The Late Great Robert McGinnis

Robert McGinnis, who created iconic posters for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), The Odd Couple (1968),. Barbarella (1968), and several Bond movies, died on March 10 2025 at the age of 99.  In addition to movie posters, he also created art for paperback book covers and magazines from Good Housekeeping to The Saturday Evening Post.

Robert McGinnis was born on February 3 1926 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up in Wyoming. He was only a teenager when he worked as an apprentice at Walt Disney Studios. He studied art at Ohio State University. During World War II he served in the Merchant Marine.

Following his service during the war, Robert McGinnis went to work in advertising. It was following a chance meeting with fellow illustrator Mitchell Hook that he began illustrating cover of paperback books for Dell Publishing. He drew covers for paperbacks written by such authors as Edward S. Aarons, Erle Stanley Gardner, Brett Halliday, Richard S. Prather, Donald Westlake (under his pen name Richard Stark), and Alan Geoffrey Yates (under his pen name Carter Brown). Later he did artwork for several magazines, including Argosy, Good Housekeeping, Guideposts, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, National Geographic, Reader's Digest, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Robert McGinnis created the posters for several movies. His first was for Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961. In the Sixties he did posters for the films Thunderball (1965), Arabesque (1966), How to Steal a Million (1966), You Only Live Twice (1967), The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968), The Odd Couple (1968), Barbarella (1968), The Wrecking Crew (1968), and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). In the Seventies he did the posters for Giù la testa (1971), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), Sleeper (1974), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Gator (1976), and International Velvet (1978). He created the titles for the Western The Hallelujah Trail (1965).

Over the years Robert McGinnis created many covers for romance novels. In 2004 he began creating covers for the Hard Case Crime paperback imprint. In 2016 he began providing covers for reprints of Neil Gaiman books.

Robert McGinnis was one of the greatest illustrators of all time, and he would be remembered even if he had not created several high profile movie posters. The covers he had made for paperbacks from historical fiction to mystery to romance to science fiction. Regardless of genre, his paperback covers and movie posters were remarkable. He had a gift for detail, whether it was a gun, a car, a boat, or chair. He even paid careful attention to the fashions of the day. His use of colour was incredible. Of course, he had a gift for portraying human beings, particularly beautiful women. The image many of us have of James Bond, grasping an automatic and surrounded by women, comes not so much from the movies themselves as from their posters. Robert McGinnis was a fantastic artist who was matched only by a few when it came to covers of paperbacks and movie posters.

"Spend This Night With Me" by Val Kilmer from Top Secret! (1982)

Like many people, the movie Top Secret! (1982) was where I first saw Val Kilmer. Top Secret! (1982) bombed at the box office upon its release, but I rather suspect that there are many people my age who remember it well. It was directed by Jim Abrahams, Davud Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the creators of Airplane! (1980). It is partially a parody of Elvis Presley movies, with Val Kilmer playing rock 'n' roll star Nick Rivers, who funds himself involved in intrigue behind the Iron Curtain. Of course, this means that Top Secret! also parodies Col War Era spy movies, World War II spy thrillers, and yet other films.

Anyway, playing a rock 'n' roll singer, Val Kilmer was actually called upon to sing in the movie. Here is one of those scenes in which he does sing, performing the song "Spend This Night With Me." It was an original song written for the movie by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Mike Moran.

The Late Great Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer, who played Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone (1993), Batman in Batman Forever (1995), and Colonel John Henry Patterson in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), died yesterday, April 1 2025 at the age of 65. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. The cause of death was pneumonia.

Val Kilmer was born on December 31 1959 in Los Angeles. His parents divorced when he was 9 years old. He attended  Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley. When he was 17 years old he became the youngest person at the time to be admitted to the drama division of Julliard. While he was at Julliard Val Kilmer wrote the play How It All Began, which was ultimately  directed by Des McAnuff and produced by Joseph Papp for The Public Theatre.

It was in 1983 that Val Kilmer appeared on Broadway in Slab Boys. Slab Boys led directly to his film debut the following year playing the lead in Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker's movie Top Secret! (1984), the directors having seen him in the play. He made his television debut in 1985 in an episode of ABC Afternoon Special. In the Eighties he appeared in the TV movies The Murders on the Rue Morgue, The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, and Billy the Kid. He appeared in the film Real Genius (1985) before roles in Top Gun (1986) and Willow (1988) established him as a star. He ended the Eighties with the movie Kill Me Again (1989).

In the Nineties Val Kilmer played several high profile roles. He was Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993), and Batman in Batman Forever (1995). He also appeared in the movies Thunderheart (1992), The Real McCoy (1993), True Romance (1993), Heat (1995), "Wings of Courage" (1995), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), Dead Girl (1996), The Saint (1997), At First Sight (1999), Joe the King (1999), Pollock (2000), and The Red Planet (2000). He was the voice of Moses and God in The Prince of Egypt (1998). In 2000 he was the guest host on Saturday Night Live.

In the Naughts Val Kilmer appeared in the movies The Salton Sea (2002), Hard Cash (2002), Wonderland (2003), The Missing (2003), Blind Horizon (2003), Masked and Anonymous (2003), Spartan (2004), Stateside (2004), Alexander (2004), Mindhunters (2005), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Summer Love (2006), Moscow Zero (2006),  10th & Wolf  (2006),  Played  (2006), Déjà Vu  (2006), Have Dreams Will Travel (2007), The Chaos Experiment (2009),  Streets of Blood  (2009), American Cowslip  (2009), The Thaw (2009), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Hardwired (2009), Double Identity (2009), The Traveler (2010), Bloodworth (2010),  MacGruber (2010), and Gun (2010). He was a voice on the animated film Delgo (2008). On television he guest starred on the shows Entourage and Numb3rs. He appeared in the miniseries Comanche Moon. He was the voice of KITT in the short-lived 2008-2009 revival of Knight Rider.

In the Teens he guest starred on the TV shows Life's Too Short, Ghost Ghirls, and Psych. He appeared in the movies Kill the Irishman (2011), Blood Out (2011), 5 Days of War (2011), Twixt (2011), Seven Below (2012), Wyatt Earp's Revenge (2012), The Fourth Dimension  2012), Breathless (2012), Riddle (2013), Standing Up (2013), Palo Alto (2013), Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (2014), Song to Song (2017),  The Snowman (2017), The Super (2017), 1st Born (2019), Cinema Twain (2019), A Soldier's Revenge (2020), and  Paydirt (2020). He was a voice in the animated movie Planes (2013).

In the 2020s Val Kilmer starred in the documentary Val (2021), which he produced and wrote. It focused on his life and career. He also appeared in the movies The Birthday Cake (2021) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

Val Kilmer was such a great actor that it is hard to choose where to begin when discussing his roles. He played a diverse number of roles and he played all of them well. If I had to choose a favourite, I believe I would go with Doc Holliday from Tombstone. He brought the character to life in such a way that when I picture Doc Holliday,it is Val Kilmer I see in my head. He seems to have had a gift for playing historical figures. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors, military officer John Henry Patterson in The Ghost and the Darkness, artist Willem de Kooning in Pollock, and yet more. His Elvis in True Romance was a figment of Clarence's (Christian Slater) imagination, but Val Kilmer was wholly convincing as the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His roles included everything from the brutal right-hand man of thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro)in Heat to Dr. Moreau's crazed assistant in The Island of Dr. Moreau to gay private eye Perry van Shrike in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.. Ultimately, Val Kilmer could be described as a chameleon, able to transform himself into an number of roles.

Godspeed Bruce Glover

Bruce Glover, who played the assassin Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Deputy Grady Coker in Walking Tall (1973),  Part 2: Walking Tall (1975), and Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), died on March 12 2025 at the age of 92. He was the father of actor Crispin Glover.

Bruce Glover was born on May 2 1932 in Chicago. When he was growing up he had no aspirations to become an actor. As he painted and played football, he considered either becoming an artist or a professional athlete. He attended Carl Schurz High School and then Wright Junior College.

Bruce Glover's entry into show business was unusual. He was a model for an art class when one of the fellow art class models asked him if he would mind wearing a gorilla suit for a stage act she performed. It seems she was a stripper and needed someone who could not only wear the gorilla suit, but throw her around for several minutes. To prepare he went to the Lincoln Park  Zoo where he studied their renowned gorilla Bushman. The act took him to Tampa, Florida for six weeks.It as then that he was drafted into the United States Army. He was stationed in Korea and served form 1952 to 1955.

Once he was out of the service, Bruce Glover's acting career began. He appeared in a local production of Camino Real and then did summer stock in Wisconsin in 1957. He earned degree in speech from Northwestern University. Bruce Glover then moved to New York City. He made his television debut in an episode of The Verdict is Yours in 1958 and his film debut in an uncredited part in Never Steal Anything Small  in 1959. 

In the Sixties he guest starred on the shows Car 54, Where Are You?; The DuPont Show of the Week; Route 66; The Nurses; 12 O' Clock High; Perry Mason; My Favorite Martian; Hawk; Dundee and the Culhane; The Danny Thomas Hour; The Rat Patrol; Run for Your Life; The Good Guys; The Big Valley; The Guns of Will Sonnett; The Outsider; Adam-12; Paris 7000; Bonanza; Mission: Impossible; and The Mod Squad. He appeared in the TV movie The Over-the-Hill Gang, He appeared in the movies Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965), Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965), Blindfold (1966), Sweet Love, Bitter (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Dayton's Devils (1968), and C.C. & Company (1970). He appeared on Broadway in The Night of the Iguana, Mother Courage and Her Children, and The Lion in Winter.

In the Seventies he appeared in the movies Scandalous John (1971), Bless the Beasts and Children (1971), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Black Gunn (1972), Walking Tall (1973), One Little Indian (1973), Chinatown (1974), Hard Times (1975), Part 2: Walking Tall (1975), Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), and Stunts (1977). He guest starred on the TV shows The Psychiatrist; Bearcats!; The Partners; Gunsmoke; The Blue Knight; S.W.A.T.; Harry O; Kojak; Switch; The Streets of San Francisco; The Feather and Father Gang; The Six Million Dollar Man; Barney Miller; Battlestar Galactica; Police Story; Big Shamus, Little Shamus; CHiPs; Vega$; The Wonderful World of Disney; and B.J and the Bear.

In the Eighties Bruce Glover guest starred on the TV shows Hart to Hart; No Soap, Radio; Benson; Small & Frye; At Ease; The Dukes of Hazzard;  T. J. Hooker; The Facts of Life; The A-Team; Our House; Santa Barbara; and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in  the movies The Big Score (1983), Hunter's Blood (1986), Big Bad Mama II (1987), Ghost Town (1988), Hider int he House (1989), Penny Ante: The Motion Picture (1990; and Street War! (1990).

In the Nineties he appeared in the movies Popcorn (1991), Street Wars (1991), Chaindance (1991), Shakespeare's Pan 12 from Outer Space (1991), Warlock: The Armageddon (1993), Night of the Scarecrow (1995), American Hero (1997), Spoiler (1998); 6 1/2 (1998), Suicide, the Comedy (1998), and Die Hard Dracula (1998). In the Naughts he appeared in the movies.Ghost World (2001), Will Unplugged (2005), Simon Says (2006),  It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007), Broke Sky (2007), Buffalo Bushido (2009), and Six Days in Paradise (2010). In the Teens he appeared in the movies Scammerhead (2014) and Hiszpanka  (2015).

Chances are good that Bruce Glover will always be remembered as Mr. Wint, who with his partner Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith) gleefully commit murder in Diamonds Are Forever, yet he played a wide variety of roles throughout his career. In the Walking Tall movies he played a character as far from Mr. Wint as one can get, loyal, trustworthy deputy Grady Coker. In Hard Times he played a character about as far from Grady in  Walking Tall as Grady is from Mr.Wint in Diamonds Are Forever, the brutal loan shark Doty. Over the years he played a wide array of parts, including the eccentric Feldman in Ghost World, legman Duffy in Chinatown, the aspiring bank robber Scooter in the Bonanza episode ""What Are Pardners For?", and more. Bruce Glover could play nearly any part he set his mind to play, and he always played them well.

The Late Great Richard Chamberlain

Today would have been Richard Chamberlain's 91st birthday. He remains best known as the title character on the popular medical drama Dr. Kildare. He was also the undisputed "King of Miniseries," having appeared in Centennial,  Shōgun, and The Thorn Birds. He also had a movie career, playing Aramis in director Richard Lester's  The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), and The Return of the Musketeers (1989); and playing Allan Quatermain in  both King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Lost City of Gold (1986). Sadly, Mr. Chamberlain died on March 29 2025 at the age of 90 of complications from a stroke.

Richard Chamberlain was born on March 31 1934 in Beverly Hills. Although he grew up on Beverly Hills, it was, in his own words, on the"...wrong side of Wilshire Boulevard, the wrong side of Beverly Drive, in an extremely normal neighborhood." He went to Beverly Hills High School. There he lettered in track and also took part in school plays such as I Remember Mama. He majored in art at Pomona College, but decided to pursue acting in his senior year. Richard Chamberlain attracted the attention of Paramount, bu the was drafted into the United States Army while he was discussing a contract with the studio. He served in Korea and attained the rank of sergeant.

Following his service, Robert Chamberlain studied acting under character actor Jeff Corey. He signed with legendary agent Monique James of MCA. He made his television debut in 1959 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Road Hog." In 1960 he guest starred on the TV shows Rescue 8, Bourbon Street Beat, Gunsmoke, Mr. Lucky, Thriller, and Riverboat. He made his film debut in 1960 in The Secret of the Purple Reef.

It was in 1961 that Richard Chamberlain began playing Dr. James Kildare on the hit TV show Dr. Kildare on NBC, based on the character created by Max Brand later adapted into a series of MGM movies. The show proved to be a major hit, and ultimately ran for five seasons. He also played Dr. Kildare in an episode of the TV show The Eleventh Hour. In the Sixties he later starred in the British series The Portrait of a Lady.He guest starred on the shows The Deputy and Whispering Smith. He appeared in the movies A Thunder of Drums (1961), Twilight of Honor (1963), Joy in the Morning (1965), Petulia (1968),  The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), and Julius Caesar (1970).

In the Seventies Richard Chamberlain played in The Music Lovers (1971), Lord Byron in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), and Armais in both The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). He also appeared in the movies The Towering Inferno (1974), The Slipper and the Rose (1976), The Last Wave (1977), and The Swarm (1978). On television he appeared in the TV movies F. Scott Fitzgerald and '"he Last of the Belles," The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask. He appeared in the mini-series Centennial and Shōgun.

In the Eighties Richard Chamberlain starred in the mini-series The Thorn Birds, The Bourne Identity, and Dream West. He starred on the short lived series Island Son and the TV movie Casanova. He appeared in the movies Murder by Phone (1982), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), and The Return of the Musketeers (1989).  In the Nineties he appeared in the mini-series The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years and Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke. He guest starred on Touched by an Angel. He appeared in the movie Bird of Prey (1995) and, A River Made to Drown In (1997).

In the Naughts Richard Chamberlain guest starred on the shows The Drew Carey Show, Will & Grace, Hustle, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, and Leverage. He had a recurring role on the short-lived shows Brothers and Sisters. He appeared in the TV movie Blackbeard. He appeared in the movies The Pavilion (2004), Strength and Honor (2005), and I Now Pronounce Your Chuck & Larry (2007).

In the Teens Richard Chamberlain guest starred on the TV shows Leverage and Chuck. He was a guest voice on the animated series Thundercats. He appeared in the movies The Perfect Family (2011), We Are the Hartmans (2011), and Nightmare Cinema (2018). He was the voice of Highfather in the animated movie Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015).

Richard Chamberlain was an versatile actor capable of playing  a wide array of roles. For many he will always be best remembered as the earnest, idealistic Dr. James Kildare. Others might remember him best as the charming, somewhat hot-tempered Armais in the Three Musketeers movies. Still others might remember him best as John Blackthorne, the pragmatic and individualistic English pilot, in Shōgun. Over the years Richard Chambelain played a number of heroes, including Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo and Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity (the first actor to do so). He could also play villains. He was David Danner, the brutally abusive husband of the title character (Julie Christie) in Petulia. In The Towering Inferno he played the dodgy electrical subcontractor whose cutting corners causes the title fire of The Towering Inferno. On Leverage he fell somewhere in between, playing the greatest thief in the world, Archie Leach, who was Parker's mentor. Richard Chamberlain was quite simply an iconic actor with an incredible amount of talent who appeared in a number of memorable roles.

The Late Great Clive Revill

Clive Revill, who appeared in such movies as Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) and The Assassination Bureau (1969), and who provided voice work for everything from TV cartoons to The Empire Strikes Back (1980), where he was the original voice of the Emperor, died on March 11 2025 at the age of 94.

Clive Revill was born on April 18 1930 in Wellington, New Zealand. Clive Revill was a great admirer of Shakespeare, but he initially became an accountant rather than an actor. He3 made his stage debut in 1950 in a production of Twelfth Night. It was an encounter with Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh that changed his life forever. Laurence Olivier encouraged him to go to his Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol where he could study acting. Clive Revill then moved from New Zealand to England.

In the United Kingdom in the Fifties, Clive Revill appeared in productions of  Listen to the Wind, The Tempest, and The Toast of Toad Hall. He made his Broadway debut in Mr. Pickwick in 1952. Towards the end of the decade he appeared on Broadway in Irma La Douce. He made his television debut in the TV production Strike in 1955. He guest starred on the shows BBC Sunday Night-Theatre, The Adventures of Robin Hood, ITV Play of the Week, and BBC Sunday-Night Play. He made his film debut in Reach for the Sky in 1956. He appeared in the movies The Horse's Mouth (1958) and The Headless Ghost (1959).

In the Sixties Clive Revill appeared in the movies Bunny Lake is Missing (1965), Modesty Blaise (1966), A Fine Madness (1966), Kaleidoscope (1966), The Double Man (1967), Fathom (1967), Italian Secret Service (1968), Nobody Runs Forever (1968), The Shows of the Fisherman (1969), The Assassination Bureau (1969), The Buttercup Chain (1970), and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). He guest starred on the TV shows The DuPont Show of the Week, Chronicle, Theatre 625, The Inside Man, The Wednesday Play, and ITV Playhouse. He appeared on Broadway in Oliver! and Sherry!.

In the Seventies Clive Revill provided the original voice of the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). His voice would be replaced by that of Ian McDiarmid in the 2004 release of the film on DVD. He appeared in the films A Severed Head (1971), Boulevard de Rhum (1971), Escape to the Sun (1972), Avanti! (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973), The Black Windmill (1974), The Little Prince (1974), Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1974), Galileo (1975), One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (1975), and Mathilda (1978). He guest starred on the shows Brett, Jason King, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Arthur of the Britons, ITV Saturday Night Theatre, Ski-Boy, Churchill's People, Maude, The Feather and Father Gang, The New Avengers, Young Dan'l Boone, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Play for Today, Columbo, BBC Play of the Month, A Man Called Sloane, and Nobody's Perfect. He appeared in the mini-series The Lives of Benjamin Franklin, and Centennial. He appeared on Broadway in The Incomparable Max and Sherlock Holmes.

In the Eighties he was a regular on the short-lived TV show Wizards and Warriors. He was a regular or recurring voice on the television cartoons Snorks, The Transformers, Dragon's Lair. and  Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone. He provided voices for the cartoons The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Pound Puppies, My Little Pony 'n' Friends, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Smurfs, and others. He guest starred on the shows Vega$, Hart to Hart, The Devlin Connection, Remington Steele, Dynasty, The Facts of Life, . T. J. Hooker, Three's a Crowd, The Fall Guy, Faerie Tale Theatre, Magnum P.I., The Twilight Zone, The Love Boat, Newhart, Sledge Hammer!, MacGyver, Mama's Boy, The New Gidget, Murder She Wrote, Probe, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dear John, Hunter, and Get a Life. He appeared on Broadway in Lolita. He appeared in the movies Zorro: The Gay Blade (1981), The Frog Prince (1986), Rumpelstiltskin (1987), The Emperor's New Clothes (1987),  C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989), and Mack the Knife (1989). He was a voice in the animated movie Transformers: The Movie (1986).

In the Nineties he was the voice of Alfred Pennyworth on the first thee episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. took over for the rest of the series). He provided voices for the animated shows Tiny Toon Adventures, Tom and Jerry Kids Show, The Legend of Prince Valiant, The Little Mermaid, Freakazoid!, Pinky and the Brain, and others. He guest starred on the shows Shades of LA; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5, Fortune Hunter, The Preston Episodes, Murphy Brown, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Touched by an Angel, Step by Step, and Clueless. He appeared in the movies Let Him Have It (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Possums (1998), and Intrepid (2000). 

In the Naughts Clive Revill was a voice regular on the animated series Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future. He provided voices for the animated shows All Grown Up! and Secret Mountain Fort Awesome. He guest starred on The Closer. He appeared in the movies Crime and Punishment (2002), and Gentleman Broncos (2009). He last appeared in a movie in La reina de España (2016).

Clive Revill was an incredibly versatile actor and played a wide array of roles throughout his career. He played the police officer Andrews in Bunny Lake is Missing. In Legend of Hell House he played Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist hired by an eccentric millionaire to investigate his haunted house. In the final episode of the original run of Columbo, "The Conspirators," he played an Irish author and poet who was clandestinely a gunrunner for the Irish Republican Army. In The Assassination Bureau he played the ill-fared Cesare Spado, the Italian member of the Bureau. In The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes he played Rogozhin, the representative of Russian ballerina  Madame Petrova (Tamara Toumanova) who is convinced Holmes and Watson are gay lovers. Clive Revill could play a wide variety of roles and he played all of them well.

Zap2It Disappeared...Sort Of

Yesterday I visited popular TV listings site Zap2It only to have it redirect to the Newsnation TV schedule. According to Distractify, this has been occurring to users since Tuesday, March 25. One can only assume that Zap2It's parent company, Nexstar Media Group, decided to discontinue the popular television listings site without telling anybody. As it turns out that is not entirely the case.

A Google search for "Zap2It" reveals that the Zap2It listings are now available on Gracenote. As to what Gracenote is, according to its About Page, it is the "content data business unit of Nielsen that powers innovative entertainment experiences for the world’s leading media companies." If "Neilsen" sounds familiar, it's because they are the ones responsible for the well-known Nielsen television ratings. The Zap2It listings appear to be functional for the most part. One can still use their Zap2It login and credentials. The listings themselves are intact. The only problem I have found so far is the search. While I had no problem searching for various television shows, it appears to be missing some of the results for movies Zap2It has had. Neither Stand and Deliver (1988) nor Twenty Bucks (1992) came up in search. I am hoping this is just a glitch, and I have notified Gracenote about it.

As to Nexstar, they really don't want to know my opinion of them, but suffice it to say that I think they are jerks (and that's putting it mildly). They did not email Zap2It users and let them know that the site was closing down and listings would now be available on Gracenote. They did not even issue a press release letting people know it was being shut down. They didn't even set up a page at Zap2It.com letting people know the site was closed and the listings were now on Gracenote. It simply redirects to the NewsNation schedule without explanation. This shows a lack of respect for Zap2It users. I know I won't be watching NewsNation ever again because of this. If Nexstar disrespects Zap2It users, then they'll disrespect NewsNation viewers too.

As it is, I think Nexstar might regret their mistake. I am not sure, but I think Zap2It may be the most popular online television listings out there. If not, it is definitely one of the most popular. Zap2It is also fairly old. It was launched nearly 25 years ago, on April 3 2000 by Tribune Media Services. Zap2It would change over the years, but the listings were a constant. It was bought, along with the rest of Tribune Media, by Nexstar in 2019. It is with good reason that many users missed Zap2It when the site was redirecting to NewsNation's schedule. What is more, they complained about it, on Bluesky, on Reddit, on X, and yet other places. I don't think any of these users are happy with NexStar and I have to think they will be loath to use Nexstar's products in the future. Zap2It is the best TV listings online and it has a loyal following. Its users are faithful to it.