Author: Al Daniel
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10 best Double Dare stories
Nickelodeon returns to Game Zero this Monday by premiering another Double Dare reboot. Yes, another. Double Dare 2000 may have been a not-so-Y2K-compliant flash in the pan, lasting one season. But one diapers-to-dormitories upbringing later, nostalgia fever is spiking, and this revolutionary program would be remiss to sit out. The channel that has long prided itself…
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Secrets of the ECHL’s longest-running brand
The South Carolina Stingrays have long zapped the platitude of a “non-traditional hockey market.” But beyond that, they have outlasted all of the other ECHL mainstays, including those in Northern markets. Their unique formula lies largely in catering to a champion community for natives, tourists and transplants. The blurb in the visitor’s guide at a…
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Most decorated dinosaur films outside Jurassic Park
The fifth volume of the Jurassic Park series hits theaters this Friday. To compound that milestone, the newest release comes two weeks after the Oscar-winning original’s silver anniversary. And there will be a sixth to look forward to early in the next decade. If dinosaur fever was going to reheat amidst the rash of reboots,…
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Bull Durham still represents classic Americana
In some ways, the Durham Athletic Park (DAP) and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) are Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh in the latter stages of Bull Durham. The old Bulls’ pen is left to foster younger, up-and-coming talent as the home of North Carolina Central University baseball. Its time in baseball is not exactly…
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The best of Charlie Conway
Joshua Jackson, also known as Charlie Conway from the Mighty Ducks films, turns 40 this Monday. The heart of District Five/Team USA/Eden Hall JV thus becomes the protagonist roster’s seventh actor to reach this milestone. Only Elden Henson, Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Larusso, Colombe Jacobsen, Aaron Lohr and Kenan Thompson are older. Throughout the trilogy, Charlie’s…
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Jim Gaffigan took a cab with a Hab (sort of)
Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert did not mention the imminent 10th anniversary of The Love Guru when the chance arose. Seven weeks before the June 20 “milestone,” the actor and standup connoisseur spent nine minutes beside Colbert’s Late Show desk. Their portrayal of a fictitious Hockey Night in Canada broadcast tandem stayed off that segment.…
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10 best films featuring Anne Hathaway
With Ocean’s 8 premiering this week, Anne Hathaway is ending a two-year gap between Internet Movie Database credits. Since she entered the mainstream in 1999, only 2003 and 2017 have gone by without an addition to her resume. But more often than not, in this decade, Hathaway has hit the silver screen under multiple titles…
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Danny Elfman’s most successful compositions
Composition connoisseur Danny Elfman has a unifying power over TV and film consumers. Whether they notice it or not, viewers with opposing tastes have each heard his work complement their beloved program or film. One could be a strict DC devotee or a Marvel-only movie buff. Both bases have seen their favorite superhero swashbuckle to the tune…
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Best post-Cheers careers for the main cast
Former Cheers centerpiece Ted Danson told it point blank to Seth Meyers in October 2016. “I hope this is not…the end,” he said in reference to his latest endeavor, The Good Place. Meyers had just finished watching a clip with Danson, then noted the so-obvious-one-would-be-remiss-not-to-mention it symmetry. This past Sunday marked exactly 25 years since…
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10 best NBC sitcoms in the post-Seinfeld era
Monday marks 20 years since “The Finale” dropped the curtain on Seinfeld. Two decades later, the unprecedented anticipation tops the iffy reception as the last episode’s reflection on the series. A 2012 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll concluded that Seinfeld was still considered the all-time greatest sitcom. Four years later, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 5…