In the 2002 pilot episode of the hit FX series
The Shield, the show’s merciless and corrupt protagonist, Los Angeles Police Department detective Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis, brutally beats a suspect and murders a fellow officer in cold blood and it only gets worse from there. For the rest of the show’s seven seasons, Mackey displays increasingly disturbing and illegal behavior: torturing and killing suspects, stealing evidence, embezzling money. Not only did the events of that first episode make it onto
Rolling Stone’s “The Shocking 16: TV’s Most Heart-stopping Moments,” but
Entertainment Weekly also named Mackey one of its “16 Ultimate TV Antiheroes.”
Over half a century ago, the concept for what would become
All in the Familywas put into development by ABC, the network having become aware of the British sitcom that inspired it,
Till Death Us Do Part (
Do You Remember). That show, which premiered in 1965, was as controversial in the UK as the battle of the Bunkers and the Stivics would eventually become here. Despite this, Leonard H. Goldenson, founder and then president of ABC, asked
Norman Lear to develop a pilot for an American version of the sitcom.
Lear explains in a Television Academy Foundation interview that he read about
Execs Rob Mills, Dawn Olmstead, Vernon Sanders and Zack Van Amburg join the two TV scribes.
The Television Academy, the governing body of the Emmy Awards, announced Wednesday the appointment of six new chair members of the executive committee tapping two prominent writers and four executives.
Joining the group are
One Day at a Time showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett, and
Insecure’s Issa Rae, as well as ABC svp and alternative series, specials and late-night chief Rob Mills, recently-tapped Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead, Amazon Studios’ television co-head Vernon Sanders and Apple’s Zack Van Amburg.
“We are thrilled to be able to leverage the collective expertise of this talented group of Television innovators as we navigate this extraordinary time in the history of our industry,” said TV Academy president Frank Scherma. “Their leadership provides invaluable insight that will allow the Academy to play an integral role in shaping the evolution of the medium.
N.J. celebrities who died in 2020, from Adam Schlesinger to Tommy DeVito
Updated Dec 30, 2020;
Posted Dec 30, 2020
Tommy DeVito was a founding member of the Four Seasons. He died of COVID-19. Jerry McCrea | The Star-Ledger
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As we wind down a tough year, here’s a look back at some famous figures we lost in 2020.
They come from various arenas entertainment, media, sports and politics but they all have some connection to New Jersey.
Some were Jersey-born, while others made their home here or spent their final hours in the state. Several died from complications of COVID-19, while others died of natural causes and various health conditions.