Archive for May, 2010

Lost Wednesdays: Three Choices

May 19, 2010
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<em>Lost</em> Wednesdays: Three Choices

Three characters make fate-changing choices, as we're back in the contemporary timeline(s) to set-up the endgame.
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Lost Wednesdays, TV | 12 Comments »

Musical Performance Finally Gets Its Due in Treme

May 18, 2010
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Musical Performance Finally Gets Its Due in <em>Treme</em>

Dramatic television has rarely shown much affinity for musicians, and neither has it shown much artistry for dealing with musical performances within the narrative. This time, David Simon and HBO finally get it right.
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Posted in Music, Perspectives, TV | 3 Comments »

Author as God? or, Kripke, We Don’t Need You to Explain Supernatural to Us

May 17, 2010
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Author as God? or, Kripke, We Don’t Need You to Explain <em>Supernatural</em> to Us

I like active viewers/readers, and while I don’t think that authors are dead, I don’t think they should run after their texts telling us what they mean. A good text should show me its myriad meanings, and great texts tend to contain multitudes.
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 5 Comments »

For Worse and For Better: My Bill Simmons Weekend

May 16, 2010
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For Worse and For Better: My Bill Simmons Weekend

Bill Simmons' organization of a series of live fan chants during the Celtics game underscores his unique power as an internet star to turn commentary into real life action.
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Posted in Internet, Perspectives | Comments Off on For Worse and For Better: My Bill Simmons Weekend

Greetings from National Broadband Plan, Ohio!

May 15, 2010
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Greetings from National Broadband Plan, Ohio!

What the FCC, which received lackluster response to its announcement that it wanted to bring 100-megabit broadband to American homes, can learn from Google.
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Posted in Internet, Perspectives, Politics | 4 Comments »

Nielsen’s One-Stop Shop for Media Audiences

May 14, 2010
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Nielsen’s One-Stop Shop for Media Audiences

Nielsen's planned return to being publicly traded is the latest significant change for a company that has become much more than the primary source of television ratings, but rather has evolved into the primary arbiter of media audiences of virtually all types.
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Posted in Current Events, Industry, Industry, Perspectives | 4 Comments »

The Rehabilitation of Russell Crowe

May 13, 2010
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The Rehabilitation of Russell Crowe

Crowe is consciously attempting to rebrand his image - illuminating the 'softer,' emotional side of the hard body - just in time for a massive publicity tour for Robin Hood.
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Film | 9 Comments »

Friday Night Lights: The Musical! or Glee‘s After-School Sing-a-long

May 13, 2010
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<em>Friday Night Lights</em>: The Musical! or <em>Glee</em>‘s After-School Sing-a-long

I feel like the “powers that Glee” (PTG) are trying to combat complaints of minimal plot development. After last week’s most excellent narrative-filled musical numbers, my hopes were high. It looked like they might pull it off, but then it became Glee meets Friday Night Lights. Say it ain't so!
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Posted in Columns, Glee Club, Perspectives, TV | 8 Comments »

Lost Wednesdays: A Very Special Episode

May 12, 2010
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<em>Lost</em> Wednesdays: A Very Special Episode

It might be the most divisive, bold, and risky episode in series history. What can we make of it the morning after?
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Posted in Columns, Current Events, Lost Wednesdays, TV | 56 Comments »

Did the UK General Election Debates Make a Difference?

May 11, 2010
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Did the UK General Election Debates Make a Difference?

The British General Election of 2010 likely will be seen as a decisive moment in the country’s democratic history, not just because of its unusually messy result, but also because it heralded a new era in the mediation of electoral politics.
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Posted in Current Events, Perspectives, Politics | 7 Comments »

Farewell to a Great TV Show

May 10, 2010
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Farewell to a Great TV Show

Thoughts on the retirement of one of America's great journalists, Bill Moyers.
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Posted in Perspectives | 2 Comments »

Watching Like a Mother

May 9, 2010
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Watching Like a Mother

In the nearly three years since I joined the motherhood, I’ve noticed differences in the meanings I make and in what stays with me.
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Posted in Perspectives, TV | 4 Comments »

Why So Young, Network TV?

May 8, 2010
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Why So Young, Network TV?

Tonight, when Betty White hosts Saturday Night Live, American network television will be stepping outside of its comfort zone, by featuring someone a whole 5.5 times as old as Justin Bieber.
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, TV | 7 Comments »

It’s a Bird! It’s GaGa! It’s…Miley?

May 7, 2010
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It’s a Bird! It’s GaGa! It’s…Miley?

Music videos are alive and well on the internet, and Miley Cyrus' latest - for her new single,"Can't Be Tamed" - represents a significant rhetorical moment in her star persona (and Disney's pockets).
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Posted in Celebrity/Stardom, Current Events, Industry, Music | 8 Comments »