Author Archives: Esther Zuckerman

I have many vivid memories from the fall of 2001. I remember being in the dining hall at Astrocamp, a space camp in Idyllwild, Calif., where my elementary school was on a class trip, and wondering why the radios were all turned to New York stations. I remember sitting in front of one of Astrocamp’s »

The next time you find yourself typing “hulu.com” into your Web browser, don’t immediately click on the latest episode of “30 Rock” or “The Office.” Hulu has a plethora of vintage television choices. Here are a couple you should try: Old-school “Saturday Night Live” Do you really need to watch Taylor Swift’s monologue again? No, »

Just as Billy Bigelow returns to Earth from Heaven unseen in the Dramat’s fall mainstage “Carousel,” this weekend “Carousel” returned to New Haven. In fact Richard Rogers’ and Oscar Hammerstein II’s tragic story of a carousel barker and his mill-working lover originated in New Haven, as did many of their other classics. While now it »

Sitcom writer David Lloyd ’56 died Tuesday from prostate cancer. Lloyd wrote scripts for scores of sitcoms including “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “Fraiser.” But, although it is fair to assume many Yalies did not know Lloyd by name, one of the best ways to remember him is through his seminal episode of »

It seems that sometimes, what appears to be a shitty situation is actually a lucky break. A 29 year-old who lives with his 73-year-old dad and maintains the Twitter account “Shit My Dad Says” just got a book contract and a deal for CBS sitcom, both based on the Twitter account. An example of shit »

My friend told me that when she was 6 years old, she asked to be Mary Tyler Moore for Halloween. I love Mary Tyler Moore. I love her eponymous TV show. I love her ’70s miniskirts and boots. I love that lady in the opening credits of her TV show who glares at her as »

Every so often, even at a place like Yale, we are reminded that some people are smarter than others. Someone, like Thomas Steitz — a Sterling professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and, as of Wednesday, the winner of a Nobel Prize for Chemistry — will come along and make us wonder what makes these »

As we sat down to our friend date on the rooftop patio of Bespoke, we looked at each other and immediately wished the other were a boy. With botanical chandeliers hanging above us and sultry Spanish music pervading the dusk air, we knew this could only be better if a young man were sitting across »

In season two of “Mad Men,” the ad men of Sterling Cooper come up with a brilliant campaign for Playtex bras: all women emulate either Jackie Kennedy or Marilyn Monroe, so the ads claim the bra fits both. I say screw Jackie and Marilyn. These days, if you are a woman, you are a Peggy »

After simply reading the synopsis for writer-director Brad Anderson’s “Transsiberian,” a suspense-thriller taking place primarily on a Trans-Siberian train ride, Alfred Hitchcock might come to mind. While the setting might be Hitchcockian and reminiscent of films like “North by Northwest” and “Strangers on a Train,” this is no Hitchcock film. There is none of the »