Television

David Simon and his writing partner George Pelecanos hesitated when they were asked to write a show about the gritty porn industry in 1970s New York. They did not want to make a show just about pornography but rather the whole culture behind it and the economic structures that made it into a billion dollar industry.

Season Two of Queen Sugar, the series created and produced by Golden Globe-nominee Ava DuVernay – part I of the premiere aired yesterday, with part II coming up today – was shot in New Orleans where the story of the Bordelon family takes place. In May they were filming the midseason finale - and what a day to be on the set! One rarely gets to see such highly emotional scenes being filmed, much less reading the sides (pages being shot on a particular day), but in the interest of the unwritten ‘no spoilers, please!’-rule, we will not divulge details.

Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould created Breaking Bad, winner of the 2014 Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Drama, with star Bryan Cranston awarded the Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama after three nominations. They are also the brains and the hearts behind Better Call Saul, the prequel which made Bob Odenkirk a two-time nominee.

The energy was high on the red carpet at the NCIS: LA Paleyfest event, but underneath the excitement was a sense of mourning from the cast of the hit procedural drama now in its eighth season. It was another reminder that someone important to them all was missing and all reacted with emotion talking about co-star Miguel Ferrer, who succumbed to throat cancer on January 19 at age 61.

ER still remains the longest-running medical drama in TV history, lasting 15 seasons and 331 episodes, but Golden Globe-winning drama Grey’s Anatomy is fast closing in on that record. Now in its 13th season, the show created by Shonda Rhimes has already been renewed for a 14th season and is expected to cross that Guinness Book of Records milestone in late 2018.

Showtime’s period drama Masters of Sex has reached its fourth season bringing the story of Masters and Johnson (Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson) closer to the hearts of the audience but further from the real lives of the pioneers in sex studies.

Beth Howland, four-time Golden Globe nominee for her role in the sitcom Alice has died, age 74.  Boston-born Howland passed away December 31, 2015 in Santa Monica, CA.

Those who’ve seen the latest episodes of Fear the Walking Dead were surely shocked by the appearance of Celia, the 50-something year old woman who takes Travis (Cliff Curtis), Madison (Kim Dickens), and the entire group of survivors into the luxurious ranch owned by Thomas Abigail (Dougray Scott) in Mexico.   Celia can act as either an adorable mother, a witty business woman, or even a ruthless killer; and although it seems that her role in the series concluded along with the mid-season finale, it is not one that will be easily forgotten.

And so, after seven seasons, universal praise and a myriad of awards – including 12 Golden Globe nominations and one win, for Julianna Margulies, best actress/TV series/drama in 2010-The Good Wife comes to an end this Sunday. Sprung from the minds of writers/producers Robert King and Michelle King, The Good Wife took its cue from the series of sexual scandals that rocked the US political scene in late 00s – the very public shaming of congressman Anthony Weiner, New York state governor Eliot Spitzer and ex-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – and ran fast and loose with it.