Television

For all the claims to the contrary, The Jay Leno Show is as close to a clone of The Tonight Show as it can get without being sued.

Writer-director Mike Judge — the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, and the director of the cult-classic workplace comedy Office Space — has a new movie out. It's another satirical look at life on the job; called Extract, it stars Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck and Kristen Wiig.

When last we saw the ad men and women of AMC's Mad Men, the firm had just been bought by a British company and the Cuban missile crisis was underway. Critic David Bianculli offers a sneak peak at what additional drama the new season might hold.

There are two types of history to consider when trying to put CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite into context. There's the history of broadcast news and there's history itself. TV critic David Bianculli offers an appreciation of the venerable newsman.

Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter are creators and stars of Michael and Michael Have Issues — a series about two neurotic sketch-comedy writers who can't stand each other.

Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin are the writers behind HBO's series Hung, about a hapless schoolteacher — with one substantial asset — who finds an unorthodox way to make ends meet.

Playing Shakespeare, a 1984 series in which actors dissect some of the Bard's most famous works, shows how crucial an understanding of Shakespeare's language and versification are to conveying the meaning — and power — of his scenes.

Allison Silverman, the executive producer and head writer of The Colbert Report, discusses the show's recent broadcasts from the combat zone in Iraq.

TV historian David Bianculli worries that the death of analog television isn't politically neutral: It threatens to leave the neediest viewers in the Dark Ages.

Actor Ed Helms, co-star of the new film The Hangover, studied improvisation with The Upright Citizens Brigade and got his start in comedy with numerous sketch comedy groups. He currently plays Andy Bernard, the salesman who loves a cappella, on the NBC comedy series The Office.

After 16 years as the host of the Late Night show, Conan O'Brien moves his act an hour earlier. TV critic David Bianculli reviews O'Brien's premiere as host of The Tonight Show.

Rock critic Ken Tucker looks back on American Idol's most recent season, when Adam Lambert and Kris Allen vied for the top spot. He says the wrong aspiring idol won.

Ryan Murphy, creator of the plastic surgery series Nip/Tuck, talks about his experiences singing in a choir and what inspired him to create the new Fox comedy series Glee.

Critic John Powers reviews the Starz comedy series Party Down, which follows a group of oddball dreamsers who work for a Hollywood catering company.

Up until last year Amy Poehler was a member of the cast on Saturday Night Live, famous for her impersonation of Hillary Clinton. She now stars in the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation.

Actor Gabriel Byrne is so convincing and sympathetic in his role as a psychoanalyst on the HBO series In Treatment that people have started telling him their problems.

Fresh Air host Terry Gross remembers the star of Broadway's Mame and TV's Maude, who died April 26, with excerpts from a 2007 interview.

Critic-at-large John Powers explains why Gordon Ramsay, the profanity-prone star chef of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, is "the world's greatest TV chef."

Screenwriter Mike White and his father, gay rights activist Mel White, recently danced, ran and bobsledded around the globe as part of The Amazing Race. The duo talks about their relationship and reality-TV adventures.

British comic Russell Brand is known for his outlandish appearance, sharp wit and no-holds-barred language. He's put his over-the-top comedy on the page with his new memoir My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-up.