Television - Recurring Reality's Faux Sheen
Brian Lowry

'Survivor' helped establish the modern template for reality TV in the U.S., so it's appropriate the CBS show -- with its 10th anniversary wrinkle, 'Heroes vs. Villains' -- would contribute to the genre's creative 'jump the shark' phase. As reality TV becomes a mature category, it's being victimized by a chronic industry condition -- namely, sequelitis.

Ultimate HDTV HD Television Buying Guide
David LaGesse

We studied the hundreds of HDTV flat-panel television sets that plastered walls at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and have distilled a quick guide to today's key options

Television - TV Vets Assess Sitcoms
Brian Lowry

David Lee -- part of the creative trio that launched 'Wings' and 'Frasier' -- left television in 2004 finding a nifty second act in his first love, the theater. Lee agreed to discuss TV's current comedy landscape, which has seemingly taken several welcome turns.

Will Conan O'Brien Jump to Fox: Fox Late-night Ambitions
Brian Lowry

Now, with his 'The Tonight Show' tenure complete, Conan O'Brien could very well be heading back to the latenight Fox slot he left behind two decades ago -- but this time as host. It's far from a slam-dunk solution for O'Brien, however.

Television - Fox Cries Wolf
Brian Lowry

In its recent dispute with Time Warner Cable, Fox, on its website Keepfoxon.com, accused the cable operator of waging a campaign that 'masquerades as a grass-roots effort to enlist viewer participation.' News Corp. certainly should recognize the tactic, having all but invented it

America Through the Reality Lens
Jonah Goldberg

Culturally, this has been the decade of the reality show. And what do we have to show for it? Not much more than the contestants themselves.

Decade of Rapid Change
Brian Lowry

The media world spins so fast, it's easy to forget how dramatically the landscape has changed during the 00's decade. So before putting the '00s behind us, let's review some key statistics and recap the dramatic changes in television and entertainment.

TV's Best for 2009: Can't Pick Just 10
Brian Lowry

In television putting together an aggregated 10-best roster amounts to more of a time-killing exercise. That said, boiling down the scripted series on display in 2009 to just 10 feels inordinately daunting.

Behind the Scenes at the Food Network
Francine Segan

'People don't realize how many hands are involved even before Rachael, Guy or Melissa touch the food,' explains Rob Bleifer, executive chef of the Food Network Kitchen. The names he mentions will be familiar to fans of the network -- they are stars Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Melissa d'Arabian.

Late-Night's New Faces
Brian Lowry

Beyond rewriting the rules of primetime, Jay Leno's shift to 10 p.m. signals the end of the "big tent" late-night talk show -- as TV talk disperses into narrower personalities, each with their own targeted audience.

Early Leno Returns Are Mixed For NBC
Brian Lowry

'Jay is doing fine,' the comic's new NBC boss, Jeff Gaspin, told the New York Times this week regarding 'The Jay Leno Show' experiment. Actually, based on a preliminary accounting -- and accounting is ultimately what motivated the move -- Leno is doing as well as can by expected, which isn't exactly the same as 'fine.'

2009 National Dog Show Will Spotlight Work of Therapy Dogs
Steve Dale

The National Dog Show, presented by Purina, will air in a two-hour special on Thanksgiving Day, following the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, 12 p.m. ET. Arguably, even more than the legendary parade, the dog show, hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, has a little something for one everyone in the family. That's a rarity on TV these days

Fox - White House Media War is Killing News
Anthony Rudel

When members of the Obama administration announced that they did not consider Fox a real news network, they were actually bringing attention to what has become the sad reality of real news gathering in this country: It's disappearing faster than contestants on Survivor

TV News Sensationalism: Everything Is Suspect
Mitch Albom

Back in 1949, a little girl in California fell down a well. As diggers tried to save her, a huge crowd gathered. The rescue attempt, which took several days, was broadcast nationwide on radio -- and followed anxiously on a new medium called television. Since that moment, kids and danger have been an irresistible lure for broadcasters

Why Do I Mistrust Fox? Let Me Count the Ways
Leonard Pitts Jr

Fox News is in a class by itself. In its epidemic inaccuracy, its ongoing disregard for basic journalistic standards of fairness, its demagogic appeals and its blatantly ideological promotions it is, indeed, unique -- a news source in name only. That's not just an opinion: a 2003 study found Fox viewers more likely to be misinformed than those who get their news elsewhere.

Reality TV Breeds New Star System
Brian Lowry

The rise of reality contestants has occurred gradually, even within a genre only a decade old in its current guise. At first reality players seemed like highly disposable commodities -- people who could be counted on to flame brightly if the show featuring them caught on before returning to their lives, perhaps a little richer and with a story to tell the grandkids. Only now, because of the unquenchable demand for programming and recognizable 'talent,' ...

Dan Rather's Spacy Broadcasting Odyssey
Brian Lowry

Thinking about Dan Rather always brings to mind an observation about the entertainment business by the agent Pat Faulstich, who was fond of saying that the best job you'll ever have is the one that precedes the one you always wanted. For Rather, his career apex might actually have come when he was a hard-charging network correspondent ...

Jay Leno

The Jay Leno Show: Leno Saving the Best for Last
Cynthia Littleton

In some respects, 'The Jay Leno Show' is a lot like Leno's 'The Tonight Show' turned upside down. Leno's best-known comedy bits, such as the 'Jaywalking' segment, his riffs on headlines and 99-cent Only Store advertisements, run in the final quarter-hour of NBC's most talked-about new fall series.

70th Anniversary of First Televised NFL Game

Seventy years ago, the NFL and NBC tried something that would change football, and television, forever. On October 22, 1939, the Brooklyn Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Eagles at Ebbets Field. The contest marked the first time pro football was broadcast on television.

Monday Night Football Celebrates 40th Season

NFL Monday Night Football kicks off its 40th season on September 14 with an "AFL 50th Anniversary" doubleheader on ESPN and a new face in the broadcast booth!

Sci Fi Network to Develop New Take on 'Alien Nation'
Michael Schneider

Sci Fi is developing a new take on "Alien Nation," the 1988 feature that previously spawned a spinoff series on Fox. "Alien Nation" centers on the partnership between a veteran cop and his alien detective partner, set against the larger tale of alien "newcomers" who move to Earth and attempt to assimilate into society.

Discovery Channel explains Nitty-Gritty of Dirty Jobs
Liz Wolgemuth

Throughout the course of the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs", Mike Rowe, 47, has parachuted into incredibly dirty jobs, including coal miner, shrimper, and even skull cleaner, paying tribute to the value and integrity of manual laborers as he sloshes around in knee-high nastiness right beside them. A recent interview with Mike Rowe about Dirty Jobs ...

Fresh Reality TV Shows Try to Find Spot on Crowded Sked

Finding a spot is the big challenge right now for first-season reality TV programs. After all, there are only so many hours in the day to watch television, and viewers tend to be loyal to their favorite show, even if it's a little long in the tooth.

NBC Puts a Royal Spin on Latenight
Brian Lowry

Most of Craig Ferguson's audience was doubtless mystified when he used his opening segment to ridicule NBC's press release proclaiming Conan O'Brien "the new king of late night."

Oprah Winfrey Network Brand Bucks Cable TV Tide
Brian Lowry

Determined to find hits, cable TV networks keep breaking out of narrowly defined brands. In stark contrast to this, there's the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN for short), a channel so committed to its brand -- the daytime host's "Live your best life" mantra -- that the specific nature of its programs remains something of an afterthought as the venture readies for next year's debut.

'Breaking Bad' -- Am I the Only Person Watching This Great TV Show
Liz Smith

After having its maiden run shortened by the writer's strike, 'Breaking Bad' recently capped a breathtaking second season that delved deeper into the show's world of moral ambiguity and unintended consequences," writes Variety's pundit Brian Lowry.