Nothing to See Here
This morning, I was perusing news on the Internet over breakfast (the 21st century version of the newspaper, right?) when I came across a report that Charlie Sheen has purportedly reached the end of his (very long) rope. In an interview published in this week’s issue of Life & Style magazine (and on the mag’s […]
Turn on Your Hannah Montana Heartlight
Lots of folks have been parsing Billy Ray Cyrus’ extensive interview in the March issue of GQ. Talking to interviewer Chris Heath, Cyrus spoke in great detail about his anguish regarding the way he’s parented Miley. In a nutshell, he talked about how wanting to be his daughter’s friend instead of her parent proved to […]
Elvis has Left the Billboard
Move over, Elvis. Looks like there’s a new king in town. I’m talking, of course, about Fox’s hit show Glee—and the fact that as of this week, it has spawned more Hot 100 singles than any artist in the chart’s 52-year history. Before this week, the King still wore the crown. In his career, Elvis […]
Guitar Hero: R.I.P.
Not so very long ago, Guitar Hero seemed like an unstoppable video game juggernaut. Now, gamers are penning its eulogies following the announcement that publisher Activision Blizzard is pulling the power cord on the game that let millions of fans indulge in a virtual rock star fantasy. Introduced in 2005, Guitar Hero (and soon after, […]
Getting Snowed
Like much of the United States, Colorado has been in the grip of some extreme winter weather this week. While we dodged the heavy snow that dumped on Chicago and the inches of ice that blanketed much of the South, thermometers here plunged down to 25 degrees below zero—cold enough to freeze and seize the […]
Skins: A Cultural Rorschach Test
Every now and then something comes along in the entertainment world that serves as an impromptu cultural Rorschach test of sorts. One person looks at it and responds, “I see this.” Another counters, “But I see this.” In the last two weeks, MTV’s wildly controversial teen series Skins has been that sort of event (one […]
A Week Without TV
The last week has been an interesting one for my family. Why? Because we shut off the TV completely. And it’s been fascinating to observe the results. Here’s how and why it happened. As one of the editors here at Plugged In, I know that research indicates that television is simply bad news for small […]
Of Skins and Publicity
An old saw says that all publicity is good publicity. And MTV’s racy, controversial new TV series Skins is the latest boundary-bending bit of intentional naughtiness to put that cliché to the test. Skins, which is based on a popular and even edgier version of the show in Great Britain, focuses on the drug-fueled sexual […]
Violence, Metal and Jared Lee Loughner
In the wake of Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., the press and behavioral experts have swarmed over every bit of evidence from his life in an attempt to answer the question, “Why?” Much of the initial speculation focused on the alleged link—or not—to vitriolic political rhetoric in the media and by some […]
Bad Moon Rising?
Waaayyy back in 2003, an episode of ABC’s NYPD Blue aired an image of actress Charlotte Ross’ naked backside—a scene that earned a $1.21 million dollar fine from the FCC. Nearly eight years later (!), the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the fine. In explaining its decision to overthrow that stiff penalty, […]