Tuned In

Lifetime Mans Up

There’s nothing a man likes better than sitting down in an easy chair with a cold brewski and spending a night with the Lifetime network. That, at least, was the message, slightly exaggerated, from that channel’s presentation at the TCA tour this afternoon. Producer Mark Gordon, fielding a question from my colleague Aaron Barnhart, disputed [...]

And Even More Fear of Flying

Remember when I promised a few days ago to get off this topic? (“This topic” being how rare it is for artists to do anything with the universal ordeal of flying.) I lied. I’m back to it, but just briefly. Thanks to Jason Kaufman of the Art Newspaper for reminding me that the Swiss artist-pranksters [...]

Tuned In

ESPN: Not Playing Hardball Anymore

ESPN’s presentations–the funny promotional ads, the energy, the explosive graphics–are almost enough to make me wish I actually cared about sports. Even the opening panel in ESPN’s morning, about NASCAR–which I should have identified with having survived the slog up the 110 to Pasadena list night–didn’t quite do the trick for me, however. Broadcasting legend [...]

Tuned In

Where the Coffee's Free and the Girls Are Pretty

PASADENA — Oooh! I love bylines! Makes me feel all reporter-y! People who say that being a TV critic involves nothing more than sitting on your can and pretending to care about TV shows don’t know what they’re talking about. Sometimes it involves sitting on your can and pretending to care about the people in [...]