News & Current Events Archives - Page 26 of 31

HBO examines the 2011 Japan earthquake and its aftermath in “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

July 12, 2012 Lori Acken Comments Off

In the mid-afternoon of March 11, 2011, a small contingent stood on a Japanese hillside, watching in increasing despair as monstrous waves swept away every vestige of their city, turning everything before them into a brackish stew and washing away fellow residents before their eyes. The footage they shot makes up the chilling opening scenes of The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, the Oscar-nominated documentary from Lucy Walker that chronicles the Great East Japan Earthquake and makes its television debut Monday, July 16 on HBO. With a magnitude of 9.0 that triggered 133-foot waves, the quake was the most powerful ever […]

In Memoriam: Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

July 9, 2012 Channel Guide Staff 2

He was born during the Great War and died this weekend, but in between, Ernest Borgnine became a legend in the film and television age, and remained one right up to the end. Continuing to work even at the arguably overripe age of 95, Borgnine was seemingly unstoppable. His list of credits would be the envy of almost anybody in the business, from the sheer volume of his output to many of the historic, even canonical titles it includes: From Here to Eternity; Johnny Guitar; Bad Day at Black Rock; The Wild Bunch and dozens upon dozens of others, particularly […]

HBO’s “Hard Times: Lost on Long Island” takes a sobering look at the job crisis

July 6, 2012 Lori Acken 1

In the opening moments of HBO’s disquieting new documentary Hard Times: Lost on Long Island, balding, bespectacled Alan Fromm — an unemployed corporate trainer — catalogs the catastrophes he survived prior to losing his job a year earlier: struck by lightning at 15; heart trouble at 21; in the World Trade Center during the 1993 bombing; on the Long Island Rail Road when Colin Ferguson gunned down 25 passengers nine months later; and in the north tower on 9/11. By comparison, he says, unemployment doesn’t seem so bad. But it’s getting there. Fromm often gathers with a rotating crew of […]

Twitter reacts to Andy Griffith’s passing

July 3, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer Comments Off

RIP, Andy Griffith. The legendary actor passed away today at the age of 86, leaving behind an incredible body of work and plenty of memories for scores of fans. As with many celebrity passings, Twitter was abuzz today with people expressing their emotions. There was a mix of nostalgia (especially from people of a certain generation, who grew up with Griffith’s most famous TV work, The Andy Griffith Show), sadness, wistfulness at remembering the type of wholesome entertainment his work often represented, and respect for Griffith’s total skill as an actor, not just in comedy roles (many people brought up […]

Ann Curry tearful annoucement of leaving “Today”

June 28, 2012 Barb Oates Comments Off

The rumors were confirmed this morning when Ann Curry announced she was leaving the Today show. “This is not easy to say but today is going to be my last morning as a regular role of Today,” Curry tearfully announced. “This is not how I expected to ever leave this couch after 15 years. But I am so grateful especially to all of you who watch, we often call ourselves a family, but you are the real Today show family. You are why I’ve ventured into dangerous places and interviewed dictators and jumped out of planes and climbed mountains. I […]

Matt Lauer interviews Madonna Badger for first time on fire that killed her daughters, parents

June 21, 2012 Barb Oates Comments Off

Emotionally prepare yourself. Matt Lauer’s interview with Madonna Badger is simply heart-wrenching. Badger is the mother who lost her three young daughters and her parents on Christmas morning when her Stamford, Connecticut, home caught fire. […]

Russell Brand fits FX with “Brand X”

June 21, 2012 Channel Guide Staff 2

For anyone who’s ever watched the news and wondered, “What would Russell Brand think of all this?,” FX has got your answer. Brand X With Russell Brand will present the outrageous, unnervingly erudite Brit commenting on current events in front of a late-night audience. The six half-hour specials — Thursdays beginning June 28 at 11pm — will be taped just days in advance, allowing Brand’s perspective on topics ranging from politics to gossip as much immediacy as possible, and his interactions with the audience are being sold as an integral part of the entertainment value. Much will be made of […]

Free weekend of Showtime for Time Warner Cable and DirecTV subscribers

June 15, 2012 Barb Oates Comments Off

Hold off from getting too excited here because this most likely won’t apply to you. The Free preview weekend is only being offered to 20 million people, more specifically — Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York and Los Angeles and nationwide to DirecTV customers. It’s the first of its kind in free previews. The aptly-titled free preview promo — “Best in SHO” — is targeted to voting members of the Television Academy, these are the people who determine what TV series and shows will win the Emmys. It’s all a part of the networks’s “For Your Consideration Emmy Awards […]

NBC’s “Dateline” celebrates 20 years tonight

May 22, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer 2

Dateline, NBC News’ longest-running primetime newsmagazine, debuted in 1992, and will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with an hourlong special May 22 at 10pm ET/PT. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Dateline’s 20th Anniversary Special will highlight some of the most extraordinary stories and people in the show’s history, and, in addition to looking back at memorable moments, will feature a few follow-up stories: Jane Pauley/Michael J. Fox In 2003, Jane Pauley spoke with Michael J. Fox as part of her final Dateline broadcast. Nine years later, Pauley returns to Dateline for the first […]

Getting Fatter: “The Weight of the Nation” addresses obesity epidemic

May 14, 2012 Barb Oates Comments Off

Americans are truly getting fatter. Obesity is now one of our country’s most pressing health issues with more than two-thirds of U.S. adults age 20 and over being either overweight or obese. Equally staggering is the fact that nearly one-third of our nation’s children and adolescents age 2 to 19 are also overweight or obese. Obesity-related health costs are around $147 billion annually. The only good news in all of this is that the award-winning HBO is making its multipart documentary series on this topic, The Weight of the Nation, available for free to everyone at their website hbo.com/theweightofthenation. The […]