Dave's Fiction Warehouse

I f you only watch the Hulu promo for "Rev.," you might think it's just another "Vicar of Dibley" or "Father Ted" -- a catchphrase-heavy sitcom about zany English vicars and their zany congregations.  It's actually a lot better than that. Having just watched the third (and probably final) season on Hulu, I consider it another of those miniature BBC masterpieces, like "The Office" or "Fawlty Towers." I say "miniature" because the best BBC sitcoms almost always have the good taste to wrap it up after a couple of seasons. And each season usually consists of only 6 or 7 episodes. Imagine if American sitcoms did that. Imagine The Fonz with a character arc, Jed Clampett saying to hell with Beverly Hills after 13 shows. Maybe the writing would have been better. "Rev." has some great writing: funny and poignant, often at the same time. Tom Hollander does play an English vicar (the Rev. Adam Smallbone), but his crumb...

T oday, for the first time in years, I was out the door and walking before 7:30 a.m. That's quite a departure for a guy who has never been a morning person.  But I've been forced into it. Even though the official first day of summer was just a couple of days ago, here in the Sunshine State it's been summer since about April Fool's Day.   By "summer," I mean that season when the local dress code reverts to shirtlessness and flip-flops for anything short of funerals. Around here, a hat and a pair of cargo shorts are all the wardrobe you need until about Halloween. Fishnet tank-top optional. Especially after the solstice. Besides the temperature, the weather app on my computer also shows what it "feels like," accounting for factors like 98 percent humidity, no breeze and a fair amount of rotting trash and dog shit along my route.  A couple of days ago, it reported that although the temperature was 94, it would feel like 104. After wading through a few m...