Is America tired of “Idol”? There’s no single factor. It’s not that this season’s contestants are lacking in the talent department. It’s just that it all seems so … boring.

The first “hands-on” reviews of the iPad are in. The iPad, like the iPhone, doesn’t do Flash. And although the lack of Flash is noted by most of the reviewers, it’s underplayed by writers who know better. Why the first set of iPad reviews may not be completely objective.

There’s only one good reason for people to be standing in the dark at Whistler watching sliding events. It’s because a 5 pm start in Vancouver matches perfectly with NBC’s live 8 pm ET telecast. But NBC’s version of “live” is very different. Trouble is, we all know the difference.

NBC’s decision to put Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira 3800 feet above Vancouver on Grouse Mountain for the Today Show was a brilliant way to kick off the network’s Winter Olympics coverage, but its strategy of tape-delaying much of its event coverage is sadly out-of-date.

After all of the headlines about contracts for Ryan Seacrest, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, it was nice to just have American Idol back on TV last night. But I worry that I just witnessed the beginning of the end. I won’t go so far as to say American Idol is over with Simon Cowell’s [...]

What do we call this next decade? We’ve got to think ahead on this — because so far, there’s been no consensus. The example set by the media in the next few days will be a critical one. Whether it’s Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark on “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” or Anderson Cooper on CNN, anybody who’s on the air this week will have to figure out how to react to the number 2010.

I say, let’s call it “Twenty-Ten.”

There it is — at the bottom of the “Trio high-stepping with South Beach consignment sneaker shop” story. There’s now a little badge at the bottom of each Miami Herald story inviting you to make a donation to the business if you like what you’ve read. It’s an interesting move, but I don’t think we’re [...]

TV newsman and former “World Series of Pop Culture” host Pat Kiernan is bringing trivia back to life with a new competition guaranteed to please WSoPC fans. Details — and video of Kiernan reciting “My Humps” — after the jump.

Attention readers of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune or any of the Tribune Co.’s dozen other publications: something is missing from your paper this week. The Tribune Co. is struggling. Struggling to keep readership up, costs down, and its news empire afloat. So this week, as an experiment, they taking a week-long break [...]

Today, when the the news hit that Condé Nast would be closing some titles from their bridal and parenting divisions, I feared for the future of pot roast. I’m clearly not the target demographic for Cookie magazine. But my wife has been a subscriber for most of its four years in existence, and I’ve come to appreciate it as the one “parenting” (read: “mommy”) magazine that I read regularly. And now it’s gone.

I remember the exact time – 8:49 am – when I got word from our assignment desk that we had a shot of a “small fire” at the top of one of the World Trade Center towers. We came back on the air from a commercial break with a wide view of the World Trade [...]

Regis Philbin’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire returns to ABC primetime on Sunday. Earlier this week, CBS revealed Let’s Make a Deal is coming back to TV in the fall with Wayne Brady as host. I’m hopeful both shows deliver solid ratings. Somewhere in the rush to fill dozens of hours a [...]

Here’s the thing with the Internet: You put stuff on it for others to see. That’s what has me so confused about the latest rumblings from the old media. I understand that the news business as we know it is in trouble. But crying copyright breach every time a traditional news organization is linked to by an untraditional news organization is not the solution. (Noting the irony, I’m going to link to a New York Times story here to help you with background.

It’s hard for me to admit this. Because I’d like to have a $15 million a year job. But I think the American Idol producers will get their money’s worth after signing Ryan Seacrest to a 3-year contract.

American Idol is one of the only shows I seem to be able to make time for regularly. I’ve long said it’s a near-perfect reality television creation, and the masses seem to agree.

This was not the best year ever. And I’m not even talking about the economy being a mess.  I’m talking about the fact that VH1’s Best Week Ever may have paid tribute to pop culture news for the final time.