News

Although “Schmigadoon!” is now campaigning for this year’s Emmys as a scripted variety series, its cast members can still be nominated as comedic actors. According to Gold Derby’s odds, the performer most likely to score a supporting bid for the Apple TV Plus program’s second season is Jane Krakowski, who plays the show-stopping role of singing lawyer Bobby Flanagan. With Best Comedy Supporting Actress notices for “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” already under her belt, she could now make Emmys history as the first actress to be nominated in the same category for regular performances on three different continuing series.

SEEApple TV+ musical-comedy hit ‘Schmigadoon!’ moves from comedy series to scripted variety series category

Krakowski, who earned her four “30 Rock” nominations between 2009 and 2013 and her sole “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” bid in 2015, could now become one of the 12 most-recognized actresses in her category. She is currently...

Throughout the 1960s, several theatrical films from two decades prior were reworked into television series, the majority of which lasted a maximum of two seasons. One of these cases involved the 1947 fantasy film “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The TV adaptation, which debuted in 1968 with Hope Lange and Edward Mulhare in the lead roles, did not fare particularly well and was cancelled by NBC after a single season. It was immediately picked up by ABC, but its tenure there was just as short.

The show did manage to garner six Emmy nominations during its short run, including one for Best Comedy Series. Lange also picked up a pair of Best Comedy Actress trophies, making her the second youngest champion in her category at the time. Over half a century later, she places behind a total of nine younger women, including three who triumphed in their 20s.

For most of the late 1970s, ABC essentially reigned supreme among TV networks with the hit series “Happy Days” and its spinoff, “Laverne & Shirley.” In the fall of 1977, new sitcoms “Three’s Company” and “Soap” were chosen to follow the sister series in the Tuesday night lineup, leading to an increase in the network’s popularity. Although “Soap” was the least favored of the four, it attracted a strong following due to its quirky premise. Presented a parody of daytime soap operas, the show focused on two sisters and their respective turbulent households.

“Soap” won four Emmys during its four-season run, half of which came in 1980 in honor of the acting work of one of its pairs of leads. The Best Comedy Actor prize went to Richard Mulligan (47), while the corresponding female award went to his TV wife, Cathryn Damon, who would turn 50 later that week. At the time of her victory,...

Like everyone else, we love Lucy and celebrate the anniversary of Lucille Ball‘s landmark laffer “I Love Lucy,” which debuted on CBS exactly 69 years ago today on Oct. 15, 1951. The show won the Emmy for Best Situation Comedy twice and Ball claimed two trophies as well.

Ball went on to win two more Emmys for the last two seasons of her second series, “The Lucy Show”. In 1967, she edged out “Bewitched” stars Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead and “That Girl’s” Marlo Thomas. By the way, Montgomery never won an Emmy, despite nine nods, including five for her work as that witch with a twitch. The following year, in what was to be her final Emmy race, Ball prevailed yet again. Her competition: Montgomery and Thomas, as well as Barbara Feldon (“Get Smart”) and Paula Prentiss (“He and She”).

Watch that moment from the 1967 Emmycast when Ball wins. As her...

Detective Comics is the longest running American comic book series. It was so important to the publisher, an outfit called National Periodical Publications, that one day they officially changed their name to reflect comic’s initials. They became DC Comics. Oh, sure, Detective Comics Comics doesn’t make sense, but let’s not split hairs and just chalk it all up to simpler times.

I’ve been reading Detective Comics for as long as I’ve been reading. Batman was the lead character since #27, 1939, and in the early days I admit I’d often choose the latest issue of Batman – with that big Batman logo – instead of the latest Detective Comics.

But then, right about the time that I was actively buying and reading comics on my own with minimal parental supervision, Detective Comics shifted direction. Batman’s superhero adventures morphed into detective and mystery stories. Many stories embraced a whodunit feel.