Stories from The A.V. Club Television
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TV: American Idol: "6 Finalists Compete"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Apr 28, 2011For the next several days, some of our writers will be swapping duties on some of our most popular shows. Some of them will like what they see, but for different reasons. Some of them will have vastly different opinions from the regular reviewers. And some of them won't be all that different. We almost aren't watching American Idol this year at my house. After many years of rabid fandom, we spent the last couple of seasons reluctantly joining the throngs following the nation's most valuable franchise. The judges were insufferable, and a preponderance of the talent that was let… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "1 Of 7 Voted Off"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Apr 22, 2011In the final times, when the barbarian horde has overrun the Earth, direct from the dimensional rift they spilled out of, every week, Stefano will survive their most popular show, Beheading Idol for some ungodly reason. Finally, tonight we got the bottom two I've been hoping for, only I wish it happened about three or four weeks ago. Ah well. If Katy Perry's performance proved anything tonight, it's that you don't really need to sing as long as you have… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "1 Of 9 Voted Off"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Apr 8, 2011Is Stefano Langone the luckiest bastard on Idol this season or what? Just when I was prepared to say, "I told you so" about tonight's results, we got a big shocker. Now, I love a big Idol surprise because it's one less way the show is utterly predictable, but even I had a hard time with tonight's results. I was almost fake-crying like Jennifer Lopez. Aside from the results, it wasn't a very interesting results show, compared to the last few weeks, anyway. The… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "1 of 11 Voted Off"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Mar 25, 2011My goodness! That was one of the most entertaining hours in American Idol history, and I would have felt that way even without the crazy-dramatic finish. It was like the producers knew that the results shows have been tedious as hell and, thus, overcompensated in a million different ways, but I was certainly not bored. It's funny, because at the very beginning of the show, it seemed like Ryan made a sort of sarcastic, "Yep, here we are again" smirk toward the camera, but what I initially interpreted as boredom was actually hidden Seacrest secrets. Seacrets. Ryan promised us a… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "1 Of 12 Voted Off"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Mar 18, 2011I didn't tune in to last week's results show, so coming back to it tonight, I was reminded of the what-it-isn't-ness that results shows can be. On Thursday nights, I feel like a local news reporter at a New Years Eve gathering, trying to pretend there's more going on than there is. Here's something: Steven wore a sparkly, purple, long cardigan tonight (along with some St. Patrick's Day beads.) I swear he gets his clothes from a place called Sassy Fancy Grandma. Tonight, I saw my first group-singing number of the season, and I will… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "Top 12 Perform"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Mar 17, 2011Naima kicked things off with "What's Love Got to Do With It," but first we had a look back at her childhood. Naima's parents helped confirm my suspicions that she's probably one of the most fun people on Idol this season to hang out with: she comes from the kind of bohemian stock that probably make up the real-life versions of the wedding reception in Rachel Getting Married. Plus, she wears one of those COEXIST t-shirts made up of all those religious symbols, so I bet she is partial to tolerance and also possibly smoking good weed. Unfortunately, none of… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "Top 12 Perform"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Mar 17, 2011Naima kicked things off with "What's Love Got to Do With It," but first we had a look back at her childhood. Naima's parents helped confirm my suspicions that she's probably one of the most fun people on Idol this season to hang out with: she comes from the kind of bohemian stock that probably make up the real-life versions of the wedding reception in Rachel Getting Married. Plus, she wears one of those COEXIST t-shirts made up of all those religious symbols, so I bet she is partial to tolerance and also possibly smoking good weed. Unfortunately, none of… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "Top 12 Perform"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Mar 17, 2011Naima kicked things off with "What's Love Got to Do With It," but first we had a look back at her childhood. Naima's parents helped confirm my suspicions that she's probably one of the most fun people on Idol this season to hang out with: she comes from the kind of bohemian stock that probably make up the real-life versions of the wedding reception in Rachel Getting Married. Plus, she wears one of those COEXIST t-shirts made up of all those religious symbols, so I bet she is partial to tolerance and also possibly smoking good weed. Unfortunately, none of… Full Story »
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TV: American Idol: "Top 24 Chosen"
The A.V. Club Television &bull Feb 25, 2011Since I was schooled by so many of you last night on what Vote for the Worst is really all about (not who is untalented, but who we inexplicably end up hating on American Idol) I have to eat my words a bit since a few precious snowflakes made it through into the Top 24 tonight who I don't think were as unobjectionable as those who made it last night. Maybe since Chris Medina got cut I figured only totally rad people would make it through. I did like the first girl of the night to make it through, though… Full Story »
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TV: Other Shows: Cash Cab: Chicago
The A.V. Club Television &bull Feb 21, 2011A little over two years ago, I wrote a blog post called "Trivial Pursuit vs. Cash Cab: No Contest," in which I complained about the tendency in modern syndicated and network game shows towards showcasing contestants who are whooping loons, chosen more for their attention-hoggery than their game-playing skills. I contrasted that trend with Discovery Channel's game show Cash Cab, which I praised for the "realness" of its contestants, by which I meant the unpredictability of their knowledge-base and the genuineness of their joy and satisfaction when they got a question right. Well, almost immediately, in-the-know folks popped up in… Full Story »
