Archive RSS Feed: Washingtonpost Tom Shales TV Column

A Media Role in Selling the War? No Question.

Perhaps the truth shall eventually set you free, but first it might make you very, very depressed. Tonight's edition of "Bill Moyers Journal" on PBS is one of the most gripping and important pieces of broadcast journalism so far this year, but it's as disheartening as it is compelling.

Read more : 25.04.2007 11:00:00

'Saturday Night' Snippets

How refreshingly unpretentious it would be if each "Saturday Night Live" clip show were called simply "Another Saturday Night Live Clip Show." But the two-hour special airing in prime time tomorrow carries a hefty moniker: "Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation."

Read more : 05.05.2007 11:00:00

ABC's 'Traveler' Takes a Jog Down Conspiracy Lane

Not so long ago, movies that depicted the modern world as oppressive and Big Brotherly were set in the future. The new ABC action drama "Traveler" isn't placed any further into the future than, say, a minute from now. But that doesn't stop its heroes from being persecuted by such dark forces as bad guys pretending to be FBI agents, and perhaps by real FBI agents who are part of the bad-guy establishment -- and by some vast, sinister conspiracy.

Read more : 10.05.2007 11:00:00

'Cronkite' Grasps The Admired and The Avuncular

Some reporters cover City Hall, some cover the waterfront. Walter Cronkite covered the universe. To Americans of the first TV generations, however, he's revered not just as a reporter, or even as merely the most famous of all network anchors; he's lovable "Uncle Walter," who vicariously guided and nursed us through the trials and triumphs of our lives.

Read more : 18.05.2007 11:00:00

Fox's 'On the Lot': Hollywood, Get Me Rewrite!

Assignment: Describe Fox's new filmmaking competition series, "On the Lot," in five words.

Read more : 23.05.2007 11:00:00

'Bury My Heart': HBO Digs Into a Sad, Shameful Tale

For more than 35 years, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," a landmark history about the late-19th-century mistreatment of Native Americans, has defied inevitable attempts to turn it into a movie. It appeared virtually unfilmable.

Read more : 27.05.2007 11:00:00

Unpleasant Reality: ABC's 'Ex-Wives'

At first, things looked promising for Rebecca's marriage to the "very good looking" man of her dreams. "But then," booms an announcer on the premiere of ABC's "The Ex-Wives Club," "the honeymoon was over." Yes, that's a cliche, but he means it literally: Rebecca's honeymoon marked the beginning of the end, especially when her new hubby responded to her invitation to go dancing by telling her to "shut up."

Read more : 28.05.2007 11:00:00

'Hidden Palms': Teen Soap All in a Lather

Life is rough for affluent teenagers. Take poor rich Johnny, who is forced to move with his mother and stepfather from one deluxe suburb to another. When he tries to take pictures of the girl next door, she shuts her blinds. And when he comes upon his despised stepfather, the seemingly well-meaning loser tries in vain to win Johnny's approval.

Read more : 30.05.2007 11:00:00

'Gay Images': A Rainbow Starts Out Black-and-White

By now it's a truism. The history of homosexuality in America has a natural dividing line -- before Stonewall and after Stonewall, BS and AS. However it sounds to the naked ear, "Stonewall" was not a prison but a gay bar in Lower Manhattan. New York cops tried to stage one of their quotidian raids there in June of 1969, but this time clientele balked, refusing to leave or be carted off to jail and instead staging a riot that lasted for days.

Read more : 04.06.2007 11:00:00

TBS's 'House of Payne': A Little More Humanity Would Make It Habitable

"House of Payne," premiering tonight on cable's TBS, is not an irreparably terrible sitcom. Unfortunately, though, the repairs could take years.

Read more : 06.06.2007 11:00:00

Also read other news from channel: Washingtonpost Tom Shales TV Column  

Who's Really The Boss? David Chase Calls the Shots  

Hi, I'm Tom In Washington, And My Question Is for CNN . . .  

On the Nation's TVs, A Familiar Picture  

Out of the Cave, Into the HOV Lane: That's Progress  

Sci Fi's 'Tin Man' Plods On the Yellow Brick Road  

Politician-Activist Sargent Shriver: He's the Real Ideal  

From Cincinnati, 'John' Goes Nowhere  

A Bang-Up Finale For 'The Sopranos'  

Fox News Channel's '1/2 Hour News Hour': Right Funny, in Spots  

Letterman's (And Our) Longtime 'Bud'  

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