“Smash,” which NBC hyped as heavily as the Super Bowl, premiered Monday night. The show is many things: a musical within a show, a heavy-on-the-glitter-but-light-on-the-grit look behind the scenes of Broadway and an ode to every musical theater trope you know and possibly love, from the wide-eyed Iowa girl aching for her big break to the slimy director who wouldn’t mind breaking her in. Perhaps you expected this. Read full article > >

See the original post:
Playwright Grote takes a turn at writing for ‘Smash’

The performance of Andy Lewis on a slackline as part of Madonna’s half-time show at the Super Bowl brought unprecedented attention to an obscure form of tightrope walking.

Read the rest here:
Super Bowl — Slacklining Gains Stage in Madonna’s Halftime Show

Moments after the energetic Madonna entertained fans during the halftime show at Sunday's Super Bowl, millions of television viewers got an emotional jolt back into reality. Amid the close-up shots of factory workers and Midwest families, were there political undertones in Chrysler's Super Bowl ad?

View post:
Politics buried in Eastwood’s ad?

The channel would combine resources from ABC News and Univision’s news division to take on established players like CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Originally posted here:
Media Decoder Blog: Univision and Disney In Talks For An English-Language News Channel

There’s paranormal, and then there’s para- puhleeez . The line between those two can be quite fine, especially when results vary from viewer to viewer. “The River,” which premieres on ABC on Tuesday night, leaps back and forth from frightening to ridiculous so often that it might as well be performing double-Dutch jump rope. It’s a drama about a film crew that goes in search of missing nature/adventure TV show host Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), who was last seen shooting episodes of his docu-series, “The Undiscovered Country,” in remote tributaries of the Amazon River. He was presumed dead — until his GPS locator started beeping out a distress signal. Read full article > >

Visit link:
ABC’s ‘The River’: Creepshow catches a bad case of jungle rot

How realistic are police shows on television?

See the article here:
How realistic are TV cop shows?

Advertisers placed many Super Bowl spots on YouTube or social media well ahead of the game, hoping to start a conversation and generate follow-up interest.

Link:
Advertising: Some Super Bowl Ads Being Seen Long Before the Game – Advertising

A huge day in television: 1. Madonna announced she would not allow her wardrobe to malfunction during NBC’s broadcast of her Super Bowl halftime show Sunday. 2. “Celebrity Apprentice” star Donald Trump endorsed GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the eve of his reality-competition show’s season debut. Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Column: Madonna promises ‘no flashing’ at Super Bowl

Yea, though NBC walks through the valley of the shadow of death, all hope is not lost. “Smash,” the network’s easily engaging new Monday night drama about the making of a Broadway musical, turns out to be quite the little sunbeam. It has some endearing characters, an instinct for backstage meows and a firm grip on its own sense of camp control, which, if nothing else, sets it apart from Ryan Murphy’s now fully atrocious “Glee.” Read full article > >

See the original post here:
‘Smash’ review: All that jazz is sometimes worth it

To celebrate his record-breaking 30th anniversary in late-night television, “Late Show” host David Letterman brought out longtime staffers (some of whom have been working for him since his morning talk show in 1980) to read the Top 10 list on Wednesday night’s show. Read full article > >

Read more:
David Letterman celebrates 30 years in late night as longtime staffers read Top 10 list

As thousands of protesters pushed toward Bolotnaya Square , crews from mainstream Russian television fanned out. Satellite trucks were ranged curbside, their engines running. For six days after the Duma elections last month, TV ignored the street protests that were starting to shake the nation. Now the reporters and cameramen were ready. But still, not a peep. Read full article > >

Continued here:
Russian TV veers back to familiar ground

As thousands of protesters pushed toward Bolotnaya Square , crews from mainstream Russian television fanned out. Satellite trucks were ranged curbside, their engines running. For six days after the Duma elections last month, TV ignored the street protests that were starting to shake the nation. Now the reporters and cameramen were ready. But still, not a peep. Read full article > >

See original here:
Russian TV veers back to familiar ground

Private clinics that charge for pregnancy services including abortions will be able to advertise on television and radio under new rules.

Here is the original post:
Abortion clinics cleared for TV

LOS ANGELES Shawn Nee, 35, works in television but hopes to publish a book of photographs. Shane Quentin, 31, repairs bicycles but enjoys photographing industrial scenes at night. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department probably wishes that both would find other hobbies. Herewith a story of today’s inevitable friction between people exercising, and others protecting, freedom. Read full article > >

Here is the original post:
A snapshot of our times

As “ Justified ” returns, the troubled (but hot!) Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is still in pain from a gunshot wound he got in last season’s bloody shootout with the drug-running Bennett clan. We find Raylan back at the firing range, glowering as he watches his shots go wildly askew. Read full article > >

See the article here:
‘Justified’: Missing its mark?