Tuned In
Tuned In+Remembrance | 905 days ago

John Hughes, R.I.P.

By James Poniewozik

It’s not a TV moment, exactly, but an attention-must-be paid moment for pop-culture geeks of my generation (and maybe others): director John Hughes has died of a heart attack at age 59.  The Breakfast Club, actually, figures heavily in Dan Harmon’s pilot for Community, the comedy debuting on NBC next month. And really it’s become [...]

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Tuned In+905 days ago

Post-Paula, Idol to Load Up on Judges Again

By James Poniewozik

When Paula Abdul announced that she was leaving American Idol, I posted that it was not a good idea for either Abdul or Idol. (If, that is, Abdul actually leaves the show at all.) But thinking about it later, I realized that it had one side benefit: it would solve one of last season’s problems, [...]

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Tuned In+905 days ago

Corporate Press Release Theater: Jay-Z, Meet Jay-L

By James Poniewozik

More Jay Leno Show news: Jay-Z will perform on Leno’s first show Sept. 14, together with Kanye West and Rihanna.  Ironically, Leno has been saying the new show will probably have fewer musical guests and more comedy than The Tonight Show. Reason: musical guests get the studio audiences pumped up, but they don’t actually draw [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 905 days ago

Mad Men Man, Still a Little Mad

By James Poniewozik

If having everyone you know on Facebook and Twitter get one of those Mad Men Yourself avatars wasn’t enough, get ready for the real onslaught of publicity for season 3 of the show. (I’ve seen the first three episodes and will be reviewing—the third episode, in particular, is one of the series’ best ever.)  One [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+905 days ago

Leno Show Details: Celeb Car Races, Brian Williams Comedy

By James Poniewozik

Jay Leno showed up before TV critics in Pasadena yesterday and spilled some more details about The Jay Leno Show, which will be airing on NBC a thousand hours every week starting Sept. 14. Among the plans for the new show:  * NBC News’ own Brian Williams will contribute comedy in a recurring segment about [...]

+Movies | 905 days ago

Top 10 John Hughes Moments

By TIME Staff
Top 10 John Hughes Moments

From Pretty in Pink to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, John Hughes, who died Aug. 6 at age 59, owned the 1980s teen comedy. TIME takes a look back at his greatest moments

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Tuned In+News Media | 906 days ago

Tell Us What You Really Think! Except, Don't.

By James Poniewozik

Exhibit A: A Washington Post reporter accuses Gawker of ripping off his story in a blog post. Gawker editor Gabriel Snyder’s rebuttal says the Gawker post was better (and thus better read) because the original was boring, while Gawker’s post gave the subject (a so-called “generational guru”) the kind of snide, uncensored treatment newspapers are [...]

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Tuned In+906 days ago

Today's TCA Roundup

By James Poniewozik

As the TV critics’ press tour continued in Pasadena, CBS (along with sibling network The CW) wrapped up its presentations and NBC has just begun its portion. Some headlines:  * NBC’s Angela Bromstad answered—or judging by early press reactions, evaded—questions about Jay Leno, Ben Silverman, Kings, Paula Abdul, Chuck and more at NBC’s executive session [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 906 days ago

What's Eating Michael Pollan?

By James Poniewozik

Reading Michael Pollan can be as intimidating as it is informative. He’d like you to stop eating so much meat and corn and eat more fruits and vegetables. No, not processed ones, fresh ones. No, not those fresh ones, the locally grown ones, over there. You know, actually, it’d be even better if you grew [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+906 days ago

Lost Discussion Group: More Mysteries of Lost

By James Poniewozik

I missed this the first time around, but ABC has posted a second installment of its online teaser series, “Mysteries of the Universe: The Dharma Initiative”:

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 906 days ago

Paula Abdul Tweets Idol Goodbye

By James Poniewozik

So much for Twitter as a negotiating tactic. Paula Abdul had been carrying out her negotiations to return to American Idol as a judge semi-publicly through her Twitter feed, and last night, she used the service to tell us straight up: She’s leaving the show. Her statement, in the poetic tweet form in which it [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 907 days ago

How to Tick Off Critics, Emmy Edition

By James Poniewozik

Yesterday at the TV critics’ press tour, CBS held a session on the Emmy Awards, trying to explain/justify the format changes designed to ensure that broadcast-network shows (as opposed to cable) get more attention and, hopefully, awards. The awards added nominee slots and revamped the nomination process to create more opportunities for broadcast shows; and [...]

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Tuned In+News Media | 907 days ago

The Morning After: Olbermann-O'Reilly Feud Back On, If It Was Ever Off

By James Poniewozik

So this weekend, Brian Stelter of the New York Times reported that the long-running feud between MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had reached a truce, through the influence of the two hosts’ corporate bosses. Citing four sources at both networks, Stelter wrote that the increasingly venomous back-and-forth had been stilled, in part [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 907 days ago

Kate Plus 8, Jon Plus Cabinets

By James Poniewozik

If you’ve never done it before, trust me: a home renovation can stress out even a strong marriage. And Jon and Kate Gosselin’s marriage—well, you already know. So when the first post-separation-announcement Jon & Kate Plus 8 began by flashing back to January, when the couple decided to get their kitchen redone, you had to [...]

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Tuned In+908 days ago

Press Tour Roundup: CBS Makes a Deal

By James Poniewozik

I’m back in New York, but TCA press tour continues, with the various TV critics/reporters slogging through two straight weeks of it (plus, in many cases, Comic-Con). Highlights from some of their reports, as CBS began the broadcast section of press tour today:  * Ken Tucker arrived at press tour just as I was leaving, [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+News Media | 908 days ago

The Post Vs. Gawker: When Does Linking Become Larceny?

By James Poniewozik

Washington Post writer Ian Shapira recently reported a feature on a business guru who consults executives on how to deal with twentysomething employees and clients. When Gawker wrote a snarky post based on (and linking to) his article, he was thrilled at first. Then, prodded by an editor, he looked more closely at the Gawker post [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 908 days ago

The Morning After: Failure to Launch

By James Poniewozik

  The debut last night of ABC’s space opera Defying Gravity raises a philosophical question of TV reviewing: is it fair to say that a show is lousy compared to one with a similar theme, or is it enough to say the show is lousy on its own?  

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 909 days ago

BSG, Betty White and More Win TCA Awards

By James Poniewozik

The Television Critics Association gave out its 25th annual awards last night in Pasadena. As with any awards, there were some winners I voted for and some I didn’t, but it was good to see some great shows overlooked by the Emmys get recognition, in particular Program of the Year Battlestar Galactica, and to see [...]