Irish America

Irish America

Film & Television

Jimmy Fallon Family Tree

By Megan Smolenyak, Contributor
February / March 2014

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Megan Smolenyak, the roots detective, takes a look at Jimmy Fallon’s Irish side. Not yet forty, Jimmy Fallon already has an impressive history to look back on.  Between “Saturday Night Live” and hosting “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” he’s logged more than a decade on air, and is now primed for his take over of “The Tonight Show.” Not bad for a Brooklyn-born, Saugerties-raised … [Read more...] about Jimmy Fallon Family Tree

The Secret Life of the Shannon

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The River Shannon is the subject of a recent RTÉ wildlife documentary produced by the Wicklow-based company Crossing the Line. It opens in the orange of dawn, with a sepia mist rising from the surface of the river before the silhouette of a canoe traverses the plane of water. “The dawn chorus comes and the reeds are full of bird song,” the narrator says. “It’s a wonderful, … [Read more...] about The Secret Life of the Shannon

Fans Protest the Cancellation of BBC America’s Copper

Photo: Kevin Ryan and Tom Weston Jones in Copper
By Matt Skwiat
October 4, 2013

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The beloved BBC American television show Copper was abruptly cancelled last month, after its second season. The sudden demise of the show has caught most its fans off-guard and left many with unanswered questions. Premiering last August on the then new BBC America channel, Copper seemed destined for longevity. Created and directed by executive producer Tom Fontana with Academy … [Read more...] about Fans Protest the Cancellation of BBC America’s Copper

Irish at the Emmys

By Adam Farley, Editorial Assistant
September 23, 2013

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Last night the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at Los Angeles’s Nokia Theater. Though they were hosted by Irish American Neil Patrick Harris, that’s almost all the stage time descendants of Erin got for the three-hour ceremony. The other biggest presence on stage was The Colbert Report, which finally beat out the perennial favorite The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to … [Read more...] about Irish at the Emmys

The Irish Vampires

By Patricia Danaher, Contributor
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The 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, famous for introducing the character of vampire Count Dracula, is reborn as a new series on NBC. Patricia Danaher visits the set in Budapest. Although vampires seem to be everywhere these days in popular culture, there’s never been one quite like Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He’s been the subject of multiple movies going back … [Read more...] about The Irish Vampires