Nicholas Brendon Passes On

Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Kevin Lynch on Criminal Minds, died on March 20, 2026, at the age of 54 from natural causes. According to the coroner, Mr. Brendon had a history of cardiac issues.

Nicholas Brendon was born Nicholas Brendon Schultz on April 12, 1971, in Los Angeles. He had an identical twin brother, actor Kelly Donovan. He had wanted to become ba baseball player, but eventually lost interest in playing the sport. He attended Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles. Starting when he was about seven or eight, Nicholas Brendon stuttered. He took up acting in an effort to control his stutter. 

Nicholas Brendon made his television debut in a guest appearance on Married with Children in 1993. He also guest starred on Dave's World. It was in 1997 that he began playing Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He remained with the show for its entire run. He reprised the role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games. He made his movie debut in 1995 in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest. He appeared in the movie Psycho Beach Party (2000).

In the Naughts, Nicholas Brendon continued to appear on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was a regular on the short-lived sitcom Kitchen Confidential. In 2007, he joined the cast of Criminal Minds as Kevin Lynch. He remained with the show until 2014. He was a regular voice on American Dragon: Jake Long. He guest starred on the shows Turbo Dates; Without a Trace; Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy; and Private Practice. He appeared in the movies Survival Island (2002), Unholy (2007), Blood on the Highway (2008), and The Portal (2010). 

In the Teens, he continued to appear on Criminal Minds. He guest starred on Private Practice, Hollywood Heights, Faking It, and Dark/Web. He appeared in the movies Hard Love (2011), Big Gay Love (2013), Cohenrence (2013), The Morningside Monster (2014), Indigo (2014), Redwood (2017), The Nanny (2018), and King of Crime (2018). In the 2020s, he appeared in the movies Wanton Want (2021), Dawn (2022), On a Dark and Bloody Ground (2024), and Yesterday is Almost Here (2024).

Nicholas Brendon had more than his fair share of health problems. He suffered from cauda equina syndrome and underwent more than one spinal surgery. He also had a congenital heart defect. He also suffered from severe depression, and became addicted to alcohol and other substances. It was perhaps due to his various struggles that he was arrested multiple times.

Chances are good that Nicholas Brendon will always be remembered as Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to a lesser degree Kevin on Criminal Minds. Indeed, Xander was perhaps the first time a pop culture geek was portrayed accurately. He was not some socially awkward nerd with Coke bottle glasses, but a decent looking fellow who was actually cool.. He was a sharp contrast to the sort of stereotypes one saw in the Revenge of the Nerds movies and the TV show Big Bang Theory. Nicholas Brendon played the role perfectly. Of course, he also played Kevin on Criminal Minds perfectly. Nicholas Brendon had a good deal of talent. 

Chip Taylor Passes On

Chip Taylor, the songwriter who wrote both "Wild Thing" by The Troggs and "Angel of the Morning" by  Merrilee Rush, died on March 23, 2026, at the age of 86.

Chip Taylor was born James Wesley Voight on March 21, 1940 in Yonkers, New York. His brothers were actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight. His father, Elmer, was a golfer who had played in the U.S. Open in 1928 and 1929. It was after his parents took him to see My Wild Irish Rose when he was 7 or 8 that he took an interest in music. It was listening late nights to a radio station out of Wheeling, West Virginia that made him a fan of Southern blues and country music. He was still a student at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York when he was writing songs at the Brill Building.

In 1957 his band West Voight and the Town and Country Brothers were signed to King Records. It was during this period that he took the pen name "Chip Taylor," as executives at King Records were worried that DJs might have problems pronouncing "Voight." On the King label, he recorded such songs as "I'm Movin' On" and "I'm Ready to Go Steady," but none of them charted. He later moved to Warner Bros., where his single "Here I Am" actually made the Billboard Hot 100.

While Chip Taylor would see only some success as a performer, he saw considerable success as a songwriter. His song "Wild Thing" was originally recorded by Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones in 1965, but it would The Troggs' version of the song that would become Chip Taylor's first big hit when it went no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. His song "Angel in the Morning" was originally recorded by Evie Sands in 1967, but it was the version by Merrilee Rush that went to no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Among other notable songs written by Chip Taylor were "I Can't Let Go" (covered by The Hollies), "Any Way That You Want Me" (recorded by The Troggs), "On My Word" (recorded by Cliff Richard), "Step Out of Your Mind" (recorded by The American Breed), and yet others. His songs were covered by such diverse artists as Lita Ford, The Fleetwoods, The Bobby Fuller Four, Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, and others.

In the Seventies, Chip Taylor recorded several albums, starting with Gotta Get Back to Cisco as part of orgoni, Martin & Taylor. After a break of many years, he would record several more albums starting with Hit Man in 1996. His last album, The Truth and Other Things, was released last year.  

Even if Chip Taylor had only written "Wild Thing" and "Angel in the Morning," he would have had a huge impact on popular music. As it is, he wrote several other songs that saw some success and also left behind his own oeuvre of singles and albums that maintain a following to this day. 

Godspeed Matt Clark

Matt Clark, who appeared in many Westerns, including The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976),  over the years, died on March 15, 2026, at the age of 89. 

Matt Clark was born on November 25, 1936 in Washington, DC. His father was a carpenter who built cabinets and boats. His mother taught school. He served for two years in the United States Army and then attended George Washington University where he studied business administration. He left George Washington University to pursue acting. He studied acting at the HB Studio with Herbert Berghof and Hickey in New York City. He became part of the Living Theatre Company in New York City and appeared in off-Broadway productions. He was an understudy for Martin Sheen in the original Broadway production of The Subject Was Roses from 1964-66.

Matt Clark made his film debut in a smal part in Black Like Me (1964). In the Sixties, he appeared in the movies In the Heat of the Night (1967), Will Penny (1967), The Bridge at Remagen (1969), Monte Walsh (1980), and Macho Callahan (1970). He guest strarred on the shows Ben Casey, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, T.H.E. Cat, Dundee and the Culhane, The Rat Patrol, Death Valley Days, N.Y.P.D., Bonanza, and The Name of the Game. 

In the Seventies, Matt Clark appeared  in the movies The Beguiled (1971), The Grissom Gang (1971), Honky (1971), The Cowboys (1971), Pocket Money (1972), The Culpepper Cattle Col (1972), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid  (1972),. Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), (1973), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Emperor of the North (1973), White Lightning (1973), The Laughing Policeman (1973), The Terminal Man (1974), Hearts of the West (1975), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Kid Vengeance (1976), Outlaw Blues (1977), The Driver (1978), The Driver (1978), Dreamer (1979) Brubaker (1980), and Ruckus (1980). On television, he was a regular on the show Dog and Cat.  He guest stared on the shows Funny Face, The Waltons, Kung Fu, The Rookies, Lucan, and Little House on the Prairie. He appeard in the TV movies The Execution of Private Slovik. The Great Ice Rip-Off, This Is the West That Was, The Kansas City Massacre, Lacy and the Mississippi Queen, and The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang.

In the Eighties, he apppeared in the movies The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Some Kind of Hero (1982), Love Letters (1983), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), Country (1984), Tuff Turf (1985), Return to Oz (1985), Let's Get Harry (1986), The Horror Shwo (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), and Cadence (1990). He guest starred on the shows Dynasty; ABC Afternoon Specials; Magnum, P.I.; Hardcastle and McCormick; CBS Summer Playhouse; CBS Schoolbreak Special,  and Midnight Caller. He appeared in the minii-series The Winds of the War and War and Remembrance. He appeared in several TV movies, including The Children Nobody Wanted, The Big Easy, The Quick and the Dead, and Kenny Rogers as The Gambler.

In the Nineties, Matt Clark had recurring roles on the TV sitcoms Grace Under Fire and The Jeff Foxworthy Show. He guest starred on the shows Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Screen Two, Lonesome Dove: The Series, The Visitor Touched by an Angel, The Pretender, The Practice, Chicago Hope. and Walker Texas Ranger. He appeared in the movies Class Action (1991), Frozen Asssets (1992), The Harvest (1993) Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), Hacks (1997),. Homegrown (1998), Claudine's Return (1998),. Five Aces (1999), A Stranger in the Kingdom (1999), and South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000). In the Naughts, he appeared in the movies Killer Diller (2004) and The Way (2013). In the Teens, he appeared in the movies 42 (2015) and  A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014).

Matt Clark also directed episodes of CBS Schoolbreak Special and Midnight Caller, as well as the movie DA (1994).

Matt Clark was an extremely talented actor. Of course, he was best known for Westerns, and he appeared in a number of them. He played his share of outlaws, including Bob Younger in The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and George Newcomb in the TV movie The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang. He also played lawmen, such as his role as a sheriff in the The Legend of the Lone Rangers, ranch hands (Smiley in The Cowboys), cowboys (Pete in the Culpepper Cattle Co.), and even an old prospector (his final role in the movie A Million Ways to Die in the West). Of course, he appeared in much more than Westerns. He made a brief appearance as the Secretary of Defence in The Adventures of Bucakaroo Banzai in the 8th Dimension. He played a modern day police lieutenant on the TV show Dog and Cat. In Return to Oz, he played Uncle Henry, Dorothy Gale's uncle and Aunt Em's husband. Matt Clark could play a wide array of roles and play all of them well. 

"Summer Breeze" by Seals & Crofts

Dash Crofts, famous as one half of the soft rock duo Seals & Crofts with Jim Seals, died on March 25, 2026, at age 87. The cause was complications from heart surgery. I cannot say that I am a huge fan of Seals & Croft, although I have always liked their music. They were very successful throughout the Seventies and into the Eighties. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1969 and was followed by eleven more albums. They had considerable success with singles, with "Summer Breeze," "Diamond Girl," and  "Get Closer" all  going to no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. They took a hiatus from music in 1981 and reunited from time to time afterwards. 

Here is what may be their best known song, "Summer Breeze.' As mentioned earlier, it was a hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It would later be covered by The Isley Brothers and Type O Negative, as well as other artists.

Sixty Years Ago The Avengers Arrived in the United States

As my long-time readers know, my favourite TV show of all time is The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed and his various partners over the years (Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, and so on). It was sixty years ago, on March 28, 1966, that The Avengers made its American debut on ABC. At the time I was a baby and even if I hadn't been, in 1966 the Columbia-Jefferson City market did not have a full-time ABC affiliate. I wouldn't see it until one rainy Sunday afternoon when one of the Kansas City stations was showing its reruns in syndication. I think the fist episode I was probably "The House That Jack Built", although it could have been "From Venus with Love". Either way I was hooked.

The Avengers had debuted in the United Kingdom on January 7, 1961. At that time, it starred Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel, who became partners in fighting crime with a mysterious figure named John Steed (Patrick Macnee). When I an Hendry left the show, Patrick Macnee became its star and the show would centre on John Steed and his partner of the moment: Venus Smith (Julie Stevens), Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson).

The show proved to be a smash hit in the United Kingdom, so much so that television networks in the United States even took notice. As early as December 15 1963, when Cathy Gale was John Steed's partner, The New York Times devoted an article to the show. NBC expressed some interest in The Avengers, but expressed its doubts that such an outré series, especially on so British, could succeed in the United States. The producers finally secured a deal with the American Broadcasting Company, consistently the third rated network, to begin showing The Avengers starting on March 28, 1966. The fourth series of The Avengers would be the first to air in the United States and the first to star Diana Rigg as John Steed's partner, Emma Peel.

Since American audiences were unfamiliar with the idea behind The Avengers, a prologue was added to the opening of the show with John Steed, Emma Peel, and a murder victim on a chessboard. The prologue explained precisely who John Steed ("top professional") and Emma Peel ("talented amateur") were and what they did: "Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner, Emma Peel, talented amateur - otherwise known as The Avengers"

The Avengers was not necessarily a hit in the Nielsen ratings in the United States, but it received positive notices from American critics and developed a cult following. It received a good deal of coverage in the American press, with a Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and other publications all publishing articles on the show. The Avengers was also featured on the cover of TV Guide, and the magazine would devote articles to the series during its run. The Avengers was nominated for Emmy Awards during both the 1965-1966 and 1966-1967 seasons: the Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series and Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series for Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.

The fourth season of The Avengers was in black-and-white. Its fifth season would be in colour. It was one of the condition of ABC in the United States that The Avengers make the change from colour. While it would be a few years before British broadcasters would make the shift to colour, the change to colour was already well underway in the United States when The Avengers debuted here. Indeed, the 1966-1967 season would be the first in which ABC's entire primetime schedule would be in colour.

Unfortunately, the sixth series of The Avengers would be its last, and it was this largely the fault of ABC in the United States. For the 1968-1969 season ABC placed The Avengers in what was possibly the worst time slot of the 1968-1969 season. The Avengers aired opposite two top rated shows: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In on NBC (the no. 1 show for the season) and Gunsmoke on CBS (the no. 6 show for the season). As a result ratings for The Avengers plunged and ABC cancelled it in February 1969. Without the funding from ABC in the United States, Thames Television (the ITV franchise holder that produced The Avengers) simply could not afford to continue with it. The show then ended its original run in 1969.

Of course, it would go onto a fairly healthy run as a syndicated rerun in the United States, which is where I first saw it, and presumably many other younger Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers like me first saw it. Since then it aired on CBS Late Night in the Eighties and then on Encore Mystery in the Nineties. In the United States, The Avengers is currently on several streaming services, including Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango at Home. Every surviving episode has also been released on DVD.

The Avengers has remained my favourite TV show ever since that rainy Sunday afternoon when I was a child. I am currently re-watching it and I still love it as much as I did then. I really don't know the extent of its impact on me. In addition to growing up known I was English in descent and being a fan of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands since childhood, it is probably much of the reason I am an Anglophile and why I love British television so much. Without The Avengers, I might never have discovered Danger Man, The Saint, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Prisoner,, Red Dwarf, Midsomer Murders, and many of the other British shows I love. At any rate, I know I am not the only American who still loves The Avengers. It remains a very popular show sixty years since its arrival here.

The Changes to MeTV's Schedule

Many people don't like change. I have to confess that I am one of them. It then came as no surprise to me that some people have complained about the recent changes to MeTV's schedule, despite the fact that the network hasn't really made too many major changes to its schedule in years.

To wit, it was last October that MeTV added Everybody Loves Raymond to their prime time schedule. While some people were happy to see the show join the schedule, others were not, and they expressed their displeasure on such social media services as Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. Some thought the show was too new to be on MeTV, despite the fact that it debuted 30 years ago. Others complained that the show had already aired everywhere else, with many pointing out it is still on TV Land. Yet others just plain did not like the show.

More recently, The Golden Girls replaced Hogan's Heroes on weeknights at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central. While it seems to me that there was not nearly as much outcry over The Golden Girls as Everybody Loves Raymond, there were some people who did grouse about it. A good number of people simply did not like Hogan's Heroes being removed from MeTV's schedule. This rather surprised me as a common complaint I have seen on MeTV's Facebook page was that Hogan's Heroes had occupied the 10:00 PM Eastern/9:00 PM Central weekday time slot for literally years (don't quote me, but I think it had been there since 2017). Fortunately, for fans of Hogan's Heroes, the show has returned to the MeTV schedule. The show has been temporarily airing on Sunday night since this past Sunday, March 22 and starting Monday, March 30, 2026, it will air at 6:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Central weekdays. I am not sure if MeTV had planned this all along or if the outcry of Hogan's Heroes fans was so great that MeTV restored it to the schedule.

Of course, like Everybody Loves Raymond, many complained that The Golden Girls has already aired "everywhere." Indeed, The Golden Girls has had a healthy run in syndication. It has aired on such cable channels as Lifetime and We TV, It has long been a fixture on the Hallmark Channel, where it still airs. Now I am a huge fan of The Golden Girls, so I may be biased, but I don't buy the argument that it has aired "everywhere.' It only aired as a syndicated rerun on local stations from 1990 to 1996, after which it was exclusive to the cable channel Lifetime. After being on Lifetime, it would air on We TV, the Hallmark Channel (where it still airs), and Logo.  Right now it airs on CMT about twice a week and on some weekends on TV Land, as well as the Hallmark Channel.  And while it still airs on the Hallmark Channel, it is pre-empted for the many months during the year (it seems like they start in June these days....) that the Hallmark Channel shows non-stop Christmas movies. In the end, I don' think The Golden Girls is quite as ubiquitous as its critics seem to think it is. 

While I don't buy some MeTV viewers' complaint that The Golden Girls has aired "everywhere," I find the complaint that the show is too "new" truly ludicrous. The Golden Girls debuted on NBC in 1985. That makes the show nearly 41 years old. Indeed, it is older than Matlock, which has aired on MeTV weekday mornings for years, and older than In the Heat of the Night, which had aired on MeTV on weekday mornings for years until recently. I haven't heard people complaining about those shows being "too new." I also have to point out that Cheers aired on MeTV from 2010 to 2018. When Cheers first aired on MeTV, it was only 28 years old, making it younger than either Everybody Loves Raymond or The Golden Girls when they first started airing on the network.

Of course, the changes did not stop there. As I pointed out, Hogan's Heroes started airing on Sunday night. As a result, Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Honeymooners were booted from Sunday night. This upset many fans of The Dick Van Dyke Show, including myself, but fortunately it appears to be temporary. Both The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Honeymooners return to Sunday night on April 5, although Carol Burnett and Ed Sullivan will no longer air on that night. My only real complain now is that I preferred the old 10:00 Central Sunday night time slot of The Dick Van Dyke Show to the new 11:00 Central Sunday night time slot.

Except for that brief period before I found out that The Dick Van Dyke Show was not being permanently removed from MeTV's schedule, I can't say I am overly angry about many of these changes. While I would have preferred MeTV had picked up a less frequently seen show of late than Everybody Loves Raymond (I would love to see The Phil Silvers Show on weeknights), I ultimately don't mind the show airing on MeTV. As to The Golden Girls, I am actually happy about it. It is one of my favourite shows of all time and I am glad I won't have to worry about it being preempted for Christmas movies. While I think complaints about certain shows being available elsewhere hold some validity (Everybody Loves Raymond is not only on TV Land, but still on local channels as well), I don't consider any of the shows recently added to MeTV to be "too new." The simple fact is that many shows that some of us may consider "recent" are no longer that young. I think when a show is over 25 years old, it has been around long enough to air on MeTV. Regardless, I suspect that when the time comes when MeTV removes Everybody Loves Raymond from their schedule people will complain about it.

Happy 100th Birthday, Gene Shalit

Before Leonard Maltin, before Siskel and Ebert, Gene Shalit was the movie critic with whom I was most familiar. In fact, he was the first movie critic to whom I was ever exposed. Gene Shalit joined Today in 1969, where he occasionally did book reviews. It was in 1973 that he became the full-time movie critic on Today. His segment, called Critic's Corner, would remain a part of The Today Show until he retired from the show in November 2010. Today Gene Shalit turned 100 years old.

My family were loyal viewers of The Today Show for as long as I can remember, so I  encountered Gene Shalit when I was very young. His appearance would certainly appeal to a youngster. With his curly hair, handlebar moustache, glasses and bow ties, he looked more like a comic from the days of vaudeville or an absent-minded college professor than a movie critic. 

What is more, Gene Shalit's style as a critic was very approachable. He clearly loved movies, and was more concerned with letting Today's viewers know if they would enjoy a movie than any intellectual analysis of said movie. His reviews were often peppered with one-liners and often ridiculous puns. Gene Shalit was clearly having fun in reviewing movies. Indeed, in Critic's Corner on The Today Show, he seemed less like a movie critic than an affable uncle letting you know which movies to watch and which to avoid.

Of course, even as a kid, I didn't always agree with Gene Shalit's reviews. I disagreed with him on both The Shining (1980) and Flash Gordon (1980). That having been said, I agreed with him more often than not. Chances are that if Gene Shalit liked a movie, I probably would too. Regardless, even when Gene Shalit disliked a film I turned out to love, I could understand his reasons for disliking the movie. 

Beyond providing movie and book reviews on The Today Show, Gene Shalit also conducted interviews. As might be expected, he was a very good interviewer. He was both warm and curious, and was very good at putting his subjects at ease. An example at how comfortable he was interviewing celebrities is his famous interview with Carol Channing, Miss Channing told a hilarious story of Sir Benjamin and Lady Astor that left Gene Shalit unable to stop laughing.

Gene Shalit has always had an enthusiasm for movies which showed through his many reviews on The Today Show. I think it's quite possible that much of my love for the movies stem from the love he showed for the medium to which I was exposed as a kid. Gene Shalit isn't simply a movie critic. He is a movie fan.