Having a crappy day at the office? I can’t offer you a new episode of Glee tonight. (I can tease you that I’ve seen next week’s episode, in which the on-again, off-again show is on again.) But in the meantime, the next best thing, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, has just been released online and wherever it is that they actually sell CDs …
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The Ice Mensch Cometh
Elsewhere on time.com Sean Gregory has a story about Stephen Colbert’s quest to get the Colbert Nation to fund U.S. Olympic speedskating. Turns out it’s not just a publicity ploy—well, maybe it is that too—but a serious shot in the arm that could save a prominent U.S. Olympic sport. Given the awesomeness of the sport and the obvious …
The Morning After: We Come in Peace
It was a good night last night for Republican gubernatorial candidates. Was it a similarly good night for universal-health-care-dispensing, lizard-skin-hiding, hope-and-change-preaching, thinly veiled Obama allegories? I gave you my thoughts on the first night of V yesterday; you give me yours. Also feel free to offer up any observations …
Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin to Host Oscars
The producers of the Academy Awards announced that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will host the next Oscar ceremony, which means that you can blame me if it sucks. Earlier this year, while doing my traditional crabby TV-critic’s postmortem of the show after it made a Hugh Jackman of itself, I wrote:
Doing a reasonably entertaining Oscars
…
DVD Tonight: The Force and The Shield
As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m having some housework done that’s taken our living-room TV out of the picture. The Tuned In Jrs. have had to make do for their daily fix of shows with DVDs on a seven-inch portable player. It’s always the children who suffer most.
One thing that’s gotten them through the week has been my review copy of …
Germans to 30 Rock: Wir Verstehen Nicht!
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30 Rock may wow the critics here in America—at least the fake parts—but in Germany, the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff reports, something got lost in translation. The first airing of 30 Rock auf Deutsch got a 0.0 rating. Which it turns out is also a 0.0 in the metric system! …
TV Marks Obama Anniversary with Documentaries, Aliens
It’s Election Day in America. One election day ago, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, and TV is marking the anniversary with two earnest documentaries—and an alien invasion.
I exaggerate, but only a little. ABC’s V, which debuts tonight, may not be intended as an Obama allegory, but it has enough parallels with …
HIMYM Watch: The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling
Last night’s How I Met Your Mother, “Bagpipes,” demonstrated that the show is not letting Robin and Barney’s monogamous bliss get in the way of its fun. Where a typical HIMYM in the past might have involved Barney trying to school Ted in the ways of singledom, there’s also potential in Barney (in competition with Ted) trying to …
Southland Gets Its Badge Back, at TNT
TNT made it official this morning: it’s reviving the cop drama Southland, discarded by NBC. Well, sort of reviving. The cable network will air the first seven episodes shot last season, as well as the six that were made for NBC before the network pulled the plug (the rebroadcast starts Jan. 12). After that, we’ll see.
In principle, I …
Who Says TV News Is Biased? TV News Viewers Do!
The Pew Research Center has issued a study about the public perception of TV news which finds shockingly—shockingly!—that TV audiences see Fox News as the most ideological network. But beyond that, the study is a trove of curious data points showing that people find ideology in a lot of places—and they don’t necessarily mind it. …
Halloween Comedy Watch: Who Wants a Chuckle?
Last night, each of NBC’s Thursday comedies aired episodes that were, more or less, Halloween-themed. In the spirit of the holiday, I have something for each of them! But who gets a fun-size Snickers and who gets a rock?
South Park: The Meat of the Matter
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In the interest of balance today, time to post about some offensive TV on Comedy Central that I liked. South Park’s “Whale Whores,” while not an all-time great, was one of those episodes that hit for the cycle of South Park …
Jeff Dunham: What Am I Not Getting?
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I usually believe in accepting defeat gracefully. When my preferred candidates lose an election, I do not threaten to move to Canada. When my government chooses a policy I reject, I do not believe that makes it constitutionally illegitimate. Part of being a grown-up is …