It’s always been a touchy subject on The Daily Show – the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, which redefined the battlefield of American politics. Following his emotional return to the airwaves in 2001, Stewart seemed somewhat hesitant about discussing the attacks. In the nine years since, he’s unloaded freely on the Bush …
Top 10 Posthumous Albums
TIME presents the classic recordings that brought fame and fortune to musicians—after they were gone.
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Sing-Off Watch: You Call That Guilty?
Spoilers for last night’s The Sing-Off coming up:
Competition continued last night on The Most Important Television Event of Our Era, with the six remaining teams in The Sing-Off selecting from “rock songs” and “guilty pleasures.” I had my issues with the elimination, and I question whether “guilty pleasure” in fact means what the …
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2010 Golden Globe Nominations Announced: The TV Awards
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, and while it was the usual mix of expected choices, occasional smart calls and total head-scratchers (Burlesque—that is not a typo), we’ll indulge them and take them seriously, at least for the moment.
To start with the positive: Katey Sagal got a well-deserved actress …
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The Morning After: Upping the Body Count
I jumped off the regular Dexter train a couple of seasons back, around the time the series stopped being a drama about the attempt of a sociopathic killer to assimilate into society and became a successful drama that had to potentially run many, many seasons. In other words: when it became clear that Dexter would have to continue …
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Amazing Race Watch: California Gurls, They're Undeniable?
Spoilers for last night’s finale of The Amazing Race coming up:
The three final teams in this iteration of The Amazing Race touched down for the final leg of their contest in Los Angeles, to the tune of Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” as if the show needed to further underscore the stakes: There was a two in three chance that the …
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More Lists! The AFI Chooses Its Top Ten TV Shows
The American Film Institute—they’re not just about film!—announced yesterday its list of the top 10 TV shows of 2010. (And, oh, yeah, its top 10 movies, if anyone cares about that.) I voted on its jury this year, as I did in 2008 and 2005, and as with any juried list, you get some of what you want and some of what you don’t: you …
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Kyra Sedgwick Closes The Closer
I’ll admit I’ve never been a particular fan of The Closer, but for those of you who are, a bit of unfortunate and surprising news: next year’s season seven will be the last, because star Kyra Sedgwick has decided she’s done with it.
If it’s bad news for Closer fans, it must be worse for TNT, since the series has been one of the reliably …
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Oprah Previews Her OWN Network
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Inspiration! Celebrities! Inspiration through celebrities! These themes of The Oprah Winfrey Show …
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The Morning After: Double Trouble
Brief spoilers for last night’s Fringe coming up:
I think it’s fair to say that most of us have not experienced the complications that result from inadvertently sleeping with the parallel-universe doppelgänger of someone you are in love with. (Though if anyone has any crazy twin stories, feel free to share them in the comments!) But …
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Office Watch: A Holly, If Not Jolly, Christmas
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Spoilers for last night’s The Office coming up:
When Holly (Amy Ryan) broke up with Michael Scott, she really broke up with all of us, didn’t she? Ryan’s casting in the show was so right, and her character’s oddball fit with Michael so perfect, that when their relationship failed to survive …
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Community Watch: Snow Fortress of Solitude
There’s a delightful little detail in “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” last night’s stop-motion holiday episode of Community, that fascinated me. When characters “appear” and “disappear” from the Planet Abed fantasy world, they open a little curtain in the fabric of the fantasy, through which you can see—the study room, which they …
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Top 10 Episodes of 2010: The Best and the Rest
My list of the Top 10 TV Episodes of 2010 is also up at time.com. See my post about my Top 10 TV Shows picks for some explanations and general thoughts on listmaking. After the jump, some particular comments about the episode list, the quick-and-dirty version of the list, and some honorable mentions: