JD Journal » television

Kristy McNichol Reveals She is Gay

jim — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:45:02 +0000

Kristy McNichol, the actress from ‘Family’ and ‘Empty Nest,’ announced that she is a lesbian over the weekend.

McNichol played Buddy Lawrence in the show ‘Family,’ which aired during the 70s, winning an Emmy for her work. She also played Barbara Weston on the spin-off of the ‘Golden Girls,’ ‘Empty Nest.’ McNichol revealed that she is a lesbian because “I am approaching 50 and I want to be open about who I am.”

McNichol has lived with her partner, Martie Allen, for close to 20 years now. She said that she chose to come out of the closet now because she “is very sad about kids being bullied… and she hopes that coming out can help kids who need support,” according to her publicist, Jeff Ballard. “She would like to help others who feel different.”

The career for McNichol began with guest roles on ‘Starsky and Hutch’ and ‘The Biomnic Woman.’ McNichol has not appeared in a television series as a regular since the middle of the 1990s. She quit acting to “focus on my health and to enjoy tennis, yoga, travel and raising my beloved miniature dachshunds.”

ABC Takes a Header in The Deep End

joshua — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:23:52 +0000

I’m sure most people would agree that what TV really needs more than anything else is another show about lawyers, because that’s a genre that just hasn’t had enough screen time. ABC has stepped up to the plate and delivered, with tonight’s premiere of The Deep End. The first episode hasn’t even aired, and it’s already being destroyed by critics, who just don’t seem to get our need to watch the young and beautiful substitute sexual innuendo and cliche for character development and plot.

Here’s a sampling of some of the reviews…

“ABC’s new legal drama should be summarily dismissed.” – Mary McNamara, LA Times

“Basically, “The Deep End” is “Grey’s Anatomy” with lawyers, and the execution is as cynical and flat as that premise sounds.” – Alan Sepinwall, The Star-Ledger

“ABC’s new drama ‘The Deep End’ is a lawyer show that just isn’t that deep.” – Hank Stuever, The Washington Post

Stuever goes on to say “I can’t recommend that anyone watch ‘The Deep End’ “.

“‘The Deep End’ is shallow on storytelling.” – Tom Maurstad, The Dallas Morning News

“You’ve been here, done this. You’ve seen the same picture painted on the very same numbers. You’ve bought the T-shirt, worn it down to a rag, used the rag to dust the widow sills, and thrown the remnants into the trash.” – Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe

With so much going for it, it’s sure to be a huge hit. Tune in tonight at 8pm on ABC.

Florida Judges Lose Their TV Jobs

Erik Even — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:11:44 +0000

The stars of two Florida-based judge television shows have lost their gigs, due to over-saturation.

Judge David Young, star of his own eponymous program in which he presided over small claims cases, will air his last episode in September after a four-season run. His “hook” was that Young is gay. Young’s JD is from the University of Miami College Of Law, and he was a judge in the Miami-Dade County judicial system.

Sony Pictures Television, which produced Judge David Young, has also canceled Judge Karen, the show starring former Miami-Dade County Court Judge Karen Mills-Francis. Her hook is that she is a “sassy” African-American. She graduated from the Levin School of Law at the University of Florida.

Sony says there are simply too many judge shows for these two programs to compete.