)
  • House Agriculture Committee (1)
  • House Financial Services Committee (3)
  • House of Lords (1)
  • Howard Ahmanson (1)
  • Howard Dean (1)
  • Huffington Post (1)
  • hunger (1)
  • Hypocrisy (2)
  • Ian Welsh (1)
  • Iceland (1)
  • IL-13 (1)
  • IL-17 (1)
  • Illinois (3)
  • immigration (34)
  • income disparity (1)
  • infrastructure (1)
  • Inhofe (1)
  • Inland Empire (1)
  • internalized homophobia (1)
  • Internet (2)
  • Iowa (1)
  • IQ (1)
  • Ira Glass (1)
  • Iran (4)
  • Iraq War (1)
  • IRS (3)
  • Israel (4)
  • Italy (3)
  • Jack Eichenbaum (1)
  • Jack Kingston (2)
  • James Dobson (1)
  • James Surowiecki (1)
  • Jamie Oliver (1)
  • Jane Jacobs (1)
  • Japan (1)
  • Jared Huffman (1)
  • Jay Stamper (9)
  • Jay-Z (1)
  • Jeanne Shaheen (1)
  • Jeff Flake (4)
  • Jeff Merkley (1)
  • Jeff Sessions (2)
  • Jeffrey Sachs (1)
  • Jeffrey Toobin (2)
  • Jennifer Brunner (1)
  • Jennifer Garrison (1)
  • Jerry Nadler (2)
  • Jim Cooper (1)
  • Jim DeMint (1)
  • Jim Graves (5)
  • Jim Himes (2)
  • Jim McDermott (1)
  • Jimmy Carter (1)
  • Jindal (1)
  • Jobs Bill (1)
  • Joe Barton (3)
  • Joe Conason (2)
  • Joe Manchin (1)
  • Joe McNamara (1)
  • Joe Miller (2)
  • Joe Sestak (1)
  • John Aravosis (1)
  • John Barrow (2)
  • John Birch Society (1)
  • John Campbell (1)
  • John Conyers (1)
  • John Cornyn (1)
  • John Delaney (1)
  • John Fleming (2)
  • John Hanger (2)
  • John Kline (3)
  • John Nichols (1)
  • John Paul Stevens (1)
  • John Roberts (2)
  • John Shimkus (1)
  • Jon Vickers (2)
  • Jordan (1)
  • Josef Krips (3)
  • Joseph Crowley (2)
  • Joseph E. Stiglitz (1)
  • Joshua Holland (3)
  • Julian Assange (1)
  • Justin Amash (2)
  • Kansas (1)
  • Karl Boehm (2)
  • Keith Ellison (5)
  • Ken Calvert (1)
  • Ken Cuccinelli (5)
  • Ken Sanders (1)
  • Kentucky (2)
  • Kevin McCarthy (1)
  • Kevin Strouse (1)
  • Keystone XL Pipeline (6)
  • Kibbe (1)
  • Kirsten Gillibrand (1)
  • Klaus Tennstedt (1)
  • Kobach (1)
  • Koch (3)
  • Koch Industries (2)
  • Kolbe (2)
  • Korea (1)
  • Kyrsten Sinema (3)
  • L.A. Times (1)
  • Labor (1)
  • Lady Gaga (1)
  • Larry Flynt (1)
  • Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. (4)
  • Lawson (1)
  • Leadership (1)
  • Lee Fang (9)
  • Lee Rogers (5)
  • Leonard Bernstein (2)
  • LePage (2)
  • LGBT community (10)
  • LGBT equality (11)
  • Libya (1)
  • lies (1)
  • Limbaugh (1)
  • Lindsey Graham (13)
  • Lipinksi (1)
  • Liszt (1)
  • lobbyists (6)
  • Long Island (2)
  • Los Angeles (5)
  • Lou Vince (3)
  • Louie Gohmert (4)
  • Louisiana (2)
  • Mac Thornberry (1)
  • Macklemore (1)
  • Mad Men (1)
  • Magic Flute (2)
  • Maher (3)
  • Mahler (2)
  • Maine (2)
  • Malcolm Smith (1)
  • Malek (1)
  • Marc Maron (2)
  • Margaret Thatcher (4)
  • Marijuana (2)
  • Mark Begich (5)
  • Mark Foley (1)
  • Mark Kirk (1)
  • Mark Pocan (1)
  • Mark Pryor (2)
  • Mark Sanford (7)
  • marriage equality (10)
  • Martha Robertson (1)
  • Maryland (1)
  • Massachusetts (4)
  • Masterpiece Classic (1)
  • Matheson (4)
  • Matt Cartwright (1)
  • Matt Salmon (2)
  • Max Baucus (1)
  • Max Blumenthal (1)
  • Maxine Waters (1)
  • Mayors Against Illegal Guns (1)
  • McCain (2)
  • McCain's vindictiveness (1)
  • McCaul (1)
  • McClintock (1)
  • McCranky (1)
  • McCrory (2)
  • McDonnell (2)
  • McKeon (4)
  • media (2)
  • medical-industrial complex (1)
  • Medicare (1)
  • Melissa Harris-Perry (2)
  • Menendez (1)
  • Mica (3)
  • Michael Bennet (1)
  • Michael Bloomberg (5)
  • Michael Froman (1)
  • Michaud (1)
  • Michele Bachmann (9)
  • Michelle Nunn (4)
  • Michigan (2)
  • Middle (The) (1)
  • Mike Honda (4)
  • Mike Lee (1)
  • Mike Lux (2)
  • Mike McIntyre (7)
  • Mike Obermueller (1)
  • Mike Rogers (2)
  • Mike Ross (1)
  • military industrial complex (4)
  • minimum wage (2)
  • Minnesota (3)
  • Minutemen (1)
  • misogyny (2)
  • Mississippi (1)
  • Mitch McConnell (5)
  • Modern Family (1)
  • Molly Ivins (1)
  • Montana (1)
  • moral clarity (1)
  • Morning Sedition (2)
  • Morrissey (1)
  • Mozart (10)
  • Municipal Art Society (1)
  • Musharraf (1)
  • Music Business (1)
  • Muslim Brotherhood (1)
  • NAFTA (1)
  • Nan Rich (3)
  • Nanci Griffith (1)
  • Nancy Pelosi (1)
  • national parks (1)
  • National Security (3)
  • Nationals Park (1)
  • Neocons (1)
  • Nevada (1)
  • New Dems (20)
  • New Hampshire (2)
  • New Jersey (11)
  • New York (6)
  • New York Review of Books (1)
  • New York State (2)
  • New York Transit Museum (1)
  • New Yorker (The) (5)
  • Nick Ruiz (11)
  • Norman Solomon (1)
  • North Carolina (10)
  • NRA (17)
  • Nurse Jackie (1)
  • Obama's cabinet (1)
  • Obama's stimulus package (1)
  • Obamacans (1)
  • obesity (2)
  • obstructionist Republicans (12)
  • OccupyWallStreet (1)
  • offshore drilling (1)
  • OH-08 (2)
  • Ohio (5)
  • oil spill (1)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Olympia Snowe (1)
  • Orange County (1)
  • Orlando (2)
  • Orrin Hatch (1)
  • Otto Klemperer (3)
  • oversight (1)
  • PA-13 (3)
  • PA-17 (1)
  • Pakistan (1)
  • Palast (1)
  • Palin (2)
  • Pam's House Blend (1)
  • patent reform (1)
  • Patrick Murphy (5)
  • Patsy Keever (1)
  • Paul Broun (6)
  • Paul Clements (2)
  • Paul Kane (2)
  • Paul Krugman (3)
  • Paul Ryan (7)
  • Pennsylvania (7)
  • Pentagon (2)
  • perfidious Republicans (1)
  • Peter King (3)
  • PFAW (2)
  • Phil Gingrey (2)
  • plutocracy (2)
  • polling (1)
  • pollution (2)
  • Pope Francis (3)
  • post office (1)
  • Priebus (1)
  • primaries (6)
  • Pritzker (2)
  • Prop 8 (1)
  • public education (6)
  • Rachel Maddow (13)
  • racism (4)
  • Rafsanjani (1)
  • Rahm Emanuel (1)
  • Rana Husseini (5)
  • Rand Paul (1)
  • rape (5)
  • Raul Grijalva (4)
  • reactionary Democrats (1)
  • regulation (1)
  • Religionist bigotry (3)
  • religious bigotry (2)
  • religious fanatics (2)
  • renewables (1)
  • Renzi (1)
  • Republican brand (1)
  • Republican civil war (15)
  • Republican governors (1)
  • Republican hypocrisy (3)
  • Republican War on Science (2)
  • Republican War on Women (10)
  • retirements (2)
  • Richard and Mildred Loving (1)
  • Richard Mourdock (1)
  • Rick Perlstein (1)
  • Rick Perry (2)
  • Rick Santorum (1)
  • Rick Scott (2)
  • Rick Weiland (2)
  • right-wing bulllies (1)
  • Right-Wing Noise Machine (3)
  • Rivera (1)
  • Rob Ford (1)
  • Rob Portman (2)
  • Rob Zerban (4)
  • Robert Naiman (1)
  • Robert Reich (5)
  • Roberts Court (1)
  • Rodgers and Hammerstein (1)
  • Rohrabacher (2)
  • Ron Barber (3)
  • Ron Paul (2)
  • Ros-Lehtinen (2)
  • Rossini (1)
  • Royce (1)
  • Rubio (11)
  • Rudolf Serkin (1)
  • Rush Holt (2)
  • Russ Feingold (1)
  • Russia (1)
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2)
  • Ryan Lizza (1)
  • same-sex marriage (1)
  • Sandy (2)
  • Sarah Palin- Attack Dog (1)
  • SB 1070 (1)
  • school lunches (1)
  • Schweitzer (1)
  • Science (1)
  • Scott Brown (1)
  • Sean Patrick Maloney (3)
  • secession (1)
  • Seinfeld (1)
  • Senate (1)
  • Senate 2014 (28)
  • Senate 2016 (2)
  • sequester (6)
  • sexism (2)
  • Shameless (1)
  • sheriff (3)
  • Sherrod Brown (1)
  • Simcox (1)
  • Social Security (20)
  • solar energy (2)
  • South Carolina (16)
  • South Dakota (3)
  • Spain (2)
  • special election MA (3)
  • special elections (2)
  • Spitzer (1)
  • Springsteen (1)
  • State Dept (1)
  • Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (2)
  • Stephen Colbert (1)
  • Stephen Lynch (1)
  • Steve Cohen (1)
  • Steve Israel (7)
  • Steve King (5)
  • Steve Stockman (1)
  • stolen valor (1)
  • student loans (6)
  • Sunday Classics (27)
  • Supreme Court (13)
  • Sviatoslav Richter (1)
  • Swalwell (1)
  • Sweden (1)
  • Syria (9)
  • TARP (1)
  • tax havens (1)
  • tax policies (2)
  • tax scofflaws (1)
  • Tea Party (5)
  • teabaggers (5)
  • Ted Cruz (8)
  • Ted Haggard (1)
  • Tennessee (2)
  • terrorism (1)
  • Terry McAuliffe (2)
  • Tesla (1)
  • Texas (4)
  • the nature of conservatism (12)
  • The Sopranos (1)
  • The South (1)
  • ThinkProgress (1)
  • Tim Johnson (2)
  • Tinker (1)
  • tobacco (1)
  • Todd Akin (2)
  • Toledo (1)
  • Tom Coburn (1)
  • Tom Cole (1)
  • Tom Corbett (2)
  • Tom Kean (1)
  • Tony Soprano (1)
  • Toomey (2)
  • Toronto (1)
  • trade policies (4)
  • Trans-Pacific Partnership (1)
  • Trent Franks (1)
  • triangulation (1)
  • Turkey (3)
  • TV Watch (12)
  • twitter (1)
  • U.S. attorneys (1)
  • U.S.-attorney purge (1)
  • UK elections (1)
  • UKIP (1)
  • Umair Haque (1)
  • UN (1)
  • unemployment (3)
  • union-busting (1)
  • unions (1)
  • Urban Gadabout (1)
  • Utah (1)
  • Van Jones (2)
  • violence against women (4)
  • Virginia (5)
  • voter suppression (1)
  • voting records (1)
  • voting rights (7)
  • wacko birds (1)
  • Wagner (4)
  • Wall Street (2)
  • Wall Street bailout (3)
  • Wall Street Journal (1)
  • Wall Street reform (5)
  • war on drugs (1)
  • War on Terror (1)
  • war powers (1)
  • Washington Post (4)
  • water resources (1)
  • Wendy Davis (1)
  • West Virginia (2)
  • Weyrich Lunch (1)
  • WI-1 (4)
  • Wisconsin (4)
  • women's equality (7)
  • work (1)
  • xenophobia (1)
  • Young Republicans (1)
  • youth vote (3)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2013 (500)
    • ►  July (35)
    • ►  June (150)
    • ►  May (153)
    • ▼  April (148)
      • If Gay Marriage Were Legal In 1998, Maybe Paul Cro...
      • Ted Cruz vs Chris Van Hollen-- How To Win Friends ...
      • Well, Of Course Rich Kids Are Smarter Than Poor Kids
      • Colbert's Sister-- Next Tuesday
      • NRA Shills In The Senate In Trouble-- At Least On ...
      • Still-active NBA center Jason Collins comes out --...
      • Is The GOP Still In Thrall To The Lavender Scare?
      • Big Brother Never Goes Away-- CISPA Is A Real Dang...
      • Maybe It Really Isn't Fair To Always Just Blame Th...
      • If you've kept up on your mega-bundling, Paris cou...
      • Awwwwww... Frank Luntz Gets Outed-- And Then Gets ...
      • Sunday Classics: My dark history with the rolllick...
      • Does Anyone Think The Republican Party Is The Same...
      • How Long Before Half the Gays Will Vote Republican?
      • Better Know A District-- Or, Better Yet, A Top Not...
      • TV Watch: Say, has anybody been watching this CBS ...
      • South Carolina Closets
      • Swing Districts-- The Utter Failure Of Steve Israe...
      • Unanimous Consent-- If Not Courageous
      • Sunday Classics re-preview: Enter Donizetti's phon...
      • Ooh please, could we have Todd Akin to kick around...
      • This Tragedy Among GOP Closet Cases Is No Longer I...
      • Big Business And Immigration... And Paul Ryan
      • Conspiracy Theory Lunatics Are Now Part of The Rep...
      • Will Her Fealty To The NRA Cost Kelly Ayotte A New...
      • So what would YOU have said at the opening of Chim...
      • You Might Be A Republican If... You Think First Gr...
      • What Has The Republican Party Done To The American...
      • Guest Post By Jay Stamper, Who's Running For The S...
      • Ugly On The Outside
      • TV Watch: Newfangled ways of measuring time (1): F...
      • Ending Jail Overcrowding in LA County-- Guest Post...
      • EMILY's List Up To No Good Again-- In L.A... And I...
      • NRA And K Street Lose A Powerful Senator-- Max Bau...
      • Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) Who Once Voted For DOMA Is Gettin...
      • American Political Elites Are Really Bad-- Roundup
      • Massachusetts Senate Primary-- One Week From Today
      • Who Remembers Weasel Words? Interpreting Ro Khanna
      • What Can We Learn From What The GOP Is Doing To No...
      • Can The Koch Brothers Turn The L.A. Times Into The...
      • Monday Bits-- Colbert's Sister Going To Congress? ...
      • Will Grassroots Democrats Rise Up And Throw The Bu...
      • Capitalizing On Tragedy
      • Republicans And Their Bankster Buddies Have A Plan...
      • Plato: "The Measure Of A Man Is What He Does With ...
      • How The NRA Prevents Law Enforcement From Catching...
      • Lindsey Graham... Not Courageous
      • Our Chained CPI "Contest" Is Over Tomorrow Morning
      • Surprised That Freaks And Kooks Like Glenn Beck Ar...
      • Mark Smith, Democratic Candidate For Pennsylvania ...
      • Not Enough Retirements In The House To Make Room F...
      • Rep. Steve Southerland In For The Fight Of His Life
      • Lindsey Graham, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Drones, Constit...
      • Pervez Musharraf Returns To Pakistan, Declares He'...
      • Sunday Classics preview: There's something about t...
      • The Lamest Ducks In The House-- A Beltway-Eyed View
      • How Will Peter King Respond To Rick Perry's Reques...
      • CISPA... Who Betrayed Us Yesterday And What It Mea...
      • Aaron Schock, GOP Closet Twink, Defends Twinkies' ...
      • It Would Be Great To Get Allyson Schwartz Out Of C...
      • Nuggets-- Mostly Gun Control
      • Whose Fault Was The Gun Control Vote In The Senate?
      • Can Republican Closet Case Lindsey Graham Survive ...
      • 104 Republican Congressmen Voted To Reduce Benefit...
      • Welcome To The Ron Paul Institute... No, Really
      • U.S.A.-- A Country Of Economic Refugees
      • More Bits, More Pieces Than I Actually Intended: R...
      • La Reforma Integral De La Inmigración
      • Is Obama Throwing Seniors Under The Bus So He Can ...
      • When Miss McConnell Passes Will "Ding Dong" Top Th...
      • Bits'n'Pieces-- Guns And Religion
      • Republican Party Civil War Roils Illinois And Alaska
      • "Free" Trade-- Another Way For Conservatives To Un...
      • Marco Rubio: "Keep On Dreamin'"
      • How Badly Will Obama's Chained CPI Error Hurt Demo...
      • New & Noteworthy-- If Not News And Newsworthy
      • EPA Director Confirmation Hearings Turn Into A Deb...
      • How Unfair Are Taxes?
      • Help Save Social Security... And Win A 311 Platinu...
      • Death Penalty For Crooked Congressmen And Their Cr...
      • The case of Penney CEO Ron Johnson: Managerial "ge...
      • How Badly Does The GOP Want To Obliterate Unions? ...
      • Sunday Classics: From brooding depths to sparkling...
      • Republican Party Makes A Decision-- They'll Hold O...
      • TV Watch: "Army Wives" soldiers on, taking large c...
      • Pot, Aliens And Politicians... And The Unending Sa...
      • Paul LePage's Shocking Bully Politics In Maine
      • Chained CPI... Is Suddenly An Orphan
      • Wall Street Was Right About Elizabeth Warren-- She...
      • Sunday Classics preview: A haunting little piece t...
      • Some straight people really are grasping that LGBT...
      • Joe Barton (R-TX) And A Buy Bull Environmental Str...
      • Buck McKeon Throwing In The Towel?
      • Ted Cruz's NRA Filibuster Crushed
      • Take a bow, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara -- scourge...
      • Boehner Comes Through For China Again-- Defeats Ma...
      • Intellectual Dishonesty Bi-Partisan Style
      • Anyone Want To Run Against ConservaDem Adam Schiff...
      • Any Congressional Democrat Who Backs Cutting Socia...
      • Showdown At the OK Corral... Tomorrow
    • ►  March (14)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Ashish Chaturvedi
View my complete profile