Emily St. James is a writer and critic whose work has appeared in Vox, The A.V. Club, and the New York Times. She is the co-creator of the podcast Arden and a writer on the TV series Yellowjackets.
Dylan McDermott, the Fox executives assured all of us attending the network's upfront presentation, would be playing the breakout character of the 2017-18 TV season. He was going to pull an Andre Braugher, showing off previously unknown comedic gifts in an otherwise conventional sitcom. LA to Vegas was
When I was growing up, the death of an animal wasn't so much a moment for mourning as something that happened. We had pets, sure, but the realities of farm life (especially farm life near a somewhat busy highway) meant that pets came and went more quickly than
I'm writing this to you from The Bean at 12th and Broadway in Manhattan, one of my favorite coffee shops out there (not just because it's across the street from The Strand, one of the best bookstores in the world). I'm in town for
We only got two questions this week, but maybe I can convince one of my cats to ask me something before the evening is over! Billy writes: I always wanted to hear more about the comic-buying experiences you referred to in your Superman piece. Did you try out much from
Ever since I started doing my semi-regularly updated "18 best shows on TV" list at Vox (which I am in the process of updating as we speak!), I've been beset by a large number of questions, most of which have to do with "THAT'
Back when I was first starting out as a wannabe TV critic and/or TV writer, I read a blog post (that I've long since lost track of) that said something that really stuck with me. It said that since your TV show has to run for many,
Howdy, mailbageroos! It's time to answer your questions! Kim writes: I am so into Superstore, it's hilarious. But one thing that throws me… they definitely seem to be moving in the direction of Jonah and Amy eventually being romantically involved. Which, fantastic, I live for the
I discovered musicals at the time when most of my peers were discovering popular music – either in the form of rock or country. I didn't shun country, especially, making mixtapes of songs I loved from off the radio, but when I started buying my own music, it was
I'm back! But I'm also really sleepy, due to the after-effects of jet lag, and a cold Libby and I seem to have picked up in our travels. So this might not be as thorough as you're expecting! Regardless... Charles writes: You write a
I spent the whole day preparing for a vacation, then seeing a couple of my favorite movies at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (this is a must if you can afford it and/or get volunteer/media access). So this might be more perfunctory than usual! But we'
(The bible for The Bible was particularly complicated.) If you read enough stuff about TV writing, or creating a TV show, you'll see a sorta cryptic phrase come up quite a few times: the show bible. But what is this thing? Where does it come from? How do
Just pretend that I inserted a little song about getting email, sung in the voice of Strong Bad, right here. Then proceed to read the rest of this newsletter! Billy asks: I loved those Primers you did for the AV Club a couple years ago. On your Tumblr, you said