What changes has Torchwood undergone as a BBC Worldwide/Starz co-production? Perhaps this latest version brings to the surface a logic present from the very beginning of Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who spin-off.
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Transatlantic Torchwood: Everything Changes?
How the Categories Got Their Shapes: Eligibility & the Emmy Nominations
While we are often quick to point out the flaws in the Emmy nomination process, lamenting the absence of our favorite programs, often the nominations are guided as much by eligibility as by voter subjectivities.
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You Have Friends That Want You Back Home
Treme’s focus on how its culture and cultural economies are created and presented through music and cuisine has meant a majority of its almost 22 narrative hours watching musicians struggle with bar owners, the recording business, the law and each other.
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Whatever Happened to the Devil’s Music?
Surely in the final minutes of the last day of the Glastonbury rock festival, people are supposed to look sick, bedraggled and filthy, following a weekend of unfettered debauchery, but those kids are just too clean!. Come to think of it, why is Beyonce headlining anyway?
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Sarah Palin, Anti-Fandom, and the Nature of Political Celebrity
With the release of the new documentary on Sarah Palin, the former governor takes umbrage at the "hate" directed toward her by Hollywood celebrities. She either doesn't understand celebrity culture or understands it all too well.
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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
"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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Report From London: Final Thoughts
Christine Becker wraps up her reports about British television with a collection of observations.
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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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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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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
Is the comics industry doomed or simply too insular?
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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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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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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
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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