Breaking news is that John McCain has decided to debate Barack Obama in the first Presidential debate in Mississippi tonight, after all. I guess Americans should be thankful that McCain has deigned to do the right thing, and not subvert the election process.

Here's a recap of what happened in the past… Read full post »

John McCain just called for postponing Friday's debate with Barack Obama, so that McCain's attention can be fully devoted to helping with our economic crisis.

I hope Obama rejects McCain's call for what it is: an attempt to take a breather from the campaign, because polls are beginning to turn against… Read full post »

It was a good night for media theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) on MSBC's Hardball tonight, as Chris Matthews wondered if John McCain was too "hot" for television...

Let's unpack this, as the philosophers like to say.

Back in the 1960s, McLuhan put media into two categories: "hot" or high pr… Read full post »

AMC's Mad Men won the Emmy for Best Dramatic Television Series tonight - a first for a basic cable television show, and more proof that the New Golden Age of Television is flying high. Matthew Weiner also won for best writer for Mad Men, and it was great to see the… Read full post »

The third season of Dexter will premier on Showtime September 28. I thought the first two seasons made it one of the best series ever on television - a unique combination of cop show, murder, self-reflection and unremitting moral dilemmas. I just saw the first four episodes of the new, third… Read full post »

I'm rarely surprised by any twists on television - I even predicted the flip to flash forwards at the end of Lost Season 3 - but tonight's ending of the 4th season of Weeds brilliantly caught me off-guard. I definitely and delightedly did not see it coming...

Nancy is about in… Read full post »

About as wrenching and Sopranos-like Mad Men - Episode 2.8 - as has been on so far, as Don and Betty start going the way of Tony and Carmella in the middle of their series, the priest gives more than a sermon, and Joan gets used - professionally - by Harry.

Betty… Read full post »

Public lending libraries are one of the bedrocks of American freedom. Benjamin Franklin founded the first one in this country. They invite everyone to read what they want, to explore and sample views that may be new to them, at no charge. We may not like some books in any library,… Read full post »

Reporters and commentators - for example, David Gergen on CNN last night - are falling all over themselves in an attempt to be fair about Sarah Palin's blank response to Charlie Gibson's question about the Bush Doctrine. Not just Sarah Palin has no knowledge of the Bush doctrine - so too… Read full post »

J. J. Abrams is back with some of the best of his Alias production team - Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci - with Fringe, the X-Files-like science fiction drama on Fox.

Actually, lead character FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (well played by Anna Torv) does look a little reminiscent of Sydney Bristow, and… Read full post »

What could Nancy have been thinking? She wanted a break from her increasingly illegal out-of-control life, but ... I can't see anything good of her telling Till about the tunnel. And bad things are already on the verge of happening in this next-to-last episode of the 4th season of Weeds.

Guillermo's i… Read full post »

It's being reported all over that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will no longer be anchoring special election coverage on MSNBC. In terms of what's ahead in this political season, this means we won't see them anchoring election night or debate coverage. They will both continue in their Countdown… Read full post »

We already know that Don Draper is really Dick Whitman, who took Draper's identity in the Korean War. Pete knows this, too, and so does Cooper. And, as we saw last season, Pete's attempt to blackmail Don about this fell flat - the inscrutable Cooper took it all in, and left… Read full post »

Barack Obama did fine in the short piece of his interview by Bill O'Reilly which was aired on Fox News tonight. This piece had to do with foreign relations. O'Reilly gave Obama credit for being against the Iraq war in the first place, but asked why Obama couldn't admit that he… Read full post »

I was quoted as follows in the Baltimore Sun this morning -

"I think what we have been seeing on TV is very similar to what took place on radio during the Depression, in that both are about reassurance," says Paul Levinson, professor of popular culture and media studies at Fordham… Read full post »

Bill Clinton and John Kerry just gave two outstanding speeches at the Democratic National Convention. The arrogant cable networks carried only Bill Clinton's. Once again, CSPAN comes through as the true American herald.

Bill Clinton received minute after minute of thunderous applause when he walked ou… Read full post »

Republican pundits have been "faulting" the Democratic Convention before tonight for not offering hard-hitting criticism of John McCain.

Joe Biden's powerhouse speech tonight amply gave them their wish.

Biden's attack on McCain's poor judgment on foreign policy, contrasted with the astute calls on worl… Read full post »

The first of several posts tonight about the Democratic Convention - as seen on my TV in New York...

It was no surprise tonight, but it was something no one would have predicted a decade ago. One of our two major parties has nominated an African-American for President.

There was… Read full post »

The best part of Hillary Clinton's speech tonight was when she asked her supporters whether they had voted for her in the primaries, or voted for the people who needed her, whom she championed in her campaign. If the answer was the latter, Hillary continued, then you must vote for Barack… Read full post »

I never thought Michelle Obama owed her Republican critics or tone-deaf people of any political view an apology for her style and her concerns about America. There is indeed a lot that is mean about this country, a lot not to be proud of, and as Michelle Obama said tonight in… Read full post »

First, for devotees of montage - the film technique first developed by Sergei Eisentein, in which cuts between unconnected images tell a story that goes beyond each of the images individually:

Mad Men had a great example tonight. It's always been one of my favorite techniques in film (and television)… Read full post »

One of the things I find most persuasive about Joe Biden is that he rides Amtrak every day between Washington, DC and Wilmington, Delaware.

I've made that trip many times myself, on my way from New York to Washington and vice versa. I've never actually stopped in Wilmington, but the city on… Read full post »