Even before Fox debuted Fringe in 2008, the series suffered under the unfair question of whether it would be the next version of its producer J.J. Abrams’ Lost. Once the show aired, it was quickly clear that the show had no such …
An Unexpected Globes from Gervais: No Harm, No Foul, No Memories
Performance, like politics, has a lot to do with setting expectations. Ricky Gervais’ hosting performance at last year’s Golden Globes was incendiary partly for its content–acid jokes about Scientology, corruption and Robert …
JPTV Jr.: Tennessee Tuxedo, the iPad and Magic
A while ago, Tuned In Jr. needed to look up a fact for homework, so he went on Google and looked it up. Within a few minutes, he had the information he needed, and as is my wont in such situations, I said in my best Tennessee Tuxedo voice: “Phineas J. Whoopee, you’re the greatest!”
Tuned In Jr. asked what I was talking about, and I …
30 Rock Returns: So You Think You Know Me
Spoilers for the season 6 premiere of 30 Rock below:
One of the best set pieces in the pilot of 30 Rock had Jack Donaghy, meeting Liz Lemon for the first time, give her a withering rundown of her personality, habits and …
PAC Man Colbert “Gives” the Money and Runs, for President
Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced that he would give in to the cries of “Carolaniacs” and put his name forward as a candidate for President (or “President of the United States of South Carolina”) in his native state for the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary. (The popular outcry, oddly enough, exists not just in his …
CBS’s ¡Rob!, Why It ¡Stinks!, and How Not to Do Race on a Sitcom
Judging from the reports of my TV-journalist brethren at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, yesterday was Casual Racism Day, brought to you by CBS. First, a panel for new hit 2 Broke Girls devolved into a …
TCA Roundup: ABC, Where the B Stands for “Bitch”
So ABC had its turn to present at the Television Critics Association press tour yesterday, and recently installed network head Paul Lee addressed the question that I’m sure you were dying to hear answered: “So yeah, Paul, how …
Hunting for Drama After a Quick Romney Call
If the all-night toss-up call in the Iowa caucuses was a nail-biter, last night’s New Hampshire primary was—what’s the opposite? A nail-grower? Each network news division called the race for Mitt Romney at 8 p.m. ET on the dot (after hinting at the non-surprise outcome beforehand). So what was left to keep viewers around on a …
Mad Men Returning March 25 (or So Says Jon Hamm)
Matthew Weiner, AMC and the folks at Mad Men generally run a pretty tight ship when it comes to the flow of information about the program. But star Jon Hamm appears to have jumped the gun on a recent podcast, saying that the …
Gingrich’s Super-PAC Attack on Romney: Good Lord, Is This Ad Negative
The New Hampshire primary is being held on Tuesday, but the bigger news for connoisseurs of campaign ads is that the Republican race has moved from the “contrast” phase to the “negative” phase to the “from Hell’s heart, I stab at thee” phase.
The latter was foreshadowed post-Iowa, when Newt Gingrich, having been the target of a …
The Morning After: A Firm No
One thing I can say for NBC’s legal-series take on John Grisham’s The Firm, which debuted last night, is that it gave me new appreciation for Work It. Not that The Firm is a worse show. It’s much better. But “much better” in this …
CBS’ New Wake-Up Show: A Little Evening News in the Morning
The different hours of network morning programs can be, essentially, two different shows (or in NBC’s case, four): the first one a news-based hour, the later, a package of features. But the two hours of the new CBS This Morning, …
TCA Roundup: One Way or Another, You Are Stuck with Ryan Seacrest, America
While the Republican candidates were debating twice in ten hours and Tim Tebow was proving the existence of a football-obsessed God in the AFC wild card game, the TV networks continued to preview their midseason schedules at the …