Election year politics may be cruel, cynical and disheartening, but nerdy rapper Adam Warrock's new EP reminds us that there is one candidate whose message of positivity never wavers, even while it might be at odds with her name. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Jan 27, 2012 - 18 comments

NBC's Community is being put on hiatus. Twitter is pissed. [more inside]
posted by NoraReed on Nov 14, 2011 - 376 comments

Splitsider asks "Is the 2011-2012 Sitcom Schedule the Worst in a Decade?"
posted by reenum on Nov 10, 2011 - 163 comments

Early in 1903, the success of the New York production of the musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz got composer Victor Herbert and librettist Glen MacDonough thinking. They thought that it might be possible to duplicate that success by applying a Christmas theme to Baum's story and then sprinkling in a few Mother Goose characters. Later that year the resulting show, Babes in Toyland, was a rousing success. Thirty years later it was made into a movie starring two of the greatest motion picture actors of the era, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, produced by Hal Roach. But this post isn't about either of those productions; it's about the worst production. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Dec 17, 2010 - 22 comments

In the wake of increasingly prominent appearances by South Asians in American television (Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari, Danny Pudi), NBC has launched Outsourced (preview) (full pilot on Hulu), a comedy about an American who moves to Mumbai to manage a call center. Featuring a mostly South Asian cast, the show is a potential high-water mark for Indians in popular American media. But is the show's portrayal of Indians progressive, or does it get bogged down in stereotypes and clichéd jokes about spicy food and funny names? Himanshu Suri of art rap trio Das Racist weighs in. [more inside]
posted by naju on Sep 24, 2010 - 89 comments

The Personal Photographs of Dr. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Television Pioneer. The screen images are time exposure photographs of the picture on the kinescope in the monitoring rack in the main control room. Some were taken with stationary frames of moving picture film projected upon the iconoscope by a standard moving picture machine. Others are actually the pictures transmitted with the iconoscope camera in the studio and outdoors.
posted by tellurian on May 3, 2010 - 9 comments

MAD Magaziner Jack Davis' multi-page montage of everything on NBC in the Fall of 1965, including the Huntley-Brinkley Report, Johnny Carson, Hullaballoo, Dr. Kildare, Andy Williams, My Mother The Car, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, I Spy, Dean Martin, Camp Runamuck, The Man From UNCLE, Flipper, I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart. (missing from the reconstructed pic are the Sunday shows, including Bonanza and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color). via Mark Evanier
posted by oneswellfoop on Apr 18, 2010 - 21 comments

NBC is rebooting the classic 70's detective show The Rockford Files . The Rockford Files was perhaps the best '70's detective show out there. Jim Rockford, played by James Garner, had more charm than bank balance, and more than often enough his "friends" were less than helpful. But the "closed criminal cases only" P.I. always got through the hour, and somehow looked cool despite being a less than snappy dresser. Perhaps it was the gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit he drove around Southern California. Rockford was able to live on the beach in Malibu, even if it was in a trailer home in the parking lot of a restaurant. [more inside]
posted by Ironmouth on Mar 1, 2010 - 128 comments

This is the city, Los Angeles California. I work Here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday. [more inside]
posted by tylerfulltilt on Jul 9, 2008 - 48 comments

Tim Russert dead at 58.
posted by swift on Jun 13, 2008 - 245 comments

NBC is once again dipping its toe into the waters of liquor advertising. Although liquor ads have been running on cable since 1996 their presence on broadcast TV remains controversial, due to the presumed influence of alcohol ads on underage drinking . However, at least one expert disagrees. Previous discussion.
posted by DiscourseMarker on Nov 30, 2007 - 15 comments

Without Breasts There Is No Paradise NBC wunderkind Ben Silverman's first new series is a Spanish-language soap opera called Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso. It's about Catalina, a teenage prostitute seeking breast implants to win the heart of a cocaine smuggler, whom she hopes will free her from a live of poverty. Can a sweet young thing from a small town find happiness in a fast-paced world of easy money and drug trafficking?
posted by Yakuman on Jul 9, 2007 - 48 comments

Steve Carell may be hilarious in the office, but how much would his jackass behavior cost in real-life? clips (youtube)
posted by tylerfulltilt on Feb 13, 2007 - 47 comments

Supertrain. A show about a supertrain that costs an assload of money and has no real direction or over arching story? why the hell not? link clips(youtube)
posted by tylerfulltilt on Feb 8, 2007 - 35 comments

iTunes Gets NBC Shows. And not just this season's: like a page out of Infinite Jest, iTunes and NBC are serving up classic NBC programs, including Knight Rider and Hitchcock Presents. (note: sorry - first link goes to iTunes Music Store -- no press releases available yet to link to.)
posted by eustacescrubb on Dec 6, 2005 - 32 comments

Goodnight, Johnny. The King of Late Night is dead at 79.
posted by Vidiot on Jan 23, 2005 - 171 comments

In 1967 the television program Bonanza enjoyed a three-year run as the most-watched television show in the United States. Bonanza had not started well; its first two seasons returning disapointing ratings but kept alive by the bequest of (then) NBC-parent RCA. RCA had a vested interest in keeping the color series alive in order to push sales of their color technology.

That same year Bill and Joyce Anderson created The Ponderosa Ranch tourist attraction near Incline Village, Nevada on the site allegedly shown by the burning map in the opening credits. The property annually attracts nearly 350,000 tourists to Lake Tahoe's north shore to enjoy the surroundings of a period recreation including mock gunfights, cowboy rope tricks and an honest 1860's-style saloon. (more inside)
posted by Ogre Lawless on Aug 5, 2004 - 12 comments

Am I the only one who notices that Scrubs is the best new show on television? Great writing and a great cast make me wonder who is Watching Ellie and putting the Seinfeld Curse at 3 for 3 with 2 RBI's and a double. If you haven't seen Scrubs, check it out. If you have, tell other people to watch it. Don't let quality television go off the air because of a bad time slot! (Tue. at 9:30 Est on NBC)
posted by McBain on Mar 8, 2002 - 41 comments

Hold on, Mr. President - you forgot your makeup! NBC is showing this special tonight about the "real" West Wing, but of course the President's handlers have manipulated the day so it looks good on tv. But it's not just Bush - theatrics in the same vein of "Look, he's being presidential" have been going on a long time in Washington. Is it good, bad, or just the nature of the beast? Who's your favorite "The Real World: Pennsylvania Ave." cast member?
posted by owillis on Jan 23, 2002 - 4 comments

It was bound to happen. "The NBC TV network is looking to revive the old fantasy TV series FANTASY ISLAND -- as a reality series."
posted by donkeyschlong on Oct 30, 2001 - 11 comments