Commentary Archives - Page 4 of 6

“MASH” turns 40: Our memories of “MASH”

September 17, 2012 StayTuned Staff

“Korea 1950 — a hundred years ago.” So went the first words to appear onscreen on M*A*S*H. Actually, it was only 40 years ago, but it’s still hard to believe that it’s been four decades since the pilot episode of the much-lauded and excessively watched series hit the airwaves on Sept. 17, 1972. At the time, it was simply a TV series trying to spin off of the success of the popular Robert Altman film that used the insanity of the Korean War to underscore the similar madness taking place in Vietnam. It took a while for M*A*S*H to find […]

How the “Social Media Olympics” #FAIL at social media

July 31, 2012 Ryan Berenz

For all this talk about the 2012 London Olympics being the first “Social Media Olympics,” things aren’t exactly going according to script for NBC, the IOC and London 2012. Rather than understanding how social media works — sharing, listening, engaging, building relationships, and absolute honesty and transparency — they’ve botched it on almost every level. Thin skin. Any mammoth event like the Olympics is going to get huge chatter on social media, and of course it’s not all going to be smiles and sunshine. A third of the people will say everything is awesome, a third will be snarky about […]

Vote for your cable favorites in Channel Guide Magazine Viewers Voice Awards

July 27, 2012 Barb Oates

What’s the best laugh-out-loud comedy on cable TV? What’s scarier, The Walking Dead or American Horror Story? Is Urine Drinker the most outrageous program title of the year? Who is the biggest bitch on cable TV? Fans across the country can cast their votes for the best and worst in cable TV in a variety of unusual categories in the 2012 Channel Guide Magazine Viewers Voice Awards. Nominees have been selected and the official ballot posted for the cable entertainment magazine’s first annual Viewers Voice Awards. Readers are encouraged to vote as often as they want up until Friday, August […]

5 Steps To Launching a Successful TV Network

July 9, 2012 Channel Guide Contributor

Think You Could Launch A Network? These People Have, And They Share Why It’s So Hard, Even For Oprah. By Stacey Harrison & Athena Voulgaropoulos No one is immune from the multitude of challenges that come with launching a new TV network. Not even Oprah Winfrey, whose struggles getting OWN up and running have been breathlessly detailed in the media over the past few months, or Al Gore, whose efforts to take Current into the big time hit a major roadblock with the ugly departure of Keith Olbermann. So how does it work? What are the essential components needed to […]

Pacquiao-Bradley: How boxing is killing boxing

June 15, 2012 Ryan Berenz

HBO reairs the controversial split-decision from the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley Jr. boxing match on Saturday, June 16, at 10pm ET/PT. The controversy surrounding the split-decision upset victory for Timothy Bradley Jr. over superstar Manny Pacquiao on Saturday is not “a death knell for the sport,” as promoter Bob Arum stated. No, the sport has been suffering death by a thousand cuts for decades. One bad decision alone can’t sour the sweet science, but the sport has been stewing in its own stench for years. If anything, the absurdity of this match’s outcome helped the sport generate some headlines in […]

NeNe Leaks joins “Fashion Police” tonight

June 1, 2012 Barb Oates

Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes adds another show to her growing resume. Tonight she joins Joan Rivers, Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos on E!’s Fashion Police (10pm ET/PT ) to discuss the week in fashion. Leakes opens up to the group about her life discussing how she became the strong woman that she is today, and how she always envisioned her name in lights, saying “I knew I could do it.” She also discusses how she once was the victim of domestic abuse, but that she found the strength to pack her bags and leave the […]

“The Office” and “Two and a Half Men”: I wish I knew how to quit you

April 30, 2012 Tom Comi

One of the most difficult decisions to make as a TV viewer is knowing when to say farewell to a series you have been faithful to over the years. I’ve already said my goodbyes to 30 Rock, and I’m very close to pulling the plug on The Office and Two and a Half Men. Severing ties with a sitcom or drama you were at one time very attached to is never easy, and it’s something I don’t take lightly. In fact, to a fault, I probably stick around much longer than I probably should. I try to convince myself that […]

Media responsible for anointing, crucifying Tim Tebow

March 22, 2012 Tom Comi

Can we please call a timeout on all of the Tim Tebow coverage? Seriously, has there ever been a more over-publicized figure in all of sports? Many people love him, many people hate him; but the one thing we know is that the media really loves to cover him. Controversy sells, and Tebow certainly brings that to the table. What makes him different from almost every other athlete who is covered ad nauseam on ESPN and every other medium, though, is that he really did nothing wrong to warrant this amount of good or bad coverage. He didn’t drink and drive; he […]

Rosie O’Donnell’s canceled show on OWN reignites Trump feud

March 19, 2012 Tom Comi

Just when you thought the greatest feud ever witnessed on television was long over, Donald Trump jump-started it today by gleefully pouncing on the news that Rosie O’Donnell’s daily talk show on OWN was being canceled by Oprah Winfrey. The Rosie Show seemed doomed from the start when it debuted less than a year ago to 500,000 viewers — a far cry from the huge ratings she used to get with her previously syndicated show. Despite a complete overhaul with a more intimate set, the number of viewers plunged by more than half before Winfrey had no choice but to […]

AMC’s “The Godfather” 40-year celebration got us thinking

March 2, 2012 StayTuned Staff

It’s almost hard to believe. Four decades have passed since Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather first hit screens, and people are still talking — and writing — about it. The film is being released into select theaters again for its 40th anniversary, but this week, AMC has been celebrating early, airing the films in the trilogy, and this Saturday will air the “chronological” edit of the Corleone family saga, with the three films reconfigured to tell the whole story in one sweeping presentation. Stacey, we’ve had a lot of conversations about The Godfather films, as well […]