Proclaiming his innocence in interview after interview, Rod Blagojevich seems to be auditioning for a remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, casting himself as James Stewart's naïve and embattled freshman senator, Jefferson Smith. As he told "The Early Show," "If you're asking me do I see myself like a...

Are advent calendars, traditionally the Whitman Sampler of holiday offerings, getting a cool makeover? Exhibit A is Stephen Colbert's Video Advent Calendar included as a bonus feature on the "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All" DVD ("Relax everybody, " begins Colbert's Dec. 21 greeting, "you have four more...

When groundbreaking comedian David Brenner takes each of Zanies' stages this weekend (November 20 in Chicago, November 21 in St. Charles, and November 22 in Vernon Hills), he will have the daunting challenge of trying to find the funny in depressing times.

As a topical comedian, Brenner is not...

On Nov. 17, 1978, the Star Wars universe was rocked by a disturbance in the Force more calamitous than the destruction of Alderon, more catastrophic than the Clone Wars, and more devastating than the introduction of Jar Jar Binks. It was The Star Wars Holiday Special (or TSWHS), a two-hour...

My mother loved Paul Newman, whose most memorable characters were a rebellious, disreputable 180 from the faithful, respectable man she married. My father was secure enough in their marriage that would last nearly 60 years that he wasn't jealous when she joked about running away with him.

When Mr....

My son made me a mixtape. Caught me completely by surprise, and I was oddly moved. How cool that he wanted to share these songs with me.

My son is 14, and we're good. We talk. I know enough not to press him about girls or his plans for the...

My son made me a mixtape. Caught me completely by surprise, and I was oddly moved. How cool that he wanted to share these songs with me.

My son is 14, and we're good. We talk. I know enough not to press him about girls or his plans for the...

It is in tune with Neil Innes' whimsical sense of the absurd that the 32nd Annual Fest for Beatles Fans recently at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare featured what was billed as "the second world premiere" of the documentary, "The Seventh Python."

Innes, who has been hailed as...