Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week marks the end of my twelfth year here on That’s Entertainment! Since June 17, 2013, I’ve published 1,803 original posts, and like we’ve done for every anniversary, I want to reflect on this past “season” and spotlight a few of my favorite entries. This was a unique year because I was finally able to share something special with you that I’d been working on for a while — my first book, which was published in February. So, more than ever, many thanks go out to you, my wonderful readers, subscribers, and friends — I’m so grateful for your support and kindness as we take a look back at the best of 2024-2025.
Musical Theatre Monday — March 17, 2025
I made a conscious effort this year to offer more personal commentary/analysis in my Musical Theatre Mondays, and I was quite glad to have a thematic reason — via my book on 1950s sitcoms — to feature some of my favorite underrated 1950s musicals. One of those was Bells Are Ringing (1956), which not only boasts a great score but also gave me a chance to celebrate the unique comedic genius of Judy Holliday, a funny ambassador for that special decade.
Situation Comedy Tuesday — November 06, 2024
The Two Best THE OFFICE Episodes of Season One
On Sitcom Tuesdays, we continued our examination of the best shows from the first decade of the 21st century — with The Office being one of my personal favorites, a reliable ensemble workplace comedy with a metatheatrical high-concept framing via its explicitly applied mockumentary premise. It was a pleasure to discuss how the show distinguishes itself in that regard, while also celebrating its traditional excellence via well-defined characters in relation.
Situation Comedy Tuesday — April 02, 2025
The Ten Best 30 ROCK Episodes of Season One
Another one of my 2000s favorites is 30 Rock, which I essentially boiled down to “MTM at SNL,” defining its charms with help from both reference points and creating a framework for determining episodic excellence — through both the utilization of character/premise, along with the invocation of a unique comic sensibility enabled by its sketch comedy origins. 30 Rock is great on those self-determined metrics, and I was so glad to finally cover it here in full.
Wildcard Wednesday — June 26, 2024
The Meta-verse: A Look at THE COMEBACK (Season One)
Wildcard Wednesdays this year followed a lot of pre-established forms — the Literary Society, Sitcom Potpourris, Q&A entries — but I like using those templates because it helps me focus in on the gold. (There’s a lot of interesting stuff in all three of those series.) However, my favorite piece that I published over the past year is this thorough examination of the first season of Lisa Kudrow’s fascinating 2005 sitcom The Comeback — one of the defining series from that decade.
Wildcard Wednesday — January 29, 2025
Introducing GREAT AMERICAN SITCOMS OF THE 1950s by Jackson Upperco
Okay, I had to plug my new book at least once more — it defines this season; I dedicated two whole months here to our “1950s takeover” in celebration of its release. If this is the first time you’re hearing about it, click the link above for more information. And if you haven’t yet bought it, I’d be so glad if you’d consider it — it’s currently available wherever books are sold, including Amazon, and of course, if you purchase from me directly, I’ll send you a signed copy!
Thanks again to everyone who’s made these last twelve years possible!
Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Monday for another musical rarity!