• The Christmas Movie: A Hate/Need Relationship

    Dear Television, HERE’S THE THING no one wants to admit about televised Christmas movies: they’re all horrible. Don’t get me …

    I Don’t Know I’m Beautiful

    Dear Television, I FIND MUSIC VIDEOS to be a lot of work. When someone sends me a link to a …

    3 Ways of Looking at Arcade Fire

    Dear Television, EVERYBODY HATED “Bound 2.” I don’t mean the song. In fact, if you ask Yeezy purists, probably too …

    How to Make a Music Video About Nothing: Ke$ha, Pitbull, & “Timber”

    Dear Television, WE WATCH MUSIC VIDEOS for three overarching and often related reasons: hotness, dancing, and story. You might not …

    Saturday Night Live’s Alumni Problem

    Dear TV, WE’RE TALKING SNL this week, and I’m … excited. Which isn’t a feeling I’ve gotten from SNL in …

    Good, Giving, and Game: Towards a Theory of SNL Hosting

    Dear Television, WHEN PHIL FIRST emailed to ask if we wanted to cover this week’s Saturday Night Live, he was …

    In Praise of Quitting

    Dear Television, I’VE QUIT ONE JOB, I’ve quit two sports, I quit one (very ill-advised) diet. I finish all my …

    Trust Fumes: Staying With Homeland

    SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL SORTS OF STUFF… Dear Television, THIS WEEK, AHP and I will be talking about the virtues …

    There Will Be Peplum: On the Television Uniform

    Dear Television, WHEN I WAS YOUNG, my favorite show was Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are many reasons for this …

    The Fastest Show on TV: On The Good Wife

    A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, in this very column, I made an off-hand claim that The Good Wife is “the best …