Making music on TV used to be as common as commercials. In the '60s and '70s, prime time was stuffed with variety shows headlined by such major and treasured talents as Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, the Smothers Brothers and Richard… — Tom Shales Copy Share Image
Maybe it's the hair. Maybe it's the teeth. Maybe it's the intellect. No, it's the hair. — Tom Shales Copy Share
Jimmy Kimmel still comes across like a guy who crashed a party and got caught at it, yet adamantly refuses to leave. — Tom Shales Copy Share
In city after city, newspaper after newspaper has diminished its staff of critics, sometimes to zero. Film and T.V. critics have been dropped and… — Tom Shales Copy Share
'Kukla, Fran and Ollie' occurred in real time and was a benign and bewitching example of pure television. — Tom Shales Copy Share
Maybe Larry Kings cannot thrive or even survive in a world where the norms for discourse are rage, vehemence and character assassination. King wanted… — Tom Shales Copy Share
Obviously neither 'American Idol' nor 'Dancing With the Stars' is a variety show in the classic sense, but the way they incorporate elements of… — Tom Shales Copy Share
Robert Osborne either has the best job in the world, or comes very close. As millions of viewers know, Osborne is the resident host… — Tom Shales Copy Share
Making music on TV used to be as common as commercials. In the '60s and '70s, prime time was stuffed with variety shows headlined… — Tom Shales Copy Share
For those who don't like Dave Letterman, there's Jay Leno; and for those who like neither, there's Craig Ferguson; and if you're still feeling… — Tom Shales Copy Share
The once inviolate frame within which programs or commercials were displayed on television - always separately - has been violated to a pulp. Program… — Tom Shales Copy Share
'Leave It to Beaver,' which ran from 1957 until 1963, was one of the strangest, sweetest, most distinctive domestic sitcoms of television's celebrated Golden Age. — Tom Shales Copy Share
The original and very basic 'Law & Order' series has always seemed to me to be 100-percent exposition, with no filler, no pesky nuances… — Tom Shales Copy Share
Gimmicks come and go; the cop show seems one genre that will never leave - not as long as people like to sit at… — Tom Shales Copy Share
If the networks can get audiences to tolerate pop-up promos by the dozens, maybe they'll start selling pop-up commercials, too. — Tom Shales Copy Share
Jerry Seinfeld is amazing in many ways, not the least of them his ability to find humor, and convincing us to find it, too,… — Tom Shales Copy Share
