Tuned InUncategorized
No time for an elaborate writeup of last night’s Justified, but I was glad to see the show move away from the self-contained stories (albeit very good ones) of the last few weeks to get at some of the reasons that coming home to Harlan County was such an unwelcome idea to Raylan. To wit: Daddy.
We met the tough, criminal cuss who is …
Tuned InUncategorized
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, get your self a big bowl of homemade tortilla chips and watch last night’s Lost.
It was a night dedicated to the music of an American giant, a swaggering, pompadoured rule-breaker whose sexualized performances shocked a nation. Also, it was Elvis night. But the big name on stage was Adam—as in Lambert—last year’s Idol phenom and runner-up. Did Glambert teach this year’s sleepy finalists that it’s American Idol, …
Tuned InUncategorized
I haven’t yet seen ratings figures for the premiere of Treme, but HBO must have seen something it liked—creatively, commercially or both—because two days after airing the pilot it’s picked up David Simon’s New Orleans drama for a second season. [Update: 1.4 million viewers Sunday, it turns out, so that would be "creatively."] From …
Tuned In
Because you probably haven’t seen any ads for it or anything, I should remind you that Fox’s Glee returns tonight, after American Idol, at I-kid-you-not 9:28 p.m. E.T. Get out your scientific calculator and set your DVR.
Glee ended its fall ’09 run on a strong note, so to speak, not just with the finale but the “Wheels” episode, which …
Tuned InUncategorized
[Update: An enterprising YouTuber posted the above footage of the Masturbating Bear's curtain call at Conan's Eugene show. For more clips—spoilers!—see Variety's On the Air blog.]
With a freshly-inked cable-TV deal in hand, Conan O’Brien kicked off what could now be renamed the Massive Blast of Free Publicity for TBS Tour last …
Tuned InUncategorized
The premise of How I Met Your Mother focused on a central problem and pleasure of the show: the multiple layers of narration, all of varying degrees of trustworthiness. We know that Future Ted is telling this story to his kids and that he’s been known to change or embellish details. We know that he, in turn, is recounting the stories …
Tuned In
I don’t usually do blog posts about production details in TV series that don’t air for another year. But most TV shows do not entail inventing an entire freaking language.
HBO’s dark fantasy saga Game of Thrones, on the other hand, does. Today the network announced that’s it’s going where James Cameron did with Na’vi, Star Trek did …
Tuned InUncategorized
In a surprise move—as in, I actually mentally checked that it was not April 1—Conan O’Brien announced today that he will launch a new talk show in the fall, not on Fox but on TBS. Yes, that TBS, the basic-cable channel. The new show will be at 11 p.m. E.T., likely starting in November, four nights a week. “In three months I’ve …
Tuned InTuned In
Spoilers for last night’s Breaking Bad coming up after the jump:
Tuned InUncategorized
Having been all Treme all the time on Friday—with my Treme feature, my Treme review and my interview with Treme co-creator David Simon—I’m going to skip a full-on review recap of the show’s ninety-minute pilot last night. (I plan on doing a regular Treme Watch for the whole season, time permitting—though work travel next week may …
April 10, 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of the breakup of the Beatles. As a tribute, TIME takes a look at the most memorable band splits of all time
Tuned InUncategorized
Treme co-creator David Simon is a thoughtful, passionate interview subject who has deeply thought through every project he has done and every opinion he has held, and loves to hold forth. I am a terrible typist. Put the two together and you have an interview that I am never going to transcribe in full.
I did, however, put together …
