Mad Men, the popular show about advertising executives in the 1960s, returns to television this weekend. TIME takes a look at the things we miss about that swinging decade
Tuned InRemembrance
CBS, NPR Journalist Daniel Schorr Dies at 93
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Daniel Schorr, a broadcast journalist with a career in reporting and commentary spanning more than half a century, has died at age 93. I, like many who came to admire him in recent years, knew him best from his comments and interviews on NPR. But he was a giant of TV journalism who …
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Comic-Con Roundup: Scott Pilgrim, Zombies and Whedon's Epiphany
Some of your latest TV (and not) updates from San Diego Comic-Con, at TIME’s Techland and elsewhere:
* Having seen his Bored to Death session at TCA last year, I know that Jason Schwartzman gives good panel. Graeme McMillan dug his Scott Pilgrim session, and the movie itself.
* J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon shared a stage, creating a …
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TV Tonight: The Pillars of the Earth
There needs to be a term invented that conveys the message, “You might enjoy this show a lot, if you’re a fan of this kind of thing, as long as you don’t need it to be, in any grand sense of the word, actually good.”
The term “guilty pleasure” doesn’t quite apply to a project like Starz’s The Pillars of the Earth, debuting tonight. …
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Dead Tree Alert: Mad Men Returns; Plus, What Is a Spoiler?
WARNING: The following post involves a TV critic discussing TV criticism, including criticism of another TV critic’s criticism of a third TV critic’s criticism. Surely you have better things to do with your time.
My review/preview of the season 4 premiere of Mad Men is now online. Because Mad Men generates particular sensitivity about …
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I'm Not Going to Comic-Con. Here's Who Is.
Although my colleague Lev Grossman makes it sound so damn attractive, I am not going to the massive fan gathering / merchandise rollout that is San Diego Comic-Con. But Lev and several other of my TIME colleagues at the Techland blog will be there, covering many of its aspects including TV. Here, Peter Ha sneaks a peek at the promo …
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Shep Smith on the Media (Including Fox) and Sherrod
I wrote yesterday about the electronic shark attack on Shirley Sherrod this week, and how a video of a 40-plus-minute speech, edited to cast her in the most racist possible light, exploded from conservative website BigGovernment.com to Fox News and much of the big media—all before the longer, exculpatory video came out Tuesday …
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Top Chef Watch: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold
Spoilers for last night’s Top Chef DC coming up:
Here are some words I like to hear on Top Chef: galantine, mirepoix, bacon. Here are some words I have no interest in hearing on Top Chef: strategy, alliance, tactics. Don’t get me wrong, I like the game of Survivor. When it is played on the television show Survivor. But I watch Top …
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Chris Isaak for Idol: Wicked Good Idea or Bad, Bad Thing?
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The latest trial balloon launched in the replace-Simon-Cowell sweepstakes: singer-songwriter Chris Isaak. The obvious pluses: Isaak has plenty of recording experience (“Wicked Game,” “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing”) and experience in front of the camera (his charming Showtime comedy of …
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Post-Carell Life for The Office; Also, Emerson As the New Boss?
Variety is reporting that The Office has signed B.J. Novak, who writes for and plays Ryan on the series, to a new two-year deal, which will elevate him to executive producer. For those of you who have wondered if NBC will perpetuate the series after the departure of Steve Carell, who leaves after this season—well, you can do the …
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Test Pilot: Outsourced
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Test Pilot is a semiregular feature sharing my first impressions of the pilots for next fall’s shows. These aren’t reviews, since these pilots can be rewritten, recast and retooled before airing, and the shows that eventually get on the air can prove much better or worse. But premature opinions …
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Shirley Sherrod and the Summer's Latest Media Shark Attack
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I could tell it was summer yesterday. Not because of the soup-like atmosphere that greets me on opening the door in the morning, or the sweet garbagey fragrance of New York in July, but because the political media was busily living every week like it was Shark Week. The latest example …
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Straight Out of Brooklyn: Bored to Death Gets a Return Date
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I will be the first to admit that my enjoyment of Bored to Death is at least partly based in personal bias. I live in Brooklyn, and while HBO is heavy on shows that love my borough (In Treatment, Boardwalk Empire and Flight of the Conchords all shot there, at least in part), Bored to …