Lena Dunham and company are far too skilled to simply deliver something that lands right on the nose, as nuanced as an after-school special. Right? Somewhere between parody and reality there is Girls.
What are we really doing when we're sitting in front of the TV laughing at yet another smackdown between the Real Housewives of Wherever? Sometimes it's simple, sometimes it's more complicated, and the truth of the matter is, it probably varies for each of us. We look at 10 shows.
As the New York Times public editor looks back on Pete Wells, Guy Fieri, and "exuberant pans," we've come to see that negative reviews are now just way more meta, and way more democratic, than ever.
If there is a magic to creating a successful TV show, NPR claims to have sort of maybe found it. Linda Holmes writes, as inspired by the premieres of two of the new fall shows tonight—Mob Doctor and Revolution—that just 25 words hold the key to all the TV we will see in the next 10 years.
In the world of digital publishing, there's a question as old as Internet time: If you give away content for free, are you devaluing an entire industry? Of at least one example, writers and editors say, firmly, no.
The women of Mad Men have never been shrinking violets wary of showing their displeasure or, for that matter, their sexuality, but in this fifth season there seems to be a ratcheting up of both the stakes and the terms.
Are you thinking of jumping into the fray of live-tweeting an event, but not sure what to do, how it all works, or where to begin? Take note: An epic evening of live-tweeting is just days away.
Also, in movie news: DiCaprio and Scorsese can't stop making movies together
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy gets itself into a fight over racism
The Glee actress is in demand
And also talks about his favorite movie: 'Network'
Another leaked tidbit arriving from HBO's 'Game Change'
In V magazine, the pop starlet name-drops, lectures, and muses about Yves Saint Laurent
The 'most hipster' state is also one of the most bike-friendly, literate and tolerant
Like Amazon's Cloud Drive, Google's Music Beta comes without record labels' blessing
The site moves more aggressively to take on iTunes and Netflix
MTV CEO Judy McGrath quits the day after 'Electric Barbarellas' debuts
Also: The 'South Park' creators get their Broadway due; Will Ferrell shaves Conan
Jose Duarte makes infographics with balloons, string, chalk and construction paper
She'll play the Vice President in a new political comedy
A recap of the three-day desert festival we didn't go to either
The Ayn Rand adaptation's chances of glory aren't looking great
The comedian's latest venture, Comedy Central's "Sports Show," debuted last night
On the ideology of a shutdown, Kabbalah's pop appeal, and Bob Dylan in China
Although we're pretty sure the show peaked in Season Two
People who make television are still fighting about the 'Lost' finale
But that didn't stop the local Colorado media from trying to make it happen
Billboard charting songs, by one measure, are displaying a little more ego-centrism
The actress lashed out over some personal questions
She gets her own column in V magazine. Will she succeed where others have failed?
A decade of bold pronouncements are under renewed scrutiny
The band is actually distributing a free newspaper called 'Universal Sigh'
On regulating nuclear power, NPR's bias, and the limits of airpower in Libya
Thing things to read and watch as the Star Trek commander celebrates
Perhaps he wishes for a super power to control the questions people ask him?
Movies theaters are nice places to visit, but not to invest in
The studio pulls the plug on the Beatles adaptation after 'Mars Needs Moms' bombs
A look at reviews after an "in progress" screening at the Austin film festival
Well this would be an interesting pairing
One woman sold her spot in line at the iPad release for $900
A preview of what you're about to be offered from 12-2 am
Warner Bros. offers a Dark Knight rental as a digital experiment
The NBC star takes to The New Yorker to dole out a few lessons
Expectations are high for Kristin Wiig's movie
And The Ivy League: The New York Times' favorite subject
The party reports are in--hide your finger food!
Or, how a profane fake Rahm Emanuel Twitter feed can unite the world
Get the old experience while you still can! PG-13 is coming soon to a theatre near you
'Born this Way' premieres with unicorns, dance troupes, zombies, aliens
Did the Academy snub David Fincher's geek manifesto?
Critics assail last night's ceremony
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