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10 TV Shows Better Than the Books They Were Based On

By Tom Hawking on

So if you’re celebrating your birthday today, you share it with Charlaine Harris, she who gave the world the insanely successful Sookie Stackhouse novels and thus, indirectly, also the joys of True Blood. As you’ve probably noted if you read Flavorwire at all regularly, we’re borderline obsessed with True Blood, and its success got us thinking of the slew of TV shows based on books that have emerged in the last few years — and, in particular, those that have defied the old adage that the book is always better. We’ve collected a bunch of shows that we reckon have transcended their literary origins — can you think of any other shows that are better than the books they’re based on? (And before you go all crazy in the comments, a disclaimer: we said “better.” We’re not necessarily claiming the books in question are bad — although some most definitely are — just that the TV series they spawned was/is better. OK? Carry on.) … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we met the world’s greatest daredevils. We got the scoop on the new BuzzFeed Food. We discovered 10 teen books that adults also enjoy. We found out that Adele is a big hit at funerals. We entered the adorable Dexter Morgan’s… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Judy Berman on

1. Yesterday we learned that Steven Tyler is leaving American Idol “before she boils my rabbit,” and Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson may also be on the way out. Today’s update is that Mariah Carey is in talks to step into the judge’s seat. Welcome to the asylum, Mimi! [via Jezebel]… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Vulture is exclusively reporting that Adam Sandler is in talks to replace Mark Wahlberg in Three Mississippi, a comedy about “two rival families who have an annual tackle football game at Thanksgiving” that already stars Will Ferrell.

2. Dan Deacon has announced that his new album is coming out on August 28… Read More

Pop Culture

Open Thread: Movies or TV? Or Both? Or Neither?

By Jason Bailey on

James Wolcott loses me in the first line of his much-discussed Variety Fair piece “Prime Time’s Graduation,” which is pretty impressive, as far as those things go. “After I fell out of love with movies,” he writes, and I’ve checked out already — even more so with the parenthetical that follows: “(new movies, that is — classic Hollywood I still adulate)”. Oh goody, he’s one of those, one of the overbearing boors who insists nothing worthwhile has come out of Hollywood since Jaws, or Ben-Hur, or (if you’re a real, Bogdanovich-style purist) since the takeover of the talkies. But no, it’s worse: Mr. Wolcott is one of these inexplicable “TV is better than movies” people, and because he’s writing for one of the few remaining major glossies (to-do: write my “movies are better than magazines” piece), we now have to have this whole cultural conversation about whether television has, in fact, “surpassed” the motion picture. … Read More

Pop Culture

10 of Pop Culture's Most Charming Sociopaths

By Sarah Bellman on

Over the weekend Bret Easton Ellis went on one of his patented tweet binges, this time musing about writing a sequel to American Psycho set in the present day. Apparently he has already made 15 pages of notes. Among his tweeted ideas for the update: “Patrick would talk about Adele and Kanye and KATY PERRY because ‘Firework’ is his favorite song… and then he kills Katy Perry’s trainer…” While we’re skeptical about the need to trot Bateman out of retirement (have you seen the direct-to-video disaster that was American Psycho II: All American Girl?), we decided this was a great excuse to revisit a few of our favorite pop-culture sociopaths. Add to our twisted list in the comments! … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we watched a time-lapse view of a pregnancy. We approved of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner’s plea for a spoiler free season five to TV critics. We inspected an all-logo real-time New York City map. We dug this Willy Wonka remix of the denouement scene from… Read More

Television

Watch a PSA on Spoilers Featuring Your Favorite TV Stars

By Judy Berman on

So, you missed last night’s The Walking Dead. No worries — it’s waiting for you at home, thanks to the magic of DVR. You half-ass your way through the work day, fantasizing about the moment when you’ll be able to pour yourself a beer and settle in on the couch for an hour zombie fun… and then, just as you’re leaving the office, some insensitive moron corners you to geek out about the show. You try to explain that you haven’t seen the newest episode yet, but before you can get a word in, he’s spilled a major plot point and effectively ruined the viewing experience you’ve spent the entire day anticipating. Freaking spoilers, right?

Thankfully, College Humor has created some spoiler rules in a new video featuring the stars of TV’s most spoiler-prone shows — Dexter, True Blood, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, and, of course, The Walking Dead. We heartily co-sign (especially the part about seeking information online at your own risk), and recommend you send the video to the chronic blabbermouth in your life. … Read More

Web

Your Favorite TV Shows’ Best Web Series Spin-Offs

By Victoria McNally on

Great news! Even though we have to wait two more weeks for Community’s triumphant return to television on March 15, we’re not going to be completely without Troy, Annie, and the rest of the study group for that long, because this week NBC is launching a three-part series of animated shorts entitled “Abed’s Master Key,” which will follow the character in his new role as Dean Pelton’s assistant and will be released on Hulu and NBC.com over three consecutive days, starting tomorrow. We know we’re excited – not just because we’re Community fans, but because we love seeing more content from the TV shows we love, and the Internet is the perfect place to find it! Check out the best web series spin-offs of all your favorite programs after the jump. … Read More

Television

TV’s Most Ill-Advised Weddings

By Victoria McNally on

Everyone knows that TV weddings are ratings bonanzas, and the destructive aftermaths of those weddings are even more exciting. Happy couples tend to get boring pretty quickly, after all. It’s not surprising, then, that Gossip Girl celebrated its 100th episode last night with the wedding of Blair and Louis, even though Blair is still obviously in love with Chuck, in an hour with so many twists and turns and false stops that we’re still not sure what, exactly, happened. To celebrate their clearly ill-advised big day, we’ve put together a list of some of the most disastrous marriages in television history. … Read More