Tuned InUncategorized
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 InUncategorized
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 Betty White honored for …
Tuned InUncategorized
Ken Burns appeared at the TV critics’ press tour in Pasadena to take questions about his new 12-hour documentary, The National Parks, debuting Sept. 27.
Yep. Twelve hours. About parks. OK, it’s easy to make jokes about Ken Burns’ documentaries, which build up wars and sports and campgrounds alike into massive Rocky Mountains of …
Tuned InUncategorized
Barack Obama will basically cut a video for anyone. He did a promo spot for Conan O’Brien. Here at TV critics’ press tour, he did a intro clip (which I missed) for the session on George Lopez’s new talk show. And this morning, the President opened the PBS session on Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary. I expect to see him doing the …
Tuned InUncategorized
I was off-campus for a good chunk of press tour yesterday, so I missed the presentations from Discovery Networks. The biggest news to come out of them was the network’s announcement of plans for resuming Jon & Kate Plus Eight, starring the now-divorcing Gosselins and their eight children.
Tuned In
I’m not sure exactly what this says about our world, but one of the most interesting critiques of the media I’ve seen in a while is a Discovery Channel Shark Week documentary airing next week. Sharkbite Summer takes a look at 2001’s “Summer of the Shark”—memorialized, among other places, on a TIME magazine cover—in which the …
Tuned InTelevision
The cast of Seinfeld is reuniting. But not on Seinfeld. A fictional, yet real, meta-reunion of the classic sitcom is going to be the story arc of the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, debuting Sept. 20 on HBO, Larry David announced at the TV critics’ press tour today.
How did Larry David decide to get the Beatles back together? …
Tuned InUncategorized
One more non-press-tour news item: How are the Emmys going to make room for all those additional nominees in its big categories? Apparently, Variety is reporting, by cutting some not-so-big categories from the telecast. The awards for movie and miniseries, and for drama-series writing, will be presented out of primetime.
Oh, and guess …
Tuned InUncategorized
TV press tour is full of delicious ironies. Yesterday, for instance, I went to a BBC America panel for InBetweeners, a promising-looking awkward-teen comedy from a Flight of the Conchords writer. There, I saw BBC America chief Garth Ancier praise one of the show’s influences, Freaks and Geeks. Ancier, while programming head of NBC, …
Tuned InUncategorized
I’m going to be doing some non-press-tour business today, so not sure how much tour-blogging I’ll manage. In the meantime, here are a few tidbits from elsewhere:
* How do you know that Ben Silverman is leaving NBC? The network is still remaking its old shows, but better ones this time. NBC has reported signed up the producer of House …
Tuned InUncategorized
There are a lot of things you get to do at TV critics’ press tour: hobnob with executives and actors, pitch questions at producers, see previews of upcoming series. One thing you don’t get to do much: watch TV. Thus, last night I managed to miss Top Chef Masters, as the winners of earlier rounds began competing to see who would be the, …
Tuned InUncategorized
Today at press tour, Starz played a trailer of its Roman drama Spartacus, debuting in January 2010. It’s similar to the one below, except that ours had more nudity. This job still has its benefits:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHxn8mTpAJU]
So: lots of slow-motion blood. Lots of skin. Lots of stylized violence. It’s 300, the …
Tuned In
When MTV says that it’s focusing on making earnest, socially minded TV shows, something weird is going on in America. When Joan Rivers then follows MTV to say she’s making an uplifting, aspirational TV show, something really weird is going on in America. Or at least in TV land. (And, in Rivers’ case, on TV Land network.)
