Television

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.

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.

Tonight NBC devotes its entire prime-time schedule to a sendoff of ER, the medical drama series that has been running on the network since 1994. Critic David Bianculli wonders what comes next.

Comic actor Danny McBride stars in Eastbound and Down, a new HBO series about a washed-up baseball star who becomes a substitute gym teacher.

David Potter's gripping, enigmatic writing for TV made him one of British culture's defining figures from the 1960s through the 1980s. Critic-at-large John Powers reviews the new DVD collection Dennis Potter: 3 to Remember.

Joss Whedon's new television show, Dollhouse, follows a group of young women and men who have volunteered to have their personalities and memories erased.

James Bobin is the co-creator and director of HBO's series Flight Of The Conchords. He has been nominated for eight Emmys since 2003 for his work on Conchords and Da Ali G Show.