Big Love had kept us wondering for a while whether it was actually going to go the whole Brady-Bunch-forbidden-love route with Ben and Margene, and last night the show finally showed us that we weren’t the only ones who had noticed what’s been going on. I was glad, though, that their relationship, so far anyway, …
Tuesday, July 10, NBC debuts The Singing Bee, a competition, hosted by NSYNCer Joey Fatone and his Goatee of Death, in which contestants try to remember–or, preferably, misremember–the precise lyrics to pop songs. Which is greater: My embarrassment that I am totally going to watch this show? Or my chagrin that someone listened to Simon …
“Da Monsta”, completed 1995 — All Photos: Paul Warchol
I wrote a bit last Friday about Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Conn., which has just opened to the public for the first time under the operation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. My visit there last week got me thinking about Johnson’s larger career, …
Over the weekend, CNN’s Larry King stepped into the breach of the Paris Hilton debacle and nobly accepted the burden of interviewing the celebutante after her release from prison. No longer will the voice of the underclass be silenced in the media!
More interesting than the Larry King deal, though, was ABC and NBC News’ sudden discovery …
I received three episodes of JFC for review, so at this point you’re caught up with me. If you’re still watching, which I realize is a big if.
Looking back at my notes, this is the point at which I threw up may hands over the plot, conceded that the show was confounding, self-indulgent and possibly a folly–and yet still wanted …
The other day we discussed commercials selling sugary cereal to kids and a commenter wondered if someday they would go the way of cigarette commercials. Coincidentally, in today’s TIME my column discusses the AMC advertising drama Mad Men, which includes a fictional scene about the creation of the Lucky Strike …
Last year, there was a lot of debate over whether YouTube sensation lonelygirl15 was real or an actress, and a lot of earnest discussion about what that question meant for online ethics and the new media’s effect on narrative. Well, it’s 2007 now, it turned out she was an actress, the ethical/narrative debate was like all blah blah blah …
Philip Johnson’s Glass House — All Photos: Eirik Johnson
Earlier this week I made it up to New Canaan, Connecticutt to see Philip Johnson’s Glass House, which opens to the public for the first time this month. In the 1980s, Johnson willed the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with the stipulation that he could …
My Culture Complex column in this week’s TIME looks at whether commercials can be greater works than the shows they appear on. The hook is the pilot for ABC’s Cavemen, based on the Geico ads, which was nearly universally dismissed as soon as it was announced. As it turns out, the show looks much better than advertised, even if it’s not …
Okay, I’m back to the blog. That last road trip kept me away one day longer than planned. In the interim the independent committee appointed by the Smithsonian to look into the management of its affairs under its former chief exec Lawrence Small, issued a report that pretty much wiped the floor with Small. You can find the full report …
I dunno if this is a Swampland or a Tuned In topic, but I’ll take it: MSNBC (link via Romenesko) just posted an extensive study of reporters–TV, radio and print–who have contributed to political campaigns, with or without the blessing of their company policies. (The donations are a matter of public record.) You probably won’t be …