Kansas City Star: Aaron Barnhart

What to watch this week

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Hearings for Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor begin at 9 a.m. As usual, C-SPAN has the most complete and least annoying coverage.

Three fine shows � 'Entourage,' 'Eureka' and 'Leverage' � start new seasons this summer

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Three of the very best shows to be developed for summer in recent years return to television this week. (And no, “Mad Men” isn’t among them.)

Fall TV pilots feature familiar faces. old formulas � and a few projects that may just soar

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

The nation’s television critics have spent a generation — or two, if you count the DVD and VCR as representing separate epochs — watching pilots, those first episodes of the shows that broadcast network executives have convinced themselves will be welcomed with open arms by a grateful public next season.

Change your viewpoint with 'P.O.V.'

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

This is a golden month for me, because “P.O.V.” is showcasing some of the more notable docs to wow filmfest goers in the past couple of years.

DTV update: Transition's kinks are mostly worked out

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

The digital TV transition has come and gone, and almost everyone who needed to make the switch has done so. But there are some lingering problems, which we’ll deal with in a moment.

What to watch this week

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

MONDAY “Shouting Fire” (8 p.m. HBO) pairs noted hard-news documentarian Liz Garbus with her father, civil rights attorney Martin Garbus, in a survey of the free-speech landscape, post-9/11. The cases considered include the interrogation techniques used by New York City police on protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention; a teenager who went to a gay and lesbian rally wearing a T-shirt condemning homosexuality; and an Arabic-speaking principal fired for using the literal meaning of “intifada” in a news interview. Garbus and Garbus survey a number of intellectual viewpoints on free speech, including First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, presidential prosecutor Kenneth Starr, historian Eric Foner and academic gadfly David Horowitz.

Summer 'reality' shows: TV's spray-on tan

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

As of Tuesday afternoon, the official Web site for Jon and Kate Gosselin still greeted visitors with these words written by Kate: “It all started when Jon and I met October 5, 1997, at a picnic. I never believed in ‘love at first sight,’ but …”

The Flint Hills are not a movie set to music

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

The annual Symphony in the Flint Hills is a one-of-a-kind event. Along with the music, the package includes nature walks before the concert and dancing and storytelling after. I’ve now gone to all four and enjoy it thoroughly each year. But as I sat in the outdoor audience this year — as a casual but careful listener, not as a music critic, I’d hasten to add — I couldn’t help but feel some disappointment over the musical program.

Documentaries turn focus on Iran

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

During this, the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the establishment of an Islamic republic, both HBO and National Geographic are airing films this week that offer American audiences rare insights into Iran. What timing! Obviously, no one at either channel expected the events of the last 10 days, so the films being featured don’t mention the developments of the hinky Iranian elections and the huge opposition rallies in their aftermath. But if you want the big picture on one of the most dangerous countries in the world, these programs offer a counterpoint to more in-the-moment reporting on cable news.

What to watch this week | June 21-27

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

“Fareed Zakaria GPS” (noon, CNN). After spinning his wheels at PBS for a few years, the Mumbai-born editor of Newsweek International (and before that Foreign Affairs) went to CNN last June and shifted his interview program into high gear. “GPS” stands for “global public square,” a goal that Zakaria, to a remarkable degree, has succeeded in creating.

Conan needs to calm the crowd and get the show moving

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

However much interest Conan O’Brien has injected into late night with his arrival as host of “The Tonight Show,” he has been losing viewers since his June 1 sign-on. His lead over David Letterman shrank to just 100,000 viewers for the week ending June 12, according to ratings released Thursday by Nielsen. Jay Leno’s lead was comfortably more than a million viewers when he was host of “The Tonight Show.”

KCPT steps into the Hulu age

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

KCPT on Friday is launching its first full-episode video player on its Web site at www.kcpt.org. For those of you who have been watching “The Office” episodes online for years, this may not strike you as a very big deal. But tell me: Does that KMBC video player let you flip casually between Larry Moore and Jimmy Kimmel? Does KSHB permit the viewer to switch from watching car wrecks on “Action News” to train wrecks on “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”?

What to watch this week

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

TONIGHT

“True Blood” (8 p.m., HBO) returns with everything a mess from the first season finale. Oh sure, Sookie (Anna Paquin) did in the old serial killer, but now it looks like there’s another one on the loose. If you thought Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove was an unlikely murder capital, try Bon Temps, where even the vampires have no reason to attack. Speaking of which, let’s hope Bill (Stephen Moyer) has recovered from that nasty sunburn he got rescuing Sookie. I think every pasty-skinned male can relate.

Cartoon Network and MTV takes steps in new directions

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Cable TV is flying high. More original shows are on this summer than at any time in non-network history. TNT leads with eight series, including “The Closer,” “Saving Grace” and the new medical drama “Hawthorne.”

Are you ready to go digital? TV stations set to sign off analog on Friday

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Something that probably hasn’t happened since you were a kid is taking place at 9 a.m. Friday. All across Kansas City, television stations will be signing off the air. The thing is, if everything goes according to plan, you won’t even notice.

The late-night wars are back

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Now the fun begins. After a week in the sun of L.A. — and the even harsher glare of the media spotlight — Conan O’Brien has settled in as host of “The Tonight Show.”

Flint Hills Symphony: Come early, stay late

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

At the time, it seemed a Herculean feat: Create a huge tent city in the middle of the Kansas prairie, haul a major orchestra out there and invite 5,000 spectators to bake in the sun and ward off the ’skeeters while listening to a musical prayer for the tallgrass.

What To Watch This Week | June 7-13

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

•Season 3 of “Army Wives” begins tonight (9, Lifetime). Unlike other ensemble soap operas on TV, “Army Wives” hasn’t lapsed into absurdity (well, at least by “Grey’s Anatomy” standards), and you might say a healthy dose of discipline is the reason. Unlike on other shows, being rule-bound and morally upright doesn’t make you a bad person or a jerk or a hypocrite, as we see tonight when one of the wives...

Randy Miller's 'Bucks Bus' a game show on wheels

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

The moment Randy Miller tells me his latest scheme, I tell him he’s a freakin’ genius.

What to watch this week | May 31-June 6

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:15 CDT

“Jesse James Is a Dead Man” (9 p.m., Spike). Injury-prone thrill-seeker, husband of Sandra Bullock and host of “Monster Garage,” James takes on new challenges in this series while racing the artificial countdown clock imposed by reality TV. In tonight’s episode, he has a week to learn how to sit on top of a nitro-bomb-on-wheels and ride it at 160 mph down a quarter-mile drag strip. In next week’s episode, he tries to explain to Sandra how...

Conan's 'Tonight Show': What to expect

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:15 CDT

Ever since Conan O’Brien was crowned Jay Leno's successor way back in 2004, his fans have been waiting for this day. Here’s what you can look forward to when he takes over the "Tonight Show" on Monday night.

Independent FM station KKFI struggles to stay alive

Sat, 23 May 2009 22:15 CDT

Warren Maus has a number in mind. “Seventy thousand,” he says. It is early May, the end of another pledge drive at KKFI, the 100,000-watt, rabidly independent FM station that bills itself as “Kansas City Community Radio.”

What to watch this week

Sat, 16 May 2009 22:15 CDT

•“How Bruce Lee Changed the World” (7 p.m., History). It’s unfortunate that this star-studded two-hour documentary, made with the cooperation of the martial arts master’s family, is airing on the same channel that brought us “How William Shatner Changed the World.” This is so not that. John Woo, Jackie Chan, LL Cool J, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ang Lee are among the many interviewees who attest that Bruce Lee’s influence...

Summer offers no rest for weary DVRs

Sat, 16 May 2009 22:15 CDT

My colleague Joe Adalian of the industry publication Television Week just wrote an outstanding column about a problem that was right under my nose (or eyes).

Though the future of ‘Dollhouse' isn't certain, the show's KC-raised producers are planning for it

Mon, 11 May 2009 22:15 CDT

We won’t know for a few more days whether the door to the “Dollhouse” has been closed permanently.

10 shows that turn me on

Wed, 06 May 2009 22:15 CDT

You would think I would always have a ready answer to the question, “What’s your favorite program on TV?”

What to Watch: May 3

Sat, 02 May 2009 22:15 CDT

•Hallmark Channel is airing “Golden Girls” episodes all day and night in tribute to star Bea Arthur, who died last week. (No cable channel is currently planning to air the controversial 1972 episode of “Maude” in which Arthur’s other famous TV character got an abortion.)

Like the town, ‘Greensburg' is the little show that could

Sat, 02 May 2009 22:15 CDT

GREENSBURG, Kan. | With the possible exception of L.A., there might not be a town in America so camera-friendly. It’s not because the folks here have an exhibitionist streak. It’s just that they know how important the camera has been to their recovery from the EF-5 tornado that picked Greensburg clean two years ago Monday.

Brit 'Office' will take a Swim on Cartoon Network

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

It was 15 years ago this month that one of the great ideas in cable TV was born, pretty much out of complete boredom.

'Poisoned Waters' reveals dangers just beneath surface

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

In the half-dozen times or so I’ve interviewed journalist Hedrick Smith about his “Frontline” specials for PBS, I’ve never heard him this emotional.

Holocaust rescuer inducted in ‘Hall of Fame'

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

When Holocaust rescuer Irena Sendler died last year at the age of 98, Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn of Kansas City’s New Reform Temple took issue with various obituaries paying tribute to her as the “female Oskar Schindler.” Schindler, he said, “should be called the male Irena Sendler, given that she saved many more Jews than Schindler.”

What to watch this week

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

•“In Plain Sight” returns to the USA schedule for its second season at 9 p.m., following “Criminal Intent” (see story).

Bill Maher, still politically incorrect

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

If you watch “Real Time With Bill Maher” on HBO these days, you may have noticed something odd: the audience booing the host.

Delay the DTV transition? Too late for that

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

Thanks to legislation passed by a panicky Congress — and with the support of a new administration that had bigger fish to fry — the long-anticipated digital TV transition was, at the last minute, shifted from February to June.

What to watch this week

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

With “Breaking Bad” (9 p.m., AMC) halfway through its second season — and just renewed for a third — Walt (Bryan Cranston) this week will begin the trajectory that he scarcely could have imagined himself on when he started cooking meth for extra income. He’s about to become New Mexico’s next drug kingpin. There are so many little things to enjoy here: the overhead view of pizza microwaving; Walt chewing out his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn...

TV | Five nights, seven reality shows: How much would you pay?

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

Billy Mays, the one-man sales force with the blue shirt, jet-black hair and golden lungs, can be seen around the clock on one cable channel or another, urgently selling America more Oxy Clean, Mighty Putty, HandySwitches, Kaboom and other products too numerous to recount without getting a headache from all the shouting.

KC Symphony offers debut of John Denver orchestral score — again

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

The untimely death of John Denver in 1997 has done very little to stem interest in his music. For more than a decade, singer Jim Curry has been selling out performances of the classic hits of “America’s troubadour” in a voice that unapologetically matches Denver’s own.

New network shows: Haven't I seen you before?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

Not unlike our weather, television’s springtime of new programs has been a little herky-jerky this year.

'Meet the Past' receives full-season order from KCPT

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:15 CDT

Remember that KCPT special called “Meet the Past,” with Kansas City Public Library director Crosby Kemper III playing Charlie Rose and local historian Bill Worley playing his guest, Tom Pendergast?

Take me out to the ballgame (and pull me away from the nonstop Sotomayor coverage...)

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:17 CDT

Chip Franklin and I spent more time reviewing tonight's Home Run Derby than we did today's Supreme Court hearings. This podcast was broadcast on KOGO radio in San Diego earlier today. d/l

Bart Simpson: not in 3-D. The Jonas Brothers: in 3-D. You decide.

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:54 CDT

If you were foolish enough to ditch your 3-D glasses after this year's Super Bowl stunt, you can pick up another pair down at the Time Warner Cable Store that makes the bus station seem like Shangri-La. PR follows... TIME...

Morgan Spurlock to direct "Simpsons 3-D on Ice" special; will make Matt Groening attend "Simpsons" merchandise meetings for 30 days

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:22 CDT

Following in the tradition of Barbara Kopple and RJ Cutler, who found that making documentaries about celebrities is a good way to fund your more serious work, the director of "Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden?" has been...

TNT's "Dark Blue": Not very dark, not very blue, but very TNT

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:27 CDT

Ladies, presenting the star of the action-packed new TNT series “Dark Blue”... Dylan McDermott! No? That did not stop traffic? That did not launch a thousand TiVos among my readership? Well, perhaps that is the reason why the former star...

AUDIO: The fate of Bubbles the Chimp

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:17 CDT

And other news from Michael Jackson Media Circus week 2 as Chip Franklin and I anticipated the funeral at the Staples Center. We were on KOGO Radio. d/l

‘CSI' producer adds cable to his stable

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Ladies, presenting the star of the action-packed new TNT series “Dark Blue”… Dylan McDermott! No? That did not stop traffic? That did not launch a thousand TiVos? Well, perhaps that is the reason that the former star of ABC’s “The Practice” does not have lead billing in most of the publicity material being circulated by TNT to promote “Dark Blue,” which begins 9 p.m. Wednesday.