White House-related stories
Posted Nov 25th 2009 1:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, OpEd, Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free

If I had a dollar for all the times I've written about
Oprah Winfrey in the past few weeks, I'd be able to retire. Well, the O is one busy lady. She's just booked another TV program. On Sunday, December 13, ABC will broadcast Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special. Set the DVR for 10 p.m. because that's when President Barack Obama will welcome Oprah into America's grandest national house.
Take that, Barbara Walters! Not so fast with that ascension to the upper echelon, Robin Roberts. Back off, Diane Sawyer. Oprah Winfrey has an 'in' with the First Family and that's why she's going to be visiting the Obamas for a tour of what the holidays are like at the White House. This is the first time
President Obama and the First Lady are having Christmas there, and it'll be all new to them.
Continue reading Oprah's going to take us to Christmas at the White House
Posted Oct 30th 2009 5:10PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Video, The Daily Show, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Whatever your political opinions are and however your cable news tastes run, you have to admit that this
Daily Show examination of how Fox News works is pretty smart. Not just as an explanation at how the news side works with the non-news side of the network, but as an explanation of how
any organization can spin things their way.
[Watch
clips and episodes of The Daily Show and other shows at
SlashControl.]
Posted Oct 20th 2009 5:36PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: News, TV Squad Polls, Reality-Free

You may have heard that the White House seems to have
declared war on Fox News. President Obama has even gone as far as not appearing on one of the Fox News Sunday morning shows even though he appeared on every other network that morning. Now other White House spokespeople are openly saying that the network can't be trusted.
What do you think?
Posted Jun 28th 2009 3:11PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: The Daily Show, Reality-Free

All of you right-wingers who thought that
The Daily Show was going to become just another tool in a liberal executive branch's belt should take note of the following story.
And if having to read a newspaper other than
The Washington Times,
The New York Post or
The Daily American Patriot Commie Basher makes your eyes bleed, grab your Visine and suck it up. You need to read this.
An attorney for the state said the Obama administration did not want to release detail of an interview with
former VP Dick Cheney regarding the Valerie Plame leak because of fears that "it's going to end up on
The Daily Show."
Continue reading White House officially afraid of The Daily Show
Posted Jan 19th 2009 10:02AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Sports, News, OpEd, Reality-Free
Now, before you raise your pitchforks in a move to skewer me as a "liberal journalist," I just want to clarify what this item will be about. This is not an article about the job President Bush has done over the last eight years. You all have your differing opinions (which should be vented on politically-based sites) about how good or bad he did when it comes to policy. What I am going to talk about here is more of an image issue than a job performance one. We good? Good!
I'm going to ask a simple question: Was George W. Bush a good television President? Let's face it, the way that any famous person, whether they be Hollywood star or politician, is prepped for the TV cameras can make or break that person. Take the example of the Kennedy-Nixon televised debate in 1960. While many people have said that Nixon 'won' the debate on his statements, they also say that the way he looked in front of the cameras made voters uneasy about him and, eventually, cost him the election.
Continue reading Was President Bush a good television President? -- VIDEO
Posted Dec 8th 2008 9:57AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Reality-Free

They passed the torch on NBC yesterday. After weeks of speculation, it wasn't either
Ted Koppel or
Rachel Maddow that received the choice assignment. Nope. It's
David Gregory who'll take over Meet the Press -- effective immediately. On Sunday morning's broadcast, interim host and NBC anchorman emeritus Tom Brokaw made it official by officially letting the world know it was a done deal by presenting Gregory on air.
Apparently, some at NBC were miffed that this information was leaked last week, spoiling the big surprise today, but really, there wasn't much suspense.
Joel wrote about it. The selection of David Gregory is a safe, solid and somewhat staid choice.
Continue reading NBC settles on David Gregory for Meet the Press
Posted Nov 4th 2008 9:56PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: News, OpEd, Reality-Free

FOX NEWS - AMERICA'S ELECTION HQ. Not dramatic enough? Maybe we could spruce it up a bit. "Fox News - For Election Coverage that's Guaranteed Right!" Even some of their analysts were reluctant to think that the country could go to the left of center.
Fox News Channel is a part of the new media, running streams of election data along the bottom, including a static corner box tracking projected electoral votes. We get two different bits of election data next to that, changing about every 7 seconds. Above that is an Alert bar with text data "Fox News Projects John McCain has won Kentucky." And, of course, they kept it scrolling through the commercials, too.
Continue reading Election Night: Fox News (Part 1)
Posted Sep 9th 2008 5:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free

When I read the release today announcing
the artists who will receive the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors -- actress/singer/director Barbra Streisand, actor Morgan Freeman, singer George Jones, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who -- my first reaction was, "It's about time!"
That was mostly about Barbra Streisand finally being named. Streisand, who's been recognized with every major show business award (two Oscars, multiple Emmys and Grammys, a special Tony, Peabody awards, an AFI, more Golden Globes and any other performer, and lots more) has been overdue for this one. It's been a glaring omission in her resume. Of course, the catch with the Kennedy Center is that you have to be there to get it.
Continue reading Streisand and Freeman among 2008 Kennedy Center Honorees
Posted Feb 19th 2008 3:24PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Cable/Satellite, Celebrities

You'd think by now that people would know better. Embellishing a resume, adding credits that are the work of a vivid imagination rather than hard work... they're bound to be unearthed someday. Especially if you're a success. The latest prevaricator caught in a series of lies is Food Network's British chef Robert Irvine. In a scathing expose by the
St. Petersburg Times, the star of
Dinner: Impossible, has been caught with egg on his face. Make that more like egg salad. Multiple claims by Irvine, including creating Princess Diana's wedding cake, cooking for White House dinners, being knighted by the queen, and more, have turned out to be tall tales.
Continue reading Truth: Impossible - Chef Robert Irvine caught in a web of lies
Posted Jun 12th 2007 8:27PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: OpEd, Animation, Early Looks
Lil' Bush debuts on Comedy Central tomorrow night, June 13, at 10:30 p.m. This is an early review.
I've mentioned before that, outside of South Park and the occasional rerun of Duckman and The Critic at 4:00 a.m., Comedy Central hasn't offered much in the way of animated programs. No offense to fans of Drawn Together, but I've always found it cloying and grating. Freak Show, which I cut a bit more slack because it was made by comedic folks I admired, was still not as good as it should have been.
Continue reading Lil' Bush -- An early look
Posted Feb 8th 2007 9:04PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Programming, PBS, Documentary

Back in 2003, were you wondering why the mass media was beating the drum to war in Iraq? I sure as hell was. I was so confused as to why Tom Brokaw would go on David Letterman and advocate a war, and I was stumped as to why the New York Times continued to plaster reasons for war all over its front pages.
Frontline is going to explain it all in a four-part investigative series that I cannot wait to see. Starting next Tuesday (Feb. 13th), the PBS program will investigate the way the Bush White House planted confidential tips in the media and then used subsequent media stories as evidence that America had no choice but to invade Iraq. The first hour "untangles the snarl of events" that show how the Bush administration won approval for the war from the public and the media. The second half of the program, on Feb. 20th, investigates just how much the press can reveal about the government's "war on terror" without putting the nation's security in jeopardy. The other two hours, on Feb. 27th and March 27th, look at the future of journalism in the U.S. and at journalism around the world.
Posted Feb 6th 2007 8:52PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central

"Am I Hot Or Not?": The high-pitched voice gave me a good chuckle. I'd like to imagine that
Punxsutawney Phil is really thinking all that in his little groundhog head. "I speak the truuuuth!" Oh, and
The Daily Show is really pushing those
Jimmy Dean Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Sausage On A Stick jokes. I'm starting to wonder if they're getting paid by Jimmy Dean to advertise that "food" by pretending to hate it... when, in fact, it's delicious and addictive. Senior White House Correspondent Dan Bakkedahl also stopped by to say something. My ears tuned out because, as of late, Bakkedahl-talk sounds like
Peanuts adults... but less funny.
Continue reading The Daily Show: February 5, 2007
Posted Jan 23rd 2007 4:35PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central

With the aid of Roget's monosaurus (ha!), Bush has prepared yet another stirring
State of the Union! That montage of the president's past addresses was amazing. And by "amazing", I mean "kind of depressing".
Senior Political Analyst Jason Jones talked about what Bush meant about the average American's sacrifice:
peace of mind. When that robot unexpectedly turned around and started talking, I was surprised that Jones didn't know what to do.
The Daily Show should hold improv workshopping for all of their correspondents, heh.
Continue reading The Daily Show: January 22, 2006
Posted Jan 15th 2007 2:42PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Cable, Video, Web
There's an episode from the fourth season of The West Wing where a temp work comes in to work in Josh's office, and she's wearing a Star Trek pin. Donna notices it and tells Josh, and Josh tells the worker that she can't wear it while she's working in the White House. The woman doesn't understand and gets upset. At the end of the episode, Josh explains to the woman that he's a Star Trek fan, too, and he'll even try to get a Star Trek holiday declared by the government. But while she's working there, she can't wear it, and the woman understands.
I thought of that while watching the video after the jump. It's from January 10, and shows Congressman David Wu (D-Oregon) talking about the war and how the people in the White House are Klingons, not logical Vulcans. But they're not like the "real" Klingons of Star Trek, because they've never fought a real battle.
As he warns: "Don't let faux Klingons send real Americans to war!" There's a bumper sticker waiting to be made
Continue reading To boldly go where no (congress) man has gone before - VIDEO
Posted Dec 19th 2006 4:40PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, The Colbert Report, Festivus, Celebrities
... a great TV momentI remember. It was the evening of April 29th, and I had opted out of attending a major social event to watch, of all things, C-SPAN. Honestly, it felt a little pathetic. Well, not "a little". It felt
really pathetic. Little did I know that I, sitting in front of the television with my laptop resting on my tacky pajama bottoms, would soon be witnessing something remarkable.
Continue reading On the 1st day of Festivus, TV gave to me
Next Page >