Suburban Dad Pop

03/12/2025

I was a little late to the Six Feet Under party, but I still think it doesn't get enough respect as "Prestige Television", especially in HBO lore. When I was done with my initial binge, I remember thinking that 2025 was so far away, but boy it got here quickly. In the meantime, life has thrown us all a million curveballs, and I hope that I have reacted to the good and the bad in a more healthy manner than the characters at Fisher & Son, but I probably haven't. I guess that is kind if the point.

RIP Ruth

02/14/2025

Happy Valentine's Day!

07/30/2024

She's got my vote.

Teenage Fanclub Kamala Harris

05/19/2024

Sad news over the weekend with the passing of Dabney Coleman. Growing up, I was lucky enough to have Showtime and it seemed that either Tootsie, 9-5, War Games, or The Muppets Take Manhattan were always being shown, which meant every time I turned on the television, Dabney Coleman was there.

As great as the aforementioned movies were (and they were all great) Coleman will always be, to me, Hal/Jack Flack in Cloak & Dagger. Man oh man, whether playing the grieving widower/father or the action figure come to life, Coleman was impeccable in this role and to eight-year-old me, as cool as it could get.

Funny story: I had already bamboozled into agreeing to my marriage proposal by the time she found out that 80s movies on television could make me cry. Any guess as to what that movie was? Cloak & Dagger of course and more specifically speaking, it is always the very end of the movie where Hal hugs Davey and says the iconic (at least to me) line: "Jack Flack always escapes".

Anyway, I have unfettered and undying love for both Coleman and Cloak & Dagger and apologize for neither. RIP.

05/04/2024

The only good thing to ever come out of the Star Wars universe was this 30 Rock episode.

04/19/2024

It's been almost a week since "The Sign" aired and although I am sure that I would enjoy new episodes of Bluey, I would also understand if this was the end. There is nothing wrong with going out on top, especially if your POTENTIAL series finale is this damn good. Thanks for reading!

I am not series creator and showrunner Joe Brumm and I don’t know what makes him tick, what his motivations are, or if he will be able to turn down the inevitable boatload of money Disney will offe…

04/12/2024

Yesterday's real tragedy was that Norm wasn't around to offer his thoughts. I'm certainly not making light of a cancer diagnosis - my mother died of cancer - but Norm certainly would have said something profound and macabre about the nature of existence and odds are it would have been pretty damn funny. And a little weird.

If you are a certain age, Weekend Update belongs to Norm. It doesn't belong to Chevy or Dennis or Amy &Tina or Colin & Michael. Nobody did it better. Norm's Weekend Update was punk rock disguised as performance art that just happened to be executed by the smartest guy in the room.

Norm's popularity was at its highest during the OJ saga and the absurdity that circus provided fueled some of the most scathing and darkly funny moments in Saturday Night Live, if not broadcast television, history. In the end, Norm was fired, in true punk fashion, for disobeying orders from the NBC C-Suite goons when they told him to lay off the O.J. jokes.

Anyway, Norm was the GOAT and if you aren't familar, do yourself a favor and google his appearances on or his moth joke or the Bob Saget roast. Also, the art work of perfectly encapsulates this post without all of the lousy words.

04/08/2024

Today's eclipse is a great reason to rewatch S3 E7 of Mad Men. Titled "Seven Twenty Three", this standout episode features Don's self destruction at its finest; firstly by planting the seeds of an affair with his daughter's teacher and secondly by getting drunk and taking benzos with hitchhikers and almost getting murdered. Man, Dick Whitman hated himself. No show gets the details right like Mad Men - there was a Solar Eclipse on 07/20/63 in Ossining (the Drapers Suburb of choice) and five episodes later, JFK was assassinated (11/22/63). Season 3 really gives the viewer a peak into the New York City/Suburbs of 1963. Also, another great detail is in the first photo where you can see the eclipse reflected in Don's aviators, meaning he once again is not following the rules and is participating in self harm.

04/05/2024

In a recent effort to watch some light hearted television, I recently breezed through season two of Life & Beth (which took a HUGE leap forward in quality) and the inaugural season of Ted. I was pleasantly surprised by both and hope you give them a chance. Thanks for reading!

Evidently, I like dark television shows, or at least that is what my significantly pregnant wife tells me. Maybe she has a point. I re-watch The Sopranos every Sunday morning when she is at church …

04/02/2024

"And do you know where Joe Flaherty is now? He's dead!" RIP to comedy legend Joe Flaherty, aka Freaks and Geeks' Harold Weir, a Top 10 all-time TV dad. Flaherty did a million other things, but his unfortunate passing is a good reminder to stream (Hulu/Paramount/Prime) Freaks and Geeks. You won't regret it.

03/31/2024

My favorite Easter tradition is drinking my morning coffee while watching S3 E8 of The Sopranos. Titled 'He Is Risen', this episode is actually a Thanksgiving episode and is very important to the development of the rest of the series as the audience is introduced to Gloria Trillo while Meadow & Jackie get closer and treated to (at the time) the climax of the beef between Tony and Ralphie and the darkly humorous passing of Gigi.

Anyway, enjoy your Easter and give this episode a shot. Like all episodes of The Sopranos, this particular offering could function as a short movie and you could jump in and understand what is going on without seeing any previous episodes. Its just that good.