Catching up with Liz Garbus, director of Bobby Fischer Against the World
Liz Garbus is one of the most pre-eminent documentary filmmakers of the day. Her best-known film may be the prison documentary The Farm: Angola, USA, which won the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. But more recently she collaborated with Rory Kennedy on Street Fight, which was also Oscar-nominated, and she produced the Emmy-winning Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. Her new picture is a fascinating work about a fascinating man. Bobby Fischer Against the World just kicked off HBO’s Documentary Films Summer Series, which will feature a second Garbus offering in July. She joined us to talk... read more
Adult Swim Offers Free Downloads from Mastadon, Best Coast, and Others
Adult Swim is teaming up with Kia again this year for the Adult Swim Singles Program, which gives out a new download every week from a diverse selection of artists. Songs on this year’s line up range anywhere from the bonecrushing metal of Mastodon to the mellow folk of the Tallest Man on Earth.... read more
Michael Cera To Appear On The Simpsons
Soft-spoken superstar Michael Cera will reportedly appear on an episode of The Simpsons entitled “The Daughter Also Rises,” which is set to air next season.... read more
Parks & Rec Star Nick Offerman Grows A Beard For The Environment
Nick Offerman, the resident mustache aficionado of Parks and Recreation, is growing out his beard this week and encouraging other men to do the same. The reason? Getting scruffy saves the planet.... read more
Jon Hamm to Direct Mad Men Premiere
Looks like the dashing Don Draper is making a bit of a career move.... read more
Modern Family Review: "The One That Got Away" (Episode 2.24)
Reviewing most sitcoms poses challenges for writers. At some point in analyzing a show, we discover the “formula” and pick up the patterns as the weeks progress. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule—especially with the cracked-out episodes we’ve caught from NBC’s Community this season—but unfortunately, with last night’s season two finale of Modern Family, it fell more into the rule category than the exceptional one.... read more
Christopher Meloni Says Farewell To SVU
After 12 seasons of fighting sexual deviants, the Emmy-nominated Christopher Meloni is leaving the Special Victims Unit.... read more
Saturday Night Live Review: "Justin Timberlake/Lady Gaga"
Recapping Saturday Night Live is a bit like reviewing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Both throw familiar characters on display with little subtlety or surprise, with the occasional musical number tossed in. They’re long-running institutions locked in routine that end with celebratory waving. That works for a once-a-year holiday parade for kids, but rigid repetition isn’t the best way to do comedy.... read more
Friday Night Lights Review: "Swerve" (Episode 5.06)
Well, I’ll be honest. Up until the last 10 minutes of this episode (and still, even then), things were looking bleak in our favorite Texas town. Halfway through our final Friday Night Lights season, everyone — everyone — in Dillon is in trouble.... read more
Parks and Recreation Review: "The Bubble/Li'l Sebastian" (Episode 3.15)
After a short and shaky first season, Parks and Recreation has established itself as an all-time classic sitcom over the last two years, and for one simple reason: character. Its ensemble of excellently realized characters is as deep as Newsradio’s and Arrested Development’s, with crucial contributions from every regular and too many minor recurring characters to list here. This cast is about as close to perfect as you’ll find on TV, and hopefully they’ll be working together for years to come.... read more
Modern Family Review: "See You Next Fall" (Episode 2.23)
Last night’s Modern Family episode focused around one word: insecurity. As Alex prepares her valedictory graduation speech from junior high school—that kiddie pool of self-loathing and self-doubt—the rest of the Dunphys and Pritchetts are tapping into their own insecurities as they prepare for the ceremony.... read more
Watch Iron & Wine Perform on Leno
Sam Beam stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night to perform a track off of Kiss Each Other Clean.... read more
CBS Announces 2011-2012 Primetime Schedule
CBS has unveiled its primetime schedule for the 2011-2012 season. A few new shows will emerge, but most of the changes involve shuffling around established programs.... read more
Snoop Dogg Proposes "Hood" Version of X Factor
Snoop Dogg is hoping to develop a television show to find “America’s hottest hood artists.”... read more
Watch Death Cab for Cutie Perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Death Cab for Cutie visited Jimmy Fallon last night, performing “You Are a Tourist” on the late-night show.... read more
Seth MacFarlane Bringing The Flintstones to Fox
Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show has plans to revive the classic prehistoric cartoon The Flintstones. The updated cartoon is set to hit Fox in 2013.... read more
NBC Announces 12 New Scripted Shows
Prime-time television will see some major changes in the 2011-2012 season, as NBC recently announced 12 new scripted shows for the fall.... read more
Friday Night Lights Review: "Kingdom" (Episode 5.05)
If you want to learn how to make incredible television, if you want to understand what art is, if you want to see unparalleled acting and writing and music, and if you want to create something that will leave viewers so riveted they’ll be crying at the episode’s end without even realizing they’re crying, then watch this episode of Friday Night Lights.... read more
Community Review: "For a Few Paintballs More" (2.24)
Most television shows aren’t hits, and when they’re not that means very little certainty that they’ll be around for another year. Especially in the last few years decisions over what will return have really come to down to the wire, such that while the current season is right now winding down we’re still getting announcements about which shows have and have not been given another order. So when the final episode of Community was being written, it seems unlikely they knew that on March 17 the show would be picked up again—less than two months ago our little-watched show (relatively... read more
Ashton Kutcher Replaces Charlie Sheen on Two And A Half Men
The long-awaited replacement for Charlie Sheen on CBS’s hit show Two And A Half Men has finally been revealed: Ashton Kutcher.... read more
