Television

Arts

Letterman And 'Tonight' Vet Go Behind The Scenes Of Late Night

10:43am August 27, 2013

Fresh Air kicks off its late night TV theme week with a 1981 David Letterman interview, in which the host describes how late night TV changed the comedy business, and a 1988 interview with one-time Tonight Show executive producer Fred de Cordova.

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Music & Culture

MTV Video Awards Celebrate 30 Years

7:00am August 26, 2013

The MTV Video Music Awards were held in Brooklyn, New York, Sunday night. The video of the year trophy went to Justin Timberlake for "Mirrors."

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Guy Pearce (front left) plays Jack Irish in TV movie adaptations of two Peter Temple novels. The films, Bad Debts and Black Tide, are broadcast by digital provider Acorn TV.

Arts

Aussie Detective Jack Irish Is More Than Old-School Macho

4:28pm August 22, 2013

by John Powers

The fictional Australian hard-boiled detective is the star of several sharp, funny novels by Peter Temple. Two of those books have recently been adapted into TV movies starring Guy Pearce. Critic-at-large John Powers says Pearce perfectly conveys a complex blend of old and new masculinity.

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Mexican detective Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir) teams up with his American counterpart, Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger), to solve a murder in FX's The Bridge.

Arts

'Bridge' Actor Demian Bichir On Portraying Border Life

1:34pm August 21, 2013

In the new FX series, Bichir plays a Mexican detective who teams up with an El Paso cop to solve a series of murders. He tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that The Bridge aims to give equal treatment to both sides of the border.

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Microwave pralines are easier to make than stovetop pralines, and just as tasty.

'Treme' Cookbook Captures The Flavor Of A Show And A City

11:34am August 21, 2013

by Melissa Block

Melissa Block talks with Lolis Eric Elie, a writer and editor behind the HBO series Treme about a new cookbook written in the voices of the show's characters. Elie says it reflects both old New Orleans traditions and more recent influences.

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Before the midseason break, Breaking Bad's Walter White (Bryan Cranston) had stashed away plenty of drug money, but may have inadvertently tipped off his DEA agent brother-in-law.

Arts

A 'Curb'-Like Comedy And The Return Of 'Breaking Bad'

1:55pm August 16, 2013

by David Bianculli

This weekend, AMC begins showing the final episodes of its acclaimed drama series, and launches a new one: Low Winter Sun. Meanwhile, HBO presents its newest made-for-TV movie — this one a comedy, starring and co-written by Larry David.

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Jenji Kohan, seen here on the set of Orange Is the New Black, began her writing career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Arts

'Orange' Creator Jenji Kohan: 'Piper Was My Trojan Horse'

1:32pm August 13, 2013

Orange Is the New Black's showrunner explains how a story about a privileged white woman and criminality allows her to tell "really fascinating tales" of black women, Latinas, old women and criminals. Kohan also created the Showtime series Weeds.

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David Tennant plays Detective Inspector Alec Hardy alongside Olivia Colman as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller, investigating the murder of a young boy in the BBC crime drama Broadchurch.

Arts

Murder, Secrets And Lies By The Seaside In 'Broadchurch'

7:43am August 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

Guest-host Celeste Headlee speaks with Scottish actor David Tennant about his role as brooding detective in Broadchurch. The moody BBC crime drama follows a mismatched cop duo investigating the murder of a young boy in a British seaside town.

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Peter Capaldi is the latest actor to play the Doctor on the long-running British sci-fi show, Doctor Who.

The Doctor, An Utterly Millennial Hero

7:43am August 11, 2013

by Celeste Headlee

Doctor Who fans waited with bated breath this summer for the announcement of the latest actor to play the Doctor. But the Doctor is more than a character on a show that millions love, he's arguably the chosen hero of the millennial generation.

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Why Hasn't The Internet Blown Up Cable TV's Business Model?

6:56pm August 08, 2013

by Dan Bobkoff

The Internet has a history of blowing up business models. Now we buy music by the song, and who needs the newspaper for classifieds? But cable television hasn't budged much. You're still forced to buy a bundle of channels, whether you watch them or not.

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