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.
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
Earlier this week, I received a lengthy question from a reader for the mailbag, which, in essence, boiled down to "How do I write a movie review that goes beyond: I liked this part, and I didn't like that part?" At first, I figured I would
When I saw Southland Tales, director Richard Kelly's second feature and follow-up to Donnie Darko, which is considered by many (even my former colleague and film fiasco lover Nathan Rabin) to be an epic boondoggle, for the first time, it was shortly after the film's release
I have been sick, sick, sick this week, so writing newsletters has escaped my grasp. But here I am, with answers to a few of your questions! Leah has a follow-up question to my last newsletter, about interviewing people: I recently had the opportunity to interview someone (it never got
When I was first starting out in my journalism career – and even in my criticism career – having to do a big interview would keep me up nights. I remember that I once did a big interview for the Los Angeles Times with Ryan McPartlin, the guy who played Captain Awesome
Welcome to the latest Friday mailbag! I write this installment as my wife browses Redfin and mumbles about the truly unfortunate interior decorating choices of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Myself, I enjoy green, velvet curtains hung everywhere, and I don't care who knows it. Emily writes,