The Sorkin Way
Vanity Fair profiles Aaron Sorkin and The Newsroom. In the hands of a lesser creator, the gee-whiz set—not to mention the news itself—could dominate the show. But placing the series in the recent past...
View ArticleTelevision Roundtable
A GQ roundtable is Matthew Weiner, Vince Gilligan and David Milch. GQ: What’s the opposite? What makes a toxic writers’ room? Matthew Weiner: People fighting for control. People fighting for Daddy’s...
View Article➜ Dan Rather reviews The Newsroom
Dan Rather reviews The Newsroom. For Gawker. Which is weird, right? There is a battle for the soul of the craft that goes on daily now in virtually every newsroom in the country. It’s a fight that...
View Article➜ All 155 episodes of Reading Rainbow
All 155 episodes of Reading Rainbow are on YouTube. [via] ★ Permalink
View Article➜ Stop binging on TV
Slate argues that maybe we should stop binge-watching TV series (which is, incidentally, the only watch I watch any show not called Californication, Mad Men or, it seems, The Newsroom). TV series must...
View Article➜ 239 issues tackled on Degrassi
239 issues tackled in 12 seasons of the new Degrassi. - Your stepdad trying to join your band - Losing your virginity at your gay dad’s wedding - Going to school after everyone has seen a video of you...
View Article➜ 10 classic M*A*S*H episodes
10 classic M*A*S*H episodes. (Maybe it’s time to get back to my @MASHreview project.) ★ Permalink
View Article➜ Very special episodes
A very special article about very special episodes. Because problems are resolved almost as quickly as they’re introduced in these episodes, and typically with some grand outpouring of emotion or...
View Article➜ An oral history of Cheers
An oral history of Cheers, which ended its run with 8-million more viewers than today’s top-rated sitcom. [via] The final two episodes of the first season were shot in one night and build to that scene...
View Article➜ John and Yoko on The Dick Cavett Show
John Lennon and Yoko Ono on The Dick Cavett show in 1971. More interesting than any specific content is that this was TV in 1971. Or as Rex said: Late night shows were once weird and spontaneous, but...
View Article➜ Fraggle Rock was a show about community
Fraggle Rock was really a show about society and community. I re-watched a bunch of episodes on Netflix earlier this year and was surprised at how heavy it was. The adventures of Gobo, Wembley, Mokey,...
View Article➜ An oral history of Freaks & Geeks
An oral history of Freaks & Geeks. The pilot had a very daring existential idea, which was that a young, really smart girl sits with her dying grandmother and asks her if she sees “the light,” and...
View Article➜ Michael Chabon’s HBO show
Michael Chabon is developing a show for HBO that has strong ties to his awesome book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. This is the sort of thing that would change my New Year’s resolution...
View Article➜ Mr. Rogers meets The Hulk
Mr. Rogers visits the set of The Incredible Hulk. ★ Permalink
View Article➜ Lance Armstrong, shitty TV and what Livestrong doesn’t do
My opinion of the Lance Armstrong thing is that we shouldn’t care. Not that we shouldn’t care about his doping—we should very much care about that—but that we shouldn’t care about his apology. He’s an...
View Article➜ The impending doom of the pop culture reference
As our entertainment becomes more and more fragmented, does the pop culture reference have a future? (Or: why my wife doesn’t think Community is all that funny.) This experience of not being in the...
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