“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The saying’s as true of the human body as it is of a washing machine or a blender. A good surgeon knows that if you go screwing around with something that doesn’t need screwing, you are the one who is liable to end up screwed.” 

One of those things on television that doesn’t appear “broke” is Grey’s Anatomy, heading into its 14th season on ABC. By now Shondra Rhimes must own a pretty big piece of ABC. OK, she doesn’t likely own any of Disney, ABC’s parent company, but if this were a game of Monopoly, Rhimes would be smiling all the way to the fake bank.
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I taught at a Florida high school that took two state championships in seven years, and believe me, I know how seriously these schools take their football. I’m told Texas treats high school football as something sacred to be worshipped, and church meets every Friday night during the fall season. If that’s the case, I can’t imagine a series capturing the emotion that goes into one of these programs as well as Friday Night Lights has. Taken from the film of the same name, the series is even better. So many things about this freshman show impressed me throughout its season run. The cast of relative unknowns, except for Kyle Chandler and perhaps Connie Britton, morph into their characters so well you might never know that a good many of them are performing in their first show. This cast gives new meaning to the term ensemble cast.
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We all remember Ed O’Neill as Al Bundy from Married With Children. It’s an iconic role that he’ll never be able to shake no matter what he does for the rest of his life. After that series ended its 11-year run, he even attempted to get out of comedy and take more dramatic roles. I’m sure there was a deliberate intent to try to distance himself from Al. It’s not that he likely didn’t love playing the role. He just wanted to avoid getting forever typecast in the mold. Those efforts weren’t all that successful. But now he’s back where he belongs again in a pretty solid sit-com. He’s not playing Al Bundy any more, although you won’t have to look very hard to find some of Bundy in Jay from Modern Family.
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When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with.  As a show that is on network television, it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead it is as simple as being a show that feels as anything I’ve seen on television in some time.  As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day to day basis.
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To attempt to film in a single unbroken take is an ambitious move.  Alfred Hitchock did this with his film Rope, and though it’s an impressive achievement, it’s not one of his great films. What works against the film from the start is that it has to entertain its audience from start to finish, and that’s a difficult enough task for films that have well over 1000 different shots.  It’s a bold move, and it is what writer/director and camera operator Justin McConnell delivers us with his feature film Broken Mile.
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“Book ’em, Danno.”

It’s been seven years since we started to hear that phrase again. Before 2010, it had been 30 years. Still it persisted in the modern lexicon along with the term Five-0, which is still shouted in high-crime areas in cities all over the country whenever a police presence is felt closing in on the bad guys. Hawaii Five-0 ended in 1980. That’s when Tom Selleck took over the sets and production crew on Hawaii to work as Magnum P.I. until 1988 when it all closed down for good — or did it?
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