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TV Tonight: Party Like It's 1988

There’s been plenty of debate in the political media lately about whether or not this election is likely to be—or already is—a rerun of 1988. (I.e., culture warring, flag burning, Willie Horton ads, etc.) If you want to relive the actual election of ’88 for comparison purposes, you might want to watch PBS’s American Experience: [...]

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Not All the Bad News is for Katie

There’s been a lot of attention, here and elsewhere, about the poor ratings and dismal prospects of the CBS Evening News and Katie Couric. But before we pin all the problems of TV news on Katie, it’s worth noting that the numbers are bad, and getting worse, for all three networks collectively. Advertising Age surveys [...]

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Andersen on the Media on Obama

New York magazine columnist Kurt Andersen (who is like me a declared Obama voter) has had some great observations all this election season on the Democratic primary and how it reflects American culture. He has a new column this week about the “elitism” issue, in which he argues, among other points: Certain journalistic stars these [...]

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The Morning After: HD D.V.M.

My local cable despot, Time Warner, recently added a slew of new high-definition channels to the cable package here in Brooklyn, which means that I’ve been spending more time than usual surfing the higher digits of my cable dial. Let me tell you: until you have watched The Weather Channel in high definition, my friend, [...]

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BSG Watch: All Your Baseship Are Belong to Us

SCI FI Channel Photo: Carole Segal SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, shave your head to indicate your deep emotional turmoil and watch the most recent Battlestar Galactica.