Gasland Part II, Directed By Wayne County Native Josh Fox, To Premiere on HBO Monday, July 8th

Gasland Part II, directed by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Josh Fox, will have its television premiere Monday, July 8th at 9 PM on HBO.

Fox is a native of Wayne County; his original 2010 documentary Gasland was a Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature and won an Emmy Award winner in 2011 for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming.  

"Remembering the Scranton Sirens" Documentary Wins Emmy

Congratulations to the creative team behind the documentary Remembering the Scranton Sirens, which recently won an Emmy award for Best Documentary.  The documentary, produced by WVIA and directed by Scranton native Gregory Matkosky (Stories From the Mines), won the award at the 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Ceremony, held in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 22nd in Philadelphia.

Click here for more information on The Scranton Sirens.

Click here to read more about the Emmy win.

Much thanks to Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

Wayne County Native Josh Fox Wins Emmy For Directing Gasland

Congratulations to documentary filmmaker and Wayne County native Josh Fox for winning an Emmy for Outstanding Direction for Nonfiction Programming for his film Gasland.

In Gasland, Josh Fox received an offer to drill for natural gas under his property in Pennsylvania; in response, he did what few landowners think to do--he conducted his own research into the drilling process. The film won the 2010 Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

To place a hold on the DVD of Gasland, click here.

www.gaslandthemovie.com

Mad Men, "Flight 1" (Season 2, Episode 2) (August 3, 2008)

My extra-ultra-groovy colleague Elizabeth Davis from the Lackawanna County Children's Library, a huge fan of the AMC original series Mad Men, was quite surprised when she was watching this week's episode and suddenly hear the words Wilkes-Barre, PA come out of one of the characters' mouths.

Mad Men, created by Matthew Weiner (The Sopranos), is the first original series from tevevision network AMC (American Movie Classics). Set in New York City, Mad Men takes place amid the changing social mores in the early 1960s and centers on the fictional Madison Avenue advertising agency Sterling Cooper and its high level executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm), as well as his colleagues.

In addition to winning the 2007 Peabody Award, Mad Men recently made history by being the first basic-cable series (it shares the honor with Damages) to be nominated for the Prime Time Emmy Award for Best Drama (just one of a total of 16 Emmy nominations).

The Wilkes-Barre reference occurs about halfway through Flight 1, the second episode of the second season which had its premiere on Sunday, August 3rd. which first aired on Sunday, August 3rd. The character of Sis is talking to Peggy (Eilzabeth Moss) about how their mother lies about Peggy's activities to save face in front of her gossipy neighbors. Mom tells the nosy neighbors that the reason Peggy is is never seen at their church is because she is always out of town on business and even makes up a fictitious church that she attends in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

To watch the complete "Flight 1" episode of Mad Men online, click here.

A big ol' holla to Elizabeth Davis for this reference.

www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

David Lepore, Set Designer and Emmy Winner for "Come On Over"

David Lepore of Wilkes-Barre recently won an Emmy Award from the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Emmy was for Best Graphic Arts-Set Design for the regional children's show Come On Over, filmed and televised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lepore shares the award with co-set designer Bob Phillips.

Come On Over won a total of 5 Emmy Awards on June 7th,

Click here to read the article from the Citizens' Voice.

Congratulations, David. Well done!

Thank you to Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

Michael Patrick King, Sex & The City (Director/Writer/Producer) (1954- )

Scranton native Michael Patrick King, center, is the Director/Writer/Executive Producer of the highly anticipated summer movie Sex & the City: The Movie. The film stars (from left) Kim Cattrall, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Sex & the City: The Movie opens nationwide May 30th.

This reference is from my longtime friend and colleague Evelyn Gibbons, who called me tonight all excited to give me this info:

Check out the Summer Movies (MT) section of this past Sunday's (May 4, 2008) New York Times and, on page 4, you will find a lengthy profile of the upcoming Sex and the City: The Movie. The article features both a profile of and an extensive interview with the movie's director/writer/producer Michael Patrick King, a native of Scranton.

Michael Patrick King was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on September 14th, 1954. In the 1980s he moved to New York City, where he worked as a playwright and stand-up comedian.

King's impressive career in television spans over two decades. He first worked as executive producer of a 1989 show called The Sweet Life, which featured host Rachel Sweet introducing short clips of movie comedies. Of interesting note is that The Sweet Life aired on a new and fledgling network called The Comedy Channel, which only years later morphed into Comedy Central.

In the early 1990s, King served as writer for the hit sitcom Murphy Brown. He went on to write and executive produce several episodes of Will & Grace. He also served as writer/director/executive producer of the short-lived HBO show The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow.

King is best known for his work on the smash HBO series Sex & the City, which he served as writer/director/executive producer from 1999 to 2004. He was won a Best Director Emmy Award for the episode The Reel Me in 2002.

Sex & the City: The Movie, one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the Summer 2008 movie season, opens nationwide Friday, May 30th, 2008.

The New York Times article, written by Ginia Bellafante, is titled Back to the City, for More Than Just Sex. To read the article, click here.

Also of note is that the bottom of the first page of the Summer Movies section reads:

4

HIS OWN VELVET ROPE

How Michael Patrick King got

himself from Scranton

to "Sex and

the City."

Seasons 1-6 of Sex & The City are available to borrow from libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System.

Muchos gracias to the phenomenally groovy Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

UPDATED May 10th: Someone Meeboed me a question regarding Mr. King:

" I just found your blog after reading the NY Times article about Sex and the City. Do you know which "small college in Pennsylvania" Michael Patrick went to?"

After a little digging, I discovered that Michael Patrick King attended Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA, according to GoErie.com

Marion Lorne, Actress (1883-1968)

West Pittston native Marion Lorne appears as Aunt Clara opposite Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York in an episode of the classic 1960s sitcom Bewitched. Lorne won a posthumous Emmy Award for her role 10 days after her death in 1968.

She was a gifted and lovable star of the Broadway stage, the "brand new box" called television, and the silver screen. She was directed by Hitchcock in her film debut. She was the aunt of a loveable witch on one of TV's best-loved sitcoms. And to top it all off, she was a friend of that infamous cougar Mrs. Robinson in a film classic. She is Marion Lorne and she's a native of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.

Marion Lorne MacDougall was born in West Pittston on August 12, 1883.

After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, she made her Broadway debut as Marion Lorne in 1905's Mrs. Temple's Telegram. She appeared in many other plays in the early days of Broadway.

She married playwright Walter Hackett (Captain Applejack; The White Sister) and moved to London, where they founded the Whitehall Theater. Following Hackett's death in 1944, she returned to the US and starred as Vera in the original Broadway production of Harvey.

Lorne's film debut came at the young age of 68 in 1951's Strangers On A Train, directed by legendary Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock; her character was Mrs. Anthony. Following the film's success, she turned to television in the recurring role as the lovable-but-hopelessly-confused Mrs. Gurney on the sitcom Mister Peepers from 1952 to 1953. She also appeared in the 1955 Rosiland Russell vehicle The Girl Rush, also starring Fernando Lamas.

Follwoing a number of guest appearances on various television shows, Lorne was cast as the doorknob-obsessed, lovable witch Aunt Clara on the wildly popular 1960s sitcom Bewitched, co-starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York. The show was a phenomenal success and helped Lorne reach a whole new audience.

In 1967, Lorne appeared as Miss Dewitte, a friend and party guest of Mrs. Robinson's in Mike Nichols's 1967 film debut The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. The film was a huge hit and ushered in the "film school generation" of directors.

Sadly, during the fourth season of Bewitched, Marion Lorne suffered a heart attack and passed away in New York City on May 9, 1968 . She was 84 years old. Ten days after her death, Lorne was posthumously awarded the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role on Bewitched--her friend and colleague Elizabeth Montgomery accected the award for the late actress.

Several items featuring Marion Lorne are available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System--including the first 3 seasons of Bewitched, the VHS or DVD of The Graduate, and the VHS or DVD of Strangers on a Train. Click on any of these links to place a reserve.

Much thanks to the savvy Michele L. for this reference. And thanks to Erin from Childrens for the correction :-) I originally incorrectly identified Elizabeth Montgomery as Barbara Montgomery :-(

The Office Nominated For 5 Emmys

The hit NBC show The Office, which takes places at the ficticious Dunder-Mifflin paper distribution company in Scranton, PA (and has included several local references throughout its two seasons) has been nominated for 5 Emmy Awards, including Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy for star Steve Carell.

The Sopranos (2000) Season Two, Episode One

Our lovely district consultant Mary Yeager emailed me and told me of a mention of Scranton in the popular HBO series The Sopranos. The story centers on fictional Mafia man Tony Soprano and his relationships with his wife, his family, his associates, and his therapist. The first-rate cast includes James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco.

The Scranton mention was in the first episode of the second season. The episode, titled "Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist's Office," features a scene in which Philly "Spoons" Parisi (played by Dan Grimaldi) is picking up Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) from the airport. The dialogue goes like this:

Spoons

So how's Boston?

*

Tony

Well, it was good to be back for a while, then, ya know.

*

Spoons

Do I?

*

Tony

That place is Scranton, with clams.

*

*

NOTE: Now I have never seen an episode of The Sopranos in my life. So if I have the scene or the characters wrong, please email us at refdept@albright.org and tell us.

*

Season Two of The Sopranos, featuring "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office" is available to borrow on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Much thanks again to the lovely Mary Yeager for this entry.