Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 814 days ago

So What's the Best Comedy on TV Right Now?

By James Poniewozik

That TV-critics’ Twitter debate I mentioned in my Modern Family post this morning was kicked off by a simple but tough question: what’s the best comedy on TV right now? I don’t want to misrepresent anyone by saying who picked what and why, but it’s something I’m wrestling with right now, as I start to [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+814 days ago

Iron Chef: The Michelle Obama Edition

By James Poniewozik

Speaking of liberal indoctrination by edutainment programs, Michelle Obama’s efforts to turn us all into communist vegans is not stopping at Sesame Street. Food Network announced that Iron Chef America will be airing a special two-hour episode Jan. 3, taped at the White House, featuring the First Lady and her much-publicized kitchen garden. Says the [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 814 days ago

Sesame Street's Parodies, Still Rousing Grouches After 40 Years

By James Poniewozik

I was going to post about the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street next week, since the seminal kids’ show debuted on Nov. 10, 1969. But yesterday I noticed a surge of traffic to the blog to some old posts on Sesame Street. As far as I can tell, they were driven by Google’s illustrating its [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 814 days ago

Modern Family Watch: Blades of Glory

By James Poniewozik

  Yesterday a few critics and I were on Twitter jawing about which we considered the best comedies on right now. Because that’s how we roll, we TV critics. Modern Family came up, and while there was general agreement that the show is hilarious and clever and warm, I added that I hoped that its [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+815 days ago

TV Tonight: Top Chef Reunion Dinner

By James Poniewozik

Not only is Glee taking the night of tonight, but even Bravo’s Top Chef: Las Vegas is on vacation. In its place, however, Bravo is offering us a special one-off of the show, or what we refer to in the Tuned In household as “a ripoff episode.” Unlike the clip jobs that Survivor like to [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 815 days ago

Glee Drops a CD, Jane Lynch Drops In to Party Down

By James Poniewozik

Having a crappy day at the office? I can’t offer you a new episode of Glee tonight. (I can tease you that I’ve seen next week’s episode, in which the on-again, off-again show is on again.) But in the meantime, the next best thing, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, has just been released online and wherever it [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 815 days ago

The Ice Mensch Cometh

By James Poniewozik

Elsewhere on time.com Sean Gregory has a story about Stephen Colbert’s quest to get the Colbert Nation to fund U.S. Olympic speedskating. Turns out it’s not just a publicity ploy—well, maybe it is that too—but a serious shot in the arm that could save a prominent U.S. Olympic sport. Given the awesomeness of the sport [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 815 days ago

The Morning After: We Come in Peace

By James Poniewozik

It was a good night last night for Republican gubernatorial candidates. Was it a similarly good night for universal-health-care-dispensing, lizard-skin-hiding, hope-and-change-preaching, thinly veiled Obama allegories? I gave you my thoughts on the first night of V yesterday; you give me yours. Also feel free to offer up any observations about last night’s TV election coverage—much [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 816 days ago

Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin to Host Oscars

By James Poniewozik

The producers of the Academy Awards announced that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will host the next Oscar ceremony, which means that you can blame me if it sucks. Earlier this year, while doing my traditional crabby TV-critic’s postmortem of the show after it made a Hugh Jackman of itself, I wrote: Doing a reasonably [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 816 days ago

DVD Tonight: The Force and The Shield

By James Poniewozik

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m having some housework done that’s taken our living-room TV out of the picture. The Tuned In Jrs. have had to make do for their daily fix of shows with DVDs on a seven-inch portable player. It’s always the children who suffer most. One thing that’s gotten them [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 816 days ago

Germans to 30 Rock: Wir Verstehen Nicht!

By James Poniewozik

30 Rock may wow the critics here in America—at least the fake parts—but in Germany, the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff reports, something got lost in translation. The first airing of 30 Rock auf Deutsch got a 0.0 rating. Which it turns out is also a 0.0 in the metric system!  Itzkoff attempts an explanation [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 816 days ago

TV Marks Obama Anniversary with Documentaries, Aliens

By James Poniewozik

It’s Election Day in America. One election day ago, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, and TV is marking the anniversary with two earnest documentaries—and an alien invasion. I exaggerate, but only a little. ABC’s V, which debuts tonight, may not be intended as an Obama allegory, but it has enough parallels [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 816 days ago

HIMYM Watch: The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling

By James Poniewozik

  Last night’s How I Met Your Mother, “Bagpipes,” demonstrated that the show is not letting Robin and Barney’s monogamous bliss get in the way of its fun. Where a typical HIMYM in the past might have involved Barney trying to school Ted in the ways of singledom, there’s also potential in Barney (in competition [...]

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Tuned In+Advertising | 817 days ago

Lazy TV Viewers to the Rescue!

By James Poniewozik

Remember those DVRs that are supposed to be killing the TV business by letting people skip advertising? Turns out they’re killing the TV business somewhat more softly than previously thought. Or maybe even helping it. The ultimate outcome is still hazy, but the effects of DVR on TV have become more complicated because, as Bill [...]

+Movies | 817 days ago

Top 10 Cameron Crowe Moments

By Glen Levy
Everett

Cameron Crowe has an ability to combine images and pop music like few other directors. TIME assesses the finest work from his back catalog.

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 817 days ago

Southland Gets Its Badge Back, at TNT

By James Poniewozik

TNT made it official this morning: it’s reviving the cop drama Southland, discarded by NBC. Well, sort of reviving. The cable network will air the first seven episodes shot last season, as well as the six that were made for NBC before the network pulled the plug (the rebroadcast starts Jan. 12). After that, we’ll [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 817 days ago

Mad Men Watch: Where Were You When?

By James Poniewozik

SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, slow the playback to one-quarter speed and watch last night’s Mad Men.