Television
May 23, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Stephen Colbert is finally off the air. We and CBS can both breathe a sigh of relief. Although–I am happy to say–I have never spent a single minute watching Colbert, one of the Left’s several faux comedians. Colbert has been on something of a farewell tour, as though he were important or popular. Left-wingers in entertainment and politics have offered one paean after another to the failed talk show host.
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April 27, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Jimmy Kimmel has a late night show on ABC. On his program the day before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Kimmel did a bit about the dinner that included this: Jimmy Kimmel mocking Melania Trump at his alternate universe parody WH correspondence dinner saying .. "OUR FIRST LADY, MELANIA IS HERE. LOOK AT MELANIA, SO BEAUTIFUL MRS. TRUMP, YOU HAVE A GLOW LIKE AN EXPECTANT WIDOW." Your reminder to cancel
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November 15, 2025 — Scott Johnson
When I wrote about Sid Caesar and Your Show of Shows earlier this month in “My favorite comedy,” I hadn’t read anything about Caesar since the publication of his memoir Where Have I Been? in 1982. Caesar was the father of sketch comedy on television and a fabulously successful star who flamed out big time after his career in television ended. In his review of Caesar’s memoir Frank Rich recalled
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September 17, 2025 — John Hinderaker
I have never seen the Jimmy Kimmel television show, and it looks now like I never will. On Monday evening, Kimmel offered the ultimate in gaslighting, claiming that Tyler Robinson murdered Charlie Kirk because he–Robinson, not Kirk–was a MAGA person: We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and
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July 20, 2025 — John Hinderaker
I wrote here about the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” by CBS. Good riddance, was my view. But the Democratic Party’s luminaries mourned Colbert’s demise as one. At InstaPundit, Ed Driscoll assembles Democrats’ reactions to Colbert’s cancellation on Twitter. There are a lot of them, all exactly the same. Elizabeth Warren’s take was typical: CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount
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July 18, 2025 — John Hinderaker
CBS has announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show.” They aren’t finding another host, the program is going to end. I never saw Colbert’s show–why would I want to?–but its demise is a landmark of sorts in talk TV history. Colbert was on the air for ten years. He is an ardent liberal who never made any attempt to expand his audience beyond its left-wing base. Based on the
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June 30, 2025 — John Hinderaker
How many Twitter personalities are actually bots? Apparently, a great number. Many, pretending to be human beings, presumptively Americans, are in fact bots created in Iran, China, Russia, or some other likely-hostile country. The same is true, I think, of mobs. Demonstrators can be turned out for many left-wing causes: today, it’s “Palestine.” Yesterday, it was “No Kings.” The day before, Black Lives Matter. To what extent are these protesters,
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February 20, 2024 — Scott Johnson
There’s nothing wrong with the picture Network (1976). The talent on display in the film is formidable. With a screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, and others, it’s an irresistible satire of television news as show business. I’ve had the opening scene playing in my head over the past week. “Don’t do it, buddy!” In the opening
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January 16, 2022 — Scott Johnson
In his press briefing last night FBI SAC Matthew DeSarno went out of his way to assert that the “hostage taker” who seized the rabbi and three others at Congregation Beth Israel during Shabbat services yesterday “was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community…” The AP took this talking point and ran with it, as though Lady AQ might be a nonsectarian cause and jihadism
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January 1, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Who knew that Elizabeth Warren was part of a movement? Apparently she is one of a great number of people who try to advance their careers by pretending to be American Indians. We noted here a news report to the effect that close to 20 percent of white kids “identify” as Native American on their college applications–a strategy that apparently is often successful. Now the New York Post reports on
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July 15, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Today’s Washington Post features a hit piece on Tucker Carlson. The attack begins on the front page and continues for three additional pages, all three of which are devoted exclusively to the piece. The opening salvo reveals that Carlson did not cry when, in 2003, he visited a dungeon in Ghana where Blacks were held many centuries ago before being shipped to America for enslavement. That Carlson went on this
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July 14, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Stephen A. Smith is a controversialist for ESPN. He shouts out his takes on sports-related issues, for which, reportedly, he is paid around $12 million a year. Nice work if you can get it. Smith came under fire for opining that Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese pitching, slugging, and baserunning sensation, will have trouble being the face of baseball because he doesn’t speak English. Smith said: I don’t think it helps
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July 11, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Rachel Nichols covers NBA basketball for ESPN. Her long-running show “The Jump” is devoted exclusively to the the NBA, I believe (I’ve never watched more than a few minutes of it). Nichols is White. Maria Taylor is a sideline reporter and presenter for ESPN. She appears on broadcasts of football and basketball games, and maybe some other stuff. Taylor is Black. Until last season, Nichols had hosted ESPN’s NBA Finals
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July 24, 2020 — John Hinderaker
“Get woke, go broke” is a refrain that I learned at InstaPundit. Unfortunately, it often isn’t true. See, e.g., Nike and Starbucks. Happily, though, broke does sometimes follow woke. A case in point is the Arts and Entertainment cable network. The only reason I know about the TV show “Live PD” is that my daughters watch it obsessively. Or used to, anyway: A&E canceled “Live PD” after the George Floyd
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October 17, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Two years ago at this time, we (and many others) were writing about the decline in television viewership of the National Football League. Back then, the NFL was reeling from controversy sparked by some players kneeling during the National Anthem. The League’s critics included President Trump. Two years on, players are no longer kneeling, Trump is no longer criticizing, and NFL viewership is on the rise. According to Pro Football
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August 13, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I have heard about the arrival of “deep fake” videos, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. But then I saw the video below, which is pretty amazing. Worth watching closely, a couple times. The transitions and likenesses are stunning. I have wondered for a while when we might get to the point where digital Hollywood tech might replace live actors in films—or even be used to being back long
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July 20, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
For years, ESPN indulged in left-wing politics. I wrote about this here and here. But John Skipper, under whose direction ESPN took this unfortunate turn, is no longer running the network. It turned out that he had an addiction problem. Also, ESPN was hurting financially. ESPN’s new head, Jimmy Pitaro, issued a directive — stop doing politics. To my knowledge, it has been followed. Earlier this week, however, an ESPN
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