TV - The Atlantic Wire

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Topic: TV

Dramatic Rescues Make It a Good Week for Waterfall News

Niagara Falls emergency officials rescue a man who plunged over Niagara Falls and survived in an apparent suicide attempt, Monday, May 21, 2012. The man is only the third person known to have gone over without a safety device and live.

Given that we have not one, but two incredible rescue stories and another feat of derring-do in the works, it's clear that waterfalls are very hot right now.

By Jen Doll

May 21, 2012

Reflections from 20 Years of 'The Real World'

Remember The Real World? It first came out 20 years ago, on this very day back in 1992.

Comments | 3,879 Views

By Jen Doll

May 21, 2012

Mad Women: 'It's the Same Place Everywhere I Go'

You can't change your life until you change who you are.

Comments | 2,434 Views

By Jen Doll

May 14, 2012

Mad Women: Unhappy Thanksgiving

The title of Sunday night's Mad Men was "Dark Shadows," but let's call it by its more colloquial name. This episode was about that darkest of dysfunctional family holidays, the one with the turkey.

Comments | 1,949 Views

By Richard Lawson and Jen Doll

May 11, 2012

Plot Twists

Alternate 'Mad Men' Plots We're Rooting For

It has come to our attention that some people are getting bored with this season's Mad Men. Everyone's a critic, right? But it's in our power to make television whatever we want it to be. Here's our bids for some new directions.

Comments | 3,347 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

May 11, 2012

How Some 21st Century Shows Are Better at 21st Century Tech

When The Atlantic Wire took a look at shows we thought portrayed 21st Century tech in a very 21st Century manner, we explained the phenomenon in terms of literary value and practicality, but there's another factor at play here: Advertising.

Comments | 228 Views

By Richard Lawson

May 9, 2012

Inoffensive Gay People on TV Continue to Not Offend

In his much-noted Meet the Press appearance Joe Biden praised Will & Grace for furthering the gay rights cause and NBC has picked up a show about gay men having a baby called The New Normal, so that means it's time for some sort of glancing trend piece about how gay people are on TV now and no one's fussing about it and isn't progress wonderful. Sigh.

Comments | 2,708 Views

By Jen Doll

May 7, 2012

Mad Women: 'Why Do They Get to Decide What's Going to Happen?'

Women are not simply happy because they're being provided for in this post-Betty Mad Men world. They want more, and more is varied, complicated, individual, and sometimes problematic.

Comments | 2,507 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 30, 2012

Mad Women: Daddies and Their Little Girls

Sunday's episode of Mad Men ended with three generations of characters in various states of abject despair, sitting at a table at a fancy dinner.

Comments | 3,543 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 23, 2012

Yet Another Take on 'Girls: Other Species Have Female Friendships, Too

Lena Dunham's new HBO series Girls has inspired conversations, backlash, hate, and love, but mostly it's inspired a ton of writing.

Comments | 1,521 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 23, 2012

Mad Women: Struggles for Power and Female Wrath

Sunday's Mad Men brought us three main plot lines. They all had to do with angry women.

Comments | 3,103 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 20, 2012

Recapping the Long First Week of 'Girls'

It's been a pretty dramatic week for HBO's Girls. How do you keep up? Here's a recap of what went down to help you prepare for episode 2.

Comments | 1,597 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield and Jen Doll

Apr 16, 2012

Debating HBO's 'Girls': It Gets Worse, It Gets Better

Lena Dunham's Girls debuted last night to much hype and a not inconsequential aftermath: We're still talking about it, aren't we? Two "girls" of The Atlantic Wire of varying ages watched, and we had feelings.

Comments | 3,239 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 16, 2012

Mad Women: Horrors of Domesticity and the Return of Pete Campbell

Sunday's Mad Men brought us a return of the Pete Campbell we all know and used to despise. And it was somewhat beauteous, in a horrors-of-domesticity sort of way.

Comments | 1,901 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 2, 2012

Mad Men's Women: Fat Betty Francis, Competition for Peggy

The second installment in Mad Men's fifth season aired Sunday night, and while it was only an hour compared to the premiere's two (and, alas, there was no Zou Bisou Bisou), many of the themes set up in the first episode carried through, including a focus on female-driven plots. But there were some surprises too!

Comments | 6,453 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Mar 27, 2012

Nobody Wants to Talk to Their TV

Apple's big TV plans maybe might include Siri integration, but a recent survey suggests that bot-controlled television is not something people would want or use.

Comments | 1,370 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 26, 2012

The Angry Women of 'Mad Men'

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.

Comments | 3,473 Views

By Ray Gustini

Mar 7, 2012

What the Tweet?

Dark Blobs, Porch Season, and the Ghost of Lehmann Brothers

After a day of staring at Twitter, we're sharing our favorite tweets that made no sense

Comments | 137 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 6, 2012

'Jeopardy!' Win Behind Him, Watson Seeks Billions on Wall Street

What's next for Watson, the most famous Jeopardy! contestant in recent years? A job on Wall Street, of course. His first client is Citigroup, for which he will analyze customer needs and process data.

Comments | 1,062 Views

By Jen Doll

Feb 7, 2012

Presenting the Best of the Altered 'Mad Men' Subway Posters

Do you love Mad Men like we love Mad Men? Have you been waiting so long for the show to begin its fifth season that you barely even remember where we left off?

Comments | 2,909 Views

By Ray Gustini

Jan 25, 2012