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Seven Minutes with Jerry Seinfeld

A month ago, if you had told me I'd be interviewing Jerry Seinfeld on television for a national entertainment news show, I'd say you were crazy. But life is weird (or at least mine is), and it actually happened.

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September 2016 Playlist: The Get Down

“The Get Down” was a warm breeze of late summer fun on Netflix. Against the backdrop of a broke (and broken) Bronx in the summer of 1977, “The Get Down” tells a story at the crossroads of disco and hip-hop. This was a time when New York City was severely in debt and was denied federal assistance to avoid bankruptcy under President Gerald Ford, yielding the famous New York Daily News 1975 headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The Bronx and its residents were really suffering.

The show was created by Baz Luhrmann, who also directed the pilot. I’ve heard from a few friends who had lukewarm feelings after watching the very densely packed first episode, which I completely understand, since watching a Baz Luhrmann project is like eating a really rich, over-sweetened layer cake with frosting made of ecstasy and sprinkled with cocaine, then washing it down with Red Bull. You almost need to chase a Luhrmann movie with an Ingmar Bergman film just to come down. He starts off his new Netflix series, “The Get Down,” with a similar three-ring circus fervor, though it’s not his usual boisterous pageant of bells and whistles. Fortunately for “The Get Down,” the remaining five episodes are helmed by other directors who allow the story to breathe with more finesse and nuance. And it’s a pretty fabulous story.

One of the best best features of the 8-episode show was the music. Wow. Like, fuck me wow. It’s an early-to-mid ’70s aural orgy of soul, R&B, disco and even some rock in a beautiful blend of the popular and the more esoteric. My September 2016 playlist is a curated selection of some of my favorites that appeared in the series.

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The Sartorial Illiteracy of the American Television Host

It’s a good bet that a lot of American men get their cues about wearing suits from television. Unfortunately, most TV personalities wear their suits poorly, spreading bad information to the masses.

Left to their own devices, male on-camera personalities would likely make even bigger sartorial mistakes than they already do. It’s not totally their fault. Their main job is to be informed, intelligent, engaging and entertaining, which is a genuinely difficult full-time job. Other than a few hosts who actually have a sense of style and a knowledge of what to wear and how to wear it, these men need help. To get dressed appropriately and look right, they retain the services of a stylist, designer or dresser whose job can range from advising and consulting to an all-out dictation of what otherwise clueless talent should wear. This is where the problem lives.

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Orange Is the New Black

While it's hotter than Satan's taint outside, it's a great time to stay indoors and catch up on the latest original series from Netflix: Orange Is the New Black. The show is based on Piper Kerman's memoir Orange Is the…

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Johnny Carson: King of Late Night

He was, indeed, the king. As a child of the '70s and '80s, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night on NBC. To this day, it hosts some of my favorite memories of great television moments. Throughout its run,…

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