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Warning: spoilers ahead
Game of Thrones is perhaps the single most popular mass cultural product today. One indicator: In 2015, the show’s Wikipedia page was among the ten most-visited in English, German, French, Italian, and Russian, a remarkable distinction. Game of Thrones really is one of the major planks of our “global culture” as produced by the media masters in America. Given the show’s popularity, it is worth examining the values it promotes. (more…)
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Actor Kevin Sorbo, 53, starred in two popular television shows, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995–1999, 111 60-minute episodes) and the sci-fi series Gene Rodenberry’s Andromeda (2000–2005, 110 60-minute episodes). He starred as Hercules in the first and Captain Dylan Hunt in the second.
Iron Eyes Cody Sheds Glycerin Tear
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The White Man as Environmental Malefactor
Older Americans will recall a famous TV commercial known as “The Crying Indian.” The 60-second spot debuted on Earth Day 1971, but ran from 1971–1983. (more…)
Dean Martin as Matt Helm
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One of my guiltier pleasures is the “Matt Helm” films of the 1960s. There were four of these, all produced by Irving Allen and starring Dean Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. The first (The Silencers) appeared in 1966. The story behind these films is an interesting one. In the 1950s Irving Allen was partnered with Albert R. (“Cubby”) Broccoli. Things came to an end, however, when Broccoli announced that he was interested in purchasing the film rights to the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming. (more…)
Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
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Burn Notice is now more than half-way into its fourth season on the USA Network. It is one of my favorite TV shows.