Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 4, 2009

The Morning After: Will and Disgrace

By James Poniewozik

I did not watch I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! last night. I feel invigorated and empowered by that decision. From having scanned the recaps, however, I know that Spencer and Heidi—shockingly!—returned to the show to plead with the other cast members to let them back on, so that their fame can be [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+June 4, 2009

Lost Discussion Group: How Dead Is Locke?

By James Poniewozik

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” And by that he meant: “I forgot to post the Lost Discussion Group on Wednesday—get off my back.”  So today’s question is simple: How dead is Locke? And yes, I know we have asked this question before, but it means something [...]

+Looking Around | June 4, 2009

Tiananmen Square: Twenty Years Later

By Richard Lacayo

The human predicament in a single image. I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 3, 2009

Newsweek Joins the Colbert Nation

By James Poniewozik

Because I am just that big a guy, I had to let you know that the competition, Newsweek, has an issue guest-edited by Stephen Colbert on newsstands next Monday. As this New York Observer article notes, guest-edited magazine issues have a mixed history (see the Roseanne issue of the New Yorker), but Colbert’s an incredibly [...]

+Looking Around | June 3, 2009

David Ireland: 1930-2009

By Richard Lacayo

Over the weekend the San Francisco-based artist David Ireland died. Though his work is in the collections of many major museums, Ireland was not, to put it mildly, a career-driven kind of artist. He made a lot of his art out of refuse and he sometimes made work that involved very minor interventions on his [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+June 3, 2009

Just Call Him Barack O'Brien

By James Poniewozik

The clip wasn’t available earlier, but also on last night’s Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC managed to leverage its Inside the White House Special into a presidential plug for Conan:  When this clip first started rolling, I figured there must be some kind of sleight-of-hand going on. Right? The producers must have spliced some [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 3, 2009

Conan's Second Night—Your Thoughts?

By James Poniewozik

While working on my column for this week—it is probably no trade secret to reveal that it has to do with late-night TV—I just watched Conan O’Brien’s second Tonight Show. A solid outing, I thought: Andy Richter fit into the show better, Tom Hanks was a good guest, and the taped bit about Conan’s wardrobe [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 3, 2009

The Morning After: The First Couple, and the Last

By James Poniewozik

I’m turning around a last-minute column this morning, so talk amongst yourselves for a while.  About, for instance: last night, our two-night-long national nightmare ended as Speidi finally quit I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! For now. But not before Spencer Pratt declared himself and wife Heidi “the biggest celebrities in the world.” [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+June 2, 2009

Corporate Press Release Theater: Jay Sets a Date

By James Poniewozik

Maybe the welter of mostly positive attention to Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show debut made the perfect setting to start building hype for NBC’s biggest fall debut. Maybe NBC simply can’t let Conan have 24 freaking hours in the spotlight before stepping on him with Leno news. Either way, the network announced a premiere date for [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+June 2, 2009

Devalue of Fame

By James Poniewozik

  Last night was one of those nights when TV critics earn their paychecks. No, I don’t mean staying up until the wee hours to review Conan O’Brien’s first Tonight Show. I mean watching two hours of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! on NBC.    Now, this franchise has been running [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 2, 2009

The Morning After: Jon & Kate, Divided

By James Poniewozik

Last week, 9.8 million people watched the season 5 premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8—the first since the family of multiples went through a circus of adultery charges—and judging by the comments at Tuned In and elsewhere, every single one of them vowed never to watch the show again.  We’ll see when the ratings [...]

+Looking Around | June 2, 2009

I Have Seen the Future and It’s….Smaller

By Richard Lacayo

In New York on Monday I stopped by the annual press preview of the Metropolitan Museum, where the Met’s new director Thomas Campbell gave a power point summary of the shows the museum has planned for the next year or so. For me the main takeaway was that, as predicted, with the New Austerity upon [...]

+Television | June 2, 2009

Top 10 Skanky Reality Shows

By TIME Staff
Everett

Sometimes, reality shows make us feel bad about (a) America (b) ourselves and (c) humanity. Here are the worst.

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 2, 2009

Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show Debut: In the Year 2009…

By James Poniewozik

Conan O’Brien’s first Tonight Show guest, Will Ferrell, welcomed the new host last night in fitting, if exaggerated, fashion. “No one thought you could do it! No one!” Ferrell gushed. “It’s Conan O’Brien. What? What? That guy? Literally, no one thought you could do it! No one! Not one person, and you’re here!” Even a [...]

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Tuned In+Advertising | June 1, 2009

How to Pay for Journalism? Morning Joe Brews a Lucrative Solution

By James Poniewozik

I cursed my parents when I first heard about the product-placement deal MSNBC’s Morning Joe had secured with Starbucks. The news-talk show, on which Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski regularly trade barbs over their choice of caffeinated beverage, is being paid upward of eight figures, according to the New York Times, to officially incorporate the [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 1, 2009

All Eyes on Conan—Including Yours?

By James Poniewozik

Today, Conan O’Brien finally assumes the chair of The Tonight Show and begins a glorious three-month reign as NBC’s chief nightly talk-show host. Already the speculation is running hot as to whether can retain Jay Leno’s audience, as Jay himself gets ready to settle into the timeslot an hour and a half ahead of Conan [...]

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Tuned In+TV Recap Breaking Bad: Season 2, Episode 13 | June 1, 2009

Breaking Bad Watch: Crash

By James Poniewozik

Spoilers for the season finale of Breaking Bad coming up after the jump: 

+Looking Around | June 1, 2009

Will This Mies be Missed Much?

By Richard Lacayo

One last post growing out of that Chicago trip. While I was there I spent the better part of an afternoon at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the school Mies van der Rohe took charge of in 1938, not long after he quit Germany for good. Part of what drew him there was an offer [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | June 1, 2009

The Morning After: Britain Failed to Get the Memo

By James Poniewozik

SPOILER ALERT: In the dramatic finale of America’s favorite TV show that does not actually air in America, Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle was upset by Diversity, a dance group. Afterward, according to reports in the British press, Boyle was admitted to a London clinic, for “exhaustion” or an emotional breakdown, depending on the report.  [...]