Filed under: Big Brother: After Dark | Tagged: BB11 | Leave a Comment »
BB11 | After Dark Update (7/11)

Cool non-spoiler of the day: An in-depth interview with Julie Chen on The Inside Dish.
Spoiler-phobic? Don’t click through to the update. Read more »
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THE FRIDAY FIVE | Favorite “Disney Afternoon” series
The early ’90s was a much different time for television. With cable and satellite still gaining a foothold, there weren’t nearly as many channels. Broadcast TV was insanely profitable, and in this time before demographics ruled the ratings, kids were an excellent target audience. This business model is how America ended up with nearly a decade of “The Disney Afternoon” block of animated series. Here are my five favorites (completely subjective; feel free to defend your own favorites in the comments). Read more »
Filed under: The Friday Five | Tagged: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Disney Afternoon, DuckTales, Gargoyles, Goof Troop, TaleSpin | Leave a Comment »
BB11 | After Dark Update (7/10; season premiere)
Welcome back, Big Brother fans who are too cheap to subscribe to Showtime or the live feeds and too lazy/disinterested to Google Zapruder-style play-by-play on the Internet. Here’s how it works: I present a bulleted list of spell-checked, copy-edited headlines the After Dark producers (in tandem with Grody’s minions) have deemed appropriate for public consumption. I tweak these headlines with bullets of my own containing the real spoilers that ShoToo is lamely attempting to keep under wraps until the primetime shows featuring the actual competitions air Sundays and Tuesdays.
That means everything after the jump is spoileriffic to some degree. So, for example, if you don’t want to know until Sunday who returning houseguest and Athlete HoH Jessie nominated for eviction, don’t click here. Read more »
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BIG BROTHER 11 | Premiere night
It’s finally here. An eleventh cycle of America’s love/hate summer reality juggernaut kicks off tonight at 8p/7c, with a glowing Chenbot as host. Of course that means a whole new season of Big Brother After Dark, and you can count on The TV Manifesto for a fourth season of After Dark headlines, gossip, and strategizing. Look for the kickoff of that tonight after midnight ET.
This year, I’m also contributing to the coverage at Big Brother Access, which you can count on for a fuller perspective on the show as a new season unfolds. Other good sites for you feed-subscribing (or just spoiler-hunting) folks include We Love Big Brother and Joker’s Updates.
Haters, fear not. Regular summer coverage of things that aren’t BB11 will continue unabated in this space. Except for The Real World. Having failed to make it through even five minutes of last night’s episode, I’m done with that disaster.
Filed under: Big Brother | Tagged: BB11, The Chenbot | Leave a Comment »
NURSE JACKIE | 1×05: “Daffodil”
I can’t believe this show is almost halfway through its season already. Read more »
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WEEDS | 5×05: “Van Nuys”
Hooray for Allie Grant’s return! “I just like seeing shit break.” Boo for those in-episode popup ads for University of Andy webisodes. Let’s review the point of paying for premium cable, Showtime. Read more »
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UPDATED | Episode writer Stephen Falk blogs about his road to tonight’s episode
Alanis Morrisette begins her seven-episode guest arc on Weeds tonight. USA Today has a profile piece on how this came to be. Meanwhile, the Sun-Times interviews Demian Bechir about his role as Mayor Esteban Reyes.
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THE FRIDAY FIVE | Standout BB11 contestants
Twelve of the thirteen houseguests (that we know of) for the new season of Big Brother were unveiled this week. With six days until the premiere, here are five I’ll be keeping an eye on. Read more »
Filed under: The Friday Five | Tagged: Allison Grodner, Big Brother 11, Grody, The Chenbot | Leave a Comment »
LOST | A season two virgin
With another season of this sprawling mess under my belt, I am more confident than ever that I will hate watching it week-to-week on TV. Read more »
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