Season Premiere | featured news

This post-episode mini-analysis of “Mad Men” could have focused on the already dysfunctional marriage between Don and Megan Draper, a relationship that — as Sunday’s season five premiere, “A Little Kiss,” demonstrated — apparently involves Don’s usual callousness, upward career mobility for Megan and your standard make-up sex prompted by half-naked house cleaning.

The advance copy of the new episode of “Mad Men” — the first in too many moons — arrived the other day. It was handsomely packaged, of course, and closely trailed by an e-mail plea from its meticulously controlling creator, Matthew Weiner, who asked critics not to tell you anything that happens when the show returns for a fifth season, two-hour premiere Sunday night on AMC.

By the time the second season premiere of “The Voice” starts after the Super Bowl, we’re well-acquainted with the four judges, thanks to many ads during the big game. Plus, Blake Shelton sang “America the Beautiful” with his wife, Miranda Lambert, before kickoff.

At first glance, the numbers look bad: "American Idol's" season premiere was down nearly 5 million viewers from last year's, the biggest season-to-season drop in franchise history. At second glance, the numbers don't look bad at all: "AI" was Wednesday's dominant show, averaging 21.6 million, per estimates, and scoring a still-huge, if diminished, 7.4 demo rating among 18-to-49-year-olds.

He's back! Simon Cowell returns to the judging chair, offering his distinct brand of criticism to a wide-ranging variety of wannabe stars.

“Glee” returned to primetime Tuesday after a second season that can be described kindly as a sophomore slump.

HBOSookie (Anna Paquin) and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) explore new supernatural frontiers in the season four premiere of "True Blood." When last we saw Sookie Stackhouse, the heartbroken part-fairy telepathic waitress and ...

Tuesday night’s season premiere of “Lost” seemed to be trying to strike a balance between the show’s convoluted mythology and its more human, character-driven dimension.

"Saturday Night Live" has started the season with a bang, or, more precisely, an F-bomb. Newcomer Jenny Slate let the dreaded word slip during a parody of a talk show by biker women. Called "Biker Chick Chat," the sketch was laden with tough talk from its participants, played by Slate, Kristen Wiig and guest host Megan Fox.