Television

'Bible' miniseries aims for 'emotional connection' with audience

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:40:11 +0000

By Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- It took the combined clout of an actress best known for playing an angel and her big-ratings executive-producer husband, but Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have pulled off the making of a 10-hour miniseries, "The Bible," that gets its premiere Sunday, March 3, on the History cable channel.

The miniseries runs 7-9 p.m. each Sunday in March through March 31, Easter Sunday.

Money is still the object in TV land

Wed, 02 May 2012 18:34:26 +0000

Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- Television viewership is down. That's almost a man-bites-dog story.

But why is it down? There's not enough evidence yet to state why exactly, and the pattern of lower viewership is not long enough to declare it a trend.

By one token, TV viewing couldn't keep going up ever higher. The number of hours per day that the tube is on in American homes is astonishing. The Nielsen ratings service estimates that Americans watch about 147 hours of cable, satellite and broadcast television a month.

Turning off TV for a week: It's not just for the boob tube anymore

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:43:04 +0000

Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Remember TV-Turnoff Week? It is no more.

It is now called Screen-Free Week.

Organizers of the annual weeklong voluntary blackout of TV recognize that TV isn't the only screen where children -- and adults -- go for mindless entertainment. In fact, when Billy Crystal can joke during the Oscars about people watching movies on their cellphones, you know the phenomenon is no longer a phenomenon and has instead entered the mainstream.

Ever-increasing attacks on Church calling us to martyrdom

jenniferbrinker — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:15:25 +0000

Elizabeth Westhoff

Sunday night I returned home after spending several hours at the Cardinal Rigali Center with some of my fellow employees, where we had been working on our latest response to the HHS mandate. As I was walking into the house, I received a text message from a friend which read, "if you're in front of your television, turn on the Grammys...some woman is on an anti-Catholic rant."

High court ponders rules on profanity on broadcast networks

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:58:38 +0000

By Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- After nearly a decade of threats, fines and court challenges, America may finally learn for sure whether the federal government has the authority to punish the airing of indecent material on broadcast television.

Or, we will get to see a continuing game of cat and mouse between the Federal Communications Commission and the broadcast networks to see where the line should be drawn and how thickly.

Channels give an alternate, distorted view of reality on TV

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:38:37 +0000

By Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- The need for media literacy may be no more evident than when it comes to reality TV.

Reality TV may show real events, but it's a director's and editor's version of events. It can be the visual equivalent of a newspaper story where the subject complains that he was interviewed for a half-hour, but the only thing that appears is a quote taken out of context.

Of course, reality shows bind their subjects to nondisclosure clauses until it suits the network -- like having them appear on the network's morning news program the day after they're voted off the island.

Television | 'Don't have a cow, man': Religion and 'The Simpsons'

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:04:11 +0000

Mark Pattison | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — It's not every day that the Vatican newspaper declares that a fictional character from the world of television is a Catholic — and a cartoon character at that.

But that's what L'Osservatore Romano did in early October when it asserted that Homer Simpson, the patriarch of the 21-season Fox sitcom "The Simpsons," is a Catholic. Oh, and bratty son Bart, too.

In Fox's prime time, ingenious doesn't always mean tasteful

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:10:56 +0000

By Maria Macina Catholic News Service

NEW YORK — Starting out nearly 25 years ago as the little network that could, Fox made a name for itself by launching brash and bawdy comedies. Then something happened: quality. Think "The Simpsons," "The X-Files" and the G-rated appeal of the past decade's top show, "American Idol."

Fox still innovates; "Glee," showered with Emmy nominations, is the most recent example. But not every innovation edifies the viewing public, as professional philandering and sex with death-row inmates — the launching pads for two of its new series — will likely prove.

TV Reviews | CBS' new shows play it safe

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:05:22 +0000

By Maria Macina | Catholic News Service

NEW YORK — When you're on top, do you play it safe or do you take risks? CBS, which has more people watching it than any other network — especially older viewers — is doing both, resurrecting a chestnut of a police drama in "Hawaii Five-O" to play it safe, and taking a big chance introducing a sitcom with a title so profane it wouldn't be printed in newspapers. While success typically breeds success, one never knows when it brings a clunker.

"$#*! My Dad Says"

Thursdays, 7:30-8 p.m.,

TV shows in upcoming season are a mixed bag

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:09:13 +0000

By John Mulderig | Catholic News Service

NEW YORK-- The documentary series "Who Do You Think You Are?" (NBC) follows celebrities as they explore their ancestry and discover various secrets hidden amid the family tree. In the pilot episode, airing Friday, March 5, 9-10 p.m., actress Sarah Jessica Parker learns that her forebears were involved in two of the most significant incidents in America's past: the 1849 California gold rush and the Salem witch trials that convulsed colonial Massachusetts in the 1690s.