BY DEAN ROBBINS Multi-camera, laugh-track sitcoms have been in decline, but The Millers is one that works (7:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS). Nate (Will Arnett) and Debbie (Jayma Mays) have always kept their distance from their insufferable parents (Beau Bridges, Margo Martindale), but that becomes impossible when Mom and Dad break up. She moves in with […]
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TELEVISION
The Goldbergs wallows in a decade’s worth of shame and guilt. BY DEAN ROBBINS The 1980s take a beating in The Goldbergs (8 p.m. Tuesday, ABC). An adult narrator looks back on his childhood in the days when REO Speedwagon seemed profound and even middle-aged moms wore a Madonna hairdo. The Goldbergs are a hostile-yet-loving […]
Posted inMusic
On the Fritz
Songwriters draw their inspiration from a variety of things. Current events and relationships are usually high on the list, but things that make us laugh don’t typically scream, “Write a song about me.” Yet they do to Jonny Fritz, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter formerly known as Jonny Corndawg. He plays Thursday at Opolis. Fritz’s eccentric brand […]
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My name is ____
Magnificent Bird“A few years back, a former bandmate and I were exchanging mix CDs of some of the stranger music we were into, and we were giving the CDs these long, ornate titles, mostly to make each other laugh. I believe I titled one Magnificent Bird: Or How to Fall All the Way Down and […]
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Go, Gringo, go!
What’s in a name? For the members of Atlanta’s Gringo Star, it’s a reprieve from having to answer the same question in their old band, A Fir-Ju Well. “‘What’s your name? What did you say? What does that mean?’” said Nick Furgiele. “It was every night. It wasn’t like we changed our sound or anything […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Not everybody’s ready for some football.
When I was 8, my dad woke me early one Saturday morning and told me we were going on an adventure. Being 8, I immediately concluded the adventure included horseback riding. I even put on a bright red sweater with a galloping horse on the front, just to drive home the point that I expected […]
Posted inMusic
Cooper futures
Tours are no place for parents — even if you aren’t anywhere near Mötley Crüe levels of debauchery — but when you’re a red-dirt musician playing in bars and haven’t hit the legal drinking age, there’s not much of a choice. “Those were some good ol’ times, having my mom or dad right there with […]