MiamiHerald.com: Glenn Garvin: On TV

Super Bowl ads? Seen ’em all

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:35 EST

I almost smiled during that Super Bowl ad where the dog goes on a diet so he can slip out his pet door and chase a Volkswagen. Almost. And if I hadn’t already seen it 30 times on the Internet...

NBC’s ‘Smash’ is a guilty pleasure. VERY guilty.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00 EST

Smash. 10-11 p.m. Monday. WTVJ-NBC 6.

New Super-PACs flooding the airwaves with political ads

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:03 EST

Special-interest-group spending on TV ads has skyrocketed in the first presidential race since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned a ban on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions, a study released Monday says.

WSVN, DirecTV reach deal

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:29 EST

A corporate spat over money that kept WSVN-Fox 7 off DirecTV’s satellite dishes for nearly two weeks ended Thursday when the two sides signed a deal on retransmission fees.

Cable TV’s mad-as-hell guy comes to South Florida

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:02 EST

MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, who made his mark with a wild rant against — well — everything, is doing his show from Miami Beach. Keep your head down.

Video daze: Confused TV execs gather on Miami Beach

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:07 EST

As TV executives gather on Miami Beach for their annual convention, no one knows where their industry is going.

A short — very short — truce between WSVN, DirecTV

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:44 EST

Television viewers, who’ve mostly been collateral damage in the contractual crossfire between WSVN-Fox 7 and DirecTV over the past week, caught a break Thursday when WSVN announced it will lift its blackout of DirecTV satellite dishes Sunday night to air an NFL playoff game and American Idol special.

Reporter’s age-bias win reversed

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00 EST

An appellate court tossed a jury award of nearly $1 million to former WSVN-Fox 7 reporter Marilyn Mitzel.

WSVN, DirecTV still slugging it out

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:15 EST

The scorched-earth financial battle between WSVN-Fox 7 and DirecTV continued Wednesday, with WSVN blacked out for a fifth straight day on the satellite company’s dish-shaped antennas, and no cease-fire in sight.

Two puzzles, one worth a shot

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00 EST

Napoleon Dynamite. 8:30-9 p.m. Sunday. WSVN-Fox 7.

No TV deal means no Fox for some South Florida homes

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:48 EST

A quarter of a million South Florida homes lost access to WSVN-Fox 7 Saturday when the station yanked its signal from DirecTV’s satellite service in a dispute over retransmission fees that’s getting uglier by the minute.

See ‘Rob’ and ‘The Finder’ before they go to cancellation heaven

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00 EST

'Rob. 8:30-9 p.m. Thursday. WFOR-CBS 4. 'The Finder.' 9-10 p.m. Thursday. WSVN-Fox 7.

Confessions of a TV critic

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:17 EST

Ten years and one day ago, my byline ran for the first time on a Miami Herald column about television. I didn’t see it. I was aboard an airliner flying to Los Angeles, where TV critics from all over the country were gathering to get a look at the spring season shows. When I got off the plane, I discovered that slumping ABC had fired all of its top programming executives.

TV review of Stephen King’s ‘Bag of Bones’

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:29 EST

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones. 9-11 p.m. Sunday. A&E.

Have yourself a mobile Christmas: Gifts that go from 0 to 200 mph

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:50 EST

So there you are, creeping along the Palmetto, enduring the contemptuous stares of insects flying by at 10 times your velocity and wondering about your chances of being struck by lightning and turned into The Flash.

TV’s fall season ends with a teenage reign of terror

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:05 EST

I Hate My Teenage Daughter. 9:20-10 p.m. Wednesday. WSVN-Fox 7.

The shot still heard ’round the world

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 10:44 EST

JFK: The Lost Bullet. 10-11 p.m. Sunday. National Geographic Channel.

‘Homeland’ creator: Right show for right time

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00 EST

When Howard Gordon takes the stage at the Alper Jewish Community Center Thursday night, he will show a clip of his new TV show Homeland, about an Al Qaida mole planning a murderous attack on Washington. He’ll probably get some questions about his last show, 24, about a counterterrorist super-hero who saved the world 192 times in eight years. And of course he’s appearing at the Jewish Book Festival, so he’ll want to talk for a while about his last novel ( Gideon’s War, about a terrorist attack on an offshore oil rig) or his next one ( Hard Target, about a terrorist campaign by a home-grown American militia).

‘Vietnam in HD’ gives a searing look at war

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00 EST

Vietnam in HD. 9-11 p.m. Tuesday. History Channel.

AMC’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ a compelling tale of the transcontinental railroad

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:00 EDT

Hell on Wheels. 10-11 p.m. Sunday. AMC.