Articles by Jeff Pfeiffer

Comedy

Showtime’s Refreshingly Different ‘Work In Progress’ Has Its Origins in the World of Improv

December 8, 2019 Jeff Pfeiffer 0

This month, Showtime is introducing a fascinatingly diverse Sunday evening lineup of programming. It’s headed by the return of The L Word in a sequel series. That series will lead into a new comedy called Work in Progress that is not only refreshingly different in terms of the types of characters regularly portrayed on television, but also in its engaging and hilarious format. That format is inspired largely by the previous work of the show’s star/co-creator/cowriter/co-showrunner Abby McEnany, who has been a longtime staple of Chicago’s improv scene. Together, she and Tim Mason, another Windy City improv-er, have fashioned a […]

Magazine Archive

The Preppy Murder: Death In Central Park

November 13, 2019 Jeff Pfeiffer 0

“Before O.J. Simpson, the Preppy Killer — that was the trial of the century.” Former print and TV reporter Steve Dunleavy offered this quote when he was interviewed for the new AMC/SundanceTV docuseries The Preppy Murder: Death in Central Park. Dunleavy was probably correct, as the 1986 killing of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin at the hands of 19-year-old Robert Chambers in New York City’s Central Park was a highly sensationalized case — the press nicknamed Chambers “the Preppy Killer.” But as this intriguing five-part, three-night series shows, it is worth looking back on the “Preppy Murder” not for prurient curiosity about […]

Family

The Wonderful World Of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!

November 1, 2019 Jeff Pfeiffer 0

Ariel, the title character of Disney’s classic animated film The Little Mermaid, famously sings about wanting to become “Part of Your World” in relation to the prince she loves and the surface-dwelling existence she thinks is preferable to her life undersea. While Ariel’s efforts to achieve that new life for herself lead to conflict and drama, the masterfully produced movie didn’t have much difficulty instantly becoming a lasting part of our world after it hit theaters 30 years ago, in November 1989. Thanks in large part to infectiously catchy Alan Menken/Howard Ashman tunes like “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the […]