Category: TV Series
Death by Lightning: Michael Shannon’s Frock Coat for President James Garfield’s Assassination
Michael Shannon as President James A. Garfield in Death by Lightning (Episode 4: “Destiny of the Republic”)
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Michael Shannon as James A. Garfield, Ohio farmer-turned-20th President of the United States
Washington, D.C., Summer 1881
Series: Death by Lightning
Episode: “Destiny of the Republic” (Episode 4)
Streaming Date: November 6, 2025
Director: Matt Ross
Creator: Mike Makowsky
Costume Designer: Michael Wilkinson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
President James Garfield died 145 years ago today, more than two months after he was shot on July 2, 1881 by Charles Guiteau—the culminating incident of last year’s excellent miniseries Death by Lightning, starring Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen as Garfield and Guiteau, respectively. Adapted from Candace Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic, the four-part series takes its title from Garfield’s own stated sentiment regarding the unlikelihood of preventing political murder: “Assassination could be no more guarded against than death by lightning,” which Shannon’s Garfield responds in the third episode when his wife Lucretia (Betty Gilpin) and secretary Joe Brown (Archie Fisher) urge stricter security measures given the president’s fondness for meeting with the public. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Paulie Walnuts’ Black-and-Blue Givenchy Tracksuit
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on The Sopranos (Episode 1.13: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”)
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Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, mob enforcer and Army veteran
New Jersey, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: April 4, 1999
Director: John Patterson
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my closest friends recently started watching The Sopranos for the first time, and our conversations as she makes her way through the first season inspired me to revisit the signature style of my all-time favorite series. Her progress toward the season finale reminded me of one of my favorite sequences, balancing the show’s casual brutality with equally casual absurdity.
After a season spent making life difficult—and more obnoxious—for New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, Uncle Junior’s scuzzy consigliere Mikey Palmice (Al Sapienza) finds his morning jog turned into a literal run for his life as Soprano enforcers Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperoli) chase him through the autumnal suburban woods. Peppered with fatal 9mm rounds, Mikey isn’t the only casualty of the aftenroon as poor Paulie also comes away from the hit with a mild case of poison ivy. Continue reading
Deadwood: Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock
Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock on the first season of Deadwood.
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Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock, taciturn Canadian-born lawman and hardware store owner
Deadwood, Summer 1876 to 1877
Series: Deadwood
Air Dates: March 21, 2004 to August 27, 2006
Creator: David Milch
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my favorite shows of all time, Deadwood aired its final episode 20 years ago tonight on August 27, 2006, shot down in its prime by HBO before series creator David Milch could fully execute his vision. Milch micro-lensed his poetically profane reflection on civilization through the real-life settlement of Deadwood, from its rugged origins as a lawless frontier mining camp to an incorporated town in Dakota Territory within a year. While Deadwood frames its narrative with actual figures and events, the series dramatizes and fictionalizes when needed to serve the story’s greater impact.
Though arguably an ensemble series (and one of the best to do it), Deadwood‘s closest equivalent to a lead character is Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of real-life lawman Seth Bullock. Continue reading
The Rockford Files: Jim’s Beige Safari-style Fishing Jacket
James Garner as Jim Rockford in a promotional photo for The Rockford Files (1974-1980)
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James Garner as Jim Rockford, wisecracking private detective and ex-convict
Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Summer 1974
Series: The Rockford Files
Episodes:
– “Backlash of the Hunter” (Pilot episode, dir. Richard T. Heffron, aired 3/27/1974)
– “In Pursuit of Carol Thorne” (Episode 1.10, dir. Charles S. Dubin, aired 11/8/1974)
Creator: Roy Huggins & Stephen J. Cannell
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo
Background
Our first scene with James Garner’s titular Malibu-based private eye on The Rockford Files catches Jim Rockford after fishing with his father, Joseph “Rocky” Rockford (played by Robert Donley in the pilot, before he would be recast with Noah Beery Jr.). Rocky accompanies his son back to his trailer parked at Paradise Cove, where Jim’s lovely new prospective client Sara Butler (Lindsay Wagner) awaits him. Jim leads Sara into his “cheap, tax-deductible, earthquake-proof” office, where he introduces his now-iconic fee of:
$200 a day, plus expenses.
Writing a check (dated June 6, 1974, precisely dating the setting), Sara then hires Jim to look into his father’s under-investigated murder two months later. In the tradition of great detective fiction, the complexities of the case deepen while Rockford gets knocked around by a few heavies before knocking boots with the gorgeous femme fatale. A break in the case sends Jim and Sara speeding east across the Mojave Desert in his famous bronze Pontiac, resulting in a gunfight with Rockford’s unregistered cookie jar gat.
Since June 18th is annually recognized as National Go Fishing Day, let’s look at how Jim Rockford dressed for that day of fishing in his introductory scene. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Paulie Walnuts’ Mint Shirt at Sea
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” on The Sopranos, Episode 6.15: “Remember When”
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Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, mob captain and Army veteran
Miami Beach, Fall 2007
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Remember When” (Episode 6.15)
Air Date: April 22, 2007
Director: Phil Abraham
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
For some reason, TikTok users in 2021 decided that May 24 was National Rigatoni Day. Leave it to me to five years behind on the trends, but rigatoni is my favorite pasta so I may as well find this tenuous connection to again post about my favorite show—specifically the episode of The Sopranos where Paulie whips up some “rigatoni alla Paulie” or “rigatoni alla Tony, heh heh heh,” while silently—or not so silently—fretting about his fate. Continue reading
The Sopranos, Season 6: Christopher’s Houndstooth Sports Coat
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos (Episode 6.09: “The Ride”)
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Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, ambitious Mafia captain
New Jersey, Fall 2006
Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “The Ride” (Episode 6.09, dir. Alan Taylor, aired 5/7/2006)
– “Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17, dir. Terence Winter, aired 5/6/2007)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On Michael Imperioli’s 60th birthday, it feels right to look at one of the more matured looks from his acclaimed performance as Christopher Moltisanti. Christopher’s signature style throughout The Sopranos had been track suits and leather jackets, though his ascension through the ranks of the New Jersey underworld brought a more sophisticated style to fit his status. Continue reading
Justifed: Raylan’s Grayscale Plaid Shirt and Henley in “The Collection”
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 1.06: “The Collection”)
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Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Between Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, Spring 2010
Series: Justified
Episode: “The Collection” (Episode 1.06)
Air Date: April 20, 2010
Director: Rod Holcomb
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I’ve recently been rewatching Justified with my wife—her first time seeing the series—and it renewed my interest in how Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) dresses while both on- and off-duty working the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Debuting sixteen years ago this month in March 2010, Justified‘s first season especially blended a case-of-the-week format with the series mythology revolving around how the Givens family feud with Harlan County families like the Crowders and Bennetts translated to Raylan’s crusade against arch criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) as well as his ongoing drama with his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea).
One of the last standalone episodes outside of this format was the sixth episode, “The Collection”, revolving around crooked Cincinnati art dealer Owen Carnes (Peter Jason), whom Raylan increasingly suspects was murdered by his wife Caryn (Katherine LaNasa), despite being reminded that murder alone doesn’t necessarily fall under the U.S. Marshals Service’s investigative purview. Continue reading
Twin Peaks: FBI Agent Dale Cooper’s Black Suit
Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, in a promotional image for “The Man Behind the Glass” (Episode 2.03).
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Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper, unusually perceptive FBI agent
Twin Peaks, Washington, February and March 1989
Series: Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2)
Air Dates: April 8, 1990 to June 10, 1991
Created by: Mark Frost & David Lynch
Costume Design: Sara Markowitz (seasons 1-2) & Patricia Norris (pilot episode only)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Diane… 11:30 a.m., February 24th, entering the town of Twin Peaks. It’s five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line.
Twin Peaks canon brought FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into this small upstate Washington town exactly 37 years ago today in 1989, narrating the first of many unreturned missives into a tape recorder after the corpse of popular local teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) was discovered washed ashore near the town’s lumber mill. Continue reading
The Pitt: Dr. Robby’s Season 1 Hoodie, Scrubs, and Seiko
Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby on The Pitt, Episode 1.01: “7:00 A.M.”
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Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, emergency department attending physician
Pittsburgh, September 2025
Series: The Pitt (Season 1)
Air Dates: January 9, 2025 to April 10, 2025 (Season 1)
Creator: R. Scott Gemmill
Costume Designer: Lyn Paolo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy The Pitt Thursday to all who tune in! Especially here in my hometown of Pittsburgh, we’ve been riding high on the success of The Pitt as it continues through its second season.
Conceived by ER creator R. Scott Gemmill and longtime star Noah Wyle as a way to retool the medical drama three decades later, the series trades the late-’90s urgency of Chicago County General for a 21st century emergency department shaped by COVID’s lingering trauma, internet-fueled health misinformation, staffing shortages, and the growing threats of gun violence. And for locals like me, the show’s Pittsburgh specificity lands with a wink, flavored by local institutions from Primanti’s to Wiener World.
The Pitt is set at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (PTMC), a composite of Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side (which provided the hospital exteriors) and UPMC, with its unmistakable tower standing against the skyline during the opening titles and the roof-set scenes bookending the first season. The Pitt follows a grayer, steadier Wyle as Dr. Michael Robinavitch (“but everyone calls me Dr. Robby”), senior attending in the ED. Far removed from the fresh-faced John Carter, Robby is a seasoned, pragmatic, and quietly haunted leader who delegates with trust, shoulders blame, and never asks of his team what he wouldn’t do himself. Continue reading
Twin Peaks: Michael Ontkean in Khakis and Fleck Jacket as Sheriff Harry Truman
Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks (Episode 1.03: “Episode 2″, aka “Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer”)
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Michael Ontkean as Harry S. Truman, small-town sheriff
Twin Peaks, Washington, February and March 1989
Series: Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2)
Air Dates: April 8, 1990 to June 10, 1991
Created by: Mark Frost & David Lynch
Costume Design: Sara Markowitz (seasons 1-2) & Patricia Norris (pilot episode only)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
For Canadian actor Michael Ontkean’s 80th birthday, today’s post continues the Twin Peaks theme started this week with series co-creator David Lynch’s appearance as FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole. Born just four days after Lynch on January 24, 1946, Ontkean rose to fame through the 1970s on the TV series The Rookies and the 1977 sports comedy Slap Shot before he took on the role of the even-tempered Sheriff Harry S. Truman—no known relation to the president of the same name, though the sheriff does hang the 33rd president’s portrait in his office. Continue reading
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