Author: Will Harris

Here’s a harsh reality: 95 percent of the people for whom the name Brent Butt means anything live in the country that’s situated directly north of these great United States of America (you know, the one that’s only spoken of in hushed tones). Butt is the star and creator of Canada’s number one sitcom, “Corner Gas,” which is now entering its fifth season, but, to date, you’d be hard pressed to find an American who’s ever heard of the show, let alone seen it. Fortunately, however, WGN, Chicago’s so-called SuperStation, is trying to change that by serving as the American…

For folks who enjoy spewing snide comments and one-liners at crappy films, it’s been a long, lonely eight years since production on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” finally came to a halt. Fortunately, however, recent years have found a plethora of “MST3K” alumni returning to do what they do best: making fun of bad movies. First, Mike Nelson teamed with Legend Films to offer commentary tracks for classics like “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and the original “Little Shop of Horrors.” Then, Nelson founded the website Rifftrax.com, where, for a paltry $2.99 a pop, he’s begun providing downloadable commentary for more…

Jeff Garlin stars opposite Larry David in HBO’s fantastic series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Will Harris caught up with him during a roundtable interview the recent TCA Summer Press Tour. Reporter: I’m thrilled that the show’s back, and I saw the first episode, and it’s fantastic. But, on the other hand, it would’ve been, from an aesthetic standpoint, a great way to end the show. Jeff Garlin: Well, we were going to end it then, and we chose not to. That was the end. And then he thought of this other thing, and then it’s, like, “Fuck, that’s great!” And…

“(Air guitar) sounds like a joke, but it’s the kind of joke that, when you tell it a hundred thousand times, you start to forget that it’s a joke, and you kind of believe it.” – Kriston Rucker Good ol’ air guitar. Who among us at some point in our lives hasn’t mimed the act of “rocking out” to a kick-ass rock song? You know you look foolish doing it, but sometimes, when the music moves you, nothing feels more appropriate than fingering an invisible set of frets. Given that it’s not exactly the sort of activity that people take…

John Ritter was virtually ubiquitous on television from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, jumping from “Three’s Company” straight over to the short-lived “Three’s A Crowd,” then from “Hooperman” to “Hearts Afire,” with a brief break in between the two to appear as a recurring character on “Anything But Love.” (There were also a few movies here and there, but those are probably best left forgotten. Well, at least until we do our piece on actors who never made the transition from TV to the big screen.) After “Hearts Afire” ended its run, however, Ritter spent the next eight years playing…

There haven’t been many comedies released during the last decade which have resulted in more wildly divergent opinions than “Wet Hot American Summer.” Co-written by David Wain (who also directed) and Michael Showalter, it’s one of those films that shoots right past the point of being a love-it-or-hate-it flick and straight into the realm of, “These are the funniest 97 minutes in the history of motion pictures,” and “If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never see a stupider movie than this one.” Unsurprisingly, Wain’s second directorial effort, “The Ten,” will likely serve to inspire the same kinds of…

Oh, sure, you know him as Lando Calrissian; everybody knows him as Lando Calrissian. Beyond that, though, most people know Billy Dee Williams simply for being Billy Dee Williams. Between his work as a Colt .45 pitchman and his enjoyment of poking fun at himself, he’s become a cult hero of sorts. Now, however, Williams is going somewhere he’s never gone before: into a role as a cast member of a nighttime soap. Yes, we know, he did several episodes of “Dynasty” in the ‘80s, but in SoapNet’s new “General Hospital” spin-off, “Night Shift,” he’s a series regular, and that’s…

When discussing the last episode of “The Sopranos,” it’s those final few minutes in the diner that everyone’s been going on and on about in recent weeks. Let us not forget, however, that although we don’t know for sure if Tony got what was coming to him in that moment immediately after the screen faded to black, at least one character definitely met his maker during that final hour: Phil Leotardo, boss of the Lupertazzi crime family. Fortunately, the actor who played Phil, Frank Vincent, has plenty of other projects to keep him occupied now that both the series and…

Not to dismiss any of the fine work they’ve done before or since, but if you grew up during the ’70s and spent any significant length of time in front of the television on Saturday mornings, then just reading the names Sid and Marty Krofft undoubtedly inspires a flurry of memories. Well, of course, that’s unless you are slightly older and in the midst of a wake ‘n bake whilst watching Krofft creations like “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,” or “Land of the Lost.” (If that was the case, it’s possible that you may not even remember your…

In recent years, Kurtwood Smith has been best known for his role as Red Foreman on “That ‘70s Show.” A quick check of his résumé shows that he’s been in more films than you probably even remember: “Robocop,” “Dead Poet’s Society,” “Quick Change,” “To Die For,” “Broken Arrow,” “A Time To Kill,” “Deep Impact;” the list really does go on and on. Not long ago, Smith took on an extremely interesting role as an ex-con in the indie film, “Hard Scrambled,” now available on DVD. We spoke to him about “going indie,” some of the other key roles of his…