Alan Sepinwall is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with The Star-Ledger in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix.

Sepinwall began writing about television with reviews of NYPD Blue while attending the University of Pennsylvania, which led to his job at The Star-Ledger. In 2007, immediately after The Sopranos ended, series creator David Chase granted his sole interview to Sepinwall. In 2009, Sepinwall openly urged NBC not to cancel the action-comedy series Chuck, and NBC Entertainment co-president Ben Silverman partially credited Sepinwall for the show's revival.

Slate.com said Sepinwall "changed the nature of television criticism" and called him the "acknowledged king of the form" with regard to weekly episode recaps and reviews. Sepinwall and television critic Dan Fienberg host a podcast at HitFix called "Firewall & Iceberg" where they discuss and review television.

Early life[link]

Alan Sepinwall grew up in Pine Brook, New Jersey. He was born to his father, Jerry, a psychopharmacologist,^[1] and his mother, Harriet, a professor of education and history at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey. Alan Sepinwall attended Congregation Agudath Israel of West Essex in Caldwell, New Jersey.^[2] He later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he began writing television reviews during his sophomore year in 1993. Sepinwall was later critical of his own writings from this period, describing it as full of "misspellings, bad grammar and, even worse, observations that make me cringe".^[3]

Career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Sepinwall was managing editor of the university's 34th Street Magazine and interned at P.O.V. Magazine.^[4] Sepinwall was a particular fan of the ABC police drama NYPD Blue and wrote reviews for it on usenet newsgroups. Those reviews helped lead Sepinwall to begin a career in television journalism at The Star-Ledger in Newark; in 2004, Sepinwall said "without Blue, I wouldn't have the career or the life that I currently do".^[3]

[edit] The Star-Ledger

Sepinwall began working as The Star-Ledger's television columnist in 1996.^[5] He is a member of the Television Critics Association.^[4] Slate.com writer Josh Levin described Sepinwall's week-to-week, post-episode reviews of The Sopranos as "a new form" that combined episode recaps with analyses of the show's subtexts and hidden meanings.^[3] Sepinwall has said his writing style was partially inspired by newsgroup reviews of Star Trek television episodes written by Timothy W. Lynch, as well as the episode recaps and discussions generated on the website Television Without Pity.^[6] Around 2005, in addition to his newspaper columns, Sepinwall began blogging for The Star-Ledger on the website "All TV".^[2] Around that time, he also began maintaining his own private blog, "What's Alan Watching", in which he posted reviews and interacted directly with readers.^[7]

Sepinwall has interviewed such television figures as The Wire creator David Simon, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. He also wrote a book about the Fox teen drama series The O.C. called Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love The O.C., which was published and released in 2004. In 2007, immediately after The Sopranos ended, series creator David Chase gave Sepinwall the sole interview he granted to any journalists at the end of the show.^[4] In 2009, when NBC was contemplating canceling the action-comedy Chuck, of which Sepinwall was a strong proponent, he wrote an open letter to NBC executives urging them to renew the show and encouraging them to seek revenue by expanding existing product placement marketing deals. The show was ultimately renewed, and NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman partially credited Sepinwall for the show's revival, which ultimately helped increase Sepinwall's prestige.^[3][8] Sepinwall has been a particularly strong advocate for such shows as Lost, The Shield, Breaking Bad and The Wire.^[4]

HitFix[link]

After 14 years with The Star-Ledger, Sepinwall left the newspaper in 2010 for a job at the entertainment journalism website HitFix, where he reviews as many as 15 television shows each week.^[3] On that site, he also does a podcast with television critic Dan Fienberg called "Firewall & Iceberg".^[9] In 2010, Slate.com writer Josh Levin said Sepinwall "changed the nature of television criticism" and called him the "acknowledged king of the form" with regard to weekly episode recaps and reviews.^[3] The A.V. Club writer Steve Heisler called Sepinwall "an inspiration to TV critics throughout the country".^[8] Sepinwall made a cameo appearance as an extra in an October 2010 episode of the NBC comedy Community, a show which he has strongly praised.^[3][10] He later wrote that he regretted appearing on the show in hindsight due to "the extreme blurring of the line [between reviewer and fan] it caused".^[6] In early 2011, Sepinwall began reviewing the ABC comedy series Modern Family less frequently because he regularly received extremely harsh comments from readers whenever he criticized an episode.^[11]

Personal Life[link]

Sepinwall is married and has a daughter.^[2]

Bibliography[link]

• Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love The O.C. (ISBN 1596090065)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sepinwall's blog at HitFix
• Sepinwall's older writing
• Firewall & Iceberg Podcast

Betsy Brandt
Betsy Brandt at 2010 Emmy Awards
Born	November 14, 1976[citation needed] Bay City, Michigan, USA

Betsy Brandt is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Marie Schrader in Breaking Bad.

Early life[link]

Brandt is a native of Bay City, Michigan.^[1] Betsy graduated from Western High School in 1991.^{[citation needed]}

Brandt received her BFA in acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also studied theatre at Harvard University (at the Moscow Art Theatre Institute), as well as at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.^[1]

Career[link]

In theatre, Brandt has acted in performances of Much Ado About Nothing with the Arizona Theatre Company, Control+Alt+Delete with the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Beth Henley's Ridiculous Fraud, Julia Cho's The Language Archive with South Coast Repertory, and Next Fall with Geffen Playhouse

She had guest roles on the television programs Without a Trace (in the recurring role of Libby), Judging Amy, ER, Boston Legal, The Practice and NCIS. She is currently featured in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad as Marie Schrader. Brandt read for three different roles before being offered the part of Marie.^[2]

Her film credits include Shelf Life, Confidence and Memphis Bound and Gagged.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Brandt is married and has two children. She gave birth to her second child in 2008 while the second season of Breaking Bad was in production. She and her family reside in Los Angeles.^[1]

On June 6, 2010 Betsy was honored as the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus at the Western High School commencement, and was a featured speaker.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Memphis Bound & Gagged
• Shelf Life
• Betsy Brandt at the Internet Movie Database

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This article about an American theatre actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Joel McHale
McHale at a panel at PaleyFest 2010 for Community
Birth name	Joel Edward McHale
Born	(1971-11-20) November 20, 1971 (age 40) Rome, Italy
Medium	Film, television, stand-up
Years active	1991–present
Genres	News satire, sarcasm, observational comedy
Subject(s)	Celebrities, gossip, pop culture
Spouse	Sarah Williams (1996–present)
Notable works and roles	Host of The Soup Jeff Winger on Community
Website	http://www.joelmchaleonline.com/

Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an Italian-born American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC comedy series Community.

McHale's role as a voice actor includes Elliot in Open Season 2, filling in for Ashton Kutcher.^[1] He also appeared in Spider-Man 2 in a cameo appearance as bank manager Mr. Jacks, CSI: Miami as Greg Welsh, and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World as Wilbur Wilson.

Early life[link]

McHale, the middle of three brothers, was born in Rome, Italy on November 20, 1971. His mother, Laurie, is from Vancouver, British Columbia, and his father, Jack, is from Chicago.^[2] McHale and his brothers were born in Rome, where their father worked for an American university. He grew up in the Seattle area, graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1991. He also participated at Youth Theatre Northwest.

He received a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Washington in 1995. While at the University of Washington, McHale briefly belonged to the Theta Chi Fraternity.^[3] He was recruited to be on the rowing team, but later walked onto the football team, playing tight end for two years.^[4][5] McHale received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington.

Career[link]

Stand-up comedy[link]

McHale was part of the Almost Live! cast, a local sketch-comedy TV show produced by Seattle's KING-TV (Channel 5). From 1993 until 1997, McHale was a member of the improv comedy group at Unexpected Productions, participating in Theatersports! at the Market Theater located in Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.^[6]

Acting[link]

After earning his master's degree in acting, McHale moved to Los Angeles and landed small roles in Oliver Beene, CSI: Miami, and Will & Grace. He played a TV reporter in the biopic Lords of Dogtown. He guest-starred as a cast member on the NBC improv comedy show Thank God You're Here during the pilot episode and had a guest role on an episode of Pushing Daisies. McHale also appeared in Spider-Man 2 in a small role as Mr. Jacks, a bank manager.

In 2004, McHale began hosting The Soup, a satirical weekly television show on the "E!" television network. Throughout the show, he takes the audience through the oddities and ridiculous happenings of the week in television. He frequently appears as a co-host on Loveline. He has also had a long association with Circle X Theatre, where he has done several plays. McHale was a weekly guest on The Adam Carolla Show and Mickey and Amelia, and occasional guest on the Opie and Anthony Show.^[7] He has been a judge on Iron Chef America. He was involved in the American version of the British TV show The IT Crowd. McHale made a guest appearance on the finale of Last Comic Standing sixth season, when he recapped the show's events in his typical format of jokes made popular on The Soup. He usually appeared in Countdown with Keith Olbermann in a humor sequence closing the show.

McHale played FBI Agent Robert Herndon in The Informant! (2009), alongside Matt Damon.

McHale at the Paley Center's 6th annual celebrity golf classic in Westlake Village, California, June 8, 2009.

He currently stars in Community,^[8] which premiered in winter 2009. He also continues to host The Soup.^[9]

Voice acting[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

McHale provided the voice of Elliot in Open Season 2 after Ashton Kutcher declined to reprise his role.

Personal life[link]

McHale married Sarah Williams in 1996.^[10] They have two sons: Edward Roy, "Eddie" (born 2005)^[11] and Isaac Hayden (born 2008).^[12] McHale and Williams live in the Hollywood Hills.^[13]

Filmography[link]

Television work[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joel McHale

• Official website
• Joel McHale at the Internet Movie Database
• Joel McHale on Twitter
• E! Online Biography

Yvette Nicole Brown
Brown in March 2012.
Born	(1971-08-12) August 12, 1971 (age 40) East Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1990–present

Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. Brown has appeared in various commercials, television shows, and films throughout her career. Currently, she appears as Shirley Bennett on the NBC comedy series Community.

Life and career[link]

Brown took two acting classes, one at the University of Akron, where she graduated, and the other in Hollywood.^[1]

She appeared as "Yvette" in the music video "1-4-All-4-1" by the East Coast Family a Michael Bivins project, for Biv10 Records.^[2] Said Brown of the experience, "It was a great run, but I guess music was just never meant to be for me."^[3]

Brown at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2010

Brown first appeared on commercials before entering television shows and films a few years later.^[4] She has since played roles on television shows such as The War At Home, Malcolm in the Middle, and That's So Raven. She also had a recurring role as movie theater manager Helen Dubois in the Nickelodeon TV show Drake & Josh. Brown reprised the role in the season 2 episode of Victorious entitled "Helen Back Again."^[1] She also provides the voice of "Cookie" in the HUB's Pound Puppies.

She has appeared in television commercials for Hamburger Helper, Big Lots, Pine-Sol, Comcast, Aquapod, Shout, Fiber One, Yoplait Yogurt, DiGiorno Pizza, Dairy Queen, and Time Warner.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Yvette Nicole Brown at the Internet Movie Database

Jim Rash
Jim Rash at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2011
Born	James Rash (1970-07-15) July 15, 1970 (age 41) Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Actor, comedian, screenwriter
Years active	1995–present

James “Jim” Rash (born July 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.

Rash was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated from Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, and after graduating there spent a post-graduate year at the Lawrenceville School, located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.^[1]

Rash played Mr. Grayson/Stitches, a sidekick to the supervillain 'Royal Pain' in the 2005 film Sky High and as the recurring characters Fenton on That '70s Show, and "Andrew the Whore House Guy" on Reno 911!. He also guest starred in the last episode of Friends, and played the role of Head T.A. Philip in Slackers. Rash currently is a series regular on Community as Dean Pelton after being a recurring character the first two seasons.

Rash and comedy partner Nat Faxon have recently moved into screenwriting. Their screenplay, based on Kaui Hart Hemmings' novel The Descendants, was on the 2008 edition of the Black List, a list of the most popular unproduced scripts in Hollywood.^[2] The film was produced in Hawaii, directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney, and was released on November 18, 2011 to critical acclaim.^[3] Payne, Faxon and Rash received a Golden Globe nomination and won an Academy Award for their work.

Rash is a member of the Los Angeles improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings. He was also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha while attending University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Filmography[link]

Awards & Nominations[link]

Awards

• 2012: TV Guide Awards Favourite Ensemble (Shared with cast)
• 2012: Academy Award - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Independent Spirit Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: USC Scripter Award - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Writers Guild of America - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Florida Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: National Board of Review - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Satellite Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)

Nominations

• 2012: Australian Film Institute - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: BAFTA Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Central Ohio Film Critics Association - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Chicago Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Golden Globe - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: London Critics Circle Film Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Online Film Critics Society Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2012: Vancouver Film Critics Circle - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: San Diego Film Critics Society Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)
• 2011: Toronto Film Critics Association Awards - Best Screenplay (shared with Nat Faxon & Alexander Payne)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jim Rash at the Internet Movie Database