UNCOVERED: 3 - Caught on Camera

Mary McNamara: Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Coolidge helped save the Emmys from boring back-to-normal

LOS ANGELES — For an entertainment journalist, nothing says "back to normal" more than trying to figure out the logistics of attending an awards show. After two years of remote-work comfort, one rebels against even the thought of Spanx, and I am too old and jaded for heels. It's the…

Los Angeles Times · Sep 13, 2022

Mary McNamara: For Americans, Queen Elizabeth II was the central character in the world's longest-running soap opera

My mother often shared two memories of her experience as a young woman during World War II: Her grandmother, an Irish woman with memories of hunger and fear under British rule, cheering the Blitz, to her family's horror; and the impressive sight of the royal family remaining in London even…

Los Angeles Times · Sep 8, 2022

Mary McNamara: We bonded over Tolkien when my son was 4. So of course we live-texted 'Rings of Power'

I took my son Danny to see "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" when he was not quite 5 years old.

Los Angeles Times · Sep 6, 2022

Mary McNamara: Why is it so hard to talk about marriage?

I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately. My 25th wedding anniversary is coming up and I keep waiting to get some sort of a performance-review notice in my email. Not that I know what I'd say for either the self- or the spouse evaluation part — maybe I'd just…

Los Angeles Times · Aug 24, 2022

Mary McNamara: Hey, Malcolm Gladwell, I'm working in my jammies and I'm just fine

On the podcast "The Diary of a CEO," Malcolm Gladwell recently lectured the American workforce about the importance of returning to the office. Two and half years into a pandemic, working from home is not, he said, in people's best interest. They need to return to the real-time gaze of…

Los Angeles Times · Aug 10, 2022

Jennifer Coolidge has been a big deal for years; with an Emmy nod, she's starting to believe it

LOS ANGELES — Here are two stories told by an actor; try to guess who it is.

Los Angeles Times · Aug 8, 2022

Mary McNamara: Dear Hollywood: Next time, choose to film in Kansas

Dear Hollywood,

Los Angeles Times · Aug 4, 2022

Mary McNamara: Once again, Joni Mitchell gives us all a reason to live

Some days, it is hard not to despair. Europe is on fire and also Yosemite; Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, a religious minority wages war against women and monkeypox invades an already COVID-riddled world. Mass shootings have become a daily occurrence, the damning evidence of the Jan. 6 committee is…

Los Angeles Times · Jul 26, 2022

Mary McNamara: Why Netflix's no-good, not-very-bad quarter satisfies our love-hate relationship

For those of us outside the world of high finance, it is rare to take deep satisfaction in the financial status of any company that doesn't sign our own checks. But the most recent Netflix quarterly report was, in many ways, a thing of bad-news-equals-good-news beauty.

Los Angeles Times · Jul 20, 2022

Mary McNamara: COVID brain fog is real, and with everything everywhere happening at once, it's a mercy

When people started talking about the COVID brain fog, I thought it sounded faintly ridiculous, like one of those diagnoses made in Victorian literature to cover anything from meningitis to menopause.

Los Angeles Times · Jul 13, 2022