The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
March 23, 2012
Trailers of the Week: Dark Shadows, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Snow White, and More
Dark Shadows (May 11) Silver:This trailer leaves me completely conflicted. Here’s what I liked: *There are some moments that are quite funny. Although we’ve seen the out-of-time, out-of-place gag before, I get a kick of out of the way Depp’s recently awoken 16th-century vampire attacks the TV for being evil sorcery. The juxtaposition of Karen […]
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Your Comprehensive Mad Men Season 5 Character Guide
“Everyone would love to walk into a room and pick the biggest sandwich and take the best chair and have sex with the best-looking women.” —Matthew Weiner discussing his time on The Sopranos and perhaps revealing some of the motives of the characters on Mad Men. Don Draper Vital Stats: Tall, dark, handsome, morally conflicted […]
Read moreNBC Comedy Recap: Community Returns to Its Casual-Viewer-Alienating Wheelhouse
Every week in this space, Grantland pop culture correspondent Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.) 1. Community Over on Grantland’s sports blog, my friend and podcasting partner Chris Ryan has […]
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Should You See It? A Curious Consumer’s Decision-Making Guide to The Hunger Games
Perhaps not since the publication of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal has a nation been so abuzz about a popular entertainment satirically advocating the institutionalized murder of children, but with The Hunger Games finally arriving in every multiplex in America today, we can now officially move on from the interminable months of pre-release hysteria to […]
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Taking Stock of Fred Durst, Survivalist
“He’s a visionary, he’s a great artist … whatever direction he wants to go in his music, he knows it. It’s hot.”
Read moreClear Your Schedule: The Hangover Part III Lands 2013
Are you ready to believe in the franchise again?
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Reality Fantasy Scorecard: Vanilla Ice, the Shahs of Sunset, and the Desperate Search for New Shows
Reality TV is in trouble. The Situation is in rehab, America’s alcoholism mascot Snooki is pregnant, and there are only two shows left on the air worthy of inclusion in the GRTFL. With this in mind, I’ve decided to change it up this week and take you with me on my deep dive into the […]
Read moreMarch 22, 2012
Rembert Explains the ’80s: Jem and the Holograms
Editor’s Note: Welcome back to our series Rembert Explains the ’80s. Every so often, we’ll e-mail 24-year-old Rembert Browne a video from the 1980s that he hasn’t seen. Rembert will write down his thoughts as he’s watching it, then we’ll post those thoughts here. This week’s installment was selected by Grantland editor Dan Fierman: Jem […]
Read moreThe Faceless Hitmaking Machine Cranks Out GI: Katy Perry
Check out the video for KP’s “Part of Me.”
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Hair Gel and Narrative Completion: Why Tonight Should Be the Last Jersey Shore Ever
I will watch Jersey Shore until one of us dies. Even if it goes on forever and is never any damn good again, it will be the Zippo flame with which I burn my palm, G. Gordon Liddy-style, to prove my devotion to the medium of reality television. I’m even going to watch the reunion […]
Read moreSurvivor: One World, Episode 6 – ‘Thanks for the Souvenir’ and the Burst Appendix
Distinguishing between schadenfreude and a loose-n-casual definition of karma can be difficult. You can’t be an active participant in willing misfortunes on people, even those who deserve them, and you certainly can’t experience any joy at what befalls them beyond the most molten level of your consciousness, in the dark cellar of your soul where […]
Read moreFive Questions on American Idol: An Unpleasant Evening With Billy Joel and the Top 10
All season, Grantland Idol experts Jay Caspian Kang and Mark Lisanti will answer five very important questions after each performance episode. Yes, “all season.” That’s a really long time, right? It didn’t feel quite that long when they agreed to this. One We’re down to the “Top” 10. (R.I.P., Shannon Magrane.) Who was the best […]
Read moreNow Real Authority Figures Are Leaving The Office
Paul Lieberstein is leaving his spot as showrunner.
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Brad Finds a New Jennifer … and Other Horror Stories From This Week’s Tabloids
Us Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli: Nothing ever goes right for 90210‘s Kelly Taylor, perpetual victim of circumstance. “Watching a cow on her Santa Ynez, California, ranch tend to its newborn calf, Jennie Garth offered up a reassuring message to her daughters” as cameras rolled for her new reality show. “That’s all a baby needs. […]
Read moreHollywood Prospectus Podcast: Kyle Killen
It’s a special Thursday edition of the podcast as I welcome Awake creator Kyle Killen into Grantland’s Los Angeles studio. We talked about the differences between his home life in Texas and his work life in California, the agony and ecstasy (but mostly agony) of his experience with Lone Star and the genesis of the […]
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