The conclusion of this week’s Fringe — and the remarkable amount of information crammed into the coming attractions for next week’s season finale — was so startling, it’s difficult to regroup and pull back. But we have to take the full measure of “The Last Sam Weiss” to truly appreciate its shocker ending. READ FULL STORY »
With the glimpse of the “Buddy’s Bar and Grill” sign in the opening credits, it’s been clear that Buddy Garrity has changed occupations, he’s moved on from selling cars. But some things remain the same: Buddy’s personal life is a wreck: His ex-wife called from 1,500 miles away to say that “Buddy, Jr.” (stinks to be him) is acting out, possibly taking drugs. Poor Buddy — he can’t even drink his own beer in peace.
Speaking of troubled fathers, Vince’s came home from prison this week. Well, “home” was a matter of contention: Having just settled in with READ FULL STORY »
Words I guarantee were not spoken during the TV coverage of Diana and Charles in 1981: “Twitter was going crazy about the dress.” READ FULL STORY »
Scanning a lot of the pieces that have been written leading up to this week’s final Michael Scott episode of The Office, I kept seeing the same word applied to Steve Carell’s character: clueless. Michael is widely perceived as being clueless about how a normal boss should behave; about how ordinary human interactions (conducting a romance; socializing with employees) should proceed.
I disagree slightly: I think the greatness of what Carell did with the character handed to him by Ricky Gervais was READ FULL STORY »
One of the little miracles of pop culture, South Park proceeds with its obsessions about the nature of freedom and the (im)precision of language, its mass-culture insults and its cult-culture shout-outs. It doesn’t care whether we get all the references, or take offense at the jokes, which only makes us love it all the more.
And which makes us masochists far happier than Kyle and the two people who were yoked together and made to form the “HUMANCENTiPAD,” the title and subject of the season premiere. READ FULL STORY »
From its amusement-park-ride chairs to its cluttered concept, The Voice was a garish bore over two hours on Tuesday night — it was less about the strenuous voices of the singers than the yammering voices of its celebrity “coaches.” READ FULL STORY »
Rachel Maddow gave an interview in the British Guardian newspaper yesterday in which the MSNBC anchor said many interesting, often amusing things. “I’m not an autocutie,” she said, referring to the tendency of American TV news organizations to fill some anchor positions with women who have what The Guardian described as “the helmet of blond hair and rictus smile.”
She also drew this distinction between MSNBC and Fox News, regarding that false-equivalency comparison that continues to be drawn between the two channels:
“Of Fox News, she says simply, ‘When it starts to seem like you have popped into bed with a specific party, it makes it difficult for people to believe you are not doing someone else’s bidding for them.’ At MSNBC, on the other hand, ‘there are people here who are identified as liberals, but there is no political agenda.’”
But the part of the interview getting the most attention here is this bit: READ FULL STORY »
For anyone who thinks there’s not enough football in Friday Night Lights, this week’s episode, titled “On The Outside Looking In,” had enough for a full season, as far as I was concerned. That’s because I’m one of those FNL fans who has no interest in football, so I usually just appreciate the quick cutting during the games and the helpful sportscaster-voiceovers telling me who’s winning and losing. (Does anyone else watch the show’s football scenes this way?) READ FULL STORY »
If you haven’t read the book it was based on, Game of Thrones may not have been what you were expecting. The ads made it look like a dark, gritty, grim historical epic packed with violence and sex. Turns out, it was a swift fantasy adventure rooted in the emotions of ambition, greed, and lust. In this make-believe universe, there’s a ferocious realism in both dialogue and action. READ FULL STORY »
