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PSYched Out: The Today Show's Obsession With Psy

One of television's longest-running programs, NBC's Today, has recently gone from venerable to vulnerable within the span of about a year. Thanks to more missteps than a line of drunken novice cloggers attempting the Riverdance, the morning show now finds itself routinely rated behind its main compe ... More >>

Shallow Pool: Adding Musicians (and Silly Theme Songs) to TV's Splash

As often as I've been complemented on my taste in music, I've been ridiculed for the horrible television programs I sometimes watch. Case in point: my DVR's arteries were recently clogged with episodes of the ABC celebrity competition, Splash. For those who may have missed it, Splash was a taped an ... More >>

The Taste Premiere: Sea Bass with Butterscotch for Anthony Bourdain

With television today overwhelmed by reality shows that feature everything from singing to dancing to racing around the world, it's no surprise that ABC has a new reality competition centered around cooking. The Taste is exactly like The Voice on NBC, except that instead of judging someone's voice b ... More >>

Who Is Dick Clark?: The Twitter World Wants To Know...

Famed television host and "world's oldest teenager" Dick Clark has passed away at age 82, due to a massive heart attack. The longtime host of American Bandstand and ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve lived a storied life, introducing millions of kids to pop music, while also hosting various game shows on ... More >>

Vintage Pics Of Destiny's Child, ZZ Top, Blue October & More

Photo by Steve Harris/Compadre RecordsHayes Carll before he was old enough to shave... not that he ever has.​The other day, one of the Rocks Off Crew was rummaging around in the Houston Press office and came across a bunch of publicity stills for various musicians. Allow us to explain what th ... More >>

10 Odd Things Left At Elvis Presley's Grave

Chris GrayAs close as Rocks Off has ever come personally to Elvis' grave. Graceland was already closing for the day by the time we got there in April.​Today is the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, which means that even as you read this, Graceland workers are hard at work sorting, cat ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Five Fictional Inanimate Objects More Deserving of a Reality Show Than Bristol Palin

You'd be smiling, too.​It's tough to get a reality show. As you know, TV networks are always looking out for our best interests. And to this point they've been diligent about only distributing these precious program slots to those individuals and groups most likely to make society a better p ... More >>

Cultivating Budding Chefs at Highland Village Farmers' Market

Kellie Karavias and two budding cooks at the Farmers Market.​Last weekend I skipped my usual Saturday stop at the Eastside Urban Harvest Farmers' Market, and instead opted to visit the Sunday Urban Harvest Farmers' Market at Highland Village (2720 Suffolk at Westheimer) so I could check out th ... More >>

Cleveland Gang-Rape Coverage: Controversy Doesn't Die

A "clusterfuck of fail"?​The heat over media coverage of the Cleveland gang-rape doesn't show much signs of slacking, as critics question whether stories in The New York Times and Houston Chronicle displayed a "blame the victim" tone. A round-up of the latest (We've asked Chronicle editor Je ... More >>

Ten TV Shows That Need To Go Away Now

​We're barely a month into the fall TV season and have already lost three new network shows. My Generation, the show that was to catch us up on a group of high school graduates ten years after the fact (and presumably set to the music of The Who) pulled a Keith Moon after two episodes. Lone St ... More >>

Tiffany Young-Hartley: A Clairvoyant Sheriff, Vanishing Suspects, Whoring Politicos, Incompetent Pot Smugglers, And Weird Facebook Photos

Still a lot of unanswered questions​Some law officers will tell you they develop a sixth sense about crime. They will say that even while they are driving to work, they know the kind of mayhem their shift will bring. But as Talking Points Memo notes, Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez's ES ... More >>

The Week In TV: Enjoy Hulu While It Lasts

The good stuff won't be free for much longer.​My backyard flooded, I went half-blind on fireworks, and I am exponentially losing my agility. This was the week in TV Land: • As if to taunt my very desires, Hulu announced last week that it's launching Hulu Plus, a paid version of the site th ... More >>

The Week In TV: The Walking Dead (The New Series, Not Charlie Sheen)

​I'm slightly sunburned, spoiled by three-day weekends, and trying to figure out whether I want an iPad. This was the week in TV Land: • So, the iPad came out, as you have heard about from every news outlet imaginable, and several TV apps have already been announced. Yahoo's entertainment ... More >>

The Week In TV: Jay Leno's Flagpin And, For Some Ungodly Reason, An Animated Joe Dirt

​Winter's back, the sun is gone, and Fox just put another Joss Whedon show out to pasture. This was the week in TV Land:• So, Jay Leno went on Oprah's show last week to talk about his side of the whole late-night debacle. (Out of every weird thing about the interview, tops was the American flag ... More >>

Weed Takes Root

Marijuana's steady creep toward legalization nationwide.

The Best and Worst Christmas Specials of All Time

Every winter brings the onslaught of family tension, shopping, and that most American of pastimes, the Christmas special. They're typically half an hour, though they can be longer, and they often take characters from an already-established world and run them through the gauntlet of festivities surro ... More >>

This Week in TV: Last Flight of the Conchords

I'm tired of shopping, ready for sunshine, and I need you to bring me some pens. This was the week in TV Land: • Blah blah blah obligatory paragraph about how awesome Community is. Maybe you're tired of reading it, but I'm not tired of writing it. It's consistently good, and it just keeps gettin ... More >>

This Week In TV: Idol's Coming, Whether You're Ready or Not

My car's in the shop, I can't figure what season it is, and I don't know what to do about the Indians in the lobby. This was Thanksgiving week in TV Land: • Glee is going bye-bye for a while. The last episode of the year will air on December 9, completing the original 13-episode order, and the s ... More >>

This Week In TV: Oprah to Resign in 2011, World to End Shortly Thereafter

Tom Cruise is not taking the news well...​The sun's back out, I'm ready for turkey, and I can't believe I sold my DeLorean to Mr. T. This was the week in TV Land: • So, Oprah resigned, but not really, or something. Just to make sure we all have time to prepare our families for the ritualist ... More >>

Local Man, For Some Reason, Wants World To Know That The Idea For Beverly Hills Chihuahua Was His

​If you ask Houstonian Zenon Yracheta, he'll tell you that he's the one to blame for that, shall we say, underwhelming, Hollywood movie about a Chihuahua in Beverly Hills, aptly titled, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.And to take a swing at proving it, he's filed a lawsuit in Houston federal court against ... More >>

The Week In TV: Art of the Dushku

We'll always have Bring It On...​I'm waiting for winter, I'm tired of Joseph Fiennes, and I can't stop raving about Wade Boggs' Carpet World. This was the week in TV Land: • I've been a little remiss in advising you to watch Parks and Recreation, which is my bad, as I heard a kid say the o ... More >>

The Week In TV: The World Series Ruins Everything

Parks and Recreation, yet another reason to love NBC​The weather is cool, Halloween is in the air, and I just redesigned the Pontiac Aztec. This is the week in TV Land: • For being a weak network overall and the home to some truly awful medical dramas, NBC can bring the funny. This week it ... More >>

Dancing With the Stars: Do The Hustle!

​It's week five of Dancing With the Stars, but I don't know how many are left. I don't have the commitment to count the couples and do the math, plus there could be special eps or extra fillers or reunion shows or who knows what all. Basically, I know there's an end in sight, I just don't know ... More >>

TV Land: 30 Rock Is Back! And Some Other Stuff Happened Too

It was a long week in TV Land, so let's get some Cheesy Blasters and do it to it: • 30 Rock is back! 30 Rock is back! I know that some of you -- most of you? -- probably thought that Texas' victory was the best thing on TV this week, but that's because you're young and don't know much yet. Trus ... More >>

Five Post-Political Careers As Bad As Appearing On Dancing With The Stars

Most politicians, once their days in government service are over, go on to less public but nonetheless luractive careers in the private sector. They serve on corporate boards, become presidents of universities, or enjoy a quiet retirement. Sure, they can't all be Jimmy Carter, parlaying a lengthy p ... More >>

Tom DeLay Goes Dancing With The Stars

​It's nice to know that the dignified, studious, classy Tom DeLay we all knew and loved in the Congress is alive and well...and appearing on Dancing with the Stars.Because that's what serious people do.ABC announced today that the former King of Sugar Land will be a contestant along with such nota ... More >>

Tom DeLay to Debut the "Bitch Slap" on Dancing With the Stars Next Month

News is leaking out of Hollywood that former U.S. House Majority Leader and mugshot model Tom DeLay will be part of the cast of next season's ABC hoofer ratings smash Dancing With the Stars. What hasn't come out yet is DeLay's plans to debut a new dance called the "Bitch Slap," an arm-movement-heav ... More >>

Who Wants To Be A Contestant On Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The producers of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire are coming to town Friday today to audition contestants for the show. Our Craig Hlavaty has already gone down this road before; here's his tale and some tips on how to get picked.Back in the summer of 2005, when I was slinging dough for Domino's and stu ... More >>

Remembering John Lennon

On December 8, 1980 - 28 years to the day - John Lennon was shot and killed on the steps of the Dakota Apartments on New York City's Upper West Side by professed fan Mark David Chapman. It was a Monday just like today, and millions of people found out when ABC Sports' Howard Cosell broke the ... More >>

College Football Preview, Tea Leoni Edition

Did You Know That The High School Pregnancy Pact Is All Juno’s Fault?

Margaret Cho

Comedian previews her new Beautiful tour in a workshop performance

Impossibly Passable

Re:Re:Re: Bachelor Bitchin'

Re:Re: Bachelor Bitchin'

Bachelor Bitchin'

Food for Thought

Broadcast-news veteran Linda Ellerbee wants you to Take Big Bites

Shooting the Stars

Snarky comedian Kathy Griffin stops by Houston to dish on Hollywood's elite

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Blonde Joke

Someone, please, get Reese Witherspoon to shut up

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

That '60s Show

Oliver Beene goes against fake millionaires and phony idols

All About the Kids

Things are going to get ugly on the Kid-Care front

After M*A*S*H

Larry Gelbart is one of TV's last great writers. So why can't he stay tuned?

Booster Shot

A proposed Medical Center project gets big, big play

Death Row Show

The media makes causes of more and more capital murder convicts. Meanwhile, John Albert Burks dies almost unnoticed, just another inmate moving along on the efficient execution assembly line of Texas justice.

Urban Comedian

Anthony Clark at the Laff Stop

Oprah Does Amarillo

It's the Queen of Talk versus the Meat Men, and outside the courtroom, master media manipulator Winfrey is already the clear winner.

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