Tag: drama

  • Missing LOST

    Missing LOST

    I miss LOST. For six years, ABC’s daring sci-fi/adventure/mystery cross-breed topped my list of favorite shows. Each new episode was a household event; guests were welcome—if they agreed not to talk over the plot twists. LOST’s strength was its ensemble approach. The show’s genre shifted, depending on which character was featured that week. It could…

  • Robot umpires

    Why do we still have human baseball umpires? Of the four major American sports, baseball seems best-suited to computerized referees (hereafter, “robots”). In hockey, football, and basketball, the action happens quickly, in multiple places, and in infinite variation. America’s pasttime moves slowly, focuses on a single location, and allows relatively little improvisation. Baseball umps stand…

  • Bugler’s Nightmare

    More often than not, when NBC played Arnaud’s “Dream,” they cut out a whole measure of the timpanic intro. Why would they short-circuit their own spectacle?