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Has there ever been a better-targeted show than Portlandia? A gentle sketch-comedy sendup (debuting tonight) of high-minded, laid-back, arts-focused, sustainability-oriented living in Portland, Ore., for IFC channel, it is, essentially, a comedy for people who watch IFC, about people who would watch IFC (if they owned televisions), on …
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The title of the return episode of Parks and Recreation was “Go Big or Go Home,” which had meaning on a few levels. It was Leslie’s advice to Andy about April; it was Leslie’s philosophy in proposing the Harvest Festival, doubling down on the Parks department’s ability to make life better for Pawnee; and it seems, in a meta sense, like a …
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My column in this week’s TIME looks at The Onion’s effort to translate its Web, print and online-video empire to TV with Onion News Network on IFC channel (as well as Onion SportsDome on Comedy Central):
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are both personality-driven; Stewart is our exasperated guide through the excesses of hype and
…
As the 2012 Sundance film festival kicks off, TIME’s Richard Corliss reflects on more than three decades worth of hits from the indie conclave.
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What are you doing tonight? You are watching the best comedy on television, Parks and Recreation, as it finally returns to NBC after eight months off the air. (The rest of NBC’s new three-hour sitcom schedule—Comedy Night Frequently Done Right, Sometimes Not So Much, But What’re You Gonna …
Ricky Gervais certainly pulled no punches Sunday night, as the host of the Golden Globes. He mocked the organizing awards body for nominating a film that was widely dismissed by film critics. He touched upon the bribery scandal that has left many wondering if Burlesque was nominated for a best picture award only because voters were …
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Last night, a revamped, recast American Idol returned with its first audition round, and this radical relaunch of the show turned out to give us—an audition round, pretty much like all the other auditions rounds you’ve ever watched, but minus Simon. Which was to be expected: the audition rounds are what they are, and have been a …
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In a fascinating front-page New York Times story this morning, Brian Stelter reports that some executives at MTV were worried that some scenes in the new teen drama just might be, and are ordering producers to edit some Skins episodes accordingly:
It is unclear when MTV first realized that the show may be vulnerable to child pornography
…
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The revamped, re-judgified 10th season of American Idol begins tonight, with a lot of questions swirling about how the show will survive the loss of Simon Cowell, how well Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez will do, and whether the show will ever find a really big star again. Tonight’s episode will… tell us pretty much nothing about that.
Tuned In
There used to be an unspoken deal between the British and Americans regarding television. Their part of the deal was that they would be allowed on our programs either as reality-show villains or if they adopted unrecognizable mid-Atlantic accents like Hugh Laurie.
Our part of the deal was, there was no our part of the deal. We’re …
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CNN’s new primetime show Piers Morgan Tonight immediately improved on Larry King Live’s ratings its first night out, getting over two million viewers for its inaugural interview with Oprah Winfrey. Time will tell how much of that is due to Morgan and how much to the guest; as last …
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Comcast has federal approval to combine with NBC, after the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department both approved the deal this afternoon. Besides providing clarity for 30 Rock storylines going forward, the decision makes possible the first acquisition of a major broadcast …
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Spoilers for last night’s How I Met Your Mother coming up:
When the last episode of How I Met Your Mother ended with Marshall getting the news of his father’s sudden death, I gave the show credit for, unlike many sitcoms, being willing to engage real emotions and not-so-funny passages in life. It’s one thing, though, to end a funny …
