Columns

Christine Becker wraps up her reports about British television with a collection of observations.
Read more »

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?
Read more »

Christine Becker checks out what was on British terrestrial TV last week and finds death and apples.
Read more »

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?
Read more »

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?
Read more »

Christine Becker assesses the level and regulation of graphic content on British TV (and relays a naughty joke).
Read more »

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.
Read more »

Christopher Cwynar offers an overview of the Canadian Communication Association's recent annual conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Read more »

With episode 6.06 having transmitted in the US, and 6.07 – the 'game-changing' midseries finale – already broadcast in the UK, this week seems like a good time to ponder the issue of Doctor Who spoilers.
Read more »

Christine Becker outlines the multichannel landscape of British television.
Read more »

The challenge facing Tremé (and every other media representation of New Orleans) is finding a way to balance a celebration of the city’s unique cultural contributions with an acknowledgment of its more conventional, and often more damning, histories, memories, and contemporary realities. Week 6’s episode “Feels Like Rain” responds to this challenge, self-consciously,...
Read more »

Christine Becker continues her reports on British TV with a look at the prominence of documentaries in primetime.
Read more »

The producers/writers on Treme are under tremendous pressure: they ache to do right by New Orleans, they have to make a television show that people will continue watching, and they want to tell the truth about the city putting itself back together after the storm.
Read more »

The obvious critical question is this: which Matthew Graham do we get here? The Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes scribe? Or the 'Fear Her' and Bonekickers doppelganger?
Read more »

Christine Becker offers her first dispatch from London, taking a glance at British scheduling practices.
Read more »