Pop culture consumers may be devoted, but all that adulation can turn to outrage with the slightest of provocations
TV
The Latest TV Trend: Autism
It’s great that diversity is extending to the neurological, but there’s a danger in portraying those on the spectrum as inherently miraculous
When Chefs Get Fat
The new show Fat Chef is remarkably truthful about how we cook and eat in America, but it’s also a spectacle of shame
Downton Abbey Is a Soap
It’s a finely milled bar of English lavender no one has to feel guilty about, but a soap nonetheless
Is American Idol Trying to Be the Olympics?
The 10-year-old show is playing up its history, but what young person wants to watch “an institution”?
Will Paula Deen Have the Last Laugh?
Now that Paula Deen has become a pseudo-spokesperson for Type 2 diabetes, she’ll continue to enrage health nuts all the way to the bank
Our Concern Over ‘Indecency’ Is Misguided
While the Supreme Court debates nudity on old episodes of NYPD Blue, research shows we have a much bigger problem with kids and TV
Why The Martha Stewart Show Had to Go
How can viewers aspire to a lifestyle that seems absurd in this economy?
Why the Winter TV Hiatus Makes No Sense
People have more time to veg out in front of the tube and give a new show a try — if only there were some to check out
‘Frosty’ Fatigue: All I Want For Christmas Is Some New TV Specials
Why are there so many holiday movies and so little holiday TV?
What the U.S. Can Learn from British TV
Sometimes even a hit series needs to pull the plug
Gag Me With a Remote Control
Digital gross-outs come to network TV, leaving little to the imagination
What We Learn From TV About Thanksgiving
A wealth of wisdom from annual Turkey Day episodes