television – News Stories About television - Page 18

obituary

Jan 27, 2012 7:16 AM CST

Welcome Back Kotter Star Dead at 60

Robert Hegyes played Juan Epstein

(Newser) - Robert Hegyes, who co-starred with John Travolta on the 1970s TV show Welcome Back Kotter, has died at 60, apparently of a heart attack. His health had been suffering for years, his brother said; he died yesterday at his home in the New Jersey town where he grew up. On...

Vanilla Ice
Project Back
for Second
Season

Jan 22, 2012 2:59 PM CST

Vanilla Ice Project Back for Second Season

Ex-rapper's renovation show will run on DIY Network

(Newser) - Stop, collaborate, and set your DVRs. Ice is back with a second season of "The Vanilla Ice Project," a show on the DIY Network that stars the 44-year-old rapper as he renovates a run-down mansion in Palm Beach County, Florida. Returning on the heels of a hit first...

Idol Cruises Into 11th Season

Jan 18, 2012 3:15 PM CST

Idol Cruises Into 11th Season

And its long run could continue for quite a while: USA Today

(Newser) - American Idol has dominated the Nielsen ratings for 10 seasons, and its 11th season starts up tonight. Bill Keveney of USA Today rounds up some reasons why this pop culture institution might just go on forever:

Coming to Hulu:
2 More Original Shows

Jan 16, 2012 8:26 AM CST

Coming to Hulu: 2 More Original Shows

Political comedy called 'Battleground' and travelogue show to debut

(Newser) - Hulu is expanding its foray into the world of original programming with two new shows set to debut before summer, reports the Wall Street Journal . Battleground, scheduled to begin in February, will be a 13-episode scripted comedy about a not-exactly-functional Senate campaign. Don't expect a low-budget production: Hulu execs...

Consumer Electronics Show: LG's 84-Inch TV Has Voice Control

Lost the Remote?
84-Inch TV Has
Voice Control

Jan 9, 2012 1:22 PM CST

Lost the Remote? 84-Inch TV Has Voice Control

'Ultra-resolution' screen uses motion control, too

(Newser) - Perhaps the days of searching for remotes are coming to a close: LG's latest TV operates using voice- and 3D motion-control. The 84-inch HDTV, shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show today, offers "ultra-resolution" and a bezel of just a millimeter, Mashable reports. It also has a plasma...

Wayne's World Writer Joe Bodolai Commits Suicide

Stalled Career, Ageism Drove Ex-SNL Writer to Suicide

Dec 28, 2011 4:00 AM CST

Stalled Career, Ageism Drove Ex-SNL Writer to Suicide

Wayne's World writer Joe Bodolai found dead in Hollywood hotel room

(Newser) - Joe Bodolai's long career in show business came to a sad end in a Hollywood hotel room. The 63-year-old comedy writer and TV producer was found dead the day after Christmas, having apparently committed suicide by drinking a mixture of antifreeze and Gatorade. Bodolai, who wrote for Saturday Night ...

TV Hosts Eat Each Other's Flesh

Dec 20, 2011 1:30 AM CST

TV Hosts Eat Each Other's Flesh

Celebrity chef cooks up small parts of presenters

(Newser) - In what is believed to be a TV first, viewers in the Netherlands tomorrow night will see a celebrity chef frying Dutchmen. Television hosts Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno say they underwent surgery to have a small piece of their flesh removed and then dined on each other in front...

Get Ready for Touch-Free Televisions...

Dec 19, 2011 11:03 AM CST

Get Ready for Touch-Free Televisions...

...and phones, and tablets, starting next year

(Newser) - Touchscreens are so 2011. Starting as soon as next year, we'll be able to manipulate our phones with a wave of the hand. And that's just the beginning: Touch-free technology could soon take over our TVs, our tablets, and other devices, the BBC reports. One company behind the...

Coming Soon:
Real Dunder
Mifflin Paper

Nov 28, 2011 8:20 AM CST

Coming Soon: Real Dunder Mifflin Paper

The Office firm to put 'quabity first' in Staples deal

(Newser) - Fans of the Office will soon be able to buy paper made by their favorite company—though instead of purchasing it from Dwight Schrute, they’ll have to get their reams through Staples. The office-supply giant’s Quill.com has reached a licensing deal with NBCUniversal to sell Dunder Mifflin...

TV Comedy Is 'Back'? Ha!

opinion

Nov 27, 2011 3:53 PM CST

TV Comedy Is 'Back'? Ha!

Modern comedies badly rehash old ideas: Times critic

(Newser) - If this is the comeback season for the sitcom, at least one critic wants to go wayyyy back: to Seinfeld, Mary Tyler Moore, and Leave It to Beaver. "Certainly no series introduced this fall is breaking new ground," writes Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times . He concludes...

Favorite TV Show
of the Rich Is ...

Nov 19, 2011 1:15 PM CST

Favorite TV Show of the Rich Is ...

Modern Family, by a lot

(Newser) - The Vulture blog of New York magazine finds that ABC's Modern Family is the favorite of well-to-do TV fans. It not only has the highest median income ($83,000) of viewers in the 18-49 range, it boasts by far the highest number of viewers who pull in at least...

NPR's Wait Wait ... Heading
to Television

Nov 16, 2011 5:15 PM CST

NPR's Wait Wait ... Heading to Television

It's getting a one-hour special next month that could lead to more

(Newser) - NPR's popular Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me is heading for the bright lights of television. The quiz show will get a one-hour special that will air Dec. 23 on the cable channel BBC America, reports AP . The New York Times sees it as a "try-out of sorts"...

Your TV, Radio Will Be Interrupted Tomorrow

Nov 8, 2011 2:49 PM CST

Your TV, Radio Will Be Interrupted Tomorrow

Emergency Alert System gets first national test at 2pm Eastern

(Newser) - Turn on the tube or radio tomorrow at 2pm Eastern time, and you’ll be witness to the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. It's expected to last about 30 seconds. Though the system has been used locally for concerns like weather alerts, this is the first...

Google's New Plan:
Be Your Cable TV Provider?

Nov 4, 2011 6:53 AM CDT

Google's New Plan: Be Your Cable TV Provider?

Search giant may offer TV channels within video, phone, Internet service

(Newser) - Watch out, Comcast: Google is discussing a plan that could turn traditional cable on its head. The search giant is looking into providing video and phone services along with an already-announced high-speed Internet service in Kansas City, the Wall Street Journal reports—and the video service could include TV channels...

83% Don't Know
What 'Jumped the
Shark' Means

CBS/vanity fair poll

Oct 31, 2011 2:39 PM CDT

83% Don't Know What 'Jumped the Shark' Means

And 43% want Hillary for VP

(Newser) - The latest 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll offers readers a new batch of quirky questions, including whether they’re familiar with the Happy Days-inspired phrase “jumped the shark.” Some 83% of respondents didn’t know it meant a show was past its prime. Among other interesting stats:

If Joe

...

NBC's Ratings Keep Sinking

Oct 24, 2011 10:12 AM CDT

NBC's Ratings Keep Sinking

Viewership down 9.3% from year before

(Newser) - NBC’s long-struggling ratings are only getting worse as the new television season gets under way. Some 3.3 million 18- to 49-year-olds have been tuning in to the network's primetime offerings over the past four weeks, a 9.3% drop from the year before, the Wall Street Journal...

New Infant Guidelines:
No Bumper Pads, No TV

Oct 18, 2011 2:27 PM CDT

New Infant Guidelines: No Bumper Pads, No TV

Doctors' group also says breastfeeding cuts SIDS risk

(Newser) - The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelines for infants to cut down on sleep-related deaths and reduce TV time. The new sleep guidelines now recommend against all types of bumper pads, noting that “there is a potential risk of suffocation, strangulation or entrapment.” They also urge...

McDonald's
Launches Own
TV Channel

Oct 17, 2011 4:56 PM CDT

McDonald's Launches Own TV Channel

Already grabbing ginormous audience in Southwest

(Newser) - Bored with merely eating and talking when you indulge in a McDonald's visit? Soon you'll be able to watch TV—that is, McTV. The mega-fast-food chain is launching its own exclusive channel, McDonald's Television, with corporate-approved content like entertainment news, advertising, and bits on local moms and...

Family Guy Creator Wishes
Show Would End (It Won't)

Oct 13, 2011 4:57 PM CDT

Family Guy Creator Wishes Show Would End (It Won't)

Seth MacFarlane 'secretly hoping' fans finished with it

(Newser) - The Griffin family is showing no signs of slowing down—but their creator sometimes wishes they would, he tells the Hollywood Reporter . "Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series," Seth MacFarlane...

Simpsons Will Be Back

Oct 8, 2011 5:27 AM CDT

Simpsons Will Be Back

Fox renews show for two more seasons after contract dispute

(Newser) - The Simpsons will live to a quarter-century: Fox TV announced yesterday it would renew the show for two more seasons after a louder-than-usual contract fight with the actors who provide the voices, reports Entertainment Weekly . That means Homer and crew will be around for a record 24th and 25th seasons....