cable

Megyn Kelly Is a Horrible Person

Sam Biddle · 01/04/16 04:34PM

What if, a recent piece of speculative fiction in Vanity Fair wonders aloud, Megyn Kelly isn’t a poisonous bigot and shameless cable news demagogue, but a complex, flawed icon of modern feminism? Like most science fiction, this is a pack of lies meant for babies. Megyn Kelly is just as racist—or cynically willing to play the part—as every man she works with at Fox News.

​Your Favorite Animal Planet Show Is Fake and Super-Abusive to Animals

Adam Weinstein · 01/22/14 03:26PM

Call of the Wildman, Animal Planet's blockbuster chronicle of a wildlife trapper, is one helluva romp. It's also a drama-staging, zebra-drugging, wallaby-kidnapping, raccoon- and bat-killing crock of shit, according to a disturbing new in-depth investigation by Mother Jones.

This Surreal Footage Shows a Reporter Being Detained by Chinese Police on Live TV

Max Read · 03/15/13 01:22PM

Sky News correspondent Mark Stone was detained by Chinese police in Beijing this morning while in the middle of a live segment on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Most of the episode—include the moment they were detained, and Stone's conversations with one officer in the midst of their detention—was captured by Sky's camera operator and broadcast live to viewers of the English cable channel. (The entire incident was also captured by another police officer, who filmed the incident on a portable camera.) Stone says that they were detained for saying an unspecified word ("protest"? "Massacre"?) during the report; the English-speaking cop with whom he talks says they were stopped from filming because they didn't have the right permits. [TV Newser]

Hamilton Nolan · 11/13/12 01:55PM

Among the reasons why you can't bring yourself to cut off your expensive cable TV: it might not save you any money.

Black People Getting Cable Channels Just as Vapid as White People's Cable Channels

Hamilton Nolan · 02/21/12 10:20AM

When Comcast acquired NBC Universal, part of its deal with the FCC was that it would "launch 10 new independently owned cable channels, with most backed by African Americans and Latinos, by 2018." Well. The first two Black People Channels have been announced. Black people, prepare for a fiesta of cable mediocrity!

30 Years of MTV in Three Minutes

Brian Moylan · 08/01/11 01:09PM

MTV turns 30 today. Instead of taking it out for an overpriced dinner and making jokes about how it's old, we compiled this video with some of the high and low spots of the channel's history—from Madonna's infamous "Like a Virgin" at the first Music Video Awards to Puck on The Real World, Downtown Julie Brown, and Jersey Shore.

Glenn Beck's Final Broadcast: He Left Because of Spider-Man and Bono

Seth Abramovitch · 06/30/11 08:32PM

It was supposed to have been a bittersweet and quietly contemplative week for Glenn Beck, whose final Fox News Channel show aired today. Of course, all that was derailed by that senseless incident at Bryant Park, when his entire family was swept away by a wave of Cabernet Sauvignon released from a crop duster by an insane liberal. (Or else a plastic cup of wine tipped over. Reports were conflicting.)

Your DVR Is Ruining the Environment

Brian Moylan · 06/15/11 12:36PM

Do you know what is causing climate change, destroying rainforests, and drowning polar bears? Yes, it's your DVR! OK, it's not that bad, but did you know that DVRs in this great nation of ours use as much electricity as the entire state of Maryland?

Ed Schultz Suspended from MSNBC, Apologizes to Laura Ingraham

Max Read · 05/25/11 10:47PM

MSNBC's Ed Schultz offered an extended apology to radio host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday, a day after calling her a "right-wing slut" on his own radio show. Schultz said he was beginning an "indefinite" leave, though MSNBC had earlier announced that he'd be suspended without pay for one week. In the course of his on-air statement, Schultz told his audience that he's tried to reach out to Ingraham to apologize. He also promised he'd never use the world "slut" again. [WaPo]

Glenn Beck Might Start His Own Cable Channel

Max Read · 03/23/11 02:50AM

What will right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck do when his contract with Fox News runs out in December? Maybe he will re-sign with Fox. Maybe he will become a hairdresser! Or maybe he will start his own cable channel.

Game of Thrones Might Be HBO's Riskiest Series Yet

Richard Lawson · 03/04/11 02:46PM

HBO recently released a new trailer for its upcoming fantasy series Game of Thrones and today announced that they're airing a fifteen minute clip of the first episode on April 3rd. So the full PR roll-out has officially kicked into high gear, and while clips and photos indicate that it's certainly grand and gorgeous looking, can it ultimately work as a series?