Left to my own devices

It was with a tinge of sadness that I watched Richard Belzer's final scene as John Munch last night on Law & Order: SVU . "Munchkin" (as he was more affectionately known on his original series Homicide: Life on the Street ) had reached mandatory retirement age, and was saying goodbye to the police force. Munch's colleagues threw a party/roast for him, and then at the very end of the episode he packed-up his desk and quietly walked away. Belzer's departure from SVU (which, to be honest, I only began watching in 1999 because the Munch character had transferred from Baltimore to New York) affects me because of his ties to Homicide and, in extension, my life at that time. The older I get, the more memories I have, and the more they tend to shape and mold my life. When a through-line of that life, even a minor part of it, ceases, then it can cause a moment to reflect. Odd as it may sound, Det. John Munch is such a through-line.

Last night saw the season 4 premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead . By now, almost everyone knows what the show is about, but in case you don't, it's about people trying to survive during a zombie apocalypse. The series has seen some stellar viewership since it began in October 2010, and I admit to being a regular viewer, despite my better judgment. What I refer to is how The Walking Dead never leaves me feeling... good. That may sound like an odd qualifier for a television program. After all, I was a stalwart supporter of NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street , and it rarely left me feeling happy about the world. But at least Homicide was a quality program that actually delved into character development, rather than simply pay lip service to it. Walking Dead is a very gory show, sometimes (in my opinion) just for the sake of it. Zombies are shot, or stabbed through the head. People are bitten and/or disemboweled. Very little is left to the imagination. And the

Recently, on an internet forum that I frequent which dabbles in cult film and television discussions, the question arose of who we thought were the 10 best television characters of all-time. It helped to see others' choices, as it reminded me of certain no-brainers I was ashamed to have forgotten upon first thought (Emma Peel, Columbo, etc.), but what really niggled at me was the paucity of females on our lists. At first, when reading the selections of others, the lack of female characters stood out like big neon lettering, and I shook my head in dismay at what I assumed to be unintentional sexism. Then, it came time to add my Top 10 and... I was stuck. Seriously, there would seem to be a dearth of solid women on television, especially in recent years. Understand that this list isn't just meant to consist of characters that you like, or think of as pretty cool peeps. No, these are the 10 Best TV Characters of All-Time . They are meant to be near-iconic, or at least

A random redhead. Enjoy!

Last night was pretty rough, emotionally. It was the culmination of a week's worth of feeling down. Events were triggered by - of all things - a movie, continued to snowball because of interactions with friends, and then came to a head after once more confronting internal conflicts regarding my late father. I ended up arriving at my mother's house unannounced, and crying for a bit (something I haven't done in probably two decades, at least). It is clear that the root of many of my issues is a series of letdowns, from various people. Sometimes, the blame for this can be laid squarely on the shoulders of others. Often, however, I need to look inward. That is to say, I need to re-evaluate my expectations.