James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or - once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers - in your dreams themselves.
Tonight Tuned In hopscotches the NBC Must-See Comedy lineup: The Office and 30 Rock si, Scrubs no, My Name Is Earl… mmmmmmaybe. To fill the gaps I may watch another episode or two of the very promising midseason Andy Richter sitcom NBC sent. Ugly Betty goes into the TiVo freezer for later, as does Letterman’s 25th anniversary on-air. …
OK, let’s take a hypothetical. You’ve just devoted the resources of a major city to shutting down roads and rails in order to keep the people of your good metropolis safe from a plague of homemade lite brites, one that somehow managed to infest nine other cities without mass panic. Do you (a) swallow hard, blush and hope the …
OK, let’s be clear about this. I love Ricky Gervais. Hell, everybody loves Ricky Gervais. Funny podcast. The Office, a modern classic. He even helped us believe Ben Stiller is a credible kids’ movie star when not playing a cartoon zoo animal. I am not worthy, I am not worthy, etc., etc.
It gets better. This afternoon’s Mooninite invasion of Boston, it is now being reported, consisted of “magnetic lights that were part of an outdoor marketing campaign for an adult cartoon” (that being Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force).
According to an apology from Turner Broadcasting, posted at boston.com, “[The lights] have been in …
Let me say this first: Kids, terror hoaxes are not funny. They cost money and disrupt lives. Terrorism kills. Stay in school.
So it is with great, great seriousness and gravity that I must report the Aqua Teen Hunger Force angle to today’s bomb hoax in Boston, the subject of wall-to-wall non-coverage of a non-threat by the cable …
8 p.m.: Friday Night Lights (The Knights of Prosperity–new time slot, at 8:30–probably goes into TiVo reserve.)
9 p.m.: Probably American Idol. No, I’m better than that! I’ll read an improving book! I’ll watch The Supreme Court on PBS! (Actually, I already did. Good overview, lots of talking heads, less interesting the closer the …
Have I mentioned that I already have the new Lost? Why, yes. Yes, I have. But it bears repeating. I already have the new Lost. Ha ha, etc.
Have I mentioned that I have already watched the new Lost? Why, no. No, I haven’t. And I won’t spoil anything for you now–unless you beg, beg like a trained puppy–but suffice it to say: certain …
My nightly TV menu apparently struck a chord with House fans. Quoth Conan Doyle, “What’s up with the No House? Best show on TV.” I wouldn’t go that far, but I like the show a lot. Always have. But I find I like it in exactly the same way every time I watch, so I don’t feel compelled to tune in more than every couple months.
Top Design, debuting tonight on Bravo, is the latest in a series of reality shows that are both good TV and brilliant demographic marketing. The makers of the addictive, high-middlebrow Project Runway have spun off their formula first to Top Chef and now to this interior-designer competition. What better way to get the upscale audience …
8 p.m.: American Idol. Because I believe it’s required by federal law.
9-9:30 p.m.: Player To Be Named Later. Possibly Knitty Gritty (DIY)–a new TiVo fixation of Mrs. Tuned In, in which a chipper, boho Mme. Lafarge makes whipping up woolen socks come off as a surprisingly hipsterish pastime.
9:30 p.m.: The Knights of Prosperity (ABC). A …
The Super Bowl is to the the media-fragmentation era what the remaining polar ice is to the global-warming era: the last holdout against seemingly unstoppable climatic change. Though the big game still draws the biggest TV audience–and the biggest advertising payouts–of the year, glacial-sized chunks of it are falling into the sea. …
Excellent column by David Carr in today’s New York Times on the Maria Bartiromo / Citigroup brouhaha, a subject that, I’ll admit, I’ve had a hard time mustering indignation over. (Short version: the CNBC anchor, a.k.a., “The Money Honey,” was found to have accepted numerous speaking and travel requests from companies she covers, …