Clear Channel is going private according to the NYTimes - what does it mean? Well who knows, but as a private company Clear Channel will not have to be as transparent about their investments and strategy and that could mean trouble for media markets that they target resulting in (even) less choice for consumers. Another slow night tonight but late night TV looks good - Jungle Jack Hanna on Letterman will be a blast as......

New York City may be all the way across the country, but if Rupert Murdoch gets his way there you can bet he will cast his gaze upon all other major metropolitan areas: the New York Times reports that Murdoch wants to obtain a permanent FCC waiver to acquire two TV NYC stations in addition to his three newspapers and radio assets. Will this be a last hurrah while the friendly Bush Administration still controls......

MTV's "The Real World" returns for its 20th season which is scary because I remember the premiere of this show back in 1992. My roommates and I, and our significant others (or not) would get together and watch the show which seemed scarily innovative at the time - _anything_ could happen! From being an innovator in reality programming to just another in a field of crowded participants, another season of "The Real World" seems like......

Comedy Central has started to establish some control over Wednesday nights. What's funny is that I started to go back to them on Wednesdays because of Lewis Black's excellent show "Root Of All Evil" (anyone catch him on Conan last week? He was great) and now I'm finding myself re-engaging with "South Park" but I'm sure that program directors at Comedy Central were planning for the flow to happen the other way. Whatever, it's working......

Spike has a new, totally original show that is essentially 'Cops' for the Drug Enforcement Agency and it has the totally original name 'DEA'. “Television viewers will get the same unprecedented access to the inner workings of the DEA as our camera crews – the raids, the risk and the danger,” said Al Roker, executive producer (Al Roker??!! He's so effing hardcore). “When you watch ‘DEA,’ you will feel like you have gone undercover.” This......

Is Fox TV above the law? The Washington Post reports that Fox is challenging a $91,000 fine levied against them by the FCC for a broadcast of "Married by America" back in 2003 that featured reality show cast members licking whipped cream off of strippers' "digitally obscured" body parts. Since the FCC is controlled by an administration that is full of Fox fans will the network get away with it? It should be noted that......

The 10:00pm slot is hot again tonight but I'm going to have to go with Lewis Black again, that's a great show, maybe Comedy Central has finally figured out what to do with him. In other items, the Nielsen Company, whom I've occasionally reported on/castigated in this column, is inviting LAist to submit some TV Trivia questions for an "Ultimate Pop Culture Trivia Challenge" contest and I'd to invite YOU, our readers, to submit some......

There's only one 1/2 hour of TV I'm looking forward to tonight and it's on NBC. Out of some desperate need I've turned to Kenny vs. Spenny (which debuted on Comedy Central a couple weeks ago) but I scored the Season 3 DVDs which includes the hilarious "Who Can Make the Best Porno" competition which resulted in the first sketch comedy porno ever (although, it could be argued, that the majority of porn is sketch......

It's become a bit of a tradition. Each year, my co-workers and I spend one of our November lunch breaks at Costco. The seven of us help each other shop and have a fun time trying to find some deals. The first year we did it, someone posed the question: "But doesn't that mean we'll miss lunch?" Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to the little food sample stands set up......

You know who makes a lot of sense? Michael Pollan does. If only he had the ear of the Senate as it prepares to pass a sorry, sorry Farm Bill. I love alcohol in unusual, fruit-oriented containers. Slashfood turns us on to this pumpkin keg -- yes the beer was actually brewed inside the pumpkin shell. Expect to see one of these at an LAist party near you very soon. It's good to know......

It's not really a big Wednesday, I'm just making a reference to the obscure and awful surfer flick starring Jan Michael Vincent and Gary Busey. I've got a major case of the munchies as I write this so tonight's primetime is all about food for me. 8:00pm Back To You FOX - Series Premiere - oops, NOT[TD]. I'm not so sure I want to give Kelsey Grammar another chance on network TV. I would like......

In TV land, Tom Colicchio of Top Chef plays a kinda sorta pompous judge on the popular Bravo show. In real life, he's chef-owner of NYC's Craft (other restaurants include the Gramercy Tavern, Craft, Craftbar, and 'wichcraft in New York, Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and NYC). Gordon Ramsay plays another sorta pompous chef on FOX's Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. In real life, his latest restaurant venture is Gordon Ramsay......

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own......

Top Chef hasn’t suffered from sophomore – okay, junior – slump at all. Bravo’s reality show is turning out to be one of the most consistently entertaining programs on television, thanks to one simple rule that’s all too often overlooked in the reality game: talented people make good television. Unfortunately, not everybody agrees: Regina Schrambling over at the LA Times recently decried the “tentacles” of advertising that have a firm grip on the show’s......

I used the word hump mainly because I think that Sarah Silverman would endorse my use of that word, and perhaps go on to give us an explanation of humping and whom/what humping should be applied to. Am I immature? Yes, but it's a good kind of immature. I feel like I've waited forever for her show to get back on the air but the day hath arrived. Check the clip above to get......

If you don't get yourself to a festival this weekend, we're really going to question your priorities in life. Andy Sternberg lists the highlights, while Caroline on Crack narrows in on the awesome food festivals also happening this weekend. We have spent the entire month eating our way through Thai Town. We're winding down our series with Thai Town Express, Sanamluang Cafe, Thailand Plaza, and Thaitown Noodle. New Zagats are out! New Zagats are......

Holy jeebus my eyeballs are gonna fall out. There's about a 1/2 dozen series premieres and a 1/2 dozen season premieres tonight. Unfortnately the only new thing calling my name is the Bionic Woman (9:00pm NBC) but that's based on junior high school fantasies and not what I've seen so far of this show. Prime time offers such an overabundance of mediocrity I'm tempted to head off to TCM at 8:00pm and watch the......

Ok maybe it's not the worst DVR ever made Oh yes it's the worst. And it's not just me, customers hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. I'm writing this post to let Time Warner LA know that this cannot stand for long before customers such as myself switch back to satellite providers. I'm talking very soon, like as soon as I can get a day off from work to have......

Did you read the now-notorious article in the LA Times about food writing, anonymity, and the role of bloggers? LA Foodblogging has an excellent response here, and Variety's food blog shares two simple rules for online reviews. What’s on the menu for the Jewish holidays? The LAT suggests braised veal, leek fritters, and cilantro-tomato soup, while the NY Times is answering questions about Rosh Hashana meals via its food message boards. When the LA......

Introducing the TV Junkie Black List: While waiting for Spoon to go on the Tonight Show last night I had to endure Leno and guest Denis Leary talking about how they'd like to get cyclists off the roads and how they enjoy honking at them, etc. Both of these a-holes know* what went down recently in Beverly Hills as reported by LAist and the last thing LA needs is more SUV drivers feeling justified in......

We'll admit that Padma Lakshmi, host of Bravo TV's Top Chef is nice to look at, and she may have brains, too, but the model-actress-author does seem to lack a key ingredient in TV hosting: A little fire in the kitchen...salt'n'pepa in her stew...in other words -- a personality. But Salman Rushdie's ex isn't alone in this department. Blandness and the monotone delivery almost seem to be a prerequisite for female reality TV hosts.......

Oh Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan Gold! Where will you eat this week? Why, Hacienda Heights, my dear foodies: at Earthen, a wildly popular new Chinese deli in - what else - a strip mall. I'll take an order of potstickers, please. Top Chef Recap: Lordy, lordy, what an upset! The underdog quartet of Howie, Hung, Sara, and Dale captured the win in Restaurant Wars, cleaning up their menu and sporting a new name: Quatre. Tre......

Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. I’m prejudiced. You mention the words “fusion cuisine” and I immediately reach for stereotypes. Pretentious. Overpriced. Lacking any culinary soul. Just altogether unappealing. Oh sure I’ve had good fusion meals once in awhile. But I’d never admit to it. I wouldn’t want to acknowledge......

What are your favorite food memoirs? Ruth Reichl shares her picks with NPR, and we definitely agree that these are must-reads, especially Jeffrey Steingarten's hilarious and informative essays. Still haven't taken the $20 Farmer's Market Challenge? Now Slashfood and the Washington Post are polling readers to see how much loot they can get at their local markets for only twenty bucks. Jonathan Gold and Pat Saperstein over at EatingLA are both reporting on Jitlada......

Okay, first on my list are the $42 nine-course tasting menu at Tagine, cheap but tasty Belizean rum, and a cabeza taco at Taqueria Chihuahua: the LA Times shares some of the best dining deals in the city. Jonathan Gold's been on a Korean kick lately over at the LA Weekly: this week he discovers the best fried chicken in K-town, if not the city, and last week he spent time with a former......

Our lovely and talented sister publication Gothamist interviewed Chef Dan Barber about the Farm Bill and the "Omnivore's Dilemma" effect and how food policy and activism is changing the culinary face of the nation. Jeffrey Steingarten always says that New York tap is his favorite kind of water. The New York Times agrees with him. Is this enough to get you drinking LA City tap? The LA Times now features quick cooking how-to videos......

-- U.S. agricultural exports to China have increased to nearly $6.7 billion this year thanks to a sudden rise in demand for California produce, especially fruit and nuts. -- The NY Times also points us to 101 simple summer meals that can be readied in ten minutes or less. Anybody else have quick recipes to share? -- And speaking of U.S. Agriculture: the House Ag Committee has put together its Farm Bill, set to......

Last night's free Zocalo program at the Central Library featured L.A. Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold in conversation with Variety's Monica Corcoran. Her first question: Did winning the Pulitzer Prize (for criticism, this year) blow your cover as an anonymous food critic? And if so, this evening won't help, will it? Gold sheepishly admitted that he can no longer be quite so anonymous. He went on to talk about topics ranging from the opening......

With last night's (much anticipated) premiere of the third season of Top Chef on Bravo, there now exists a triptych of "reality" television programs each devoted to making one lucky chef a star (and the other contestants infamous). Over on the Food Network we've got The Next Food Network Star, which blends cooking and "star" quality, and on Fox we're two episodes into the blazing fires of the third season of Hell's Kitchen. And......

It's Wednesday. The 14-inch Philly cheesesteak we took down at lunch is starting to sit heavy. Be a glutton like us and check out these links to all the food news that matters this week. - The LA Times explores the cuisine of Shanghai: and where to find it in the Southland. - Awww, those crappy cheap wines grow up SO FAST! Buy a bottle of two-dollar merlot and drink it all tonight in......