Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 961 days ago

Test Pilot: Modern Family

By James Poniewozik

Test Pilot is a semiregular feature sharing my first impressions of the pilots for next fall’s shows. These aren’t reviews, since these pilots can be rewritten, recast and retooled before airing, and the shows that eventually get on the air can prove much better or worse. But, premature opinions are why God invented the Internet, [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+TV Ratings | 961 days ago

Colbert in Iraq: Mission Accomplished

By James Poniewozik

After Conan O’Brien’s ratings decline continued in the beginning of this week, I wondered whether the Tonight Show was being affected by Stephen Colbert’s highly publicized week of USO shows from Iraq. While it’s impossible to establish a direct cause and effect, Bill Carter of the New York Times reports that Colbert’s ratings were way [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 961 days ago

Dave vs. Sarah 2: So Much for the Ratings Stunt

By James Poniewozik

In response to last night’s not-exactly-apology by David Letterman, a spokesperson for Sarah Palin says the Governor will not be making an appearance on Late Show: “The Palins have no intention of providing a rating’s boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show,” the Alaska governor’s rep said in a statement to FOXNews.com. “Plus, [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+TV Ratings | 961 days ago

Conan Definitively Beats Dave Forever! Not.

By James Poniewozik

Tuesday, CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman beat The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and an NBC executive reminded us that late-night “is a marathon,” not a sprint.  Last night, Conan edged out Dave in the ratings, posting his first rating increase since he took over. And demographic ratings for last week came in, showing [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 961 days ago

The Morning After: The Dave and Sarah Show

By James Poniewozik

Controversial comedians often follow the “never complain, never explain” rule. But earlier this week, Sarah Palin complained about some jokes David Letterman made at the expense of her and her daughter, and last night, Dave explained, at some length.

Tuned In
Tuned In+News Media | 961 days ago

Is the Media Soft on White Male Terrorism?

By James Poniewozik

Suppose two men committed separate acts of extremist murder in the United States within a month. Suppose the gunmen attacked a church and a national landmark, motivated by politics and religious prejudice, targeting a nationally controversial figure and innocent civilians. Suppose there was a history of attacks by similarly motivated men in America, ranging from [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 962 days ago

TV Tonight: Top Chef Masters

By James Poniewozik

  The business of food is the business of brand extension. If you have a successful restaurant, next comes the cookbook. The cooking show. The Vegas branch. The casual-bistro spinoff. The line of frozen dinners.  In that spirit comes Top Chef spinoff Top Chef Masters, debuting tonight on Bravo. If you are hoping for Top [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+TV Ratings | 962 days ago

That Was Quick: Letterman Overtakes O'Brien

By James Poniewozik

  Let’s do this by the numbers:  Rating of Conan O’Brien’s debut Tonight Show: 7.1 Rating of last night’s Tonight Show: 2.9 Rating of last night’s Late Show with David Letterman: 3.4 Episodes it took for Dave to pass Conan: 7 Time it took after ratings news for an NBC executive to use the line [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+962 days ago

Lost Discussion Group: Reunion Island

By James Poniewozik

The history of Lost is the history of its characters being scattered, brought together, re-scattered, re-brought together, re-scattered, etc. Season 5, of course, had the various Lostaways scattered more than ever, separated not just by space but by 30 years of time—and that’s not even counting Desmond, out in a separate orbit of his own.  [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 962 days ago

Mad Men Returns August 16

By James Poniewozik

I feel like that date was out there already, but it’s possible that it was on the down-low, or that I simply dreamt it. In any case, there you have it.  For those who need to catch up, AMC is offering season one on-demand as of today, season 2 beginning July 20. Season 2 will [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 962 days ago

Adam Lambert Likes Rhinestones

By James Poniewozik

Among other preferences. Can we move on now?  I know there were people out there who would rather Adam had come out while appearing on Idol itself. Whatever—I have a hard time judging how someone handles coming out while at the same time competing on the number-one TV show in America; if he doesn’t want [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 962 days ago

The Morning After: Into the Fire

By James Poniewozik

  Last night’s Rescue Me (small-ish spoilers follow) was the first I’d watched since the first mega-batch of season 5 screeners arrived from FX months ago, and I’m going to try to watch the remaining ones in something a little closer to real time to keep up with them for Tuned In. To say that [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+963 days ago

Futurama Is Returning!

By James Poniewozik

Is it really? Is the Space Pope reptilian? It is, and not just in the form of movie specials. Michael Ausiello reports that the sci-fi animated comedy is being picked up by Comedy Central for 26 new episodes. First Family Guy, now this? Someone bring back Home Movies!

Tuned In
Tuned In+963 days ago

Corporate Press Release Theater: ABC's Fall Dates

By James Poniewozik

ABC sounded the gun early on (most of) its fall premiere dates, which in past years broadcasters have waited until mid-summer to set. Nearly all of them fall in the last 10 days of September. I might have thought the network would give a later debut date for Flash Forward to set it apart, since [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+TV Ratings | 963 days ago

Ratings: Will Dave Catch Conan?

By James Poniewozik

Conan O’Brien’s ratings fell throughout his debut week last week. That’s not unexpected: you would figure on a big tune-in out of curiosity, including a lot of viewers who are not regular late-night viewers. And while Conan’s ratings tailed off, they also showed signs of finding a level, as his ratings dropped by a lower [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 963 days ago

The Morning After: Bam! Therapy

By James Poniewozik

Am I enabling Jon & Kate Gosselin by continuing to write Morning After posts on their show? Am I performing a service by watching so that you don’t have to? I don’t know, but there is something fascinating about the resolute way that the show has decided to slog on through season 5—this is the [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 963 days ago

Nurse Jackie Watch: Now It Can Be Told

By James Poniewozik

Spoilers for Showtime’s Nurse Jackie coming up after the jump:

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 963 days ago

Stephen Colbert Sheds His Hair for Freedom

By James Poniewozik

Didn’t we spend all last week talking about something having to do with late-night TV? Some guy got a show and another guy left it but got another one? Their names were Cono and Lennon or something like that, right?  It’s hard to remember already, because back in the world of late-night TV, Stephen Colbert [...]