Journalism's vacation from the truth One day after Tucker Carlson, the co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," made his farewell appearance and two days after the network's new president made the admirable announcement that he would soon kill the program altogether, a television news miracle occurred: even as it staggered through its last steps to the network guillotine, "Crossfire" came up with the worst show in its 23-year history
posted by Postroad
on Jan 15, 2005 -
44 comments
Trio close to being cancelled. They are one of the few good cable nets. They showed
Pink Lady and Jeff fer goodness sakes. Link to how to complain
here. As the poster sez: "Isn't the point of paying for hundreds of different channels to not have them be all the same?"
Caveat: I killed my tv in March and have never been happier.
posted by alfredogarcia
on Jan 3, 2005 -
39 comments
Peep Show. Ah, now that's lurid-sounding. What it is, however, is a comedy from BBC that's way, way funnier than
The Office. Reviewers
chatter about the Herman's Head-like gimmick -- you hear the characters' thoughts -- but the better gimmick? Excellent writing.
posted by mimi
on Nov 22, 2004 -
26 comments
TrunkMonkey. Because sometimes, just getting your car back isn't enough. (Flash with embedded movies)
posted by qDot
on Mar 27, 2004 -
14 comments
From the
Liberation Journal, Gregory Flanagan's "Libercratic"
[?] Website:
Misogyny on TV; Feminazi Propaganda:
Portrayals of amazon freaks denigrate and pervert females, attack feminine identity and incite in men a lust for sexual violence...
#4. Charlie's Angels (80s) ... Among the many barbaric and obscene shows, one featured women playing tackle football.
#18. Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (90s) ... the idiotic vampires are just the excuse--their real enemy is femininity.
#25. Xena: Warrior Princess (90s) ... Extreme, obscene violence that provokes in men an overwhelming, obsessive lust to rape and slaughter these bitches.
See also:
Misogyny in the Movies, etc etc.
They're
out there, folks. This man needs his ass kicked by a "girly girl" martial artist. Or maybe that's secretly what he wants?
(Site hosted and LOTSA POPUPS by directNIC.com. For shame, dierctNIC!)
posted by Shane
on Feb 26, 2004 -
18 comments
OK, remakes. While channel surfing tonight I noticed that there is a new miniseries on the box called
Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital starting soon, on a channel near you. No doubt it will go the way of other King TV Greats, as the trailer suggests (Ed Begley Jr. in another hospital role). I am more interested in the way that it is being marketed - with the explicit "Stephen King" moniker. Similar to other less than stellar US remakes of European originals, (
Point of No Return /
Nikita, the weird case of
Spoorloos /
The Vanishing(same director for both), I could go on). Given the explicit reference in the title to King, do you think that people will seek out the original? Can you think of instances where the remake outdoes the original?
posted by grimley
on Feb 25, 2004 -
24 comments
Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol. Gap-toothed and described by judges as "with the looks of a hobbit," the Norwegian plumber with the voice of an angel proves that there's hope for all of us to become popstars. True talent triumphs!
posted by dagny
on Jan 1, 2004 -
20 comments
Is this the most non-PC
TV show ever? As we become more and more desensitised to humour that makes fun of those less fortunate than ourselves, where do we draw the line?
posted by dg
on Feb 2, 2003 -
18 comments
One-in, one-out: the nominations. "Who should be granted honorary British citizenship and who should have it revoked?" The BBC's Today programme has its annual poll and this year, it claims, is a little different. Various celebrities, politicians etc will be giving their opinions and the result will be announced on New Year's Day. Who will you be voting for?
posted by Kiell
on Dec 18, 2002 -
6 comments
The toughest Chelonia to every grace the media. Come on. Everyone had to love them at some point, with their pizzas and funny weapons.
This page has some interesting sketch art.
This one includes the complete cast of the cartoon and movies, with links to their career since said roles.
This site, my favorite, has the entire "Coming out of our Shells" tape for download. Remember the classic, Cowabunga?
posted by lazaruslong
on Dec 12, 2002 -
10 comments
The West Wing debunker. I have grown to hate this show even though I agree with its politics. The show occasionally brings up interesting topics but it is so goddamned sanctimonious. I worry that people think this is how our executive branch works. I hope this isn't a double post.
posted by McBain
on Oct 18, 2002 -
46 comments
International Olympic Committee Racist? A whole group of people have been banned from ever participating in the Olympics just because of their genes!
That's right, the entire
Nietzschean race has been banned for so called "cell doping". Yes, banned just because they are different. Just because they're "not human" and "unnatural".
They are even trying to figure out how to eliminate the
Nietzschean race by doing labratory tests on
human subjects!
A spokesman even said, "New medical technologies may pose new challenges in the fight against doping but we, together with the scientific and medical communities, are ready to meet those challenges." Remember, doping is just their word for a cutural practice they think is wrong! How can one culture judge another in such a biased manner?
Are you going to let this genocide happen to an entire race? Write a letter to your congressman, member of parliament or other representative demanding that your country withdraw from the Olympics!
posted by nyxxxx
on Oct 2, 2002 -
26 comments
The solemn, the dignified, the high-profile marketing. On September 11th, the national anthem will be sung on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. By the recent winner of Fox's
American Idol. Days before the release of her new album. Two weeks before the winner's next, though obviously equally significant, "
American Idol in Las Vegas" show.
You will also note that this was reported before last night's finale. Meaning, this important symbolic event was arranged without even knowing who the winner was. In other words, Kelly Clarkson is not signing the National Anthem on September 11. "The Winner of Fox's
American Idol" is.
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Sep 5, 2002 -
36 comments
Beverly Hillbillies, Redux! No... not a new movie, but a reality series under development by the shiny and shimmering
Tiffany Network. CBS scouts are scouring for a "rural, rustically telegenic" family to be whisked to a brand new home in Beverly Hills, and have a life of luxury bestowed upon them for a period of a year... cameras following them all the way. Crass exploitation of the poor when the gap between rich and poor gets larger and larger? Fun idea to see what happens when someone's dreams come true? Somewhere in the middle? What do people think?
posted by tittergrrl
on Aug 28, 2002 -
33 comments
Survive This! Last week the Los Angeles
New Times reported that NBC had signed teenage kidnap/rape victims Tamara Brooks and Jackie Marris to
star in a midseason replacement "reality show", to be entitled "Survive This!"
After the initial jaw-drops of this revelation and alleged quotes from therapists and sex crime experts that "NBC may actually be doing the teens a service by exposing them to worldwide publicity", further along in the article we get this description of what the show will entail:
'Survive This!' contestants will be briefed by the girls before they are helicoptered to a remote, secret location. If things go according to plan, NBC will have placed several paroled repeat sex offenders in various locations miles from the drop zone. The contestants will have 48 hours to find safety at a remote building made to resemble a rural sheriff's station.
People were outraged. Protests were planned. There was just one catch.
The author of the article made up the whole thing.
One wonders how this ever got past the editors.
posted by chuq
on Aug 22, 2002 -
26 comments
Nickelodeon is airing a special tonight on families that have same-sex parents. The concern of some is that this show: "proves that this network has been co-opted by homosexual activists who are targeting children. Sodomy is not a family value. Nickelodeon has now lost the trust of parents."
My issue with it is that it appears that they are not publicizing the fact that they are showing this to the parents to allow them to decide if their children should watch it or not... I couldn't find anything on their website, except the
listing in the schedule for "Nick News Special Edition" (MORE INSIDE)
posted by darian
on Jun 18, 2002 -
67 comments
It looks like that the British network
einstein.tv and the
FIDE may open negotiations this month for a reunified world chess championship. The championship was split in 1993 when Garry Kasparov left the FIDE to start his own failed league. Kasparov claims the world championship left with him, while the FIDE claims he abdicated by refusing to play nice with others. Kasparov lost the championship last year to Kramnik. Einstein.TV is
milking the publicity while the FIDE says
we are meeting but no comment. Wood pushers like me are probably better off leaving the politics to the people who can't stand each other and sticking to the
internet chessclub, the
free chess servers or simply
email chess.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Apr 30, 2002 -
2 comments
Terminal Error was the schlock movie of the week tonight on the Pax network... featuring an intelligent virus spread by - wait for it - MP3 Files. How much do you suppose the RIAA pay for that gem?
posted by Maxor
on Apr 26, 2002 -
24 comments
Enter ... The Tickler! A page documenting all the villians that Spider-Man faced on that classic Tv Show
The Electric Company. Among them "The Mouse: A happy-go-lucky man until an errant associate at McDonald's forgets to put cheese on a specially-ordered Big Mac.He dons a mouse costume and becomes a glutton for cheese."
posted by Shadowkeeper
on Apr 19, 2002 -
13 comments
Ally McBeal cancelled. There was a time when we cared, I think. If you feel otherwise then go ahead and scream in the comments but personally, I'll never forgive the show (I used to love it) for subjecting me to Sting and Vonda Shepherd adult-contemporizing "Every Breath You Take"...
posted by logovisual
on Apr 18, 2002 -
24 comments
Right-Wing Bullies Caught in Crossfire "No doubt all of the above qualities irritate the conservatives who follow party instructions to shun Crossfire. What has shocked them is that the new hosts don’t quite fit TV’s stereotypical 97-pound liberal, ready to be worked over like a talking speedbag. Mr. Carville is a tall, rangy Marine veteran, sports fanatic and jock; Mr. Begala is a born-and-bred Texan who grew up with guns and still likes to hunt. Both have expressed their powerful distaste for the Democratic tendency to wilt under attack."
posted by owillis
on Apr 14, 2002 -
46 comments
Another trip into TV Hell. In the UK we're much kinder to bad television -- shows will go on for weeks without an audience and often get comissioned for second series before someone releases they're awful (yes you 'Let Them Eat Cake' -- if that French and Saunder monstrosity had been on UStv it would have been cancelled after two episodes -- if it had been comissioned at all). 'Off The Telly' considers all the things prospective television producers need to avoid if they're going to create something they're proud of. Does anyone else have any bad examples?
posted by feelinglistless
on Apr 4, 2002 -
18 comments
Web/TV, apparently The CBC gives the Web/TV interface another go with
Zed. Instead of collateral materials from a TV show posted on the Web (a begrudging old-media conceit), you post on the Web and it’s all voted onto a TV show. Details skimpy at present, but quite possibly viable.
posted by joeclark
on Mar 12, 2002 -
0 comments
Court of Appeals Rules That the Media Belongs to Those Who Can Buy It: Today, the CoA has just declared that the 35 percent ownership cap (applicable to broadcasters who reach more than 35% of the American public) was a prohibition "capricious and contrary to the law," meaning that Viacom and Fox, who were over the limit, are now in the clear to monopolize the airwaves. What does this mean for the future of media conglomerates? Discuss the implications.
posted by ed
on Feb 19, 2002 -
13 comments
When Chyrons go very, very, very, very, very, very, very bad. (Or, How To Lose Your Job In Just One Second) Niger Innis is the spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, one of those scary
conservative African-American groups. He's also a regular MSNBC pundit. Well, he was on there the other day talking about Enron, and whoever was in charge of plugging the names into the rundown that hour was a little sloppy with his or her typing and ... well, just click on the link.
posted by aaron
on Feb 6, 2002 -
68 comments
