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Television

By Emily Witt 12/30/11 12:01pm

Andrew Wylie is not the namesake of Andrew Wylie.

Andrew Wylie Character on The Good Wife of No Relation to That Other Andrew Wylie

On the CBS show The Good Wife there is a character named Andrew Wylie. Played by the actor Tim Guinee, the character is a private investigator hired by the state attorney's office to cause some drama by casually revealing past love affairs to all the wrong people and reviving dormant scandals. An inciter of barely suppressed gasps and sobs. But could it really be just a coincidence that he shares a name with a certain literary agent?

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17 By George W. Plunkitt 9/03/11 4:36pm

Warning Shots

Sharpton Staffer Tells Black Journalists to Fall in Line

Tamika Mallory, the 31-year-old executive director of Al Sharpton's National Action Network, has some words of warning for African-American reporters. On Friday, Mallory wrote a column titled "Time For Black Journalists To Stop Criticizing Rev. Sharpton." Mallory's column, which was published on NewsOne.com and linked on National Action Network's web site, was addressed Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 8/24/11 3:33pm

television

NBC, ‘More Colorful’ Network, Is Less Colorful Than It’s Been

NBC is being taken to task for its whitewashed casting decisions: of its new series, reports the Los Angeles Times, only The Playboy Club features a minority lead performer, and advocacy groups are asking for more representation. (Observer profile subject Nick Cannon, who is black, is to play a recurring role on the new Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 8/23/11 8:56am

morning links

Morning Links: David Letterman Needs a ‘Human Shield’

David Letterman told last night's audience he thought of them as a "human shield" after a jihadist threat on his life.
Elsewhere in the talk-show panopticon, E! has signed Jay Leno's sometime "intern" Ross Matthews for a talk-show pilot that might join Chelsea Lately on the air.
Sex and the City and Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 8/12/11 3:06pm

television

Hulu Up for Grabs; Company Expects $1.5 Billion

Peter Kafka at AllThingsD prepares us for the sale of Hulu, with bids expected in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. Mr. Kafka speculates that the most likely buyer may be Yahoo, a company (like other prospective bidders) with none of the blossoming ambivalence and complications that bedevil current co-owners Disney, News Corp, and Read More

5 By The Editors 8/02/11 7:36pm

opinion

New Yorkers Stand as Critics, but the City is Ready for Its Close-Up

It’s hard to know which is more ubiquitous on the streets of New York this summer: Hot dog carts or film crews. Some 23 television shows are being filmed in the city at the moment, a record number. Some of the shows currently filming on the streets should be no surprise. The HBO series Girls, Read More

3 By Daniel D'Addario 7/26/11 2:51pm

television

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé--just add Barbara and Jimmy!

Diminishing-Return Divas! Their Singles Stalling, Beyoncé and Gaga Hit NY Talk Circuit

Number-one openings aside, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé--two of the three women that pop critic Sasha Frere-Jones said dominate 2011 pop, with Adele--might have had higher hopes for their new releases. Lady Gaga's most recent two singles haven't hit the heights of her "Born This Way," and Beyoncé is widely acknowledged to have been Read More

2 By Daniel D'Addario 7/18/11 3:43pm

television

FX Orders Ryan Murphy’s Series–With Britton and Lange!–To Series

FX, a network whose luck has lately been a bit mixed, has ordered 13 episodes for its next drama series, entitled American Horror Story. The series, by Glee producers Ryan Murphy (who previously worked with FX on the series Nip/Tuck) and Brad Falchuk, is about a family running from their past by moving to Los Read More

3 By Daniel D'Addario 9:57am

television

Mad Men, Mildred Pierce Lead Emmy Race

AMC's Madison Avenue drama Mad Men received 19 Emmy nominations this morning, including one for Outstanding Drama Series; it would be the show's fourth consecutive win in that category. The show's stars Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss were nominated as best Actor and Actress in a Drama, respectively. No performer from that series has ever Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 5/26/11 5:57pm

NBC Sports President Follows Ebersol Out the Door

Shortly following last week's departure of football-chucking NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, President Ken Schanzer has announced his departure from the network after 13 years as President, said NBC in a press release. Mr. Schanzer's accomplishments included work with the Triple Crown of horse-racing and NHL. NBC is currently in the process of Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 3/22/11 11:14pm

Bob Greenblatt’s Season of Fiats at NBC

The decline of NBC over the past seven years has been spectacular to behold. Friends ended its glorious run, and The Biggest Loser was born. Its young producer, Ben Silverman, was named co-chairman. He threw extravagant parties as ratings dropped. CEO Jeff Zucker moved The Tonight Show into tomorrow. It was the most embarrassing management Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 3/08/11 7:05pm

television

HBO Adds Chabon and Waldman to Their List of Boldface Names

HBO's added another series to a very crowded and diverse development slate--married couple Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman's Hobgoblin, a drama about magicians battling Hitler. The network's garnered a great deal of press lately for big-name projects under development, which often rhyme with past successes: In the Sex and the City vein, Lena Dunham's Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 3/07/11 4:56pm

Saturday Night Live

Will The Strokes End Up on Lorne Michaels’ Banned List?

Julian Casablancas of the Strokes seemed to drop the f-bomb on this weekend's Saturday Night Live broadcast, towards the end of a performance of new song "Under Cover of Darkness." (In the video below, it's audible at about 3:59.) "I highly doubt it was purposeful--he's not that kind of guy," a member of the band's Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 2/16/11 6:17pm

television

‘Approval Matrix’ Show Aims for Brilliant

Faith Salie sounded exhilarated when we spoke to her around eight last night. The TV special she hosted, a television adaptation of New York magazine's highbrow/lowbrow "Approval Matrix" feature, had just finished taping: "It's hot off the presses--today's news." The thirty-minute special, titled The Approval Matrix as well, is to air tonight at 11p.m., Read More

By Aaron Gell 5:57pm

Controversial Kiwi Paul Henry Brings His Naughty Bits Stateside

Mildly disgraced New Zealand television "presenter" Paul Henry, who resigned from his seven-year gig hosting the morning news show Breakfast last year after a racially insensitive—albeit amusing—riff about the surname of an Indian government minister, is getting a second chance in America.

A few days ago, production company Ish Entertainment quietly posted a "sizzle reel" online. Read More

The New York Observer

Television

Andrew Wylie Character on The Good Wife of No Relation to That Other Andrew Wylie

Sharpton Staffer Tells Black Journalists to Fall in Line

NBC, ‘More Colorful’ Network, Is Less Colorful Than It’s Been

Morning Links: David Letterman Needs a ‘Human Shield’

Hulu Up for Grabs; Company Expects $1.5 Billion

New Yorkers Stand as Critics, but the City is Ready for Its Close-Up

Diminishing-Return Divas! Their Singles Stalling, Beyoncé and Gaga Hit NY Talk Circuit

FX Orders Ryan Murphy’s Series–With Britton and Lange!–To Series

Mad Men, Mildred Pierce Lead Emmy Race

NBC Sports President Follows Ebersol Out the Door

Bob Greenblatt’s Season of Fiats at NBC

HBO Adds Chabon and Waldman to Their List of Boldface Names

Will The Strokes End Up on Lorne Michaels’ Banned List?

‘Approval Matrix’ Show Aims for Brilliant

Controversial Kiwi Paul Henry Brings His Naughty Bits Stateside

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