I have to confess I can't have the holiday season without "Hard Candy Christmas". For some reason, it makes me think of the sticky ribbon candy bowl my mid-western grandma always had.

I love commercials. I love to hate commercials, too. I talk back to them.

In the end, all critics should be guided by this one principle: Is this piece of work [TV show, movie, play, concert, album, restaurant] succeeding at what it set out to do?

One of the dirty little secrets of my job is that I don't do ANY food or cooking shows.

Just as it's unfair to review a taco stand for not being a four-star restaurant, I also have to be mindful that not every drama on TV is trying to be "The Wire."

Mobster stories are always a harder sell for me. I don't romanticize organize crime the way others do, though I can be swayed.

I like the anthology concept. I wish more shows would do it.