Archive for June, 2011

The Guilty Pleasure of the Red Carpet Fashion Smackdown

June 30, 2011
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The Guilty Pleasure of the Red Carpet Fashion Smackdown

Fashion Police is a bundle of contradictions—it is both celebratory and critical, sophisticated and vulgar, insightful and adolescent.
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Treme: It Matters a Difference

June 29, 2011
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Treme: It Matters a Difference

"That's What Lovers Do" finds Treme meditating on what New Orleans means not only locally, but also for those who find themselves elsewhere.
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Posted in Columns, Treme | 3 Comments »

Report From London: Final Thoughts

June 26, 2011
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Report From London: Final Thoughts

Christine Becker wraps up her reports about British television with a collection of observations.
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Posted in Report From... | 4 Comments »

Feet First

June 22, 2011
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Feet First

For many in New Orleans there comes a point when we have to answer a difficult question: is living here worth your life or that of your family? Where do you draw the line? What are you willing to risk, to possibly sacrifice, in order to live in such a magical place?
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Posted in Treme | 2 Comments »

Glenn Beck’s Legacy for Television News

June 21, 2011
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Glenn Beck’s Legacy for Television News

Glenn Beck's departure from Fox News does not mean he truly leaves the network. Cable television news has been fundamentally changed as a result of his presence. We look back at Beck's legacy and what that means for television news.
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Posted in Current Events, Perspectives, Politics, Politics | 1 Comment »

Report From London: The Week That Was

June 19, 2011
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Report From London: The Week That Was

Christine Becker checks out what was on British terrestrial TV last week and finds death and apples.
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DC Comics Goes All In

June 18, 2011
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DC Comics Goes All In

Is the comics industry doomed or simply too insular?
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Posted in Current Events, Industry, Print | 7 Comments »

The Pains of Winning

June 17, 2011
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The Pains of Winning

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup, in style. So why, as a Vancouver Canucks fan, do I feel more relief than sadness?
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Posted in Current Events, TV | 2 Comments »

Salvaging the Sinking Soaps?

June 16, 2011
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Salvaging the Sinking Soaps?

Could the demise of so many daytime soaps be causing a return to form for a genre fans have long felt was losing its way? The rapidly changing world of U.S. daytime television has as many highs and lows as a juicy soap storyline these days.
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Posted in Current Events, Perspectives, TV, TV | 3 Comments »

Music is a Character

June 15, 2011
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Music is a Character

That night Donald told me that music was a character on Treme. That made some sense to me, having argued in the past that product plugging turned commodities into characters on sitcoms. But that was a criticism. How did it work for the culture of jazz on TV exactly?
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The Doctor Will Be Back: Doctor Who and the Showrunner’s Cliffhangers

June 13, 2011
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The Doctor Will Be Back: Doctor Who and the Showrunner’s Cliffhangers

After all the publicity focused on this “game-changing” episode, what interests me is the following question: is there such a thing as a distinctively Moffat-esque cliffhanger?
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Posted in Columns, Doctor Who & Authorship | 1 Comment »

Report From London: Content Regulation

June 12, 2011
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Report From London: Content Regulation

Christine Becker assesses the level and regulation of graphic content on British TV (and relays a naughty joke).
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Posted in Report From... | 1 Comment »

Waiting for Superman

June 11, 2011
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Waiting for Superman

Superman is the myth attracting the audience and the property that Time Warner values. But this value diminishes if his story is not told enough, so the trick is to render him inexhaustible, allowing him to be consumed without dying.
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Throw the Baby Out the Window

June 8, 2011
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Throw the Baby Out the Window

This carnival episode, like last year's, also reminds me of the potential of every Mardi Gras to provide a transcendent collective experience. The heavily cross-cut montage creates a unity across the different stories to create a collective sense.
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Posted in Columns, Treme | 2 Comments »

A Report from CCA 2011

June 7, 2011
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A Report from CCA 2011

Christopher Cwynar offers an overview of the Canadian Communication Association's recent annual conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
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Posted in Report From... | 2 Comments »