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nostalgia
10 Awesome Moments From Sesame Street
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. As Newsweek's Lisa Guernsey reports, although the children's show changed the world — intentionally showcasing children of different races living and playing together, and teaching kids about numbers and letters before they hit kindergarten — it's now number 15 in ratings. [Jezebel] -
dancing about architecture
New York's New Ghost Town
Architecturally speaking, what will the bust leave us? Woolworth, Cunard, Standard Oil—their buildings stand even if their companies didn't. What do we get this go-around? Media- and finance-subsidized glass and steel, pretty much. More » -
obits
The Death of the Beatrice Inn
If the Beatrice Inn were to close forever, rather than just temporarily, what would we say at its funeral? Because we're feeling wistful this afternoon, we're going to attempt something of a eulogy.
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society
Who's In the Monkey Bar Mural?
Wispily pompadoured Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's new midtown venture Monkey Bar is a bar/restaurant for rich people. There's even a giant mural commemorating some of between-wars New York's bestest richies. So who's in it? More » -
scares
Boston High School Is Not, In Fact, Overrun with Vampires
The Boston Latin School (which I trudged through for six long years) has a vampire problem. Kids are spreading rumors that the school is infested with blood-suckers. The headmaster now assures us: It's all lies!! More » -
the way we were
Maer Roshan, the Early Days
Here's a photo, found on Facebook, of Radar founder Maer Roshan in... middle school? Ninth grade maybe? He looks to be about 14 or so. Anyway, just a funny trip back in time. More » -
gallery
Watchmen's New York
Just in time for New York to revert back to the mean streets of old, the blockbustery film Watchmen comes out offering us a reimagined 1985 cityscape. How does it compare to the real thing? More » -
the way we were
Laurel Touby: The College Years
As we learned that her assistant was laid off today, our attentions were drawn to be-boa-ed Mediabistro founder Laurel Touby. Coincidentally, a tipster directed us to some nostalgic photos from her young, frivolous college years. More » -
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nostalgia
The Stork Club's Secret Hand Signals
Continuous Lean points out a series of Time Life photos detailing the collection of hand signals that Sherman Billingsley, the owner of Old Manhattan institution The Stork Club, used to communicate silently with his staff. More » -
have you seen my childhood
NeverEnding Story Really Never Gonna End
Hollywood continues to dredge up your beloved childhood memories and cruelly destroy them. The latest victim is The NeverEnding Story. The 1980s German puppet mindfrak may soon be zombified into a crappy new remake. More » -
nostalgia
Seinfeld Returns To NBC
Oh, hey, look: Flailing NBC executive Ben Silverman just bought a reality TV project from Jerry Seinfeld, marking the 1990s comedian as the ultimate trailing indicator of desperation and creative bankruptcy. More » -
creative underclass
Anna Wintour, Cause Célèbre
Media elites call Anna Wintour's Vogue editorship stale, but after 20 years some in the creative underclass have grown attached. Or maybe, like Wintour, they've learned celebrities sell clothing. More » -
layoffs
Village Voice Fires 50-Year Writer, Last Black Writer
Even as the New Yorker waxes nostalgic on the glory days of the Village Voice, the weekly is severing more of its legacy, including Nat Hentoff, hired in 1958. More » -
new york magazine
The Nude Photos That Nearly Destroyed New York
Google somehow contrived to include full digital images of old New York magazines in its new magazine search service on Google Books. Sadly, the archive is missing key issues, containing such classics as "Radical Chic: That Party At Lenny's" and "Tribal Rights of the New Saturday Night." But both of those are available, albeit ripped from their original context, on nymag.com, and Google has one classic that isn't: Barbara Goldsmith's "La Dolce Viva," which revealed the seedy side of Andy Warhol's entourage through Viva, a shriveled one-name actress. "I had never seen anything like it," Tom Wolfe wrote of accompanying nude photos from Diane Arbus. But the article's appearance in the fourth debut standalone New York nearly ended Clay Felker's magazine.
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stylista
Your Sick Boss Fantasies Acted Out On Stylista
In its review of Elle-focused reality show Stylista, the Times finds plenty to like, surprisingly. It seems hippie editor Anne Slowey does a surprisingly convincing impersonation of Meryl Streep imitating Miranda Priestly standing in for mean old Anna Wintour of Vogue. (So much for those embarrassing preview clips from a few months ago.) The catfighting is inspired and "novel." And yet that's not what will hook you on the show. You'll watch because you are aching to pretend, for an hour each Wednesday, that the brutal hierarchy of yesteryear lent work an elegant simplicity. Writes the Times' Gina Bellafante: More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Sex and Violence in Movies and TV
Why else would we even go to the movies or turn on the television? Okay, there are a few other reasons, but mostly it's the sex and violence. So. What are you favorite scenes of people getting it on or having it out? Or both at once? Obviously, keep it tasteful and SFW. I'll get us going after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Rebels in Movies and TV
This is certainly a scary time in America, what with the racist McCain/Palin fans and a liberal response that is still cringing and frightened to offend no matter what crazy shit the Wingers spew. But America has had scary times before—times when racists and rednecks and bullies and other pieces of shit went all out to stop the spread of progress and new ideas and common decency. And we have always stuck it to the man, at least in movies and TV. My opener after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Remembering the Suburbs
Ah, the Burbs. So many good times. Sadly, with the collapse of the economy, they'll probably disappear along with the middle class. The rich will live in inaccessible luxury high rises like in Land of the Dead, or on well-guarded manses like in a Philip K. Dick novel. The rest of us will hunker down in urban hell-zones, disaster-prone trailer parks, and underground bunkers. Actually, no, that won't happen. But, still, the suburbs figure so prominently in so many fine movies and TV shows that they deserve a dedicate clip-fest. I'll get us rolling after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: The Great Regression
What do you do when the world's economy is falling apart and God only knows when things will get better? Duh! You get together with your friends, pretend that you're six, and start building some sofa-and-blanket forts stat! Dig deep into your memories for the days when food and shelter was someone else's problem, and find some clips that hearken back to those warm and cozy—and lost—times. They don't have to be cartoons, but they do have to be from childhood. That's all. I'll start with my biggest childhood hero. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Our Favorite Olds
Many, many movies and TV shows have been wholly saved by the presence of a sage oldster. While there certainly is ageism rampant in Hollywood—illustrated by the fact that there are just a freaking ton of new "actors" and "actresses" starring in flicks and shows that no one over 25 could ever identify—there is still, and always has been, a beloved place for the elders. So that's the preamble. I'm getting us started with Joel Grey kicking much, much ass in 1985 when he was just starting to become an old. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Great Moments in Overacting
Last week, Paul Newman passed away while his contemporaries Al Pacino and Robert Deniro stunk up the screen with A Righteous Kill. And I got to wondering, when did Pacino go from the soft-spoken, menacing, understated actor that made him a legend, to this guy who just shows up and screams the end of every sentence? But then, it occurred to me, that overacting and eating the fuck out of the scenery is actually a very good thing now and then, depending on the movie or TV show. So, let us give props to the masters of straight-up over-doing it tonight, shall we? Come on, you know you love it when they go over the top, crap on the top, and then eat the top. I'll get us started after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Live in Concert
Tonight, let's get musical. Awesome, amazing, stupendous, rocking live music moments. That's it. I'm taking my wayback machine to a magical concert in 1973 to get us started. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: The Paul Newman Generation
In the wake of Paul Newman's death, it would be just obscene to focus on anything random for tonight's Youtube video fest. I agree with all of the commenters who said they never thought a celebrity death would make them cry until this amazing man went and proved that we are all human and that we all need to cry sometimes. But there's only a certain amount of Paul Newman movies and clips, and we've been sharing them all day in the posts about his passing. However, a huge part of his legacy is that he was a member of the generation of actors and actresses that changed movies forever. Method actors, Actors' Studio people—people who put real human emotion and experience into their roles, rather than the staged, scene-eating acting that marks most of what went before it. Newman's generation—in terms of his training—includes, but is not limited to, Brando, Dennis Hopper, Pacino, Deniro, Ellen Barkin, Steve McQueen, Gene Wilder, Marylin Monroe, Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, James Dean, Sidney Poitiere, Chris Walken, Rip Torn, Dustin Hoffman, George Peppard, Anne Bancroft, and Halloween star P.J. Soles. More Actors' Studio grads here. Let me get us started. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Booze in Movies and Television
Dear, sweet, precious, life-sustaining alcohol has starred in more movies and TV shows than any actor or actress could ever hope to star in. And tonight let us give the nectar of the gods its due. What's your favorite hooch scene? As ever, I'll humbly recommend one after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Douchebags in Movies and TV
In honor of this week's total meltdown of our economy—and the fact that Bush/McCain expects us to pay to bail out the fuckers who caused it—let us focus on the stripe-shirted, bottle service-loving, date-raping, trust-funded, Ivy League pieces of human waste who made it happen. Don't get too caught up in the mercurial definition of "douchebag" when selecting clips of horrible people in movies and TV, since it's a rather recently popular term. Just think of the douchebag as anyone who hasn't really earned their own money, has horrible taste, is insanely crass, and gets off on being a shit to other people. We've had them all through the ages. Because there is no way an uninspired idiot like Jakob Lodwick could have invented them just to categorize himself. I'll get us rolling after the jump. Update: Forget the "moneyed" part. Douchebags exist in every social strata, and some of them are female as well. More » -
party report
Astroland's Last Day
On Friday, lease negotiations broke down between the owner of Astroland, Coney Island's honky-tonk, 46-year-old amusement park, and its landlord, Thor Equities. It was abruptly announced that the scruffy Brooklyn park would shut down forever on Sunday—a month ahead of schedule. Damn, gentrification! Would it really be the last day? Who knows—the future of Coney Island in recent years has been as topsy-turvey as the Tilt-a-Whirl. There was nothing to do but board the F train and visit Astroland one last time. Step right up—into the wild and weird world where you, too, can purchase panties off the boardwalk.
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nostalgia
Watching Rent, One Last Time
When Rent first premiered on Broadway, the musical—a rock and roll mishmash polemic about New York City's poor bohemian youth, the AIDS epidemic, and the struggle and ultimate power of being oneself ("faggots, lezzies, dykes," whatever)—it seemed destined to get fabulous acclaim and burn out quickly. The acclaim most certainly arrived, Rent won a whole slew of Tonys and, indeed, the Pulitzer Prize for drama (so rarely awarded to musical works). But its longevity was a true surprise. The mythos surrounding its sexy young cast and the untimely death of the show's creator, Jonathan Larson, helped (along with crazed, devoted legions of "Rentheads") the show power through 12 years at the Nederlander on 41st street. It closed just last night. I managed to catch its penultimate performance on Saturday. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Los Angeles in Movies and TV
Last night's New York movies and TV post seemed to make people happy, so it would be kind of unfair to ignore our main competition as a location for silver and little screen productions. Besides, it's a wise blogger who holds onto a promising theme until it's bled dry. So! La-la Land, Hollywood, City of Angels... the choices are practically endless. Heck, that's where they make all the movies and TV shows! What's your favorite? I'll get us going after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: New York City in Movies and TV
A location can be as much the star of a movie or television show as the actors and actresses whose names top the credits. And New York is perhaps the biggest star ever (Yes, I know there are many other starry cities, but tonight we're doing NYC). So, what's your favorite movie or TV show where the Big Apple and its culture, sensibility, and aesthetic is intrinsic to the narrative? Mine is after the jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Our Favorite Jews
Now please don't worry about any PC nonsense. I checked with the Council of Elders and everything's cool. So, Jews! Jewish characters, actors, actresses—anything goes! So long as it's funny or moving or even just plain controversial. And note, I'm going with my first pick because the character is clearly such a Jew, not because the actor is, but do feel free to use any reasoning you like when choosing your clips. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Funniest Movie Moments Ever
Today has been rather grim. Everything in the news is politics and disaster. And the last weekend of the summer is supposed to be fun! So, here is the broadest One More Thing theme ever: Funny. Just post funny things from movies—any movie from anytime ever. Please, please, please let's crack each other up and forget about all the tedious and ominous crap for a while? I will start us off. More » -
bill clinton
Four Straight Minutes Of Bill Clinton Applause
The cheering for Bill Clinton went on for about five hours at the Democratic National Convention tonight before he could finally start his speech. (OK, seriously, for 3 minutes 48 seconds.) He pretended to get a little frustrated, but you know the ex-president, who tends to feel persecuted and under-appreciated, just ate it up. Clinton was remarkably well behaved, his foreign policy address not going grotesquely beyond the alloted 10 minutes and, hey, even occasionally touching on foreign policy, in between statements on the American Dream, Hurricane Katrina, unions and corporate cronyism. Clinton laid the Obama praise on thick — he's ready! to be president! also, unique! young and "inexperienced" like Clinton was! — then got into the serious Republican bashing, which is the focus of this clip and really the best part of the convention so far. Sometimes you need Hope and inspiration, but sometimes you just want to see some well-landed punches and nice memories of the resurgent 1990s. Video of the endless applause after the jump, along with bonus footage of him actually saying things. More » -
nostalgia
Gap Khaki Resurgence Proves 90s Are Back
Clothing retailer the Gap is experiencing a critical revival under designer Patrick Robinson, leading the Times to hail the "Second Coming of Khaki." Customers could be forgiven for confusing it with the first coming, in the early 1990s, which was also propelled by the Gap, also arose during the administration of an unpopular President Bush and also saw a Democratic presidential candidate zoom quickly from obscurity to prominence with a campaign focused on the troubled economy. Both today and then there was a real estate meltdown under way, in the residential and commercial sectors, precipitated by the collapse of key financial institutions. Marijuana had a moment in popular culture then as now. Famous youth are (MKO!)/were (Kurt!) wearing flannel and being apathetic, annoying some. And technology was/is the great hope for fixing everything , along with living simpler, cheaper lives. What does the return of the 1990s mean, other than more Janeane Garofalo/Ben Stiller film collaborations? More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Who is Your 1960s Crush?
Okay, clearly I am going to milk this crush theme until I'm asking you all to post daguerrotypes of pre-Victorian stage performers and ballerinas. But we're not there yet! The 1960s is recent enough for all of us to have seen lots and lots of its movies and TV shows and to have developed childhood—or childlike—crushes on its many attractive stars. So, who's your fave? Mine after the jump. If you can pull yourself away from Michael Phelps for two minutes! More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: The Greatest Moments in Black & White
Our little end-of-the-day fun-fests have ignored the golden—er, black and white—age of movies and TV for far too long. We all know that many of the most important and memorable moments for both mediums occurred before the widespread use of color film kicked in, and before color film was even invented at all, for that matter. So let us celebrate our colorless faves this evening. I'll kick it off with the series that sent me to sleep every night as a kid. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: The Greatest Sidekicks and Henchmen of Movies and TV
Every hero needs a helper, and every bad guy needs a heavy. It's a long and storied tradition. Usually, they either get killed or they save the day. But these second bananas are essential to hundreds of movies and TV shows. And they deserve some respect! So please share your fave clips of these unsung wonders with us all. As always, I'll get us started with something obvious. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Our Favorite Villains
Really, what is a movie or a TV show without a bad guy or bad girl to hate and admire at the same time? Not much, says I. So, let's share our most beloved baddies this evening, shall we? You know, all those great characters that you just want to see die in pain and ill-repute, but you still have to admire them in some awful way. I'll get us started with a true total bastard. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: People Losing Their Shit in Movies and TV
Perhaps the greatest thing in drama and comedy is that moment when a character totally unloads verbally in the worst possible way. Freak-outs, hissy-fits, last-nerve explosions... Nothing is more entertaining. And, in a freaky way, nothing is more nurturing. So let us share our favorites, shall we? I'll get us started with one everyone loves. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Great Moments in British Humor
Are you havin' a laugh? The Brits aren't great at that many things. I mean, geez, they let a bunch of freaking drunken farmers steal their best set of colonies right out from under them. But they are a funny lot! So let's celebrate their bizarre sense of humor this evening with our favorite bits of English mirth. As usual, I've got something obvious to get us started after Ye Olde Jump. More » -
nostalgia
One More Thing: Who is Your 90s Crush?
With all the attention we pay to the 70s and 80s in these end-o'-the-day posts, we can forget that the recent past has much worth remembering. Like the hottest hotties of the 1990s, for example. And there were a lot of them! Who's your fave? I offer two of them in one dreamy clip after the jump. As always, alluring humans of all genders are welcome. More »





























































