Latest news with #AllyMcBeal
The Province
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Province
Peter Shawn Taylor: Standing up for urinals amid the gender-neutral washroom craze
Urinals enable cleanliness and speed. Removing them leaves everyone worse off FILE PHOTO: Urinals as disappearing as male/female bathrooms are being replaced with "gender neutral" ones. Photo by Codie McLachlan/Postmedia News The famous genderless washroom in the 1990s TV show Ally McBeal was a plot device meant for comedic purpose. These days it is no laughing matter. Across Canada, separate men's and women's restrooms are rapidly being replaced with unisex facilities. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors In Kitchener, Ont., recent renovations have left the 2,000 seat Centre in the Square, the city's premier music auditorium, with five multi-stall gender-neutral washrooms. These require men and women to line up together to access a series of individual stalls that each contain a toilet, paper dispenser and garbage can. Such an arrangement, which upends centuries of sex-separated bathrooms, brings with it plenty of double-takes, puzzled looks and awkward moments. (Including when I took my 89-year-old mother to the Nutcracker.) But it is by no means unique. In Montreal, a new washroom at the Université de Montreal's student services building features a unique circular design with study rooms and couches meant to encourage users to linger all day. It also includes 12 individually-ventilated stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors, and a common area for washing up. Numerous public schools across B.C. have similarly done away with separate boys' and girls' washrooms. And the same is planned for the current renovation of Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the seat of Canada's democracy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While these bathroom changes have all been presented as bold steps forward for 'inclusivity,' there's one thing genderless washrooms lack. Amid current efforts to rid restrooms of any vestige of traditional male and female differences, the urinal — a uniquely male waste management device — is at risk of disappearing forever. It's time someone stood up for this unloved, overlooked and occasionally smelly necessity. The current campaign against urinals finds its roots in efforts to solve the eternal dilemma of why the line at the ladies' room is always longer. Kathryn Anthony is a professor of architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a well-known advocate for 'potty parity.' As Anthony explained in an interview, 'Potty parity means equal speed of access to public toilets for men and women. Women simply take longer to go due to our anatomy and the need to disrobe.' To this end, she has spent decades campaigning for larger women's washrooms to compensate for the extra time requirement. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. More recently, however, the potty parity movement has made common cause with trans-gender activists who seek to eliminate any evidence of biological sex by promoting the concept of universal washrooms, which entail one bathroom line for all. And no urinals. 'As we see more and more unisex restrooms,' Anthony said, 'we will see fewer and fewer urinals. And not too many people are going to be sorry about that.' That remains to be seen. While walls and fence posts have served the purpose throughout time, the modern urinal dates back to the Industrial Age, when it became necessary to find a way for working men to relieve themselves quickly on the job. And beginning in the 1830s, Paris began installing streetcorner 'pissoirs' to improve public health by giving impatient male passersby a proper place to go. While its male-only concept may suffer for public support today, the urinal remains a marvel of utility and efficiency. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Among its foremost advantages is speed. 'Urinals have always served an important purpose in allowing men to pee standing up,' said Klaus Reichardt, founder of Waterless Co. Inc., a California-based company that makes waterless urinals. 'And that means we can get in and out of the restroom quicker.' While Reichardt's system uses no water whatsoever — a major selling feature in drought-wracked California — all urinals save water, which brings up their second major benefit. Canada's National Plumbing Code requires that a urinal consume no more than 1.9 litres per flush. That compares with 6 litres for toilets designated for industrial, commercial or institutional use. A standard urinal uses one-third the water to perform the same task as a toilet. Forcing men to urinate in unisex toilets thus wastes up to 4.1 litres of potable water per flush. Scaled up over hundreds of millions of flushes, this is an enormous waste. Advocates of genderless washrooms typically see themselves as equity crusaders, but they are also proponents of an environmental calamity. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Urinals are also excellent space-savers since they take up less than half the square footage of toilet stalls, leaving room for other things, such as larger women's washrooms. And they offer the opportunity to harvest a product very high in nitrogen and phosphorus. Reinhardt eagerly supplies several studies revealing the efficacy of using his product to collect undiluted urine for fertilizer, including a January 2025 study by Spanish researchers, impishly titled 'Urine Luck,' that found a cubic metre of 'yellow water' can produce 2.4 tons of hydroponic tomatoes. While urinals outperform toilets on every conceivable measure of efficiency, particularly for men, there is one category in which their disappearance will leave women noticeably worse off. Here we refer not to efficiency, but accuracy . Where urinals are replaced with unisex toilet stalls, men will inevitably use them to pee standing up. And because their aim is not always very good, women who enter immediately after a man has just left can face an annoyingly messy situation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A 2015 survey of women by U.S. bathroom manufacturer Green Flush Restrooms reveals that 'two-thirds of respondents 'agreed' or 'definitely agreed' that they prefer to use restrooms that are only used by women.' Why? Respondents expressed 'the frustration of sitting down on a toilet seat that men have urinated on.' Plus, many women consider the washroom to be a female-only sanctuary where they can relax and chat with friends; having to share it with men destroys that ambiance. The battle over urinals thus comes down to a clash between strict equity on one hand, and efficiency, cleanliness and cultural preference on the other. Tim Huh is a professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business whose typical research milieu concerns the optimization of business systems such as call centres. In 2019 he applied his analytic toolkit to the issue of optimizing bathroom fairness. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Universal bathrooms are one way to equalize wait times,' he said in an interview. 'There are no equity issues if everyone has to wait in the same line.' But, he added, 'urinals are very efficient' and removing them imposes some very large costs on society. His research suggests that beyond making men wait longer, a shift to genderless, urinal-less washrooms is unlikely to produce significant gains for women since they must now compete with men for the same stalls, and those men will take longer to do their business in the absence of urinals. Universal washrooms, his report concluded, 'may not be a proper solution to ensure potty parity.' Instead of getting rid of gender-specific washrooms altogether, he found it makes more sense to enlarge women's washrooms. And under no circumstances should urinals be eliminated. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Urinals save time, space and water. And while women can't use them, their mere presence improves their lives as well. Keep in mind, without urinals, many men will out of necessity find other places to go, harkening back to the smelly and unhygienic situation that led to their invention in the first place. Mandating universal washrooms and getting rid of urinals will leave almost everybody and everything worse off. So why are we even considering such a thing? Peter Shawn Taylor is senior features editor at C2C Journal, were the longer, original version of this story first appeared. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
David E. Kelley to Receive Visionary Tribute at Gotham TV Awards (Exclusive)
David E. Kelley is set to receive the Visionary Tribute at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Kelley is being recognized for his work as showrunner on Apple TV+'s Presumed Innocent TV series, the first season of which starred Jake Gyllenhaal, as well as his long Emmy-winning career, including his work on such memorable series as L.A. Law; Doogie Howser, M.D.; Chicago Hope; The Practice; Ally McBeal; and Big Little Lies. More from The Hollywood Reporter Here's How 'The Studio' Got All Those Season One Guest Stars - and Its "White Whale" How 'The Studio' Creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Seduced (and Skewered) Hollywood Michael B. Jordan to Receive American Cinematheque Award The Visionary Tribute is designed to recognize boundary-pushing work that will inspire the next generation of storytellers. 'David's commitment to crafting complex characters, tackling difficult social issues, and consistently elevating television as an art form embodies the spirit of innovation that The Gotham champions,' Gotham Film & Media Institute executive director Jeffrey Sharp said in a statement. 'From his extraordinary breakout writing on L.A. Law to creating cultural touchstones such as Doogie Howser, M.D., Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, The Practice and Big Little Lies, David has been instrumental in bringing to the screen some of the most acclaimed and successful series in television history. With the Visionary Tribute, we're proud to celebrate not only his remarkable achievement of Presumed Innocent, but also the high bar of excellence he has set for all creators in our community.' In addition to Kelley, previously announced honorees at the Gotham TV Awards include Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, all of whom will receive creator tributes; Elisabeth Moss and the cast of The Handmaid's Tale, who will receive the inaugural ensemble tribute; Brian Tyree Henry, who will receive the performer tribute; and Sheryl Lee Ralph, who will receive the Sidney Poitier Icon Tribute. The 2025 Gotham TV Awards are set to take place on Monday, June 2, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Buzz Feed
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Popular TV Shows That Vanished From Memory
Is there a TV show you used to love, but it seems like nobody else remembers it? Recently, Redditor u/lonelylamb1814 asked r/television about "shows you're surprised are now culturally forgotten." Here are 31 of the top responses: "Ally McBeal was pretty huge for a short time. Calista Flockhart was a household name. It even had that weird dancing baby. It's almost totally forgotten now." —JohnnyFootballStar "Melrose Place was fucking huge in the '90s. People would have watch parties, and Kimberly's scar reveal was late-night talk show fodder for weeks. There was even a Seinfeld episode about the show! And now? It's total pop cultural crickets." —JamMasterJamie Here's the scene: "People claim Game of Thrones's popularity/presence evaporated overnight because of the terrible finale, but in reality, that happened with How I Met Your Mother." —Dnashotgun "Desperate Housewives was 'water-cooler' TV at one point in history…But in general, any TV show older than about 15 years." —Msdamgoode "Home Improvement was a huge ratings draw (Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson declined a combined $75 million for a ninth season) and probably the third most successful '90s sitcom after Seinfeld and Friends, and yet, it's not talked about anymore, something that the other two clearly have achieved." —mxinex "Rugrats. Kids don't know who Tommy Pickles or any of the other Rugrats are, and that freaks me out." —Krazy_Kane "The O.C. was an absolute cultural phenomenon from 2003-2006. Now, it is barely spoken about, and when it is, it is just referred to as another random teen show from the era and not a culturally defining one." —Dabrigstar "Scrubs has vanished for how big it was; honestly felt like it was on par with Friends at one point." —Wanbizzle "My answer will be American Horror Story. It's basically nothing now, when it was HUGE just a few years ago." —paulojrmam "Moonlighting was also massive. It helped to create the modern network dramedy. Launched Bruce Willis's career and was one of the go-to examples of 'will they/won't they' couples on TV for a long time. But it always had production issues, irregular scheduling, and never got the numbers to make up a syndication package, so it faded from view. Yet recently, it's shown up on a few different streaming services and seems like it might also be having a bit of a revival." —Belgand "Now, the one that nobody talks about is Thirtysomething. It wasn't just a massive hit, it was the defining yuppie show. It doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere. Even if it had an audience and wasn't just 'that show your parents used to watch' for people that are now past their thirties themselves, it's no longer easily accessible." —Belgand "Murphy Brown, as it even had its own presidential-level scandal, when VP Dan Quayle criticized Brown (a fictional character) specifically as a single mom, and the show responded the next season. [Editor's Note: According to CNN, in the Season 5 premiere, Murphy responded to Qualye's speech by inviting several "non-traditional" families onto her broadcast. She said, "I'd like to introduce you to some people who might not fit into the vice president's vision of a family. But they consider themselves families nonetheless. They work. They struggle. They hope for the kind of life for their children that we all want for our children."] Quayle's remarks caused quite a stir in the media, and Brown was also a divorced, professional, successful female character — not exactly a regular occurrence on TV at the time. Nobody talks about it much anymore." —Hippies_Pointing Here's the scene: "When I was a kid, I honestly thought Jimmy Neutron was as big as SpongeBob and Fairly OddParents in their primes, so it does surprise me that there isn't as much nostalgia for this compared to other 2000s cartoons." —Upbeat_Tension_8077 "Babylon 5 is more relevant than ever, but unfortunately, it never had the staying power of any Star Trek series, despite it being pretty popular in its heyday." —NovaHorizon "I'm kinda surprised how quickly the Arrowverse (especially Arrow and The Flash) disappeared from pop culture. Seems like they were decently popular (at least among young people), and now they almost feel forgotten." —mrmonster459 "3rd Rock from the Sun." —EyesWithoutAbutt "That show absolutely holds up. I've taken a couple of ten-year breaks from watching it, and each time I go back to it, it's still laugh-out-loud funny. Surprising for a laugh track sitcom from the '90s." —SleepyFarts "24 seems to have vanished from pop culture." —Wazula23 "Although it was before my time, I was surprised to learn that George R. R. Martin had been nominated for an Emmy for working on a show called Beauty and the Beast as a writer. I'd never even heard of it." —Big_I "I'm surprised The Larry Sanders Show isn't more talked about — ran for a long time, hilarious show with a great premise." —Truethrowawaychest1 "Nip/Tuck. That shit was nuts at the time." —Msdamgoode "Picket Fences was such a huge deal when it was on. It's never mentioned anymore." —gothamsnerd "It was a while ago, but NYPD Blue incited a lot of alarm when it first aired because of the language and nudity, which was on network TV (though late at night). I remember people protesting and everything." —foxsable "Heroes. 'Save the cheerleader, save the world.' Then they did, but they wanted to milk the cow, and everyone forgot about it." —poopapat320 "Fringe was pretty fucking rad when that was airing. Most people haven't heard of it, let alone seen it." —Nillows "Boardwalk Empire. It was HUGE…. And now it's all but forgotten." —EmergencyCritical890 "The Good Wife. I still tell people it's one of the greatest television shows. And I loved The Good Fight as well, but hardly anyone knows about that one." —Grand_Menu620 "The Walking Dead felt like it was up there with Game of Thrones as water cooler talk and as the biggest show in the world 12 years ago. Now it's almost forgotten about." —Stpbatman "Bonanza was on the air for fifteen years." —thefuzzybunny1 "Mad Men. I don't think it's like 'forgotten' per se, but IMO, it should be around the top ten shows of all time discussions, but rarely is. Which really suprises me, honestly." —Wolfwing777 "I'm always surprised how little people talk about Mr. Robot anymore compared to how culturally dominant it seemed when it was airing. Maybe it just got too real?" —littlebigcheesefries And finally: "Boston Legal was hot when it was on. Everyone was talking about it. Now I never see it anyplace." —clinging2thecross Is there a movie you love that no one else seems to remember? What makes it worth watching? Let us know in the comments!
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lucy Liu's Unique Journey to Single Motherhood: 'A Magical Experience'
Lucy Liu is beloved for the mix of grace and strength she brought to movies like Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill and shows like Ally McBeal and Elementary, and as one of the few Asian-American stars in the spotlight in the '90s and '00s, she's a true Hollywood trailblazer. Liu is also something of a trailblazer in her personal life, as she made the unconventional choice not to marry and instead become a single mom via surrogate. Here's a look at Liu's love life and her decision to choose motherhood in her 40s. In 2004, Liu was engaged to director and playwright Zach Helm, and she starred in his play Good Canary. They broke up later that year, and she then dated actor and screenwriter Will McCormack. Liu was also rumored to be dating George Clooney during his bachelor phase in the aughts. In 2014, she dated billionaire businessman Noam Gottesman. Since then, Liu has kept her personal life private, and when asked why she never married in 2021, she gave a spot-on response, saying, 'I do what I want according to how I feel. I don't have to fall into a social norm of 'now you're going to get married.' No! Not because I'm rebelling against it. When it's right, it's going to be right. But I'm not going to do it for the sake of doing it. Marriage is not on my bucket list. I don't have a bucket list.' In 2015, at age 46, Liu welcomed her son, Rockwell, who was born by a surrogate. When it came to choosing single motherhood, she said, 'I didn't have a plan. I just thought, 'I want to change the conversation a little bit.'' Liu was determined to raise her son in New York, and she chose not to read parenting books or stress over the decision to become a mom in her 40s, saying, 'I didn't mull it over too much. I didn't do a lot of research, I just pulled the trigger. I can think myself out of something easily; if I think too much I won't do it. It's better for me to feel something and just go for it." Liu doesn't see single motherhood as a challenge. In fact, she said, 'I think maybe it's easier in some ways if you're a single mom. You don't have to deal with someone else's opinion. And honestly, the other parent can be a toddler more than the child.' Liu has also shared some moving words about her son, saying, 'Having him know that this is home, and I'm home, is really a nice feeling,' and sharing an Instagram post with the caption, 'My son opens my eyes to the beauty of being present every day—nature in its purest form.' As for why she chose to have her son delivered by a surrogate, Liu said, 'It just seemed like the right option for me because I was working and I didn't know when I was going to be able to stop. I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great.' Liu has called motherhood 'a magical experience,' and the actress is living proof that such magic doesn't have to follow the typical template. Read on for more about celebrity parents! Inside the Beckham Family: All About David and Victoria's Four Kids—Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper Arnold Schwarzenegger's Kids: Inside Their Lives, Careers and Patrick's 'The White Lotus' Role Gordon Ramsay's 6 Kids: Meet the Chef's Doting Family—From Police Officers to Podcasters
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Accused strike violator was subject to a 'flawed' and 'improper' discipline process, WGA trial chair says
A chair of a trial committee of the Writers Guild of America West has called out the union's handling of disciplinary proceedings against one member accused of flouting the union's rules during the 2023 strike. In a four-page letter , Jill Goldsmith, a former public defender from Cook County, conveyed profound concerns over the process behind the board's decision to expel one writer, saying it was not 'fair and proper,' according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Times. "I agreed to serve my Guild as a Trial Committee member, when I was assured of fairness in the process,' Goldsmith wrote, adding that 'If we are to impose the most extreme punishment of expulsion, the process cannot be the flawed one that occurred.' In her Feb. 24 letter to the WGAW board, Goldsmith said that the board had repudiated the unanimous findings of the trial committee, and questioned whether the committee's impartial legal counsel unfairly influenced the proceeding's outcome. As such, she wrote that she 'must respectfully withdraw, because "I believe something happened during the process that was improper.' Read more: Writers' strike: What happened, how it ended and its impact on Hollywood Goldsmith's name was redacted from a copy of the letter viewed by the Times. However, a person with knowledge of the proceedings who was not authorized to comment publicly confirmed that it was written by the trial committee chair who was identified in documents as Goldsmith, a guild member and who is credited with having written for such shows as 'Boston Legal' and 'Ally McBeal.' Goldsmith declined to comment on the letter. The Writers Guild of America West also declined to comment on the specific claims of the letter, but in a statement the union said that four members have appealed their discipline to the membership, who will vote on the matter this week. "This is an internal union matter and WGAW members can view relevant documents on the members-only section of the Guild's website," the statement said. "The Board of Directors is the only body involved in the process that is elected by the membership and the WGAW Constitution gives it the responsibility for determining the level of discipline when a member is found guilty by a trial committee." Goldsmith oversaw the trial of Roma Roth, an executive producer on the CW series 'Sullivan's Crossing' and 'Virgin River' on Netflix, according to proceeding documents. The board expelled Roth for allegedly writing during the strike for a non-signatory company. In her letter to the board, Goldsmith said that while she agreed that Roth had 'crossed the line from producing to writing,' a violation of the guild's strike rules, she objected to the process that led to the recommendation for her expulsion, after the committee had originally proposed Roth be given a five year suspension. Read more: WGA bans writers from joining Martin Scorsese, Randall Emmett film project According to her letter, prior to their deliberations, the committee asked the committee's legal advisor for "clarity" on the the possible punishments that could be meted out. Specifically, the committee asked to be provided with a slate of those punishments given to writers in the past — anonymously — in order to 'assess proportionality and fairness in how punishments were addressed,' only to be told the committee was 'not allowed to know that information,' she wrote. According to her appeal statement to the WGAW, a copy of which was viewed by The Times, Roth said she was found was "not guilty" of violating strike rules and "did not work for a struck company," adding that 'Sullivan's Crossing' was an independently financed Canadian series. She called her expulsion 'excessive and disproportionate.' 'The Board found me guilty of violating Article X of the Constitution, Working Rule 8 ('WR8'), i.e. working without a waiver. A violation that according to the Working Rules should be subject to a fine, NOT expulsion,' wrote Roth, a member of the WGA and the Writers Guild of Canada. In her appeal documents, Roth called her disciplinary hearing 'unfair' and 'improper,' and outlined numerous instances that she says demonstrate violations of due process. Roth cast doubt on the materials the guild submitted, including a partially obscured photo of the writer's room that was provided as 'evidence' that she was violating the rules about working during a strike. She said the room included her identical twin sister who was one of several Writers Guild Canada writers enlisted to work on the show. Goldsmith's letter echoed some of the assertions made by other disciplined writers, whose punishments range from public censure to suspensions to prohibitions from acting as volunteer captains; with the most drastic being expulsion. They have appealed the decisions. Julie Bush, a consulting producer on AppleTV+'s 'Manhunt,' is among those seeking to overturn her disciplinary action. The board suspended Bush from the guild until 2026 and she was barred from holding 'non-elected guild office' after being found guilty of violating Working Rule 8 and writing for a non-signatory company during the strike. The trial committee had recommended that she be prohibited from serving as a guild captain for three years and censured privately. Bush, who said she is a staunch union supporter, called the proceedings a 'kangaroo court,' particularly as the information she said that was used against her was based on information she provided a guild attorney while seeking assistance. 'If this were a real court, it would be like if your defense lawyer takes off their defense lawyer hat and puts on his prosecutor hat and says 'surprise, we got you' with all this confidential information that you just turned over,' Bush told The Times. 'My particular case is a nuanced matter of contract law," she added. "It should never have been brought to trial, much less, this big humiliation in the press. I cannot believe that we've gotten to this point.' Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
