Topic: TV

Mad Women: 'I Want to Be a Grownup'

AMC

Things are definitely percolating in the season's penultimate episode: Megan and Don have grown dangerously far apart, Pete has discovered Bob Benson's secret, and Sally has certainly not gotten over seeing her father have sex with Sylvia.

By Jen Doll

Jun 10, 2013

Mad Women: 'I'm Not Your Boyfriend'

"Favors," last night's episode, falls in the same naming vein as the previous week's "A Tale of Two Cities," in which the allusions are evident from the start. Can people do things for other people without expectations in return? What's in a favor, anyway? (Plenty.)

Comments | 2,835 Views

By Jen Doll

May 27, 2013

Mad Women: 'There's a Right and a Wrong'

Last night's Mad Men, an episode titled "The Better Half," was all about couples and family — who you choose to be with, who you choose not to be with, who you decide not to choose, and of course, how all those choices impact you and beyond.

Comments | 2,953 Views

By Jen Doll

May 20, 2013

Mad Women: 'Because You Know What He Needs'

Well, last night's Mad Men — the eighth episode this season, titled "The Crash" — was interesting to say the least. Some people loved it, others hated it, and it left a lot of us a bit befuddled (much like Ted Chaough in the photo above).

Comments | 27,864 Views

By Jen Doll

May 13, 2013

Mad Women: 'I Need You and Nothing Else Will Do'

Last night's Mad Men could be called an escalation episode. SCDP and CGC are in the process of merging, and things are closing in and constricting, even while the agency is expanding. Oh, and there are power struggles!

Comments | 3,694 Views

By Jen Doll

May 6, 2013

Mad Women: 'I Don't Like Change'

Last night's Mad Men is being called the comeback episode. There was Joan calling out the Don Draper-man's world, Megan's mother Marie giving sex tips and drinking straight from a bottle of wine, and Peggy fantasizing about her boss. Oh, and a twist, too.

Comments | 4,018 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 29, 2013

Mad Women: 'It Feels Like Your Heart Is Going to Explode'

Last night's episode of Mad Men, "The Flood," brought our characters to a pivotal date in history: April 4, 1968, the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Comments | 2,161 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 28, 2013

After Months of Hunting, HuffPost Finally Found a TV Network to Give It Airtime

The Huffington Post is teaming up with Mark Cuban to take its newish, money-losing video channel, HuffPost Live, from the laptop screen to the television screen.

Comments | 1,963 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 22, 2013

Mad Women: 'Nothing Better Than Being Known for Your Loyalty'

Last night's episode of Mad Men was called "To Have and to Hold," and like last week, it was as soapy as the name would have you think.

Comments | 1,746 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 10, 2013

TV Networks Will Say Anything to Keep You Paying for TV

Two of the major broadcast networks are now threatening to remove their stations from the free airwaves if a little start-up called Aereo succeeds, with CBS joining Fox (and the NBCUniversal network Univision) in their pledges to go cable. But should anyone believe them?

Comments | 1,104 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 9, 2013

The Blockbuster CBS Ratings for March Madness Are Bad for Your Cable Bill

This year's tournament brought Kevin Ware, that Spike Albrecht kid, and the best television ratings in nearly two decades, which only means CBS and Turner's deal was totally worth jacking up your cable bill for — and might be once again.

Comments | 1,836 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 8, 2013

Mad Women: 'You're Good in a Crisis'

Mad Men is back, and the season premiere did not disappoint. As for the women, as Don and Roger flail, Peggy and Megan — and maybe even Betty — have changed, with professional successes for the former, and at least a hint of happiness for the latter.

Comments | 3,780 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 21, 2013

Slaughterhouse 90210: At the Heights of High-Low

Slaughterhouse 90210 is that Tumblr you may have heard of, created and run by Maris Kreizman, who, four years ago, came up with the high-low brilliance of offering daily screengrabs from popular TV shows paired with literary quotes.

Comments | 1,904 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 18, 2013

Plot Twists

A Wishlist for Season Three of 'Girls'

Goodnight, bittersweet season two of HBO's Girls. You gave us a lot to think about. And now, hope springs new again, because season three could really bring anything. 

Comments | 1,552 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 18, 2013

'Girls' Season Two Finale: Together ... Forever?

Last night brought us the season two finale of Girls, an episode with the unusually rom-com-esque title, "Together." It's been an interesting ride this season, full of discomfort and displeasure, cringing and awkwardness for characters and viewers alike, and this 30-minute season ender was no exception.

Comments | 2,931 Views

By Jen Doll

Mar 11, 2013

'Girls': When the Watching Is Painful

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Sunday's episode of Girls was about pain. Physical, mental, and emotional pain, and all three, together. And most of all, the pain of watching people in pain.

Comments | 4,046 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Feb 12, 2013

Intel's Streaming TV Box Will Offer Its Own New Cable Bundles to Save Us All

The chip-maker has said its Silicon Valley star-studded Intel Media group will build a potentially game-changing set-top box — one that might just end up slashing your cable bill.

Comments | 1,371 Views

By Jen Doll

Feb 11, 2013

'Girls': Weird, but Not Bad Weird

Who hasn't wanted to say forget it to the toils and troubles of daily life and instead move into a castle, or brownstone, with a handsome older person who can take care of us and maybe even save our lives?

Comments | 4,200 Views

By Jen Doll

Feb 4, 2013

'Girls': Growing Up Is Hard to Do

After the complicated emotions last week's Girls inspired, episode four, "It's a Shame About Ray" — hark, a Lemonheads reference! — went a long way toward redeeming and refocusing the show.

Comments | 1,633 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 31, 2013

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Is a Surprisingly Astute TV Critic

It seems like everyone has an opinion on Lena Dunham and Girls, so it wasn't a terrible surprise to see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar post a thoughtful critique of the show on The Huffington Post. Oh wait, yes it was.

Comments | 4,714 Views

By Jen Doll

Jan 21, 2013

'Girls': What You Do With What You've Got

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.

Comments | 5,173 Views

By Jen Doll

Jan 14, 2013

'Girls' Season Two: Different But the Same

On a night in which the HBO show won two Golden Globes — Best Television Series and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Lena Dunham — Girls was back with a season premiere. What happened?

Comments | 2,241 Views

By Jen Doll and Richard Lawson

Oct 2, 2012

What Your Favorite TV Bar Says About You

Cheers, that bar we all know and love—those of us old enough to have experienced it on the teevee, and those of us young enough to consider it nostalgic now that we're 21—has turned 30. In honor of this anniversary, we've taken a look at a few of our other favorite TV bars in hopes of learning more about, of course, ourselves.

Comments | 3,372 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Sep 23, 2012

Meet the Winners of This Year's Emmys

Without the star power of the Oscars and the energetic musical interludes of the Grammys, the Emmys sometimes seem like the red-headed stepchild of the awards ceremonies.

Comments | 2,309 Views

By Jen Doll and Richard Lawson

Aug 31, 2012

The TV Couples Who Should Have Lasted Forever

Yesterday brought us a rumor (via The New York Post) that Beverly Hills 90210's Kelly and Dylan, or Jennie Garth and Luke Perry, might actually be an item IRL. We can dream! While we're dreaming, we're going to dream big. Here are the other TV couples we want to see to forever and ever, onscreen or off.

Comments | 19,702 Views

By Jen Doll and Richard Lawson

Jul 31, 2012

Cocktail Crossfire

Cocktail Crossfire: Do Olympics Spoilers Ruin Everything?

Everyone is complaining about Olympics spoilers. But are they really that bad? We discuss. 

Comments | 1,823 Views

By David Wagner

Jul 16, 2012

Today in Research

People Aren't Following Doctor's Orders; Scandinavia Has Fewer Women Professors

Discovered: Young kids who binge on TV don't become athletes; there's a gender gap in Scandinavian universities; to live longer, eat less; people aren't following their prescriptions. 

Comments | 408 Views

By David Wagner

Jul 11, 2012

Comment of the Day

'If the Project Is Done, I Was Working'

Jen Doll's piece on bosses getting wise to employees who "work" from home stirred up some debate today. One commenter pointed out that it isn't all that hard to hold people accountable for work done off-site.

Comments | 500 Views

By Jen Doll

Jun 19, 2012

'Miss Advised' and the Inherent Sexism of the Dating Show

Can a dating show treat women fairly without belittling them or resorting to stereotypes? I'd like to see it.

Comments | 7,390 Views

By Jen Doll

Jun 18, 2012

What We Learned from the First Season of 'Girls'

Girls may be the one show that we, as a collective TV-watching presence, have had the most to say about this season. It's left a mark. 

Comments | 5,368 Views

By Jen Doll

May 29, 2012

Mad Women: 'She Comes and Goes as She Pleases'

Sunday night's episode of Mad Men was a culmination of themes that have been percolating all season—and quite possibly, the best episode thus far of season five.

Comments | 7,223 Views

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 | 5,378 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 | 3,104 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 | 2,510 Views

By Jen Doll and Richard Lawson

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 | 4,197 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 | 418 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 | 2,938 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 | 4,743 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 | 3,966 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 | 1,534 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 | 3,798 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 | 2,663 Views

By Jen Doll and Rebecca Greenfield

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 | 7,585 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 | 2,586 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 | 7,125 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 | 4,468 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

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