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FADE
TO BLACK
In "Primetime Blues:
African Americans on Network Television," Donald Bogle presents
a comprehensive history of blacks on the small screen
WIRED
SHUT
The "No Frills
Prison Act" would strip federal corrections facilities of cable
TV. How will they watch "Oz" now?
MIDSEASON
SHUFFLE
More new stuff
you should--and shouldn't--be watching in March
BAD
BAD THINGS
Does anyone really
give a damn about Chris Isaak? Showtime thinks so.
CONSPIRING
MINDS
With its taste
for physical humor and jokey action sequences, "The Lone Gunmen"
feels quite different from its progenitor
MTV
& THE MUTILATION DONE
While the cable
channel's jackasses contort with fits of cackling, their victims
are clearly abandoned with a distinct feeling of violation
TWO
TRIBES
Watching torches
get snuffed on TLC's "A Dating Story"
PRACTICE
DOESN'T MAKE PERFECT
One columnist can't
stomach Camryn Manheim's approach to pregnancy
MIDSEASON
SHUFFLE
There's blood in
the water as the networks go at it, "Survivor" style
LONELY
HEARTS CLUBBING
Showtime rescues
writer-director Rodrigo Garcia's "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking
at Her" featuring Glenn Close, Holly Hunter and Cameron Diaz
NO
CROC
Was anyone else
disappointed that no one got rolled by a crocodile on that injury-spiced
"Survivor" episode?
GOING
TO THE DOGS
"TV Funhouse" takes
televised raunch to a new level
FOOD
IN THE NUDE
Food Network's
"Naked Chef" prepares excellent dishes with the bare essentials
STILL
FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The new episodes
of "The Sopranos" are as riveting as any the show has aired
HARSH
REALM
Heading into season
three, "The Sopranos" faces a hit squad of demons
CONSPIRACY
CHEERY
"The Lone Gunmen"
spins too far off
HAIL
TO THE CHIEF
Martin Sheen might
be the best president the United States has ever had
CRASH
& CARRY
Leave it to a home-shopping
channel to capitalize on Dale Earnhardt's death
NO
CLASS "Boston Public" Gets a passing mark, barely
The "Jackass" burning
incident illuminates a disturbing trend--the need to deflect responsibility
for our stupid acts onto someone else
WHO'S
TO BLAME?
The "Jackass" burning
incident illuminates a disturbing trend--the need to deflect responsibility
for our stupid acts onto someone else
TAKE
THAT!
Reality TV feeds
our primal desire to feel superior to everyone else
NOEL,
NOEL
He doesn't know
if his favorite show is cool and he doesn't care. He just wants
"Felicity" to come back.
INSIDE
LINCOLN'S BEDROOM
PBS explores "Abraham
and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided"
LOOK
AWAY, DIXIELAND
The History Channel
hunts down lingering ghosts in "The Unfinished Civil War"
SWEAT
SMELL OF X-CESS
The XFL is the
best thing that ever happened to video stores
KEN
BURNS, SCRIMSHAW FETISHIST
How could he fire
up a 19-hour "Jazz" documentary and leave the 1960s and seventies
to wait in the car
APPRAISING
A DISGRACE
It's remarkable
what you can find on "Antiques Roadshow" in the aftermath of the
Great Election Embarrassment of 2000
WOEFUL
WINTER
It seems like there's
nothing good to watch right now
XTREME
SPORTS
Inside the $200
million huddle with the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws
TEEN
IDOLS
Trying out for
the WB's new hot boy show
ALEX
DID ME WRONG!
Final Jeopardy
torment from a guy who's been there
GROUND
THESE TWO
"Grounded For Life"
and "Black Scorpion" lack sting
HER
GUILTY PLEASURE
OK, she admits
it: She loves watching "Seventh Heaven"
PSYCHICS
& MARAUDERS
USA Network's latest
shenanigans include a dressy "Attila" and a suspect "Crossing Over
with John Edward"
MEAT
MARKET IN PARADISE
Fox's "Temptation
Island" tests the bonds of love--and the boundaries of taste
COME
ON DOWN!
Why we're addicted
to game shows
LEADER
OF THE PACK
Robert Smigel tends
the "TV Funhouse" animal farm
FAUX
REALITY
Will "Survivor:
The Australian Outback" be reality TV's last gasp?
IT'S
CINDY MARGOLIS TIME!
One of the most
downloaded women on the Internet has a hit TV show. Can similar
programs be far behind?
FOOD
TV'S FINAL STRAW
As if inane just-folks
programming and Emeril Lagasse weren't enough, the Food Channel
is now in bed with the Olive Garden
NOT
QUITE DOA
"C.S.I." and "Law
& Order: SVU" each have a cool premise and decent acting, but suffer
from laughable character development
BOOB
TUBE
Sci-Fi Channel's
"Black Scorpion" is a jaw-dropping mixture of superhero parody,
dimestore special effects and jiggling breasts
PRETENDER
LOVIN'
Jarod, Miss Parker
and the rest return in "The Pretender 2001" on TNT
IT
KNOWS WHAT YOU WATCHED LAST TUESDAY
Arbitron's Portable
People Meter is a revolutionary advance in audience research. It's
also a little spooky.
COMMERCIAL
FREE
Will personal video
recorders kill TV commercials?
CELEBRITIES
SKINNED
Star vehicles sputter
out
THANK
YOU VERY MUCH
TCM kicks off a
King-size film fest with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is--Special Edition"
SOUR
NOTE
When it comes to
his "Jazz" series, filmmaker Ken Burns could have done better
SLIM
CHANCE
MTV kicks off a
hate-speech awareness campaign
HOMES
OF THE BRAVE
Let your neighbors
redecorate a room in your house? You'd have to be crazy--or on the
Learning Channel's "Trading Spaces"
JANUARY
BLOWOUT
"Black Scorpion,"
"Jules Verne," "Nikita" and more ring in 2001
AMERICA'S
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Ken Burns discusses
his return to the American century with a landmark, 10-part history
of "Jazz"
ELIAN
& THE KURSK
Our predictions
for the television miniseries of 2001
OLD
RIFFS
Documentarian Ken
Burns and his talking heads serve up a curiously lulling, 18-hour-plus
"Jazz"
ME
& MY TIVO
Her TiVo's name
is Phil, and he is becoming her best friend in the world
TITLE
WAVES
NBC's "Cursed"
and Fox's "Normal, Ohio": What was in a name?
REALITY
BYTES
It was an average
year for quality TV, but, as you know, the buzzword was "reality."
CHANNELING
QUALITY
Amid all the reality
dreck, at least 10 great shows made the airwaves in 2000
FAST
TALKER
Her dream date
with Dan Rather
POPE-A-DOPE
When it comes to
Christmas TV, It's time to put the pontiff out to pasture
DOWN
THE HABIT HOLE
There's really
no reason Robert Downey Jr.'s drug woes should affect his role on
"Ally McBeal"
LOW-RES
Why ABC's "Dot
Comedy" was doomed to failure
DOG
BOY SAVES NBC
Believe the hype:
"Ed" is a good, weird time
TV
VIEWERS ARE THE TRUE SURVIVORS
The "Survivor"
cast just won't go away, and things are only going to get worse
TAKE
ME TO YOUR LEADER
Rhino's "Brain
in a Box: The Sci-Fi Collection" assembles decades of spacey TV
and movie soundtracks
ALL
BUSINESS, ALL THE TIME
With a pro-business
multinational cast, CNN International focuses with laser-like intensity
on the world of finance
OUT
OF THE BOX
"Queer as Folk"
is watchable--but not transcendent--television, while "Normal, Ohio"
proves itself to be the more ambitious program
LOOKING
FOR THE NEXT SIMPSONS
Fox hopes it will
be "Malcolm in the Middle"
NONTRADITIONAL
HOLIDAY
Showtime's "Holiday
Heart" showcases Ving Rhames as a Baptist choir director who's also
the toast of a cross-dressing cabaret
IT
REALLY BLOWS
The American version
of "Queer as Folk" sucks--and not in a good way
SPACE
ODDITY
Would you let a
ratings-desperate TV network slingshot you 250 miles straight up
out of the atmosphere to live on an unsafe Russian space station?
KEN
GETS A PENIS
Long neutered by
TV, gay characters can finally swap saliva
TO
THE MOON AND BACK
Sarah Brightman
beams in "La Luna" on PBS
ODD
MEN OUT
"Queer as Folk,"
an Americanized version of the groundbreaking British series about
unabashed gay urban culture, is set for its Showtime premiere
GRAHAM
CRACKERS
The WB's "Gilmore
Girls" is Thursday's real Must-See TV show
RADICAL
CHIC OR RADICAL SCHLUB?
Michael Moore has
drawn kudos for uncovering "The Awful Truth" on Bravo, but he hasn't
been immune from criticism
A
CONTENDER & AN OFFENDER
The winning "Ed"
mines the "Northern Exposure" formula, but "DAG" should be put out
of its misery
DON'T
STOP THE MONKEYS
The network logo
tends to obscure the fun when watching "The Wizard of Oz" on TNT
THANKSGIVING
& FOOTBALL
When did a solemn
holiday founded by Washington and Lincoln become a national day
of football? A long, long time ago...
NO
SHOW
Ten celebs we don't
need to see on TV ever again
ROSE-COLORED
GLASSES
Does it seem to
anyone else that Charlie Rose might get baked?
THE
REAL REAL WORLD
In its 13th season,
PBS' "Point of View" continues to offer a prime showcase for independent
documentaries
FACING
THE BUZZSAW
Las Vegas bad boys
prepare to take on the "Battlebots"
WHAT
DO YOU PEOPLE WATCH?
An Australian on
vacation in the United States tries to understand what in the world
is happening on our TVs
TOO
MANY LECTURES
Where "Freaks &
Geeks" focused on the minutiae of adolescent life, "Boston Public"
crams ripped-from-the-headlines plots into every episode
IT'S
THE MYTH THAT MATTERS
The Who and "The
Simpsons" share the stage
TOO
MUCH CLASS
Game Show Network
reruns show how Richard Dawson made us comfortable in our boorishness
CHOCK
FULL OF GOODNESS
New shows such
as "Boston Public," "The District," "That's Life" and "Ed" are emphasizing
actual positive values
WING
AND A PRAYER
"The West Wing"
gives us the president we wish we deserved
PIGSKIN
CLICKS
Get a jump on the
weekend's best football matchups with predictions and analysis from
The Divine Miss Jones
FEMME
BOUGHT
Rabid fans rescue
"La Femme Nikita," which kicks off its fifth season January 7 on
USA
REASONS
FOR HOPE
Showtime's "Frankie
and Hazel" is a "family" movie that delivers valuable insights
THE
BEAUTY OF BATTLEBOTS
Watching metal
destruction machines fight with whirling circular saws and other
vicious weapons is both instructive and therapeutic
HE
SEES DEAD PEOPLE
John Edward, Sci-Fi
Channel's "Crossing Over" psychic, has the hookup
NBC
GETS TWO RIGHT
Counting the joys
of "Ed" and "Deadline"
WEB
OF RACISM
HBO's "Hate.com"
uncovers online bigotry wrapped in the Confederate flag
TAKING
THE FALL
Another year of
mundane TV programs offers a few glimmers of interest
STOOPID
& PROUD OF IT
Instead of slamming
the addition of literate Dennis Miller to the "Monday Night Football"
booth, fans should try cracking a book or two
ANGELIC
FACES
Brush up on Farrah
mania with the "Charlie's Angels Casebook"
I
WANT MY FOOD TV!
What happened to
the coolest channel on the box?
UNROYAL
TREATMENT
Queen Latifah celebrates
her first year as talk-show host on the backs of the very women
she became famous by defending
THE
BEST MAN
When they're not
busy influencing your vote, are late night's kings still funny?
REST
OF THE DRECK
Fall Deathwatch
2000--the final countdown
SCARY
MOVIES
With "The American
Nightmare," Independent Film Channel revisits indie horror's "Golden
Age"
NONE
OF THE ABOVE
PBS spotlights
a few presidential candidates who aim to rock the vote
SHAPELY
THINGS TO COME
"Dark Angel" trumps
Bush and Gore as the harbinger of our blighted future
TRUTH
HURTS
New "To Tell the
Truth" and "The Television Show" really stink
DEATH
WATCH 2000
The fall TV season
dead pool rides again!
GOODBYE
& GOOD RIDDANCE
Thanks for coming
to our Olympics, say Australians, but don't come back
ADVENTURES
AS A TALKING HEAD
No matter what
you think about Drew Barrymore, when Bravo asks you to be in a documentary
on her, you say yes
HOGGING
THE PLATE
At last, baseball's
have-nots have risen up to challenge the Steinbrenners. But will
it matter now that the playoffs are here?
BAM!
BAM!
Emeril Lagasse
mixes showmanship with succulent food to create a TV show to drool
over
OLYMPIC
FLAME-OUT
NBC's coverage
rated high on the suck-o-meter
MORAL
BORE
The new Dr. Laura
is only a threat to herself
BUILDING
COMMUNITY
Spending a day
at the local-access station
HISTORY
REPEATS
A war over TV picture
quality was waged 60 years ago
DIE,
ROBOTS, DIE!
Comedy Central's
"BattleBots" is yet another American improvement on a British TV
concept
TALKIN'
TRASH
In which an intrepid
reporter joins Ricki Lake's TV audience
FALL
FORECAST: DISMAL
With a mixed bag
of new shows in the offing, it might be time to kill your television
I
HAD SEX WITH A SURVIVOR!
A televisual romance
PARAMOUNT
CONCERNS
Dr. Laura got her
TV show, but at what cost?
THE
SIGHT OF MUSIC
Sundance Channel's
Sonic Cinema series mixes new films bout music with historic documentaries
SMALL
SCREEN, FALL SCREEN
TV freshens up,
straightens up and takes chances
PURPLE
DRAIN
Showtime's "Hendrix"
goes all around the truth of its subject
SCHOOL'S
OUT
When Fox canceled
"American High," the network hit a new low--and made filmmaker R.J.
Cutler determined to get it back on the air somewhere
MELTED
WAX
"Survivor: The
Official Soundtrack to the Hit CBS TV Series" is one album you would
not take to a desert island
MANHATTAN
TRANSFER
USA Network's "Manhattan,
AZ" is a well-written sitcom with clever, absurdist touches and
classic noir narration
THE
DOCTOR IS IN TROUBLE
Laura Schlessinger's
critics make her TV debut difficult
GAMES
OVER
Decrying NBC's
Big Brother approach to Olympics broadcasting
L.A.
STORY
Salsa, reality
TV and a Midwestern rube's trip to the land of show biz lotus-eaters
SATURDAY
NIGHT LOBOTOMY
"The Cindy Margolis
Show" downloads a full-sensory beating
BIRTH,
DEATH, INFINITY
"Hopkins 24/7"
plunges viewers into the grit of hospital life
REAL
WINNERS
"Millionaire" and
"Survivor" are so extravagantly, happily, self-confidently fake
about their "reality," they can't help but be truly watchable
BOYS
& BOOBS
TNT's classy soaper
"Bull" tackles Wall Street, while "The Cindy Margolis Show" asks,
"What tropical fruit most resembles your breasts?"
THREE
AMIGAS
"The Powerpuff
Girls" give young viewers the sense that anything is possible
DARTH
GAYDAR'S REVENGE
Richard Hatch--the
man America loved to hate for 13 weeks--is $1 million richer
JUDGING
JOE BROWN
One of TV's most
popular judges has big plans
WEB
TV
A host of TV-related
Web sites provide off-season amusement
BULL$HIT
TNT's Wall Street
drama, "Bull," sells reality short
SNAKE
EYES
The new PBS documentary
"Dreamland" gets inside the heads of compulsive Las Vegas gamblers
LITTLE
GRRRL POWER
"The Powerpuff
Girls: Heroes and Villains" provides a superheroic soundtrack for
the Cartoon Network's fave kiddie show
MAKING
THE BRAND
Wonder why reality
TV shows blur out product names on cast members' clothing? It's
not what you think.
AMERICAN
PIE
Fox and the WB
expand TV's vast teenage wasteland
FALL
SKEDS 2000
What's coming to
your TV? Be afraid, very afraid.
CALL
IT A COMEBACK
The WWF has been
foundering since head writer Vince Russo bailed last fall, but now
the storylines are coming together again
YA
GOTTA LAUGH
Hits and misses
in the Emmys for comedy
THE
WRATH OF DR. LAURA
It seems Capt.
Kirk and his Priceline cronies have been immobilized by the evil
queen
HIGH
ON HIGH SCHOOL
"Opposite Sex"
and "American High" prove that TV folks are not through mining the
halls of high school for inspiration
FALL
GUISE
After looking at
all the new fall shows, it's pretty obvious you'll still be watching
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" come September
FOR
YOUR CONSIDERATION
These nominations
go beyond the Emmys
$TUDIO
JU$TICE
Adding to the legal
TV glut, "The Judge Mathis Show" angles for a piece of the billion-dollar
syndication pie
VOYEUR
POWER
We revel in the
cruelty of reality shows as payback for the unspeakable loss of
our own privacy in modern society
THE
TRUTH IS IN HERE
A chat with "X-Files"
creator Chris Carter at the San Diego Comic-Con reveals tantalizing
tidbits about next season
CONAN
THE CONQUEROR?
Now that Andy Richter
has left "Late Night," Conan O'Brien struggles to find his footing
LEAGUE
OF ITS OWN
Comedy Central's
"The League of Gentlemen" is a British sketch show full of naughty
bits
LOOSE
WITH THE JUICE
O.J. Simpson offers
his thoughts on being booted by "The View" to the reporter who published
his "confession"
UNREAL
WORLDS
Had your fill of
reality TV and prime-time game shows? Too bad. There's lots more
where the current crop came from.
STANDING
UP
With a new HBO
special under her belt, Ellen DeGeneres prepares for a return to
network TV and life under the microscope
AWARD
SPINNING
They gave credit
to "The Corner" and "The Sopranos," but the Emmys are still out
of touch
GUILTLESS
PLEASURE
"Sex and the City"
might not resemble real life, but that's what makes it fun
DOWN
THE BLOODY BRICK ROAD
HBO's "Oz" continues
to raise the bar on TV violence, but the show itself rises above
simple classifications
ON
THE RISE
"Resurrection Boulevard,"
the Showtime series featuring Latinos, is not the answer to the
call for diversity in Hollywood, but it's a step in the right direction
VOYEUR
VISIONS
"Big Brother" is
the first TV show that actually works better online
MONSTER
SMASH
The "Space Ghost:
Coast to Coast" bandleader skitters into the spotlight with "Brak
Presents: The Brak Album Starring Brak"
BACK,
BACK, BACK, BACK
Twelve cheesy things
about sports on TV
GAME
SHOW GEEK
A contestant recalls
her not-so-rockin' day on VH1's "Rock and Roll Jeopardy"
SURVIVING
TV
CBS throws down
the primal gauntlet this summer
TOOTH
DECAY
"Donny & Marie"
canceled; Utah on suicide watch
SOPRANOS'
HIGH NOTE
A tribute to Nancy
Marchand, late matriarch of "The Sopranos"
ON
IN THE OFF-SEASON
A few gems make
this summer's tube schedule better than most
WWF
REBOUNDS
After a couple
months of uninteresting action, the WWF gets back on track with
"King of the Ring" and "RAW"
IMPOSSIBLE
MISSIONS
Old TV series get
no respect when Hollywood remakes them for the big screen
VIRTUAL
GAME SHOW
Forget those Philbin
reruns; load "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 2nd Edition" onto your
PC
NO
ONE EXPECTS THE CABLE INTERVENTION!
Why Python reruns
are suddenly as rare as Parrots' teeth
MILLER
RANTS
What would Dennis
Miller say if Dennis Miller were asked to comment on the hiring
of Dennis Miller for "Monday Night Football"?
COOKING
UP CONFLICT
Japan's "Iron Chef"
invades Manhattan for an NYC battle royale
GOTCHA!
TV plays snoop
& sneak in the age of reality programming
SMALL-SCREEN
OASIS
Sundance Channel
counters summer blockbusters with "The Decalogue"
SWEET
TOOTH
Comedy Central's
"Strangers with Candy" gleefully exploits the conventions of after-school
specials to create its twisted stories
ROCK
THE CYBERVOTE
Televising acts
selected by visitors to its site, USA's "Farmclub.com" brings bad
music to the masses
RERUN
RELIEF
Cable treats such
as "The Awful Truth" and "Sex and the City" save us from the summer
doldrums
NO
PAYOFF
If he had the money,
he'd give all the "Survivor" contestants $1,000 to just go away
SINGLES
HITTER
Sam Phillips, the
Godfather of popular music, gets his due in a new A&E biography
BACK
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ellen DeGeneres
comes out with a new HBO special
WE
CAN DO BETTER
Internet fan fiction
gives TV characters new lives
REALITY
CHECKS
"The Real World:
New Orleans" and "Survivor" heat up the tube for voyeuristic viewers
STICK
THIS IN YOUR TEN SPOT
Sending a Dear
John letter to MTV
BLAND
FINALE
The season's end
brings little to keep a tube junkie happy
NOT
THAT CITY
Why "Sex and The
City" should be set in L.A.
DANTE'S
PIQUE
Why "Clerks" works
SURVIVING
SURVIVOR
You know that weird
show "Survivor"? As always, the best perspective comes from Mom.
SKEDDING
TOWARD FALL
What's in, what's
out and what's up with your favorite shows for next season
COVER
STORY
Ex-teen idol Shaun
Cassidy advances his TV producing career with USA's "Cover Me"
FOP
QUIZ
Gay men score the
best of both genderal worlds as contestants on "Who Wants to Be
a Millionaire?"
JUDGMENT
DAY
With The Rock off
being a movie star, the WWF needs some headliners
IT
SOUNDED LIKE SHAFT, BUT FELT LIKE BUFFY
Anticipating the
demise of the Sci-Fi's channel's "Good vs. Evil"
WHEN
CABLE GOLIATHS TANGLE, DAVID GETS HOSED
Time-Warner's recent
stunt unplugging ABC makes as much sense as allowing ABC to block
Time magazine
ROAD
TRIPS
Jay Schadler's
new Bravo series "Talelights" walks the walk
BANANAS!
The greatest sitcom
in history? He'll take Chris Elliot's "Get a Life."
THE
ELIAN NETWORK
When television
becomes "all Elian, all the time"
NUDGE
NUDGE, WINK WINK
Eric Idle's touring
show always looks on the bright side of life
FRIENDS
FOREVER
They're cute, they're
funny, they'll be there for you--but are they each really worth
$750,000 per episode?
FRUITS
OF THE LOIN
On HBO, "Sex" sells;
on Skinemax, it's just tissue fodder
CHARACTER
BUILDING
"NYPD Blue" and
the virtues of "gritty realism"
OH,
BROTHERS!
Emilio Estevez
and Charlie Sheen play porn pioneers in Showtime's flaccid "Rated
X"
MESSIAH
COMPLEX
Talking with Jesus
about "Jesus," the miniseries
TRULY
AN ENCORE PRESENTATION
Re-runs suck...
or do they?
JERRY,
JERRY, JERRY
A dominatrix says
no thanks to Mr. Springer's invitation
YOU
TALKING TO ME?
Why are so many
characters breaking the fourth wall and directly addressing viewers?
TREK
MEMORIES
Computer, literary
and sci-fi geeks have one thing in common: "The Next Generation"
ALIEN
NOTION
It's been a tough
ratings year for the WB, but that's no reason to give up on a show
as good as "Roswell"
NUT
JOB
Testicular cancer-afflicted
Tom Green gives men the chance to play pocket pool in public for
a good cause
A
FEW MINUTES FOR ANDY
You know him as
the whiny old guy on "60 Minutes," but Andy Rooney is one of the
funniest and most honest writers we have
KILLING
TIME
May sweeps: When
TV characters say the long goodbye
SLUSH
FUNDED?
Amid rumors of
kickbacks, an FBI probe of the 2002 Winter Olympics expands to include
the Salt Lake Organizing Committee's $83 million broadcast contract
THAT
OTHER SEVENTIES SHOW
"The '70s": four
friends, 10 years, one amazing crock of...
THAT
SEVENTIES GUY
With a recurring
role on "That '70s Show," Tommy Chong proves he's still hazy after
all these years
SAVE
OUR SIMPSONS!
The series has
fallen, but it can get up
LIT
HIT
The Travel Channel
explores fascinating locales through the eyes of native scribes
in "Great Writers, Great Cities"
BROWN
OUT
Judge Joe Brown
takes his final off-camera bow
RENEW!
RENEW!
Is your favorite
TV show a runner, or a goner?
WRESTLEMANIAC
Recapping all the
slams and stars at the year's biggest Wrestlemania pay-per-view
event
RACE
BAITING
Viacom plays the
UPN card in pressuring the FCC to allow its merger with CBS
CELEBRITY
DEATH MATCH
The song remains
almost the same as regular folk ape their pop heroes on "Your Big
Break"
WIPEOUT
One man drowns
in TV's shallow end while auditioning for "Baywatch"
MIDSEASON
MISSTEPS
"Daddio," "Battery
Park," "Then Came You," "Talk to Me"--make them all go away!
KILLER
SERIALS
Tips for networks
looking to save their struggling dramas. First off: Shoot more episodes!
DOWN
THE RABBIT HOLE
ABC pulled the
plug after just two episodes, but "Wonderland" could have provided
a breathtaking alternative to "ER"
JUST
BADDIO
"Daddio" and "Battery
Park" make "Friends" seem like comic genius
SATANIC
REVERSES
In HBO's "Paradise
Lost 2: Revelations," doc directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
spotlight an ongoing travesty of the American judicial system
HIGH
SCORER
Brilliant "Sports
Night" is a sitcom like no other
REEL
TRASHY
Kudos to ABC and
USA for carrying on the not-so-proud tradition of made-for-TV movies
MASTERS
PIONEERS
A generation ago,
the Masters was all white. As you watch this year's coverage, recall
the man and the landmark events that made Tiger possible.
BOY
TOYS
Cuddly, sensitive,
and heavily moussed guys invade the midseason TV lineup
SAVE
THE FREAKS
NBC actually dropped
"Freaks and Geeks," the smart, funny, refreshingly true-to-life
high school comedy? Well, duh.
CON
JOB
Broadcasting the
nefarious scoop from TV Con 2000
WATCH
& LEARN
Why Dr. Laura deserves
her spot on TV
SPRINGTIME
FOR KERMIT
The thought of
German Muppets is just depressing
WALLOW
IN THE SHAME
His friend hates
him because he got her hooked on "Popular"
TALKING
BACK
Interactive TV
is poised to becomes as ubiquitous as toasters and microwaves
TAPING
THE REVOLUTION
MTV pre-records
a spring break "Total Request Live" in Vegas
HANGING
WITH THE OTHERS
This critic sees
dead people--on TV
SUCKING
ON TV
Want to be someone
in America? Learn how to give good tube.
SYNDICATED
SLEAZE
Ogling Howard Stern's
"Son of the Beach," and witnessing the resurrection of "Good vs.
Evil"
SAVE
OUR SUDS
Soap-opera fans
fight to restore sanity, and save "Another World"
SOUR
GRAPES
"Grapevine" is
just one stinky piece of the midseason garbage run
HOT
DOCS
Errol Morris premieres
"The Killer Inside Me" on the new Bravo series "First Person"
RING
OF SUCCESS
How the WWF became
a TV Goliath
GOOD
GOD
"God, the Devil
and Bob" makes a devilishly witty debut
STILL
SMOKIN'
"That '70s Show"
injects a shot of ingenuity into the tired TV routine
ACTION
PACKING
"Jack of All Trades"
and "Cleopatra 2525" deliver back-to-back syndicated fun
TOONING
IN
ABC is set to debut
an animated version of "Clerks," but NBC's "God, the Devil & Bob"
has generated the real controversy
WHO
WANTS TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL?
How about a game
show where contestants vie for the opportunity to come out on national
television?
CHOICE
NUTS
For "Malcolm in
the Middle," it's survival of the weirdest
WHO
ARE THESE PEOPLE?
"Seinfeld and Philosophy:
A Book About Everything and Nothing" explores life according to
Jerry
SING
IT SOPRANO
"Cover Me," USA's
new drama about an undercover FBI family, sucks in the extreme
SWING
KID
Scott Thompson
of Kids in the Hall discusses why cultural imperialism, cancer and
the PC establishment are funny to Canadians
PILOT
LESSONS
An independent
filmmaker takes one last crack at Hollywood with a new sitcom
WHO
WANTS TO READ "WHO WANTS TO" IN YET ANOTHER HEADLINE?
If you thought
"Multi-millionaire" was bizarre, get a load of these proposed games
shows
VAMPIRE
LOVER
A "Buffy" staff
writer helps push TV to new limits
MARRIED
TO FOX
Sending the "Multimillionaire"
network ideas for new reality shows--including "Who Wants to Kill
and Eat a Human Being?!"
ROLLING
IN D'OH!
In a new series
of "Simpsons" videos, the cartoon clan skewers the business called
show
WAR
STORIES
TV execs play
soldiers in the government's anti-drug campaign
SUCKING
OXYGEN
At least Oprah's
latest venture had a clever launch date: 02/02
CUNNING
STUNTS
The nets will
stop at nothing to reel you in during February sweeps
BAD
FEDS, BAD FEDS
"The X-Files"
celebrates 150 episodes by teaming up with "Cops"--and delivers
both exhilaration and yucks
RIGGED
OUTCOMES
Buzzing in about
the cynical tricks game shows use to pick contestants
SWEPT
OUT OF THE CLOSET
It's refreshing
to see the network exploring gay themes during sweeps
YOU
LOOKIN' AT ME?
TCM presents "A
Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies"
HEAD
MAN
"The Sopranos"
goes back down for more
VACUUM
OF SPACE
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