+Books | 386 days ago

Removing the N Word from Huck Finn: Top 10 Censored Books

By TIME Staff
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In January 2011, a version of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ without racial slurs was published. TIME looked at other bowdlerized books.

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Tuned In+News Media | 386 days ago

The Case Against Chasing Scoops

By James Poniewozik

William M. Daley is reportedly going to become the next White House chief of staff. I know that because I just read the report in the New York Times, and have seen “BREAKING” announcements from various outlets on Twitter, and have seen numerous reports to that effect for the last few days. Now some news [...]

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Tuned In+News Media | 386 days ago

We're Here, We Tear, Get Used to It; or, Let John Boehner Cry in Peace

By James Poniewozik

“Crying: Acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon.” —Ron Swanson, from a coming episode of Parks and Recreation Memo to pundits, comedians and political reporters who are not quite comedians: Yes, John Boehner cries. A lot. We get it. It made news when the new Speaker of the House teared up on Election Night, on [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 386 days ago

Modern Family Watch: Just Like Riding a Bicycle

By James Poniewozik

“Slow Down Your Neighbors” was a little like a first bicycle ride: it started off shaky, I didn’t expect it to succeed, and yet at some point, without my quite noticing it at the time, it steadied itself and rolled to a satisfying ending. It wasn’t the best of Modern Family episodes by a stretch, [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 387 days ago

(Viral) Video Makes Homeless Man a Radio Star

By James Poniewozik

Days ago, Ted Williams was another homeless man on the streets of America with a hard luck story. Trained as a radio announcer, he was asking for change at a freeway exit in Columbus, Ohio, with a handmade sign boasting of his golden radio voice. A reporter and videographer for the Columbus Dispatch found him, [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 387 days ago

The Winner of the Leno-Letterman War Is… Nightline?

By James Poniewozik

We’re coming up on the first anniversary of the Jaypocalypse, which I know brings up a lot of fond memories for all of us. So The Live Feed has checked in to see where the late-night ratings have settled in after the dust cleared, and it turns out that the leader in the fourth quarter [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 387 days ago

The Morning After: Going Through the Motions

By James Poniewozik

It’s nothing new in TV to encounter a reality show that is nothing new. Still, Paula Abdul’s Live to Dance, for CBS, was something of a milestone in the field of derivative reality TV: I’m not sure that I was able to identify a single original idea in it. There was the dance competition, of [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 388 days ago

Big Changes Coming to Idol! Unless They're Not!

By James Poniewozik

American Idol is turning 1o. Few shows remain huge hits in their 10th year. Idol’s producers are aware of this. There are things they can’t control: whether time, competitors, the departure of Simon Cowell, and changes in the culture have made their show less compelling and relevant. There are the things they can kind of [...]

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Tuned In+388 days ago

TV Tonight: Another Visit for V

By James Poniewozik

A hectic January in TV—I am currently working through 13 count-’em 13 episodes of Lights Out—which means a lot of midseason triage. I decided, for instance, thatI wouldn’t bother with a longer review of V unless the show had markedly improved from last season. It hasn’t. That’s not to say that the show hasn’t changed. [...]

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Tuned In+Advertising | 388 days ago

X-Factor to Bring the Pepsi (Literally) to Idol's Coke

By James Poniewozik

When Fox signed up Simon Cowell to produce The X-Factor singing competition after leaving American Idol, it was perhaps not the ideal situation—how Idol will survive Cowell’s loss remains to be seen—but it made sense. Better not to risk someone else grabbing Cowell’s project and set up a competitor across the street: Fox would have [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 388 days ago

HIMYM Watch: Numbers' Up

By James Poniewozik

Spoilers for last night’s How I Met Your Mother coming up: A couple of things that distinguish How I Met Your Mother as a sitcom are its love of throwing in Easter eggs that reward attention, and its willingness to ground its comedy in serious, even dramatic, personal stories. “Bad News” showcased both traits, though [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 389 days ago

The Hot New Medium of the Post-TV Era: TV!

By James Poniewozik

Rounding up the year-end Nielsen ratings for 2010, The New York Times’ Brian Stelter notes that—despite all the alternative media and entertainment choices—viewers actually watched slightly more TV than they did in 2009. The overall balance of the viewing continued to shift more in cable’s favor, but that’s still a growing audience for plain old-fashioned [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 389 days ago

Dead Tree Alert: Oprah, On Her OWN

By James Poniewozik

I was on vacation last week. But thanks to the magic of publishing—and the magic of working double-time before vacation—I had a story in TIME anyway! I previewed Oprah Winfrey’s just-launched OWN network, which essentially atomizes the themes and content of The Oprah Winfrey Show  across a 24-hour cable lineup: A successful, long-running daytime show [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | 389 days ago

I'm Back! Kind Of!

By James Poniewozik

I’m back from my vacation, in which I managed to do something I never thought I would: escape a blizzard by driving to Michigan. I had little problem keeping up with the snow news while visiting relatives, however, as the New York City whiteout was the lead story throughout local Detroit-area TV news. That’s the [...]