If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Is all TV good? Of course not! A lot of TV is crap. But denigrating ALL TV as evil is like burning all books because Snooki is now a best-selling author. That doesn't ruin my opinion of the written word or compel me to post comments like "STOP READING AND START KNITTING."
Maybe what prime time television needs right now isn't a showcase of Muslims being as ultra-American as possible, but a conscientious exploration of why our image of the "All American" is actually a complete fiction.
We kicked off with a supremely awkward group number (what else is new?) in which the final 12 performed Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" with no discernable sense of timing or harmony. Thankfully, some enterprising individual backstage made certain that Lakoda Rayne's microphones were turned down, but there was no disguising how shaky Chris Rene sounded and Rachel Crow pretty much shouted her lines. An inauspicious start, to say the least.
After countless tears, tantrums and dramatic eliminations, we've reached the final performance show of The X Factor. Our top three contestants sang for a 5 million-dollar recording contract and the hearts of the American public -- or approximately 12 million of them, anyway.
Canada is in the danger zone and as taxpayers sustain blows to their paycheques and portfolios and private-sector pensions, the governments in Canada (Alberta excepted) must tighten their belts and slash the pay and benefits of all of their public employees.
History may not be as kind to Bored to Death as it has been to Arrested Development or Party Down, but for it to be forgotten would be a grave injustice.
In my humble opinion, "TV Time" is a crucial tool to re-open the lines of communication and tear down the silos we've built around ourselves. This New Year, make time for "TV Time."
Looking at the hard trends around us, it's clear to me that the real future of television is apps. Have you ever wondered why you can have 500+ cable channels and nothing to watch? It's because you don't have AppTV.
"Dexter" finally put something significant on the table in its Season 6 finale, and not just the Doomsday Killer Travis Marshall. Colin Hank's religious murderer did meet his fate, like so many other 'Dexter' villains before him, but the really pivotal development of the finale was Deb finally learning the truth about her adopted brother (who she's apparently in love with). Now that she witnessed one of Dexter's kills, the show can never be the same, and that's a very good thing.
After two weeks of painfully uncomfortable "X Factor" results shows -- replete with a child crying hysterically and death threats against Nicole Scherzinger -- this week's elimination seemed poised to offer a little satisfaction for the outraged fans of Rachel Crow and Drew. But did Marcus manage to escape the chopping block for a fourth week, with no "save me" performance to pull him back from the brink?
I think I speak for every maniacal fan of Breaking Bad when I type this sentiment: what were you thinking, Hollywood Foreign Press Association?
The weirdest thing about my list of the best television shows of the year is that "Mad Men" is not on it. This December, it feels odd not to be writing about the exploits of Don Draper and his fellow ad men and women. But the good news is that 2011 was a very good year for television, even without Roger Sterling's witticisms and Don's flings and existential crises.
The average person watches 34 hours of television each week, and a good chunk of those hours are filled with commercials. But what deeper lessons are we actually retaining?
The "X Factor" stage is now bereft of children -- though we can't say the same for the judges' table -- and our final four contestants definitely had their game faces on for this week's semifinal sing-off.
The Learning Channel's series All-American Muslim is the first commercial television program that presents a real look at Muslims in America in all their diversity. Who would not want this show on the air?
Invented languages are perfect for science fiction and fantasy -- they force us to think in cultural terms different from our own.
