News

Before "Austin Powers," "Johnny English," and "Top Secret!" there was "Get Smart," the 1960s spy sitcom that mined the genre for laughs when the James Bond and "Mission: Impossible" franchises were still in their infancies. Co-created by comedy legends Mel Brook and Buck Henry, "Get Smart" ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970, earning seven Primetime Emmys and plenty of other accolades along the way.

Stand-up comedian Don Adams starred as Maxwell Smart, the sometimes inept top-secret agent who regularly held the fate of the world in his hands ... and often almost fumbled it. By his side was the beautiful, super-cool Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), who loves Maxwell despite his clumsiness and penchant for messing up missions. The central trio was rounded out by Edward Platt's The Chief, the supportive leader of the intelligence agency Control, which employed both Agent 99 and Maxwell.

"Get Smart" inspired a follow-up film, sequel TV show,...

Usually, if you’re a news organization that deals in entertainment, you have material prepared in advance to honor icons of your industry – an obituary, an appreciation, something. But I didn’t prepare anything about Norman Lear even as he passed his 100th birthday last year and then his 101st this past July because it seemed inconceivable he could ever die. He would just glide around beneath his signature porkpie hat forever, reassuring the masses that everything was right with the world because he was still in it.

But now that Lear is gone – he died Tuesday night in his sleep – it’s time to give the man who produced “All in the Family,” and “Sanford and Son,” and “The Jeffersons,” and “Maude,” and “Good Times,” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and “One Day at a Time” his due. The thing is, it’s not really possible to adequately describe...

The '80s were a different time; shoulder pads were in, Reaganomics was taking over the country, and in 1984, a hyper-stylish show called "Miami Vice" was about to become all the rage. Before the Florida-set cop series ever premiered on NBC, though, it had already inspired another series, one that seemed to have very little in common with the Michael Mann-produced action show.

That series was "The Golden Girls," the popular and gut-bustingly funny sitcom about women of a certain age that has only become more beloved in the decades since it ended. "The Golden Girls" is remembered for its positive and honest conversations about aging and its characters' penchant for savage, hilarious quips. It also bolstered the fame of its already-famous stars, Bea Arthur ("Maude"), Betty White ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), Rue McClanahan (also "Maude"), and Estelle Getty ("Mask"). Put together around a kitchen table, the four...

Have you ever thought you’d like to go on a cruise, but not just any cruise? Maybe something with a kicky theme? Well this just may be the cruise for you! Flip Phone Events has announced that they are launching a Golden Girls cruise that will take off from the ladies’ home town of Miami and sail on down to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. All the while, there will be fun Golden Girls themed activities listed below:

Caftan Sail Away Party with Cheesecake

Golden Girls Forever with Jim Colucci

The Rusty Anchor Karaoke Party

Dorothy’s Bingo

Golden Girls Trivia

Shady Pines Craft Corner

Golden Girls Stage Shows and Drag Queens

Key West Golden Girls Bar Crawl

Golden Girls Costume Contest and Fancy Dinner

One Night in St. Olaf Dance Party (Including a game of Ugel and Flugel)

Plus many more activities. What a hoot! The cruise will...

In all truthfulness, The Golden Girls probably shouldn't have worked as a TV series. Seriously, why should it have? The idea of focusing on four aging women living together and helping each other through life's challenges — with the use of lots of comedy — just doesn't scream hit. Yet that's exactly what the show was during its original 1985 to 1992 run, bringing comic magic together in the form of Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty; a magic that continues to entertain television audiences 33 years after it began. "The Golden Girls," offers Jim Colucci, author of the definitive book on the series, Golden Girls Forever, "was one of the rare shows that recruits new generations of fans who weren't even around the first time. The only other show I can equate doing that is I Love Lucy. What's ironic is that it's a show that's timeless enough that it can recruit new generations,...

Melinda and I have to admit that we've had amazingly good luck with getting fun, fascinating guests for our CulturePop podcast, and this week was no exception. Jim Colucci, author of "The Q Guide to the 'Golden Girls'" and "'Will & Grace': Fabulously Uncensored" and the Must-Hear TV correspondent for 'The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius Xm, joined us to talk about both old and new TV shows, including "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and, of course, that beloved '80s sitcom. And yes, we're definitely having him back soon. Here's the rundown:  :50 We dig into "The Golden Girls," and...

Big congrats to Jim Colucci and Frank DeCaro, who were wed live on air Tuesday on Frank's SiriusXM show. Ridley Scott will direct a follow-up to his classic 1982 sci-fi epic Blade Runner. There's no word on whether it'll be a sequel or prequel, or if any of the original cast will return, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Sean Young will be involved. Celebs who behave badly on airplanes. Below you can see part one of Dave Rubin's chat with out Republican Presidential candidate Fred Karger.

RuPaul's Drag Race Season Two winner Tyra Sanchez (James Ross) was arrested after a police officer allegedly found "loose green leafy material consistent with marijuana" inside the vehicle he was riding in. Seriously? Below you can see etiquette expert Steven Petrow answer the question, "Is it okay to lie when online dating?"

In what is shaping up to be the beefcakiest movie ever made,...

There are only two more weeks until Betty White takes center stage at 30 Rock to host Saturday Night Live, and she's not wasting a second of it. At age 88, Betty is the hardest working senior in show business.

This week alone she presented the Fan Favorite Award to the cast of The Love Boat at the TV Land Awards. She also unveiled the Betty White "Naked" Dog at Pink's Hot Dogs at Universal City Walk. And her mint condition 1977 Cadillac was put on display at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The luxury, tricked out car was a surprise gift from her beloved husband Allen Ludden, who passed away almost 30 years ago but remains the love of her life. Betty talked about Allen in an interview we edited for the Archive of American Television.

And after you wipe the tears from your eyes listening to Betty remember Allen,...

Betty White mania has been scaled to Mt. Everest with the music video tribute by the talented Frank DeCaro and company, aka The St. Olaf Glee Club. The name of course, an homage to the oft-referenced home city of "Golden Girls" Rose Nylund. The St. Olaf Glee club is radio personality and writer DeCaro, writer and Monsters and Critics' good friend, "Must Hear TV's" Jim Colucci and Fredrick Ford. DeCaro's The Frank DeCaro Show airs on OutQ on Sirius 109 | Xm 98 Satellite Radio and Colucci penned The Q Guide To The Golden Girls. The video, set to the popping strains of a Grandmaster Flash mash-up of 'White Lines," parodies and celebrates White's TV character's best...

A friend perusing Joe. My. God. just sent me a link to funnyman Frank DeCaro, porn star-turned-singer Fredrick Ford, and The Q Guide To The Golden Girls author Jim Colucci's musical tribute to Betty White. It splices together some of White's best quips (both in and out of character) with original lyrics such as "'Betty White line/flowing through my mind/ 'stead of Nightline/We watch her to unwind." Watch it after the jump.