Tag / ABC

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #150-159

Music.  It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions.  It is the universal language that speaks to the soul.  It forms the soundtrack of our lives.

It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.

We continue today with our next batch of ten artists, covering the genres of pop, alternative rock, and rap, plus some Saturday morning cartoon symmetry to round things out.

#159: B.J. Thomas
iTunes stats: 71 plays
Previous ranking: #154

A 16-play increase for the Oklahoma-born pop singer, who passed away in 2021.

#159: Poe
iTunes stats: 71 plays
Previous ranking: #152

The trippy singer, who became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2014, scores with four different songs to add fifteen listens over these past five years.

#157: KC & The Sunshine Band
iTunes stats: 72 plays
Previous ranking: #171

The disco stalwarts, founded in 1973 in Florida, added 21 new plays to the four songs they have in my collection.

#157: 2Pac
iTunes stats: 72 plays
Previous ranking: #140

The slain rapper, whose murder remains unsolved nearly 30 years later, picked up twelve new listens while dropping 17 spots in the rankings.

#154: Lita Ford
iTunes stats: 73 plays
Previous ranking: #176

The former Runaways guitarist moves up the list with thirteen new plays, driven mostly by her 1989 duet with Ozzy Osbourne, who passed last year.

#154: Lily Allen
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2025 New Fall Season – Thursdays

Thursday night was traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits but has fallen off over the past couple of years.  This year is no exception.  Here’s what’s on the slate for this season.

7:00

9-1-1 – Returning for its ninth season, and its third on ABC, although without star Peter Krause.

8:00

9-1-1: Nashville – Another spinoff, moving the franchise to Tennessee.

9:00

Elsbeth – The The Good Wife spinoff returns for its third season, but I still have to watch the second one.

Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 22nd season with the follow-up on last season’s explosion.

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Prolific Authors – Two Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We begin today with the 40 authors I’ve read two times, one fewer than two years ago.

Laura Caldwell

I have no idea how I came across the work of this local author, but I must have enjoyed it enough to go back for seconds.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 2020, leaving behind a back catalog of fourteen novels and two non-fiction books.

Michael Chabon

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the most recent of the two works of his I’ve read.  I have another, Wonder Boys, waiting in the to read pile, so he rise up some day.

Matthew V. Clemens

The co-author, with Max Allan Collins, of the final two chapters of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Ready Player Two – Ernest Cline

Ernest Cline

The man responsible for both Ready Player One and Ready Player Two.

Bill Clinton

The former president has co-written two novels with James Patterson.

Michael Connelly

The creator of Harry Bosch makes his first appearance thanks to his Renée Ballard spin-off series.

Laura Dave

I read my second novel from her, The Night We Lost Him, earlier this year.

Felicia Day

The first author here that I’ve happened to meet in person.

Cameron Dokey

She makes the list based on two entries in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Warren Ellis

The comic writer, currently in exile after being called out for abusing women, makes the list thanks to two prose novels.

David Fisher Continue reading →

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Post Mortem – Lucky 13

A game show hosted by both Gina Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal, Lucky 13 lasted all of ten episodes on ABC last summer.  The contestant is asked thirteen true or false questions and then has to pick how many they got right.  Then, the questions were gone over a second time, in a seemingly random order, to determine if the contestant fell within their chosen range of correct answers.  This duplicative part dragged things down a bit, as did having two hosts where only one was necessary.

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Post Mortem – The Conners

For the third time in the past 28 years, ABC, and America, has said goodbye to the Conner family.  Spun off from the revival of Roseanne in 2018 after Roseanne Barr’s tweets got her fired, The Conners killed off her character offscreen and showed the family trying to move on.  Seven seasons later, the show wrapped up its run, giving us 17 seasons of programming across the three iterations.

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ABC Upfronts

ABC comes in with the most stable schedule heading in to fall, with four consecutive nights showing no change from last fall.  Monday once again will simulcast Monday Night Football with ESPN.  Tuesday will also remain the same, with the next installment of Dancing With the Stars followed by High Potential, which became the network’s most-watched new series in seven years.

Wednesday kicks off with the comedy block of Shifting Gears and Abbott Elementary, followed by another installment of The Golden Bachelor and Shark Tank.  9-1-1 returns for its third season on ABC to kick off Thursdays, followed by new spinoff 9-1-1: Nashville and the 22nd season of Grey’s Anatomy.  Friday sees Celebrity Wheel of Fortune followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday also stays stable, with America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by three hours of The Wonderful World of Disney.

On the bench for mid-season are new installments of American Idol, Celebrity Jeopardy, The Rookie, and Will Trent.  The future of Doctor Odyssey is undetermined at this point.

Shows never to be seen again are The Conners, which wrapped up its seven-season run this spring.

 

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The End Of Dawn

Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg, who joined the main cast in the fifth season as Dawn, Buffy’s younger sister/mystical key, died yesterday in her New York City home at the age of 39.  She was believed to have recently undergone a liver transplant and her death was attributed to natural causes, pending an autopsy.

Trachtenberg earned early fame in the mid-90s, appearing on The Adventures of Pete & Pete on Nickelodeon and All My Children on ABC.  In 1996, at the age of 10, she nabbed the title role in the film Harriet the Spy.  She joined the cast of Buffy in 2000 and remained on the show until its conclusion in 2003.  In 2004, she appeared as one of the leads in the teen comedy EuroTrip.

Despite being the youngest main cast member by far, Trachtenberg is the first actor from the cult classic series to prematurely shuttle off this mortal coil.  Earlier this month, a sequel series was announced at Hulu, with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as Buffy on a recurring basis.  There was no word if any other cast members, including Trachtenberg, would be involved.

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2024 New Fall Season – Thursdays

Thursday night was traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits, but has fallen off over the past couple of years.  This year is no exception.  Here’s what’s on the slate for this season.

7:00

9-1-1 – Returning for its eighth season, and its second on ABC, I started watching the previous seasons this summer.

8:00

Doctor Odyssey – The new series stars Joshua Jackson as a doctor working on a cruise ship.

9:00

Elsbeth – The The Good Wife spinoff returns for its second season, but I still have to watch the first one.

Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 21st season down an attending and an intern

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ABC Upfronts

Change is in the air at ABC, where they are adding new scripted programming after taking last year off due to the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes.  A familiar name is returning to Mondays, with Monday Night Football back in its long-time perch for selected weeks.  The network has yet to announce what will air in the weeks where football remains on ESPN only.  Dancing With the Stars moves to Tuesday, followed by High Potential, written by Drew Goddard and starring Kaitlin Olson.

Wednesday kicks off with the first installment of The Golden Bachelorette, followed by Abbott Elementary and Scamanda, a docu-series based on the podcast about a wife and blogger who faked cancer.  9-1-1 returns for its second season on ABC to kick off Thursdays, followed by Doctor Odyssey, a new medical drama from Ryan Murphy and starring Joshua Jackson.  The 21st season of Grey’s Anatomy wraps up the night.  Friday remains the same, with Shark Tank followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday also stays stable, with America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by three hours of The Wonderful World of Disney.

On the bench for mid-season are new installments of American Idol, The Bachelor, Celebrity Jeopardy, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, the final season of The Conners, The Rookie, What Would You Do? and Will Trent.  A new version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, produced by Reese Witherspoon, is also on the docket.

Shows never to be seen again are The Good Doctor, Not Dead Yet, and Station 19.

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Prolific Authors – 2 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we start things off with the now 41 authors I’ve read twice, an increase of six over two years ago.

Max Barry

An Australian author, I’ve enjoyed the two novels of his I’ve read, Jennifer Government and Company.

Laura Caldwell

I have no idea how I came across the work of this local author, but I must have enjoyed it enough to go back for seconds.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 2020.

Michael Chabon

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the most recent of the two works of his I’ve read.  I have another, Wonder Boys, waiting in the to read pile, so he rise up some day.

Fate Of The Union – Max Allan Collins with Matthew V. Clemens

Matthew V. Clemens

The co-author, with Max Allan Collins, of the final two chapters of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Ernest Cline

The man responsible for both Ready Player One and Ready Player Two.

Bill Clinton

The former president has co-written two novels with James Patterson.

Felicia Day

The first author here that I’ve happened to meet in person.

Cameron Dokey

She makes the list based on two entries in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Diane Duane

Living in Ireland, she is responsible for a Star Trek: The Next Generation book and a Spider-Man novel, of all things.

Warren Ellis

The comic writer, currently in exile after being called out for abusing women, makes the list thanks to two prose novels.

David Fisher Continue reading →