When we last saw Joe MacMillan, the mercurial Dallas salesmen at the center of the AMC computer drama Halt and Catch Fire, he was wandering into the Texas wilderness, seemingly without purpose, or direction, or even snacks. Considering the show’s meager ratings and uneven critical reception, it wasn’t hard to…
It was two and a half years ago that we, along with every other media outlet in town, started telling you about Deion Sanders’ disastrous plan to open a charter school with campuses in Oak Cliff and Forth Worth. That disastrous plan eventually became a disastrous reality called Prime Prep…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. There was a time, not long ago, when the comedy scenes in Dallas and similar cities were…
I was still relatively new to Dallas when we produced our first People Issue, in 2012. Still, when we asked our writers to suggest potential subjects, I expected to know most of the names and faces they proposed. As the issue came together, I did know many — the Mavs’…
Funny or Die’s touring comedy show, the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, is coming back to Dallas this fall, with an even stronger lineup than last year: Louis CK, Marc Maron, Hannibal Buress, Sarah Silverman, Jeff Ross, Whitney Cummings and still others. The show is Friday, September 19, at Gexa…
Inside the New Pecan Lodge from Voice Media Group on Vimeo. After rising to barbecue fame in the Dallas Farmers Market’s Shed 2, Pecan Lodge finally moved into its new space in Deep Ellum last week, and brought its trademark line and trusty smoker with it. We were there to…
In the current issue of the Observer, I take a long look at the creation of AMC’s new drama, Halt and Catch Fire, which was inspired by a local software salesman and co-created by that salesman’s son, Plano-born screenwriter Chris Cantwell. You should totally read it. Really. But you could…
It’s day two of SXSW, and Mother Nature, tired of people staring at her badge, is revolting. She has painted Austin a morose gray, and a light drizzle is growing into an angry downpour. By the time a herd of black SUVs stampedes the Hotel St. Cecilia around dusk, a…
Eating Brain, Intestine, Head, and Tongue Tacos at El Come Taco from Voice Media Group on Vimeo. All week at City of Ate, we celebrate the magic of the taco. Check back for more interviews, essays and maybe a list or two. Or maybe four? El Come Taco is one…
The Observer is looking for a part-time Clubs Editor. The job includes: – Data entry to keep our clubs listings current. – Managing the Dallas Observer concert calendar. – Visiting and writing about new bars and clubs, and re-visiting old standbys when their listing needs a refresh. The ideal candidate…
We have a nice little staff here at the Observer, but sometimes we need some side action. Here’s how you might be able to help. Writers We accept freelance pitches for stories of all shapes and sizes. Specifically, we’re looking for:…
They arrived by Beast. It was the summer of 2011, and Juan and Jose, twin brothers from Honduras, had decided to flee to the United States. Thousands of young Central Americans make the journey every year, riding the roofs of freight trains that chug north through Mexico. The train goes…
The one-year anniversary of the West fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people is a couple weeks away, and will no doubt bring with it some thoughtful coverage from various media outlets around town. Among that coverage, we now know, will be an hour-long documentary from WFAA, which will have…
We’ve told you plenty about Halt and Catch Fire. Now you can see it for yourself, at least 30 seconds of it, sliced up and laid under some sweet 80s dreams. It premieres June 1, and having seen the pilot I can assure you: It starts with a bang…
Back in January, when we did very hard math in an effort to identify which cities write the most traffic tickets, Dallas was well off the leader board, writing far fewer tickets per capita than most big suburbs. Now, a bonus, courtesy of WFAA: Whatever traffic tickets police have written…
That up there is Chad Sour. He’s from Louisiana, but he lives in Dallas, and every year he throws a crawfish boil in his backyard. Because I want to eat more crawfish off of more folding tables, I asked him to walk us through How to Throw a Backyard Crawfish…
Organizers of the March Madness Music Festival have announced headliners for the Dallas block party, and you’ve probably heard of a few of them: The free Dallas shows, which will take over the former site of Reunion Arena during the first weekend in April, will include performances by the Killers,…
Several weeks back I listened to two long, in-depth interviews with the actor and comedian Will Forte, one with Chris Hardwick and one with Marc Maron. Forte was charming and silly and is apparently unlucky in love, a family man worried he’ll never have a family, and he’s profoundly weird…
***** Just go watch it, OK?…
We’ve been closely tracking the trajectory of Halt and Catch Fire, a forthcoming AMC drama set during the 1980s PC boom in Dallas. It was co-created by a Plano native, Chris Cantwell, and is being produced by some of the folks behind Breaking Bad. Hopes, ours and critics’, are high…
When Robert Wilonsky unbolted himself from the Unfair Park throne in early 2012, there was a lot of skepticism that his boots could be properly filled. He’d started this blog several years before, one of the first and most successful blogs at an alt-weekly newspaper, and he’d slaved over it…
1. Listen to the guys who want to Tear down 345. 2. Find a sensible solution to the Uber-Yellow feud. 3. Build more freeway parks so we can play ultimate Frisbee on 635. 4. Fewer valet stands, more bike racks. 5. Fewer police shootings, more transparency when they happen…
