There are countless awesome tv series with female showrunners at the helm. Thus far, I've only covered "Gilmore Girls" in its entirety, but there's more TK! "My Brilliant Friend" is next.
Greetings from hell!
My old therapist once told me that I probably have a bleakly accurate outlook on the world, but that being right does nothing to improve my life. I'm trying to remind myself of that as America crumbles under the weight of its collective stupidity. Since
Quick summary:
This episode zips through an entire year, beginning with Elena's return home from Ischia (1959) and ending the following summer (1960). Back in the neighborhood, she's surprised to learn that Lila has been cozying up to Stefano, the grocer who threatened to rip out
Quick summary:
Elena enjoys a few blissful weeks in Ischia before the Sarratore family arrives at Nella's (Nunzia Schiano) and fucks up the vibe. At first, Nino is missing and Marisa (Miriam D'Angelo) reveals that he plans the summer so that he and his father, Donato,
Quick summary:
Marcello emerges as the frontrunner in the bid for Lila's affections. When charming her doesn't work, he ingratiates himself with Rino, who just last episode called the Solara brothers, "worthless pieces of shit." As Lila suspects, Rino is willing to do anything
Quick summary:
If the neighborhood politics weren't clear before, they come into stark focus by the end of this episode. Over the course of two parties, the atmosphere becomes increasingly dire, especially for Lila. Initially, it seems like the rione's younger generation is willing to move
Quick summary:
During (Elena's dream of) Don Achille's funeral procession, the children of the neighborhood grow up: the young cast is replaced with an older one and many fantasies (e.g. Louisa May Alcott) give way to practical reality. With Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) in middle school
Quick summary:
"The Money" begins where "The Dolls" ends: with Elena and Lila outside Don Achille's (Antonio Pennarella) door, steeling themselves for a confrontation. Predictably, this middle-aged mobster is clueless about their dolls and sends them away with a wad of condolence cash, which
Elena Ferrante is one of my favorite writers and I was terrified when I heard that "My Brilliant Friend" (2011), the first novel in the series, was getting the small screen treatment. Although I've occasionally loved book adaptations, I typically find they pale in comparison to
Production notes:
The Halfway House Cafe, where Lorelai tries (and fails) to get coffee after she tries (and fails) to do "Wild," is a real place in Santa Clarita, California. If it looks familiar, that's because it's been featured in thousands of commercials, movies,
Production notes:
One of my favorite pedantic activities is combing through IMDb to see what other projects key crew members have worked on in the past. Cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy has a fun resume, including Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" music video and '90s movie classics
Production notes:
Saul (friend of the blog) mentioned that it would be interesting to follow up on a few of the actors who went on to have bigger careers post-"Gilmore Girls," so that's what I'm going to do in this section for "
Production notes:
"Winter" was written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino who, along with Dan, has sole writer/director credits on "A Year in the Life." Aside from the Palladinos, the other producers are Helen Pai, longtime collaborator and inspiration for Lane Kim, and Dylan K. Massin.
