TV

Over-Seasoning Buffy

March 6, 2010
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Over-Seasoning Buffy

The concept of "the season" simply doesn't translate from TV to comic books.
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Posted in Perspectives, Print, TV | 14 Comments »

Quirks, Viewers, Commerce are the Real QVC

March 4, 2010
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Quirks, Viewers, Commerce are the Real QVC

There's so much more to QVC than chirpy hosts, costume jewelry, and the bloopers you see on The Soup. One fan and scholar attempts to explain and redeem the oft-mocked shopping channel.
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Posted in Industry, Perspectives, TV | 7 Comments »

Undercover Boss: Making CEOs More Palatable?

March 2, 2010
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Undercover Boss: Making CEOs More Palatable?

Positioned against bad press about extravagant executive compensation in the midst of a financial meltdown and growing national unemployment, Undercover Boss is a makeover show that aims to humanize executives in the eyes of the masses disillusioned with corporate America and teaches them to be humble in the presence of their employees.
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 5 Comments »

5 Thoughts On: The Marriage Ref

March 1, 2010
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5 Thoughts On: <em>The Marriage Ref</em>

"I think we're wasting a lot of valuable network time here." --Alec Baldwin
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 2 Comments »

In Defense of Curling

March 1, 2010
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In Defense of Curling

It’s not a sport drowning in testosterone, but that’s its charm
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 3 Comments »

In Praise of Dwangela

February 22, 2010
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In Praise of Dwangela

Where Pam and Jim (a couple whose sweetness is wonderfully conveyed by the fused appellation “Jam”) are associated with mild and often toothless critiques of the corporate regime, pulling pranks and expressing symbolic (and frequently non-verbal) opposition to or incredulity about the absurdities of corporate life, Dwangela perform a more substantive critical function.
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 5 Comments »

Vancouver’s (finally) Ready for its Close-up, Mr. DeMille

February 21, 2010
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Vancouver’s (finally) Ready for its Close-up, Mr. DeMille

After years of starring in more films and television than any city other than Los Angeles or New York, with the Olympics, Vancouver finally gets to play itself on television.
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Posted in Film, Perspectives, TV | 12 Comments »

Our Intractable Ideological Moment: Surnow, The History Channel, and the Kennedys

February 18, 2010
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Our Intractable Ideological Moment: Surnow, The History Channel, and the Kennedys

The latest ideological skirmish will be played out through a History Channel mini-series on the Kennedys by conservative producer Joel Surnow. The problem, though, runs much deeper than shoddy history. It is rooted in a fundamental epistemological divide between left and right over what constitutes truth and how we arrive at it.
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Posted in Perspectives, Politics, TV | 8 Comments »

Talk about a bait and switch. The Tebow Super Bowl ad left me hyped up for more hype.

February 7, 2010
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Talk about a bait and switch.  The Tebow Super Bowl ad left me hyped up for more hype.

After weeks of controversy and speculation, Focus on the Family's 30-second Super bowl spot featuring Heisman Trophy-winner Tim Tebow was as decidedly uncontroversial as CBS claimed it would be.
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Posted in Current Events, TV, TV | 28 Comments »

A Post against “post-“

February 7, 2010
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A Post against “post-“

Why the term "post-network" needs to be cancelled.
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Posted in Industry, Perspectives, TV | 26 Comments »

Life Unexpected Not Up to Expectations

February 6, 2010
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<i>Life Unexpected</i> Not Up to Expectations

Life Unexpected isn't living up to my expectations. I plan on holding my breath for improvement, though--I am hopeful that the network and producers will figure out where they want to go and follow the natural lines of the premise of this story.
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 6 Comments »

5 Thoughts on Teen Mom

February 4, 2010
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5 Thoughts on Teen Mom

Does it matter if Teen Mom, a documentary-style MTV series that completed its first season last week, provides an inaccurate picture of teen parenting in the U.S.?
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Posted in TV | 2 Comments »

Egregious Product Placement: The Biggest Loser

January 30, 2010
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Egregious Product Placement: <em>The Biggest Loser</em>

Subway. 24 Hour Fitness. Extra sugar free gum. Ziploc. Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes. NBC's The Biggest Loser is the home of some of the biggest product placement deals on television.
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Posted in Industry, Perspectives, TV | 10 Comments »

Lessons From Jay, Coco, and Zucker

January 27, 2010
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Lessons From Jay, Coco, and Zucker

In debriefing what went wrong with the Jay Leno Show, we shouldn’t just ask what Leno’s failure says – we should also ask what the combination of the failure and the momentary ratings spike says.
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Posted in Industry, Perspectives, TV | 2 Comments »