+Looking Around | 1350 days ago

The Next Director of the Metropolitan Museum Is….

By Richard Lacayo

….a Met insider, but not the one most people were expecting. The Met announced today that Thomas P. Campbell, a curator at the museum since 1995, would fill the big shoes of Philippe de Montebello, who pronounced himself delighted by the choice. Campbell is a curator in the department of European sculpture and decorative arts [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 1350 days ago

Spanning the Globe…

By James Poniewozik

… to bring you the constant variety of television! * In Russia, you don’t threaten South Park—South Park threatens you! * In Thailand, they depose leaders for making dumb TV appearances. * And the Telegraph reports that scientists have identified a cell in the brain that responds to The Simpsons. And there’s a cell in [...]

+Looking Around | 1350 days ago

Hirst vs. Hughes

By Richard Lacayo

It’s battle of the artworld heavyweights. Robert Hughes, the titanic art critic and my esteemed predecessor at Time, has weighed in on Damien Hirst. (“Absurd”, “tacky commodities”) And Hirst has hit back. (Hughes is a “Luddite”, says Damien. “He probably cried when Queen Victoria died.”) Hughes’ dismissive comments wouldn’t be his first swipe at Hirst. [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 1350 days ago

TV Tonight: Fringe

By James Poniewozik

FOX I apologize for not having a fuller review of Fringe ready for you, but I’m working on other deadlines and—with the pilot having been leaked, screened and analyzed for so long now—it seems as if the show has already been on the air for months. On the other hand, Fox hasn’t sent out any [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 1350 days ago

You Decide: The YouTube-Palin Showdown!

By James Poniewozik

Submitted for your consideration, to demonstrate that: 1. Sarah Palin really has captured the pop-cultural imagination, and 2. Where SNL / Tina Fey fail to step in quickly enough, others will fill the gap… I give you LisaNova’s Sarah Palin– And Sara Benincasa’s– Your pick? I give the edge to Benincasa. Veteran YouTuber LisaNova gets [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 1350 days ago

Election Result: Cable Wins!

By James Poniewozik

The New York Times’ TV Decoder unearths one point from the pile of convention ratings results: two nights last week, the cable news networks, combined, beat the three broadcast networks, combined. The numbers were powered by huge ratings for Fox during the Republican convention in particular: On the night that Senator Barack Obama addressed the [...]