Tuned In

JPTV: What to Watch This Weekend

From left, Showtime’s Meadowlands and HBO’s Conchords Work on an unspecified Big Fat Project has prevented me from cranking out many full-fledged reviews lately but I want to put in a word for Meadowlands, an eight-episode British import drama that starts on Showtime Sunday. It’s a dark, fanciful mystery about a tough guy and his [...]

Tuned In

Bob Barker Says Goodbye. But What About the Strays?

After awarding his last Showcase of all time today (well, a week or so ago, but his last Price Is Right just aired), Bob Barker said his final farewell to his audience: “I want to thank you very, very much for inviting me into your home for the past 50 years. I am deeply grateful. [...]

Tuned In

Dead Tree Alert: TV Home Economics

My Culture Complex column in this week’s Time (the one with Mike Bloomberg and Arnold getting all cuddly on the cover) is about two personal obsessions of mine: real estate, and TV shows that obsess about real estate. More specifically, the fact cable home shows have gone from focusing on decoration and DIY and become [...]

Tuned In

TV Poll: What's the Best Fictional TV Program?

By which I don’t mean TV-program-that-is-a-work-of-fiction–I mean a TV program that was fictionalized within another TV show or movie. Off the top of my head, I have to give the TV-division award to The Itchy & Scratchy Show. They fight! They fight! They fight and fight and fight! Is there any show-within-a-show that better captures [...]