Comparing the year’s top-charting shows, in the Nielsen ratings and online, shows how starkly how much the definition of “hit” has changed.
Tuned InTelevision
Tuned InTelevision
Decking the Hall: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s New Members
Some surprising inclusions—and omissions—in the coming year’s class
Wait, How Does That Song Go?: The Most Googled Lyrics of 2012
Which of this year’s hit songs were we dying to sing along to?
Will Dungeons & Dragons Be the Next Hobbit?
The Hobbit and Game of Thrones have become full-on pop culture phenomena, but what about the game that kept the fantasy genre alive in the 1970s and ’80s? Where’s the mainstream love for Dungeons and Dragons?
Critics and Oscars: It’s Zero Dark Thirty or Bust
The Osama bin Laden manhunt movie snags the cream of the early critics awards
Tuned InMovies
The Zero Dark Thirty Argument: Why Deceptive Art Can Be Great
I can’t tell you if the Bin Laden movie really “glorifies torture.” But great art can embody ugly ideas—which is why partisans have such a hard time trusting it
The Root of All Evil: Glengarry Glen Ross and Golden Boy on Broadway
Two very different critiques of the American dream, back in new revivals
9 Christmas Albums That Won’t Make You Want to Punch an Elf
Music that won’t make you cringe, cry or stuff your ears with sugarplums
Tuned InTelevision
Jury Duty: The AFI 10 Best Shows of 2012 List and How I Voted
From horror to comedy to politics, here are the American Film Institute’s 10 best shows of 2012, and how we came up with the list.
Les Misérables: The YouTube Version
For all its stirring moments, Tom Hooper’s film of the blockbuster musical spends too much time shouting at you in closeup
The Hobbit‘s Andy Serkis on Getting Inside Gollum’s Skin
The man behind Gollum’s creepy intonations of “precious” is 48-year-old Andy Serkis. TIME talks to Hollywood’s go-to motion capture actor about his return to Middle Earth
The Death of an Independent Latina: Jenni Rivera (1969-2012)
On the verge of cross-over success, the charismatic grupera singer embodied cultural fusion, business savvy and the powers of womanhood
Jenni Rivera Remembered: Everything You Need to Know About the Mexican-American Singer
We explain who the “Diva of Banda” was—and why she will be missed—after she died in a plane crash in Northern Mexico on Dec. 9