Stop It With the Big Ads

A few months ago I noticed a distressing phenomenon on both IMDB and TV Guide. Both sites began featuring gigantic ads at the top of their pages. What is more, particularly in the case of TV Guide, these huge ads caused more problems than simply forcing the reader to scroll down to get the credits or listings.

Indeed, on TV Guide there are times the ads will actually cover the search bar. As a result, I have to reload the page. This isn't a problem on IMDB, but the ads do make both sites slower to load and sometimes even affect the performance of whatever browser I am using at the time. 

Now I suspect the reason for these gigantic ads is that they think they will draw the reader's attention more than an old-fashioned, modest banner ad would, but I do not think that is the case. Usually I am so irritated by the sheer size of these ads that I don't even notice what is being advertised. I might well notice whatever product is being advertised if they had used a simple banner ad.

Anyway, I am hoping this is something that other sites won't adopt and that TV Guide and IMDB will soon do away with them. The goal of advertising is to convince users to buy a product or use a service. That isn't accomplished if the ads irritate them to no end.

Godspeed Mariclare Costello

Mariclare Costello, best known for playing teacher Rosemary Hunter on the hit TV series The Waltons, died on April 17, 2026 at the age of 90.

Mariclare Costello was born on February 3, 1936, in Peoria, Illinois. Her father, Dallas, worked as a civil engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation and her mother, Margaret, was a secretary to the Illinois Speaker of the House. Mariclare Costello went to St. Mark School and the Academy of Our Lady in Peoria. She then attended Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. During her junior year, she spent time at the University of Vienna. She received a Master's degree in Theatre and Education from Catholic University in Washington.

She was one of the 30 actors selected from literally hundreds to be chosen for the original Lincoln Center Repertory Company. In 1964 she made her Broadway debut, originated the role of Louise in the Arthur Miller play After the Fall. In the Sixties, she appeared on Broadway in But for Whom Charlie, The Changeling, Tartuffe, Danton's Death, The Country Wife, Lovers and Other Strangers, and Harvey. She made her movie debut in The Tiger Makes Out in 1967. She appeared in the movie Pound (1970). She made her television debut in an episode of N.Y.P.D. in 1969. She also guest starred on Storefront Lawyers.

It was in 1972 that she began a five year run playing Miss Rosemary Hunter, the teacher at the school on Walton's Mountain, on The Waltons. In 1977 she left the show to play the matriarch Maggie Fitzpatrick on the short-lived drama The Fitzpatricks.She was a regular on the shot-lived Western Sara. She guest starred on the shows Ironside, Kojak, Amy Prentiss, Harry O, Sunshine, Barnaby Jones, This is the Life, The Incredible Hulk, Insight, NBC Special Treat, Visions, Lou Grant, and Little House on the Prairie. She appeared in such TV movies as The Execution of Private Slovik and After the Fall (based on the play and on which she reprised her role as Louise). She appeared in the movies Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971), Raid on Entebbee (1976), and Ordinary People (1980).

In the Eighties, she guest starred on Lou Grant; Fame; Murder, She Wrote; The Disney Sunday Movie; CBS Schoolbreak Special, CBS Summer Playhouse, In the Heat of the Night, and Santa Barbara. She appeared in the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984). 

In the Nineties, Mariclare Costello appeared in the movie Indecent Proposal (1983). She guest starred on the shows High Tide, Chicago Hope, and Judging Amy. Her last guest appear on a TV show was on Providence in 2002.

Mariclare Costello taught acting at Loyola Marymount University, and headed the drama program at St. Paul the Apostle Elementary School in Westwood. She directed plays at Loyola High School. 

That Mariclare Costello was a talented actress can be seen in what may be two best known roles. As teacher Rosemary Hunter on The Waltons, she was both compassionate and strong-willed, always an advocate for her students. In Let's Scare Jessica to Death, she played a role as far from Rosemary Hunter as one can get, the rather menacing and vampiric Emily. In the Murder, She Wrote episode "Powder Keg" she played hotel owner Cassie Burns. On the Incredible Hulk episode "No Escape" she played the wife of a mental patient who escaped after David Banner hulked out in the van in which they were being transported. Mariclare Costello could play a variety of roles and play them all well. 

The Late Great Gerry Conway

Comic book writer and screenwriter Gerry Conway, who worked for both DC and Marvel and who created such characters as Firestorm, Jason Todd, Power Girl, Ms. Marvel, and The Punisher, died on April 27, 2026, at the age of 73. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2022. Gerry Conway also wrote for such TV shows as Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. 

Gerry Conway was born on September 10, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York City. He was a fan of comic books from an early age and even had a letter published in the letter column of Fantastic Four no. 50 (May 1966). As a teenager, he would sneak into the DC Comics offices and talk with the editors. He was only 16 when his first comic book story, "Aaron Philips' Photo Finish," was published in House of Secrets no. 81 (September 1969). At DC Comics, he also had work published in  All-Star Western no. 1, Hoouse of Mystery, Super DC Giant,The Phantom Stranger, and The Witching Hour. During the same period, he wrote stories for Marvel's Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows. During this period, he also wrote for the Warren titles Creepy and Eerie and Skywald's Nightmare.

It was Roy Thomas who offered Gerry Conway the chance to write superhero comic books at Marvel. He took Marvel's "writing test," and while Stan Lee was not impressed with his work, Roy Thomas was. He wrote a script for Ka-Zar for Astonishing Tales no. 3 (December 1970) and then began writing Daredevil with no. 72 (January 1971).  At Marvel, he went onto write for Adventure into Fear, Amazing Adventures, Astonishing Tales, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Creatures on the Loose, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Dracula Lives, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Kull the Conqueror, Marvel Team-Up, Our Love Story, Savage Tales, Sub-Mariner, Thor, Werewolf By Night. The Defender, Ghost Rider, Haunt of Horror, Legion of Monsters, Ka-Zar.Planet of the Apes, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Tales of the Zombie, and other titles. His most notable work in the early Seventies at Marvel was on The Amazing Spider-Man. 

After leaving Marvel, Gerry Conway wrote for the short-lived Atlas/Seaboard line on such titles as Destructor, Targitt, and Tiger-Man. He then returned to DC comics, where he remained for the next decade. During this period he created such characters as Power Girl, Firestorm, Vixen, Jason Todd, and Killer Croc, and others. He wrote on such titles as Action Comics, All-Star Comics, All-Star Squadron, Arak, Batman. Batman Family, The Brave and the Bold, Challengers of the Unknown, DC Comics Presents, Doorway to Nightmare, Firestorm, The Flash, Freedom Fighters, The Fury of Firestorm, Hercules Unbound, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Jonah Hex, Justice League of America, Kamandi, Kong the Untamed, Legion of Super-Heroes, Man-Bat, Metal Men, Mystery in Space, New Gods. Secret Society of Super Villains, Star-Spangled War Stories, Steel the Indestructible Man, Sun Devils, Super-Team Family, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman, The Superman Family, Swamp Thing. Sword Quest, Tarzan, The Unexpected. Weird Western Tales, The Witching Hour, Wonder Woman, World's Finest Comics, Young Love, and other titles. He also wrote the DC/Marvel crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man. 

Gerry Conway also wrote comic books for Eclipse Comics' The Unknown Worlds of Frank Brunner, First Comcs' Hawkmoon: The Jewel in the Skull and Hawkmoon: The Mad God's Amulet, Topp Comics' Nightglider, and Disney Comics' Disney Adventures.

In addition to comics books, Gerry Conway also did substantial work in film and television. He co-wrote the screen play for the Ralph Bakshi animated feature Fire and Ice (1983) with fellow comic book writer Roy Thomas. They also wrote the story Conan the Destroyer (1984). In 1985, he broke into television with scripts for the animated series G.I. Joe. He wrote scripts for the animated television series Transformers, Centurions, My Little Pony 'n Friends, Spiral Zone, Dino-Saucers, and Dino-Riders. He broke into live-action television with a script for Monsters in 1990.

In the Nineties, he wrote for the TV shows Father Dowling Mysteries, Jake and the Fatman, Matlock, Batman: The Animated Series, Under Suspicion, Two, Pacific Blue, Baywatch Nights, Diagnosis Murder, Players, Silk Stalkings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Law & Order, and The Huntress. He wrote some of the Perry Mason TV movies.

In the Naughts, Gerry Conway wrote for the show Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

In my humble opinion, Gerry Conway was one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. He created several characters who are still pertinent to this day, including Atomic Skull, Firestorm, Jason Todd, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Man-Thing, Power Girl, and The Punisher, among others. And while I don't particularly like the story (Gwen Stacy is one of my favourite comic book characters, he wrote one of the most revolutionary comic book stories of all time, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" from Amazing Spider-Man no. 121 (June 1973). While I am not fond of the story, I have to admit it was well-written and it certainly changed the industry forever. 

He was also an excellent television writer and wrote some of my favourite episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, including "Con-Text" and "Probability." For Batman: The Animated Series, he wrote "Appointment in Crime Alley." During his television career, he wrote stellar scripts for everything from Monsters to Matlock.

Above all else, I have to say Gerry Conway seemed like an incredibly nice guy. I followed him on Twitter when that was still a thing, and asked him a few questions about his television work. He always responded and did so politely and with a good deal of humour. He was a great writer and apparently a kind person as well. He will definitely be missed. 

"Dream Police" by Cheap Trick

It has already been a hectic week and I am preparing my eulogy for the late, great Gerry Conway, so I will leave you with one of my favourite songs of all time, "Dream Police" by Cheap Trick.