It might be hard to remember this far back, but once upon a time, some of us hoped that public TV would develop into a smart, sophisticated, civilized alternative to commercial TV - not a cheap imitation of it. — Tom Shales Copy Share Image
ABC's intelligently hilarious sitcom 'Modern Family' depicts a gay-male marriage in which both partners are refreshingly dimensional, believable human beings. The writers dare to make them flawed and thus fully delineated, but they're not flawed in the silly, stereotypical ways… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
'Kukla, Fran and Ollie' occurred in real time and was a benign and bewitching example of pure television. — Tom Shales Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
'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 Image
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 Image
