democratic national convention-related stories
Posted Aug 30th 2008 12:24PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Video, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"The Heart of Hopeness": Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech the other night, to a stadium full of insanely excited Democrats. John Oliver filed a report live from the site of Obama's speech. Man, John has really been putting himself on the line this week, being incredibly annoying in front of so many overexcited people. I mean, chanting "Osama!" at a massive crowd of Obama lovers is almost a sure to bring about a beating, but he totally lucked out with some relatively mild verbal confrontation. Other great moments included dancing to Jeremiah Wright's "white friends" song and making his move on hot strangers. As we would see later in the episode, it seems like the Democratic National Convention brought out the friskiness in the correspondents.
Continue reading The Daily Show: August 29, 2008 - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 29th 2008 3:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Programming, Ratings, Reality-Free
The reviews from the political talking heads -- right and left -- have been mostly positive. The visuals were spectacular and riveting. History was made at Mile High Stadium in Denver last night when Senator Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic party as the first African-American presidential candidate. There were 80,000 people packed in the stadium, and
now Nielsen has determined that 38 million people tuned in to watch on TV.
How impressive is that number? It's
more than the opening ceremonies from the Beijing Olympics. It's also more than the 2008 Oscars and the finale of Fox's
American Idol.The networks cleared just one hour of prime time -- from 10-11 ET -- and the Democratic organizers made sure to present Obama's speech right in that slot, not drifting into the local late news.
Continue reading Obama's speech shatters Nielsen ratings
Posted Aug 29th 2008 12:25PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Video, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver": Seeing Jon Stewart and Aasif Mandvi make those jokes about (not) seeing Barack Obama's speech made me wonder if there are still any regular viewers who don't understand when
The Daily Show (and
The Colbert Report) tape and air their episodes. I remember when I started watching Conan O'Brien when I was super young, all the "It's really 11:30 at night!" jokes flew way over my head. So, just in case you don't know but are too embarrassed to ask: Both
TDS and
TCR tape around 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening and then air the same night. There.
Continue reading The Daily Show: August 28, 2008 - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 28th 2008 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
The news channels and C-SPAN have coverage of the last night of the Democratic National Convention. ABC, CBS, NBC, and some PBS stations join in at 10.- At 7, NBC has Preseason Football, the Jaguars vs. the Redskins.
- USA has more coverage of The U.S. Open starting at 7.
- At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
- Discovery Channel has two new episodes of Some Assembly Required at 8.
- At 9, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels, then a new episode of The Works.
- Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Island at 9.
- Spike has a new TNA Impact at 9.
- At 10, Comedy Central has a new Gong Show, followed by a new Reality Bites Back.
- Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Aug 28th 2008 2:20PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Video, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Watching the coverage of the Democratic convention has caused my old carpel tunnel syndrome to act up. I've been doing so much channel surfing; going from channel to channel to find just the right coverage has been a chore.
Good luck finding a balance between astute punditry, quality reporting, over-hyped production and clear coverage of the activities on the floor and stage by the political party. It's not easy. Here's some things, good and bad, that I've noticed in these first three days:
1) The Obama family are the Huxtables After Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night, her two daughters -- Sasha and Malia -- rushed onto the stage and Barack appeared via video hook up to speak with them and Michelle, congratulating her for the speech. It was a perfect TV moment. As good as her speech was, the image of the family was even better. In a voice that reminded me of Rudi Huxtable, Sasha talked to her father and chirped, "I love you, Daddy." The Obama's became
The Cosby Show. If that doesn't connect to the TV audience, nothing will. (Check out the video below.)
Continue reading Thoughts on coverage of the Democratic convention - VIDEO
Posted Aug 28th 2008 9:42AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech
suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.
Speaking of spouses, that uncomfortably long footage of Bill Clinton looking slack-jawed and slightly baffled also sent me into a spin of uncontrollable laughter. Mouth-breathers are never not funny. In other, more eloquent words: This episode brought the lulz.
Continue reading The Daily Show: August 27, 2008 - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 27th 2008 4:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
The news channels have the Democratic National Convention all night, with the main networks joining at 10.- At 7, USA has more coverage of The U.S. Open.
- At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
- NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
- Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, then a new Shear Genius.
- Discovery Channel has a new NextWorld at 8, followed by a new Mythbusters.
- At 9, Sundance Channel has a new Architecture School.
- At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
- At 10, Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.
- Also at 10:30: E! has a new Sunset Tan.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Aug 27th 2008 12:43PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Video, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?":
The Daily Show is back! They'll be in Denver for the whole
Democratic National Convention, workin' their shiny new set. It's pretty much just Jon's "j" desk and a whole lot of big screens hanging in the back. The gang was in full form, and I believe this was the most I've laughed at the show in a while. Perhaps it only feels that way because the show has been gone for a week and a Monday. Thank goodness they returned, because I was starting to get the shakes.
Continue reading The Daily Show: August 26, 2008 - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 26th 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
The networks have more coverage of the Democratic National Convention at 10 (the cable nets have all-night coverage).- At 7, USA has more of The U.S. Open.
- At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by a new Wanna Bet?
- NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
- ABC Family has a new Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8, then the season premiere of Greek.
- ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker at 8.
- TCM has Touch of Evil at 8, followed by Psycho.
- At 8:40, BBC America has the premiere of Gavin & Stacey.
- At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
- TBS has the special World's Funniest Commercials 2008 at 9.
- Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new Eureka, followed by a new ECW.
- At 10, FX has the minisode finale of Rescue Me.
- A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner at 10.
- Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
- History Channel has a new Evolve at 10.
- There's a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO at 10.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Aug 25th 2008 8:23AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week. 1. Democratic National Convention. Some viewers will be saying "hey, I'm interested in what Obama and Biden have to say," while others are saying "hey, this is interrupting my favorite show!" (All this week on various stations, including CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, and C-SPAN.)
2. The late night shows return. Finally, Letterman, Leno, Conan and the others are back after vacations and the Olympics. All except Carson Daly, of course.
3. The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. Laaaadeeee! Is Ed McMahon going to cohost this year? (Sunday starting at 9pm on various stations - check local listings.)
4. The new cast of Dancing with the Stars revealed. I still want to see Andy Dick on this show. (Unveiled on
Good Morning America this morning...actually, probably right about now.)
5. The U.S. Open. It's amazing how much this is on, taking up the entire programming schedule on USA Network. But that's a good thing! (All week on USA, from 11am to 6pm, then from 7pm to late night.)
6. The season premiere of Greek. The horrible summer is almost over, Labor Day is here, and the new fall season has begun. (Tuesday at 9 on ABC Family.)
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