Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Television

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. (sitting) with the chef Mario Batali.
Joseph Sinnott/Wnet.org

Henry Louis Gates Jr. (sitting) with the chef Mario Batali.

Television Review

Genealogy for a Nation of Immigrants

“Faces of America,” beginning on Wednesday on PBS, is a four-part series, hosted by the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.. that traces the family roots of celebrities.

Degeneres in, Leno Out

The introduction of Ellen DeGeneres as a judge on Fox’s “American Idol” gave the competition a slight ratings bump.

Video Game Review

You Read It in Class; Now You Can Play It on Your Console

Dante’s Inferno, the video game, is more reminiscent of the God of War games than it is of the “Divine Comedy,” the epic poem that inspired it.

TV Sports

Super Bowl Dethrones ‘M*A*S*H’ as Most-Watched Show in U.S. History

Sunday’s Super Bowl eclipsed the final episode of “M*A*S*H” to become the most watched television show in U.S. history.

Television Review

Reincarnated, and Now the Detective Work Begins

“Past Life,” a Fox series that makes its debut on Tuesday night, is the latest drama to feature an empathetic heroine talking to the dead to help them with their unfinished business.

Ian Carmichael, Comic British Actor, Dies at 89

Mr. Carmichael was a debonair actor who made a specialty of playing an oblivious twit on television and then a lovable goofball in British films.

Frank Magid, Creator of ‘Action News,’ Dies at 78

Mr. Magid was a marketing consultant who was widely credited with standardizing the face of local television news.

Television Review

Up in the Air, With Frayed Safety Nets

“Flying Cheap,” Tuesday’s “Frontline” on PBS, revisits the February 2009 crash of a commuter flight outside Buffalo and surveys problems within the regional airline system.

New ‘Hawaii Five-O’ Makes First Booking

While his “Lost” co-stars prepare to pack up and leave Hawaii, Daniel Dae Kim, can plan to remain there for at least a few more months.

Television Review | 'Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City'

Transit-Plan Prescription for Disappearing Detroit

The new installment of PBS’s “Blueprint America” project is about plans to revitalize Detroit by reviving its public transportation system.

TV Sports

A City Rejoices, but the Focus Is Elsewhere

The final act of CBS’s Super Bowl broadcast Sunday night prompted the question: How prepared was the network for a New Orleans victory?

A Road to Redemption (Hint: Be Polite)

“How to Make It,” an HBO series about young fashion world entrepreneurs that has its debut next Sunday, is the latest step in Rob Weiss’s return from Hollywood exile.

Manhattan, as Seen From Hollywood

With the new season of “24,” which is set in New York, Hollywood is again redrawing the map of the city.

The Medium

Axels of Evil

The morbid attraction of figure-skating crash videos.

Television Review

He’s Good at Pushing Paper, but Can He Pick Up Trash?

“Undercover Boss,” a CBS reality show that turns the tables on management, seems tailor-made for the times but it paints too rosy a picture of white-collar benevolence.

In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults Fox News

This week on “The O’Reilly Factor,” the comedian delivered one of the most sustained criticisms of the cable channel ever heard on one of its programs.

Television Review

Peering Into a Mind That’s ‘Different, but Not Less’

The HBO movie “Temple Grandin” is a made-for-television biopic that avoids the mawkish clichés of the genre without draining the narrative of color and feeling.

Special Coverage
ARTSBEAT BLOG
‘American Idol’: Season 9

From the auditions to the finals, the latest news and reviews of the new season of the Fox singing competition.

TV Highlights

What’s On This Week

A daily updated summary of the week in TV.

The New Season
ArtsBeat Blog

TV Calendar: New Shows in the New Year

A rundown of series that this winter and spring will either begin new seasons or return from lengthy hiatuses.

Multimedia
A Timeline of the ‘Lost’ Universe

Because “Lost,” which began its final season, can get awfully confusing, we've arranged some major events of the show’s first five seasons in chronological order.

Who's Who in 'Lost'

A primer on the key characters in the "Lost" saga.

Spotlight at the Grammys

Beyoncé was the top winner at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards with six prizes, and Taylor Swift won album of the year.

What’s On Tonight

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