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The surest sign that we’re into the You Are the Critic era is that the networks, which used to hold on to their fall pilots like the plans for the A-bomb, now give them out in dribs and drabs, or in their entirety, well before the new season starts. They show them on airplanes; they stream them online; they give out DVDs; they “preview” …

I’ve just finished watching all 10 episodes of HBO’s Tell Me You Love Me for Time magazine’s fall arts preview, which, if all goes according to plan, will be on newsstands tomorrow. (This is Past Me talking, remember; I’m writing this post a week in advance.) And I’ve reached two conclusions: (1) it’s the best new show of the fall, with …

Doing last week’s post on Don Imus, I realized that there’s probably a big gap between me and a lot of readers out there: I hardly ever listen to the radio. Part of that’s my job: I focus so much on TV and there’s so much of it that radio’s just one of those things that’s fallen by the wayside. Part of it’s cultural: I live in New York …

We had one of the more productive Tuned In thread hijacks last week when commenter Rahul asked–in a post about VH1’s John from WKRP in Cincinnati mashup–“In your opinion, do you think Reality TV has revitalized television?”

I do think so, even though the last year or so has been fairly slack for new reality TV, and in 2003, back at …

I’m on vacation for next two weeks, with little, and possibly no, Web access on the road. While I’m gone, I’ve set up the RoboPoster 3000 to put up some questions and discussion topics to keep the lights on. That’s right, I’m writing to you… from the past! What are things like in the future? Do you have jet packs? Who’s president now, …

SPOILER ALERT: Sorry, this post contains absolutely no Big Love spoilers.

I briefly considered taking time out from my barely-earned vacation to write up a Big Love Watch roundup. Operative word being “briefly.” But I thought enough Big Lovers might come here that I’d have the RoboPoster 3000 open a thread for your comments. So feel …

I’m on vacation for the next two weeks. But you’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’ve once again programmed the RoboPoster 3000 to toss up some daily discussion questions while I’m gone. Last time we tried this, the discussion was actually livelier than it is when I’m around here writing stuff, so enjoy it while it lasts, and see …

HBO has renewed Flight of the Conchords. Also, some show about movie stars.

Elijah Wood, DJ Lance Rock and friends make you question whether someone slipped something in your coffee. Lisa Rose / Nick Jr. / TM & © 2007 GabbaCadabra LLC

I assume that there is a decent percentage of Tuned In readers who do not have children. I further assume that when the child-unburdened among you see the “JPTV Jr.” heading …

HSM2’s sophomore stomp. David James / New Line

The pop culture universal mind must be trying to tell us something be releasing Disney’s High School Musical 2 (a sex-free fantasy of high school as imagined by tweens) on the same day as the (terrific) movie Superbad (a sex-filled fantasy of high school as imagined by Seth Rogen). And if I …

Honky Grandma Be Recycling! NBC Photo: Virginia Sherwood

In this week’s newly rebranded Tuned In column in the print Time, I write about TV’s sudden interest in green programming, which is rising faster than the global sea levels. Discovery launches an entire environmental channel, Planet Green, next year, while NBC has planned a week …

It’s currently sunny on MySpace. Jay Silverman / FX

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia–which I liked fine the first season and really fell for last year–comes back September 13. Or, like, right now, if you direct your browser to MySpace, where a preview season 3 episode is streaming until August 23. I cheated and watched the …

Today’s New York Post Page Six column blows the lid open on the verisimilitude of MTV reality hit The Hills. If there’s a lid to be blown open. From the piece:

[O]n Tuesday night, the star, Lauren Conrad, showed up at Da Silvano for dinner with three friends and a camera crew. One irked diner told us, “It was clear that this show is not

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