TV Archive
MasterChef and Master Chef Junior
These are not kids making boxed mac and cheese with sliced hot dogs. They’re throwing out terms like chimmichurri, deconstructed, and branzino and cook restaurant-quality dishes with unique ingredients.
World Religions: Sikhs, Seventh-day Adventists, And Mennonites
an Interfaith Special, To Be Broadcast Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014 On The CBS Television Network
World Cup Soccer
The United States Men’s National Team has punched their ticket to the elimination round in the 2014 World Cup, and Americans are—gasp—actually paying attention. As of this article, Nielsen ratings for Thursday’s 0-1 loss to Germany were not available, but Sunday’s draw with Portugal averaged 18.22 million viewers, the most viewed (non-NFL, non-college football) program in ESPN’s history.“Why now? Why do Americans suddenly care about their ‘futbol’ team?”
Bears
My bother and I once asked my dad if we could watch a show on TV, and when we named the show, Dad thought it seemed like a reasonable request. I was probably six and my brother 10, and we couldn’t believe our luck, we could finally switch the channel from PBS. We retreated excitedly to the basement, turned on our 13-inch black-and-white TV and watched in awe as a green giant (or so we had heard he was green) busted up walls and wreaked havoc.Narration can certainly enhance a documentary, but Disney insists on obvious jokes and gags that […]
The Voice, Revisited
I’ve tried to stop using the phrase “guilty pleasure” to justify liking things that friends or critics may consider mundane or uncreative. I really like Three Dog Night and the movie Short Circuit, and while I will tell you that my favorite TV shows of all time are The Wire, Sports Night,and Friday Night Lights, I will readily admit that these days the only show that I watch with any regularity is NBC’s reality singing show, The Voice. I’m pretty sure my happy cells increase by 15 percent during the fall and spring when The Voice airs. I like the […]
Medals (from a Mennonite) for Olympic Coverage
NBCpaid $775 million dollars in hopes that the U.S. would care about curling. Or maybe skeleton. Or maybe some other event that we only hear about every four years, if at all. Viewership declined significantly from the 2010 Vancouver games – which makes sense given the time difference in Sochi, Russia compared to North America – but NBCstill ran away with the ratings for two-plus weeks thanks to the Sochi games.Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira are actually formidable anchors, but when they respectively filled in for Costas, it was like trading in your HDTV for an Etch A Sketch.
Just Another Super Bowl
The Super Bowl was practically over before the coin toss this year. Unless you were a Denver fan hoping that your team would soon show up, there wasn’t much to do but eat good food and watch the commercials.Cheerios gets my nod for the best ad from this Super Bowl, not because it was the best-produced ad of the night, but because they brought back an interracial family.