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Television

The 10 Best Sitcom Finales in TV History

By Jason Bailey on

Last night, NBC brought down the curtain on The Office in rather a lovely fashion, with a series finale that was warm, nostalgic, and plenty funny. Bringing a long-running sitcom to a close is a tricky bit of business (how ya doin’, Roseanne), but The Office joins a handful of shows that have done it very, very well. Here are some other examples. … Read More

Television

Should ‘Community’ Stay In Session — Or Is It Time to Graduate?

By Jason Bailey on

For the past 12 weeks, in this space, Flavorwire has recapped the abbreviated, delayed, and frequently problematic fourth season of NBC’s Community. As you certainly all know by now, the third year of the often brilliant series concluded with the abrupt sacking of creator/showrunner Dan Harmon, whose distinctive, idiosyncratic sensibility gave the show much of its voice, and whose comic genius was reportedly matched only by his inability to suffer suits gladly. The transition to new showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio was certain to be bumpy, and it was. But now that Community‘s senior year has come to a close, it’s worth asking: should the show carry on, or is it time to send the Greendale crew (and the gifted actors who play them) out into the Real World? … Read More

Film

Celebrate Alec Baldwin’s 55th Birthday With His 10 Best Scenes

By Jason Bailey on

The great Alec Baldwin turns 55 years old today, and in attempting to cook up a proper tribute to him, we realized that his is a body of work less about hours than moments, less about films or shows than particular scenes. His career trajectory has been an unusual one: though he was initially pegged as a marquee leading man, he never quite found success as one. The good stuff came later, when he reinvented himself as a character actor, the kind of gunslinger who could parachute in for a supporting role, crush it in a couple of scenes, and slip out the back door. So to mark his 55 years, we’ve rounded up our ten favorite Alec Baldwin scenes, from film and television, for your consideration. … Read More

Film

The Best Breakup Lines in Film

By Alison Nastasi on

Breaking up is hard to do, but the movies have taught us that a witty one-liner can be empowering during tough times. We searched through film history for 25 of the most memorable goodbye lines. Don’t be too sad, though. This is where some of the best screenwriting really shines. Feel free to borrow these lines next time you need to tell someone, “It’s not you, it’s me.” Leave us your favorite Dear John and Jane quotes in the comments,… Read More

Television

Watch a Supercut of All the Shouting on ‘The Newsroom’

By Caroline Stanley on

Whether or not you were a fan of Aaron Sorkin’s much-maligned (but surprisingly popular!) HBO drama (we’re of a mixed opinion around here), you have to admit that the first season of The Newsroom contained just as much yelling as it did walk-and-talks and recycled Sorkinese. If your Wednesday afternoon could use an auditory jolt right about now, click through to watch a supercut of all the crazy commotion, courtesy of Slacktory — but do your coworkers a favor, and put on some headphones first. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The trailer for the upcoming season of Doctor Who has landed online, and it’s chock full of awesome Dalek action. Also: dinosaurs on a spaceship! [via io9]

2. “The writing staff was not fired. And just seeing that in print is scaring the hell out of the writing staff. They’re acting very,… Read More

Television

‘The Newsroom’ Will See All New Writers for Second Season

By Alison Nastasi on

If you haven’t been enjoying the “dramatically inert, infuriating mess” otherwise known by many as Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, you still may want to stick around for season two. Reports indicate that most of the writers behind the TV news drama have been fired. “They’re not coming back, except for Sorkin’s ex-girlfriend [Corinne… Read More

Television

Watch a Supercut of Shockingly Similar Aaron Sorkinisms

By Judy Berman on

If, for some reason, you continue watching The Newsroom and you come across a line you’re sure you’ve heard before, don’t assume it’s déjà vu. It’s more likely you really have already encountered it — in some other Aaron Sorkin TV show or movie. This fantastic seven-minute supercut, billed as “a tribute to the work of Aaron Sorkin: the recycled dialogue, recurring phrases, and familiar plot lines,” reveals just how often the renowned writer steals from himself, from catchphrases to dads with secret girlfriends to gay Jesus asides. Hear the cavalcade of “I’m really quite something”s, “I’m not other people”s, and “This isn’t happening”s below. … Read More

Television

The 10 Best TV Shows About TV Shows

By Judy Berman on

Did you watch The Newsroom last night, TV fans? And did you love it, or did you agree with most critics, who were put off by Aaron Sorkin’s condescending sermonizing, too-similar characters, and questionable representation of how the TV journalism world works? For our part, we were even more disappointed than we expected to be. Not only were the reviewers right, but the show was a bit too “rich, middle-aged white guy saves the world” for our taste — and, in accordance with that, the “kids these days” hand-wringing that was also Sorkin’s fixation in The Social Network (which, for the record, we enjoyed) felt like a bit much.

Although we had originally intended to give The Newsroom at least three episodes to win us over, we found last night’s premiere — which critics seem to agree is the best episode they’ve seen — so off-putting that we might have to give up now. Thankfully, for those of us who were particularly looking forward to a TV show about the making of a TV show, there are plenty of great series out there to take its place. From The Mary Tyler Moore Show to 30 Rock, we’ve rounded up the ten best TV shows about TV shows below. … Read More

Television

TV’s All-Time Greatest Writers

By Michelle Rafferty on

If you shut off Girls this past Sunday with a sigh of relief, you’re not alone. Between May and June we’ve all endured an emotionally exhausting line-up of season finales (not to mention penultimate and triumvirate finales), and frankly this week was a nice, quiet reprieve. Sort of. Knowing what’s ahead, it’s been impossible to get too comfortable. New seasons of Breaking Bad and Louie are slowly approaching, we can’t not watch Weeds‘ last season, there’s catching up to do on Bunheads, and of course this Sunday, Sorkin is back. So, in an exercise to get the juices flowing, we’ve decided to round up the writers we believe to be most responsible for putting us in this stressful state of TV addiction, starting with the king of TV confabulation himself. … Read More