Idol Chatter

With “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under,” HBO has already rejuvenated the American television series. Can introducing the f-word, frank sex talk and better production values do the same for the “After School Special?” Set in the downtrodden projects of Brooklyn, “Life Support,” starring Queen Latifah, takes up a serious issue (living with AIDS) through…

Curly-haired Chris Sligh is one of the contestants to watch this year on American Idol. In the short time we’ve known him, he’s already managed to annoy Simon Cowell more than once, and he’s had multiple opportunities to show off his sense of humor. But there could be more to him than meets the eye.…

“Dear father, I pray that you would bless and protect Britney Spears wherever she may be. May you lead her back into a right relationship with you. And help her to remember that you are the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and she needs no other.” This was my prayer one Sunday morning.…

Every year the Eurovision song contest pits countries against each other in an international battle of the bands, which CNN describes as “a 50-year-old pan-European institution renowned less for serious music than for unbridled kitsch and terrible costumes but which is nonetheless a major TV event every year.” (Yes, just like Mamma Mia is on…

In an industry where artists are increasingly trying to redefine themselves just to stay alive, contemporary Christian music artist TobyMac is the only singer from DC Talk, a Christian boy band of the early 90s, who has made a successful transition to being a solo artist. With a style some might call “Eminem-lite,” he’s released…

Remember how the final episode of “Seinfeld” put the main characters on trial for being selfish, inconsiderate, and just generally shallow? How the show was famously “about nothing” and that there would be “no hugging, no crying” in any episode? Well, “The Sarah Silverman Program,” which has been picked up for a second season on…

A hilarious retelling of the David and Goliath story, set to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The song, called “Bethlehemian Rhapsody,” is by a Christian parody band called The Apologetix; the video is by some creative high school students:

I’ve already ranted twice about the latest horrifying New Age get-rich quick craze–“The Secret.” But according to Peter Birkenhead of Salon.com, I’m not alone in feeling there is still more to reckon with as this book’s popularity rises and reveals some of the “secrets” of people who buy it and endorse its ideas. Like Oprah…

As a diehard “Lost” fan (and a diehard Jack hater), I’m always thrilled for an episode based around Sayid. As a former member of Iraq’s Republican Guard, he knows way more about technology, strategy, and well, everything, than Jack. I’ve never understood why Sayid isn’t the one in charge. Needless to say, I was looking…

Amidst all the hoopla over the past couple of weeks about the alleged discovery of the tombs of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, James Cameron–the “Titanic” director who produced the documentary “The Jesus Family Tomb”–offered this gem of a comment: Grasping to explain the statistical improbability of finding these names together in one family tomb, Cameron…

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