The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
February 13, 2012
Let’s Play Celebrity ‘Attainable or Unattainable’: Grammys Edition
A few years ago, I sat in a living room, surrounded by some of my closest friends, and made a now-infamous statement among my inner circle. I stated that Jessica Alba was “attainable” and meant it with every fiber of my being. It goes without saying that I was immediately laughed out of the conversation, […]
Read moreThe British 1 Percent: Downton Abbey Season 2, Episode 6
There’s nothing inherently wrong with soap opera. From the marriage plots of Jane Austen to the lurid plotzing of Jersey Shore, salacious societal high jinks have always been a staple of our entertainment, both upstairs and downstairs. So the problem isn’t that Downton Abbey is suddenly more soap operatic than Reneé Fleming in an Irish […]
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Transcript: The Grammy Texters
During the standing ovation for Glen Campbell’s performance of “Rhinestone Cowboy,” a camera sweeping the audience spied two ladies who were not exactly enthralled with the country legend, momentarily setting Twitter ablaze with disapprobation. This is the transcript of their text message exchange. Becki1990: luv these seats omg HotJennaXOXO: u say that every 10 minutes. […]
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From the Mailbag: Bill Simmons on Whitney and Squandered Brilliance, circa 2009
The following originally ran on July 17, 2009, as part of a Friday mailbag. Q: Thought of this after Michael Jackson’s death: Which famous singer would have dominated American Idol the most had he/she started his/her career as a contestant on the show? I thought MJ around the “Off the Wall” era, but then realized […]
Read moreThe 2012 Grammys Winners List: Adele, Foo Fighters, Bonny Bear …
Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver wins, causes anger and confusion.
Read moreThe Walking Dead Recap: We Hear It’s Pretty Nice in ‘Nebraska’
The first half of The Walking Dead’s second season was a claustrophobic disaster, a directionless wild girl chase that transformed our plucky band of survivors into squabbling horse-farm squatters and, in the process, killed the show’s momentum deader than a walker with a pickax through its cerebellum. But the three-month intermission provided ample reasons for […]
Read moreFebruary 10, 2012
We Found It on Netflix Instant: Blue Seduction
What It’s About: Your friend Billy Zane plays a composer in a wig falling victim to the manipulative charms of a young girl who can’t sing and doesn’t take off her bra. Who It’s For: Music industry professionals. This is the most accurate on-screen portrayal of the recording industry since Alvin & the Chipmunks: The […]
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Pop Culture Podcast: Comedians on TV
We asked Reese Waters to come to the studio and bring some fellow comedians along to talk television. I knew they would hit on some key shows of the moment, but I never expected them to cover every show on television. Reese, along with Maria Shehata and Tom Segura, discussed Luck, Touch, Intervention, House of […]
Read moreTrailers of the Week: The Hunger Games, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, and More
The Hunger Games — Trailer no. 2 (March 23) Silver: I’m going to start by stating the obvious — books and movies are not the same thing. Just speaking to the form, a written narrative is a much more enveloping and demanding (in a good way) medium since the majority of the experience is left […]
Read moreHollywood Prospectus Q&A: Safe House Director Daniel Espinosa
Daniel Espinosa, director of Safe House, starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, took 20 minutes out of his busy morning (the movie opened in theaters today) to chat about his career, the film, and most importantly, our mutual adoration of Denzel Washington. You’re from Sweden. How did you get attached to this film? Well, I […]
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Songs of the Week: Special Grammys Preview Edition
What to watch for? What to mock? Read on to find out!
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NBC Comedy Recap: The Office’s Best Episode of the Season
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. The Office One of the biggest challenges of running a television show is the […]
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One Outraged Question on American Idol’s Performance-Free Hollywood Week No-Singing Spectacular
All season, Grantland Idol experts Mark Lisanti and Jay Caspian Kang will answer five very important questions after each performance episode. Jay is “on assignment,” so Fake Jay Kang, Mark’s best guess as to Real Jay Kang’s answers expressed as the unleashed id of the Internet, is pinch-hitting today. One What kind of bullshit was […]
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Reality Fantasy Scorecard: Secret Smushes, Human Catapults, and the Shocking Bachelor Music Video
Would you like to see Ben the Bachelor’s rap video? Do you care what other reality show Courtney the Bill Belichick of Bachelorettes was on? Have you heard who Paula Walnuts from The Challenge thinks killed John F. Kennedy? Does it interest you which state in America Snooki thinks never sees sunlight? Yes? Good! The […]
Read moreLet’s Fix the New ‘N****s in Paris’ Video
And just like that, Watch the Throne fever is officially over. Great run, but it’s done. With the chance of a lifetime to make the most amazingly literal video of all time, The Throne decided to immortalize their tour with a boring kaleidoscope-inspired concert video. I couldn’t be more disappointed.
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George Lucas Is Not Nearly Done Quibbling With Fanboys
“Well, it’s not a religious event. I hate to tell people that. It’s a movie, just a movie.”
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