<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>washingtonpost.com - Tom Shales</title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><description>Tom Shales</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com</link><url>http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif</url></image><item><title><![CDATA[Good Night, Tom]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26546-2004Dec1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26546-2004Dec1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Tom Brokaw's exit is significant, as the idea of anchor as a network flag-bearer is looking increasingly shaky.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Still Nothing Like It]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12001-2004Nov25.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12001-2004Nov25.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[For those who can't get enough "Seinfeld," Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has come to the rescue with the first of several planned sets of uncut episodes on DVD.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[The FCC Chairman Has No Clothes]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62718-2004Nov19.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62718-2004Nov19.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Oops.  They got rid of the wrong Powell. The father unfortunately is going, but the son, even more unfortunately, remains behind.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA['House': Watching  Is the Best Medicine]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53025-2004Nov15.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53025-2004Nov15.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA["House" introduces us to the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years, Dr. Gregory House, who, as played perilously close to perfection by Hugh Laurie, catapults this Fox series into a select group: the finest shows of the season.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kicking Up a Storm]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45096-2004Nov12.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45096-2004Nov12.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[With CBS's "Category 6: Day of Destruction," there's nothing like the end of the world to liven up a Sunday evening.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA['Rebel Billionaire' Launches Like A Lead Balloon]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35569-2004Nov8.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35569-2004Nov8.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Reality TV programs are sillier, stupider and more ridiculous all the time -- for instance, "The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best," a show that adheres unashamedly to the rigid formulas of the genre.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Fox, a Most Promising New 'Development']]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29555-2004Nov5.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29555-2004Nov5.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA["Arrested Development" is, in fact, "Dynasty" as it might be rewritten for the Three Stooges if there were a dozen of them.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Red, Blue and Maybe]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20661-2004Nov3.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20661-2004Nov3.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It looks as though the networks signed on an hour or two, or five, too early to report the results of the 2004 presidential election.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[From Telegenic to Telegeneric]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14519-2004Oct31.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14519-2004Oct31.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[What happens when neither candidate comes across well on television? Maybe TV cancels itself out as The Great Decider, and maybe substance surpasses style.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA['Madam's Family': Not-So-Risque Message  In a Brothel]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10902-2004Oct29.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10902-2004Oct29.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA["Family viewing" certainly has changed over the years, as should be a shock to nobody. Tomorrow night's CBS movie is about a family, all right -- three generations of women who operated a famous whorehouse in the red-light district of New Orleans. It's not a movie to warm the cockles of your heart; in fact, it's more of a cockle cooler.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mr. 'Saturday Night']]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54011-2004Oct22.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54011-2004Oct22.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Creator of "Saturday Night Live"  to receive  Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Monday.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[CBS's 'Universe' Belongs in a Galaxy Far, Far Away]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46685-2004Oct19.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46685-2004Oct19.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  CBS continues on its lonely, peculiar and mysterious campaign to bolster the morale of the Great American Fat Man by assuring him he might end up with a svelte, adoring wife and a collection of cute kids who all have quips at the tips of their tongues. And wouldn't think of leaving them there.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Show  Of Shows]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43679-2004Oct18.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43679-2004Oct18.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA["Broadway: The American Musical" is the TV equivalent of a grandly panoramic coffee-table book.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Close Final Round]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31374-2004Oct14.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31374-2004Oct14.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[In their third debate, Sen. John Kerry and President Bush again brought out their well-worn buzzwords and slogans.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bush and Kerry Come Out of Their Corners]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19168-2004Oct9.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19168-2004Oct9.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[They may not be changing minds or stimulating widespread discourse, but at least President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are getting to be better debaters. Last night, the presidential candidates met for their second clash, this one staged as a "town-hall meeting" at Washington University in St. Louis.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Beating Troubles to The Punch Line]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13343-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13343-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Rodney Dangerfield's jokes said, "We're all in this together." But we're not all in it together anymore.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA['life as we know it': Pubescent Putrescence]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13528-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13528-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Head for the hills; it's "life as we know it," and if the hills are full (or excessively alive with the sound of music), head for the mountains. It'll be worth the trip to avoid this gimmicked-up adolescent soap opera that's faux sensitive, faux funny and, most of the time, even faux faux. As zee Frenchmen say, "Faux phooey."]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cheney Turns On Heat, but Edwards Doesn't Quayle]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10303-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10303-2004Oct6.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Dick Cheney delivered a deftly planned zinger at John Edwards, but if he thought going in that he could flick Edwards off like a pesky fly, however, he was mistaken.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Worth Staying at Home For]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A409-2004Oct1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A409-2004Oct1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[In visual style, witty language and overall mad attitude, "Desperate Housewives" stands on a mountaintop all its own, the best new drama of the season and perhaps the best new comedy, too.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lawyers on the Loose]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1656-2004Oct1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1656-2004Oct1.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/television/columns/tomshales</guid><pubDate>Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:44:11 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Fantasy is trying to out-freak fact, with ABC's sort-of-new "Boston Legal" leading the raucous brigade.]]></description><author> Tom Shales</author></item></channel></rss>