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For as long as TV has existed, it has been used as a scapegoat for social and cultural issues. In a 1961 speech, FCC chairmen Newton Minow declared the format a "vast wasteland" of programming. In the 1970s, dozens of CBS affiliates chose not to show the historic episode of "Maude" that tackled abortion in reruns, caving to the pressure of critics who thought it would encourage viewers to do the same. The '80s saw the Satanic Panic, in which TV at large got swept up in a whirlwind of conspiracy, cited alongside metal music and board games as negative influences on the state of American children's souls.

Then there were the '90s. While the paranoid attitudes behind the Satanic Panic still raged on in some households, America became gripped by an unimaginable and seemingly new phenomenon: the school shooting. A few school shootings had happened before the 1990s,...

Cannes Film Festival attendees are cordially invited to a free special event — presented by The Hollywood Reporter and Campari — on Saturday, May 20, at 1:30pm Cannes time, in the Campari Lounge of the Palais: a live hourlong recording of THR’s Awards Chatter podcast, followed by a cocktail reception, with the Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander.

There is limited space at this event. Anyone wishing to attend must RSVP via this link by 11am on Friday, May 19.

During the podcast recording, the 34-year-old Swede will be interviewed by yours truly about her life, career and the film that brings her to the Croisette this year: Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, in which she portrays Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII (Jude Law).

Vikander is best known for her performances on film in 2010’s Pure, 2012’s Anna Karenina and A Royal Affair; 2013’s The Fifth Estate, 2014’s Testament of Youth...

Jacklyn Zeman, the actress best known for her decades-long tenure playing Bobbie Spencer on the venerable ABC soap “General Hospital,” died Wednesday of undisclosed causes. She was 70.

“General Hospital” executive producer Frank Valentini made the news public Wednesday night.

“On behalf of our @GeneralHospital family, I am heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved @JackieZeman. Just like her character, the legendary Bobbie Spencer, she was a bright light and true professional that brought so much positive energy with her to work,” Valentini wrote.

“Jackie will be greatly missed, but her positive spirit will always live on with our cast and crew. We send our heartfelt sympathy to her loved ones, friends, and family, especially her daughters Cassidy and Lacey,’ he continued.

Jackie will be greatly missed, but her positive spirit will always live on with our cast and crew. We send our heartfelt sympathy to her loved ones, friends,...

Newton N. Minow, who shocked the nation in 1961 by calling American television “a vast wasteland,” died on Saturday at his home in Chicago . He was 97 and died from a heart attack, according to his daughter.

Minow made his memorable remarks at a luncheon in Washington before broadcast executives.

“Stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you, and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off,” Minow said. “I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.

He added, “You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western bad men, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom.

“If you think I exaggerate, try it.”

His...

Newton N. Minow, the former Federal Communications Commission chief, died May 6 at his home in Chicago, after suffering a heart attack. He was 97.

Minow’s death was confirmed by the Associated Press on Saturday afternoon.

Minow served for two years as the FCC chief during President John F. Kennedy’s administration and made waves in 1961 when he described network television programming as “a vast wasteland.”

In his historic speech delivered to the National Assn. of Broadcasters, Minow proclaimed that “you will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western bad men, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom.”

Throughout his time as FCC chief, Minow required TV sets in America to be equipped to receive ultra-high-frequency (Uhf) signals...

Television has come a long way since it was first labeled as a “vast wasteland” by former FCC Chairman Newton Minow. From classic shows like “I Love Lucy” to modern favorites such as “Game of Thrones” and “Doctor Who,” television has transformed from simple entertainment into an innovative medium for creating intricate stories that engage with viewers on multiple levels.

Related: 10 Best TV Pilots of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

Of all these episodes, only a few have achieved perfect scores according to IMDb’s top 10 list, which exemplify the best storytelling ability across genres – high-fantasy tales or adventurous sagas spanning time and space. From “Breaking Bad” to “Attack on Titan,” each one made its mark not just through thrilling plotlines but also emotional depth and compelling characters – criteria judging them among some of the most memorable TV moments ever produced.

Regardless of genre, these shows have become cultural phenomena,...

The Republican National Committee is threatening to boycott the next general election presidential debates, even though the next matchup of the nominees won’t take place for more than three years.

RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates calls for a series of changes, including on how the commission selects debate moderators and on the scheduling of the events.

But the letter also airs a list of grievances that could have come from Donald Trump himself. The former president railed against the commission, a bipartisan body set up in 1988 to host the debates, not just last year but in 2016.

During the most recent cycle, the most significant flare-up was over the planned second debate, which was to be in a town hall format. But after Trump contracted Covid-19, the commission altered plans and switched the format to a virtual event. After Trump rejected the change,...

Mary V. Ahern, a television editor, producer and writer during the medium’s Golden Age whose work on the live cultural magazine series Omnibus helped establish the Alistair Cooke-hosted show as a landmark program, died of cancer May 1 at a care center in Peabody, Mass. She was 98.

Her death was announced by niece Joan Curry to The New York Times.

In addition to her work to create early television content, Ahern later became an important preservationist of such programming: In 1976, she was named the first curator of what would come to be known as the Paley Center for Media. Known at the time as the Museum of Broadcasting, the center – and Ahern – was crucial in rescuing long-forgotten bits of TV and radio history.

Ahern would go on to perform similar work at the Library of Congress from 1986 to 1989.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ahern later studied anthropology and literature at Radcliffe College,...

“I felt that television, in my view the greatest invention of our time, was being wasted, that we were not taking advantage of the opportunity to not only entertain, but also to inform, to educate and to inspire,” says Newton Minow, a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the John F. Kennedy administration, on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast as we discuss what provoked the famous “vast wasteland” speech that he delivered to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961.

Minow was the second-youngest FCC chair ever, just 34, and only two months into his new ...

“I felt that television, in my view the greatest invention of our time, was being wasted, that we were not taking advantage of the opportunity to not only entertain, but also to inform, to educate and to inspire,” says Newton Minow, a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the John F. Kennedy administration, on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast as we discuss what provoked the famous “vast wasteland” speech that he delivered to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961.

Minow was the second-youngest FCC chair ever, just 34, and only two months into his new ...