AMC
Tuned In+Television | 46 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: Your Vacation Binge Viewing

By James Poniewozik

More and more often, when I’m talking to someone about a TV show I follow–which I do a lot, because I am very boring and have little other frame of reference–they’ll say that they haven’t watched it yet, but are soon going to watch the entire season on DVD. Or, they’ll mention, they’re in the middle of watching Breaking Bad or The Wire all at once, binging on a whole series (or series to date) on DVD, Netflix or iTunes.

Tuned In
Tuned In+Television | 47 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: The Worst TV Shows of 2011

By James Poniewozik
ABC

At the end of the year, we pause to honor the accomplishments of the creative, talented individuals whose efforts fill our calendar with thrills and laughter. Which gets pretty boring after a while! So let’s end 2011 by remembering those shows that gave unfortunate justification to all the bad things people say about TV.

Tuned In
Tuned In+Television | 52 days ago

Programming Note: Dashing Through the Snow Edition

By James Poniewozik
Robot Horizontal

It’s that time of year, when the Tuned In family overpacks the Tuned Inmobile, heads out to the Tuned In homeland in Michigan, and prays that a blizzard does not immobilize New York City again just before we return. I’ll be away through New Year’s, but I’ve loaded up Robo-James with a few posts for [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 171 days ago

Robo-James' Time Machine: Nostalgia for the Young People!

By James Poniewozik

Robo-James’ Time Machine has been indulging in my nostalgia all this week, but the delightful thing about America is that nostalgia is no longer merely for the old. In July, Nickelodeon began running a block of ’90s kids’ shows in late night, for not-that-alter-kockers (call them alternakockers?) who want to remember the hits of their [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Advertising | 172 days ago

Robo-James' Time Machine: They Were Still the One

By James Poniewozik

It’s almost fall, which means that promos for new fall shows are starting to reach a crescendo. But one thing that we’ve lost amid all the multimedia advertising is what used to be a network staple: the fall-season promo reel. Above, see an example from the ABC “Still the One” campaign in 1977. What’s most [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 173 days ago

Robo-James' Time Machine: Angels in America

By James Poniewozik

When you remake a TV show that used to be a pop-cultural phenomenon, you’re remaking the idea of it as much as you are the show itself. That is, when ABC airs its reboot of Charlie’s Angels (or in this case should we call it a re-booty?), only part of the intended audience will be [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 174 days ago

Robo-James' Time Machine: Terra Nova 1.0

By James Poniewozik

It’s fair to say that Terra Nova is the most anticipated new fall show, or close to it, if only because of all it’s trying to pull off—a TV show made on a blockbuster movie scale, with a massive budget, extensive CGI, location shooting in Australia, and a plot that incorporates dinosaurs, conspiracy and time [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 175 days ago

Robo-James Time Machine: On Account or Gift Certificate?

By James Poniewozik

If all has gone well, by the time you read this Mrs. Tuned In, the Tuned In Jrs. and I will be in sunny rainy Costa Rica, a destination I am not ashamed to say we chose at least in part because it had looked so attractive on the Prize Puzzle in Wheel of Fortune. [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 178 days ago

Programming Note: Bad Robot!

By James Poniewozik

Because you’ve earned a well-deserved break from reading me, I’m going to take one for the team and go on vacation starting tomorrow. Tuned In will chug along next week, with some daily posts automatically published by Robo-James, seen here picking up some extra money in a recent modeling gig at Comic-Con. (Fair warning to [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 231 days ago

Programming Note

By James Poniewozik

I’m going to be on vacation for the next week, traversing the wilds of southeast Michigan and, with any luck, having at least one sandwich at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor. Keep checking this space, though: there may be a guest post or two, and I’ve set up Robo-James—taking a break from his burgeoning career in [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 302 days ago

Programming Note

By James Poniewozik

I’m going to be away next week (the Tuned In Jrs. are on spring break). But I will continue to haunt you through posts on this blog, run through the kindly ministrations of Robo-James. (Who, in honor of Passover, is now Golem-James.) Continuing this week’s theme, there will be more Game of Thrones-related material: a [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 353 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: Your Judgment on the Judges

By James Poniewozik

We’ve finished Hollywood Week on American Idol and, by the time you read this, Vegas Week. This means we’re approaching the live performances, when the contestants start getting winnowed down but, more important, we begin to see how the new judging panel interacts with the contestants, and each other, live and off the cuff. I’ve [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 354 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: The Office—NBC's Problem, And Yours

By James Poniewozik

I’ve said before that I think it would probably be best if this season of The Office were its last; the show may not be called The Boss, but it is Michael Scott’s story above all, and I’d hope that the show might get a liberating creative burst from not just sending off Steve Carell [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 355 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: Comics Relief

By James Poniewozik

Last week, I posted here about my anxiousness, and excitement, but mostly anxiousness, about David E. Kelley remaking Wonder Woman for NBC. If there’s one thing from the 1970s original I don’t expect to survive, sadly, it’s the extra-length theme song (above), and credits combining old-school DC Comics graphics with Schoolhouse Rock-style ’70s animation. I’m [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 356 days ago

Vacation Robo-Post: Pimp My Blogroll!

By James Poniewozik

Astute Tuned Inlanders may have noticed that last week, I finally began updating my favorite-links blogroll, at left, and pruning or correcting some of the broken links. I plan on expanding the list with some new favorites too, but, you know, baby steps. Along those lines, this seemed like a perfect time to poll the [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 357 days ago

Programming Note

By James Poniewozik

I’m away this week, but Tuned Inland shall not be abandoned in my absence. TIME’s prolific movie critic Richard Corliss will be contributing some guest Big Love and Glee posts in my absence (and the week of Oscars, yet!), sometime Tuned Inlander Steve Snyder will be stopping in, and I’ve also programmed Robo-James with some [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 423 days ago

Programming Note

By James Poniewozik

It’s December, and you know what that means: from now through the New Year, it’s time for you to get a well-deserved break from having to read my posts so frequently! But you’re not getting off that easily. While I’ll be on vacation, I’ll probably post occasionally from the road over the next couple of [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 535 days ago

Lost Rewatch Week: Who Got What They Deserved?

By James Poniewozik

Note: I’m on vacation this week. While I’m gone, I’ve set up a week of discussion posts revisiting the Lost finale in time for the Lost series DVD set, out Aug. 24. In other words, this is a recording; you cannot press 0 to speak to a real live person. Upon learning that Jack was [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 536 days ago

Lost Rewatch Week: Answer the Damn Question!

By James Poniewozik

Note: I’m on vacation this week. While I’m gone, I’ve set up a week of discussion posts revisiting the Lost finale in time for the Lost series DVD set, out Aug. 24. In other words, this is a recording; you cannot press 0 to speak to a real live person. I’ll keep this one simple: [...]

Tuned In
Tuned In+Uncategorized | 537 days ago

Lost Rewatch Week: The Old Men in Charge

By James Poniewozik

Note: I’m on vacation this week. While I’m gone, I’ve set up a week of discussion posts revisiting the Lost finale in time for the Lost series DVD set, out Aug. 24. In other words, this is a recording; you cannot press 0 to speak to a real live person. After Desmond descends into the [...]