NBC, which upended broadcast network tradition by clearing the 10 p.m. E.T. hour of scripted series and giving it to Jay Leno, has now upended (recent) broadcast network tradition by scheduling three new scripted series in the summer: The Philanthropist, The Listener and Merlin (yes, about that Merlin). (As planned, it will also launch …
Dead Tree Alert: CNBC Sticks Up for the Big Guy
My CNBC column is posted at time.com. (The Huffington Post knew it was up before I did.) I only wish it had come out a week earlier, but those are the perils of a biweekly column, and Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer have done me the courtesy of keeping the network in the headlines for me.
I’ve been reiterating several of the points in my …
Is South Park the Most Moral Show On TV?
OK, that may be a bit of an odd question to ask after a season-premiere episode that included a filthy-mouthed Mickey Mouse, references to girls “gineys tickling,” and the line “You like taking the Jonas Brothers’ hot foam in your faces, girls?” But besides being funnier than anything (unless there was a standout I’m forgetting) from the …
Feudalism
In the grand spirit of further milking a public controversy to draw traffic to my blog, I was going to make the argument today that all the attention to the throwdown between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer was misplaced.
I would have said that it’s a classic example of how the media are more comfortable focusing on personalities than on …
The Morning After: Can't Stand the Heat
I never got around to reviewing last night’s debut of NBC’s The Chopping Block, the cooking competition hosted by bad-boy-chef (a burgeoning category, and somehow it’s always a boy) Marco Pierre White. I did watch it, though, and I decided that if it couldn’t remotely hold my interest—I was a food-TV junkie long before I watched …
Idol Watch: Jesus, Saves?
Brief spoilers about last night’s American Idol double elimination, and longer complaints about “the new rule,” after the jump:
The National Academy Promises to Sin No More
It looks like the National Academy in New York has started the long process of mending fences with the Association of Art Museum Directors, which clobbered the Academy last year for selling two paintings from its collection to raise cash to cover general expenses. (As you probably know if you follow this blog, that’s forbidden by AAMD …
Big Love Re-Offends Mormons. Do They Have a Point?
Big Love, which spurred a lot of pre-emptive worry in the Mormon church before it premiered, is now being criticized for a scene in Sunday’s episode that depicts a certain sacred church ritual, apparently for the first time on TV. HBO, in response, has issued one of those I’m-sorry-if-you-feel-that-way apologies but will air the episode …
I’m Back
I’ve been on the road again (again!) for the past few days. (More about that later.) My state of the art blogging software was supposed to put up a blogpost to that effect automatically on the day I took off. Somehow that failed to happen. (Note to self — look into new state-of-the-art blogging software.) This was an oversight I …
Idol Followup: Your Predictions, and Predictions About Predictions
The format of the fancy-schmancy American Idol review gallery doesn’t really lend itself well to writing a wrap-up of the show, so I thought I’d put up a separate post for your (and my) predictions for tonight’s dual elimination.
But first: what are your predictions for the promised world-shattering twist? Ryan and Simon said that the …
Mad Money Vs. Mad Funny
At what point are Viacom and General Electric going to sit down with someone from The Daily Show and CNBC, respectively, and ask them to stop giving the competition such awesome cross-promotion?
You probably know the chronology: first Jon Stewart aired a scathing takedown of bad financial advice from CNBC, in response to Rick Santelli’s …
Judging American Idol: The Final 13
Click on the photos below for my reviews. (And yes, I know the pix are from previous performances; the time.com wizards have to prepare the photo gallery quick, and Fox often doesn’t send out official approved pictures until the next day.)
Programming Note: Lucky 13
The American Idol finals start tonight, which means from tonight through May I’ll be reviewing each finalist’s performance for time.com. The wizards of time.com have also assured me that, thanks to some arcane prestidigitation that surely cometh from the Devil, my reviews will be simultaneously posted here at Tuned In, so you can check …