Longtime readers of this blog (I used to joke there were two of you, but I think both of them stopped reading a long time ago), may recall I got a little obsessed during the latter part of the run of Lost with the challenges of sequential narrative, which is also sometimes referred to as [...]
LOST: One Year Later
It was one year ago this week that the series finale of Lost aired. This was a big deal. Lost was a show that was epic in scale, that used a huge cast to tell a huge story spread out over six years. Some people think we’ll never see that kind of show again, due [...]
Don’t worry; he’s one of the good ones.
You’re probably already aware that this year marks the beginning of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary. Americans are going to be hearing a lot about this over the next four years. The Civil War, the Antebellum South, the Reconstruction Era, and the continuing struggle with the legacy of the Confederacy continue to reverberate through popular [...]
The Height of Arrogance: “You’re Liking That Show Wrong”
The television landscape today often seems divided into camps. “Smart” shows versus “dumb” shows. Shows for the common folk versus shows for those “in the know.” Quantity versus quality. In the Seventies, intellectuals would sometimes proclaim, “I don’t watch television. Oh, I sometimes watch PBS…” Today, those people sound out of it. Things like symphonies [...]
Forever to Behold: Access to Pop Culture in the Digital Age
As I mentioned last time, I am finally delivering a long-promised post on the topic of the future availability of content. I’ll acknowledge up front that I am likely a voice crying in the wilderness. Most people like to consume mainstream content. They like movies with big names, they want music from the pop charts, [...]
“…the great masses of the plain people.”
My previous post, on whether TV is (or is not) better than movies, touched a little on the issue of true popularity. To be specific: What’s the difference between mass entertainment and niche entertainment? I don’t want to relitigate this, so much as go back and point out a few elements and highlight some previous [...]
Movies & TV = Apples & Oranges
Via Twitter, Jaime Weinman pointed to Noel Murray’s article over at the Onion AV Club: “Movies Vs. Television: The Tide Shifts Back.” In it, Murray addresses the claims (made over the past couple decades) that television has become better than the movies. I think there is a lot of ambiguity to this claim. Murray notes [...]
As Olbermann moves to his future, a look back at his cable news past
Now that Keith Olbermann’s show Countdown has ended and his new gig has been announced, it’s probably worth taking a step back and reviewing just what he accomplished. I should first note that I never watched any of Olbermann’s stints in the sports world – whether at KTLA and KCBS in the Eighties, at ESPN, [...]
Twirling That “Umbrella”
Last night’s Glee kind of annoyed me. The show’s been very hit-and-miss all along, but especially so this season. The one thing they’ve usually gotten right is the music performances. So it was distressing to see them do “Make ‘em Laugh” from Singin’ in the Rain and “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago, more or less [...]
The Strong Female Roles Are on TV
A few weeks ago, Kyra Sedgwick won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work in The Closer (She had also been nominated four previous times). I like the show a lot, but thought that the last season was the weakest so far. Thankfully, the current season is much better. (Last season’s big [...]