SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, recline on your fainting couch and watch last night’s Mad Men.
Television
Mad Men Watch: Independence Day
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, drive your John Deere riding mower across the living room and watch last night’s Mad Men.
TV Weekend: Private Eye-rony; Also, Curb’s Return
It’s a tricky Sunday coming up for fans of finer television everywhere. The Emmys (hosted by the suddenly ubiquitous Neil Patrick Harris) are on that night. Mad Men, refusing to take a breather even for its likely slew of awards, airs an original episode. And HBO debuts a strong new comedy—Bored to Death—while Curb Your …
Top 10 TV Dads
From The Brady Bunch to The Sopranos, TIME picks the 10 most memorable fathers in television history.
Nearly 18 Million for Jay. Does It Matter?
Last night, the first broadcast of The Jay Leno Show drew a whopping 17.7 million viewers, many of them with their original teeth. As the guy who wrote the story with the “Future of TV” cover line, I should probably just leave it at that and call it a day. But let’s take a look at what does and doesn’t matter about that number, in ways …
Mad Men Watch: I’ll See You In My Dreams
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, make a plate of hash and eggs, open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red, and watch last night’s Mad Men.
Ratings Roundup: Policy, Harmony, Anarchy
A few bits of ratings news as we start to get warmed up for premiere season:
* President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress drew 32.1 million viewers, up from the 24.5 million his last primetime health care press conference drew (though not not up to the massive audiences he was getting just after his inauguration).
The Networks Start a New Ratings Service. But It Won't Be CIMM-ple.
A coalition of advertisers and media companies (my corporate master Time Warner included) today announced the name of a planned new ratings service to compete with Nielsen: the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, or CIMM. (Not actually sure how the acronym is pronounced, but “simm” works for my headline, so I’m sticking with it …
Cougar Town Marks Its Territory
No, Courteney Cox hasn’t gone into a new line of work. This sign—snapped a block and a half from my house—is part of a stealth campaign for Cox’s upcoming ABC sitcom Cougar Town. Cox’s character, besides being an older gal with an eye for the younger fellas, is also a real-estate agent, which career must have seemed pretty hot and au …
Mad Men Watch: Gimme Shelter
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, put on your cesta, make sure you don’t put that pelota through the TV screen, and watch last night’s Mad Men.
Mad Men Watch: I Went to a Garden Party
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, grab your copy of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and watch last night’s Mad Men.
…And Now Conan Beats Dave (Among Youngsters) Without Showing Up
The late-night ratings for the week before last showed that a week of David Letterman reruns had beaten Conan O’Brien originals in total viewers, although the Conan originals still won in various categories of younger viewers. Last week, Conan was in reruns and Dave was in originals and… pretty much exactly the same thing happened: …
Murder Suspect Dead; Reality TV Continues to Roam Free
Ryan Jenkins, the reality-dating-show contestant suspected in the murder of his model ex-wife, turned up dead of an apparent suicide in a Canadian motel. I’d been loath to write about the story, because while Jenkins’ appearance on VH1’s Megan Wants a Millionaire (hands up, who heard of it before the murder case?) provided a news hook …