The State of Scary TV

‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.

January 24, 2014

The ‘Parenthood’ Cry of the Week: When Sydney Cries, Everyone Cries

The first Parenthood sob-fest of 2K14 descended upon us Thursday night. After weeks of slowly watching Joel and Julia’s marriage unravel, he moved out and they talked to Victor and Sydney about it.

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Fox’s ‘Utopia’ Wants to Create an Ideal Society on Reality TV. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

It’s been 15 years since the first season of Big Brother, the Dutch program that helped kick off the reality game show trend in the U.S. along with the American version of Survivor, and things haven’t gotten quite as dystopian as it originally seemed like they might. UNTIL NOW!

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Grantland Audibles: Barhopping With Junot Díaz

In the latest edition of Grantland Audibles, we explore New York City with Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz.

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Rob Lowe Is Getting His Own NBC Comedy Pilot

The Pro, set at a golf and tennis club, would star Lowe “as a former doubles champion who is reunited with his ex-partner after a public feud that left them both floundering in life.”

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January 23, 2014

Colin Jost Is the New ‘Weekend Update’ Cohost at ‘SNL’

After only two more episodes, Seth Meyers will leave the Saturday Night Live corridors for Late Night. Assuming Meyers’s duties at the “Weekend Update” desk alongside Cecily Strong will be SNL’s head writer, Colin Jost.

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The Andy Greenwald Podcast: Chris Hardwick

As the host of everything from his own long-running Nerdist podcast to AMC’s Talking Dead, Chris Hardwick is engaging, polished, and often very funny. Yet his more lasting legacy may be the way he’s managed to professionalize his boundless enthusiasm. From his perch atop Mount Nerdist, Hardwick champions long-derided genres, celebrates comedians and celebrities, and, in the process, raises fandom into an art form all its own.

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Greg Kinnear’s New ‘Rake’ Is a Show Scared of Its Own Antihero

Rake, premiering tonight on Fox at 9 p.m. ET, is about a defense attorney named Keegan Deane. The first thing you should know about Keegan Deane is that he’s an asshole.

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The Fast and the Bieberous: A Quick Guide to Justin Bieber’s Night of Smoking, Drinking, Drag Racing, and Being Arrested

Justin Bieber was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday morning in Miami Beach for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, driving with an expired license, and “resisting arrest without violence.” (He allegedly swore at the cops. A lot.)

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The Return of the Cos: Bringing the Huxtables to 2014

Bill Cosby is returning to NBC prime time. Why would we do anything but imagine The Cosby Show faithfully transcribed to fit the logic of 2014?

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Sundance Diary, Day 7: One Swag House to Rule Them All and the Documentary of the Festival

Take Airbnb Haus. It’s a two-story cottage not far from the bottom of Park City’s Main Street. To pass by it on a Sundance shuttle bus is to pull the stop cord, get off, and wander inside. That’s how much it looks like a work of production design: You don’t just want to swing by this place. You want to star in it.

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Sean Penn and Charlize Theron’s Gun Sculpture … and Other Artistic Statements From This Week’s Tabloids

“Sean Penn has laid down his arms. At his January 11 Help Haiti Home benefit, the Oscar winner — once photographed wielding a shotgun in New Orleans — announced that his 65-piece gun collection will be turned into a sculpture by artist Jeff Koons.” I’ll never get tired of this dumb story. I mean, it’s not dumb that Penn is getting rid of his guns at the request of his gun activist girlfriend Charlize Theron, but it’s pretty dumb that Koons is going to make a sculpture out of them. Can’t wait to see it!

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True Detective

Girls in Hoodies Podcast: ‘True Detective,’ ‘Girls,’ and Downtown L.A.

The girls discuss True Detective, this week’s episode of Girls, and the film history of downtown Los Angeles.

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David O. Russell Bringing a Country Club Drama to ABC

The American Hustle director and co-writer will team with Susannah Grant, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Erin Brockovich, to create a new series set at a private country club. It’s Russell’s first major TV project.

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