Tuned In

Another Vision for NBC

James Poniewozik — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:31:55 +0000

"If creaky old NCIS can draw 20 million viewers, imagine what the combination of money, creativity, smart casting, production values, and an innovative broadcast-network programmer could do." With the right breaks? I'm guessing, oh, maybe 10 million. Cynicism aside, I highly recommend Mark Harris' take on the many troubles of NBC in New York magazine, in which [...]

The Morning After: One-Two Punch

James Poniewozik — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:48:14 +0000

It's a sign of how much the broader cable universe has matured that the big Sunday-night finale we're talking about was on AMC, and HBO's shows are the afterthought. But last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm and (especially) the season finale of Bored to Death were very good in their own right. Bored to Death, which has [...]

Where Are the Cartoons Going? Not Cartoon Network

James Poniewozik — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:44:10 +0000

The surest sign that MTV had hit the big time was that it stopped airing music videos. Ditto VH1. The more of a mainstay Food Network became, the more it aired shows that weren't about cooking. The big money for cable news channels is not in news, but in opinion. Cartoon Network has hit something of [...]

Mad Men Watch: Buying the Farm

James Poniewozik — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:06:41 +0000

SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, call up some old friends you haven't seen in a while and watch last night's Mad Men. "You're not good at relationships because you don't value them." --Roger Sterling Don Draper finally got it all, and he finally lost it all. The two sides of Mad Men's outstanding season [...]

Mad Men Finale: Programming Note

James Poniewozik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:37:00 +0000

Mad Men's third-season finale airs Sunday night, and because of Matthew Weiner's understandable desire for secrecy, it'll be the first episode of the season critics won't be seeing in advance. So I'll be watching on plain, old-fashioned TV, like the little people do. What does this mean for my post-show reviewing? I may end up doing [...]

30 Rock Watch: Subway Series

James Poniewozik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:04:10 +0000

Spoilers for last night's 30 Rock coming up after the jump: So far season 4 of 30 Rock has been fixed on the issue of real vs. fake America, which in meta terms of the show's own concerns, means: are the same things entertaining in Middle America as on the coasts? The plot of "Audition Day" [...]

Office Watch: Slappy Birthday

James Poniewozik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:40:08 +0000

Spoilers for last night's The Office coming up after the jump: Well, that's what I get for committing to something in print. Yesterday, in running down my personal contenders for the best comedy on air today, I made the case that The Office had gotten past its problem of making Michael Scott too crazy. Then came [...]

Dead Tree Alert: The Third Bias

James Poniewozik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:52:30 +0000

My column in this week's print TIME expands on a bullet point from my post a week ago, on the Pew Research poll that asked TV viewers whether they believed the networks they watched had a liberal or conservative bias. The problem with this dichotomy, used not just by Pew but media critics all over, [...]

So What's the Best Comedy on TV Right Now?

James Poniewozik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:12:02 +0000

That TV-critics' Twitter debate I mentioned in my Modern Family post this morning was kicked off by a simple but tough question: what's the best comedy on TV right now? I don't want to misrepresent anyone by saying who picked what and why, but it's something I'm wrestling with right now, as I start to [...]

Iron Chef: The Michelle Obama Edition

James Poniewozik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:51:08 +0000

Speaking of liberal indoctrination by edutainment programs, Michelle Obama's efforts to turn us all into communist vegans is not stopping at Sesame Street. Food Network announced that Iron Chef America will be airing a special two-hour episode Jan. 3, taped at the White House, featuring the First Lady and her much-publicized kitchen garden. Says the network, [...]