Television

Judy Huth, left, appears at a news conference with attorney Gloria Allred outside the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire Division station on Friday. Huth says she was drugged and raped by comedian Bill Cosby in 1974 when she was 15 years old.

National

LAPD Says It Will Investigate Abuse Claim Against Cosby

8:09am December 18, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Judy Huth, the latest accuser of the 77-year-old comedian, says Cosby drugged and raped her in 1974 when she was only 15. Cosby's lawyer has called the claim "absolutely false."

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson star in HBO's True Detective.

Arts

Deggans: 'Fargo,' 'True Detective,' 'Transparent' Top Best TV Of 2014

11:44am December 17, 2014

by Eric Deggans

At a time when there is so much good TV around, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says, any Top 10 list says as much about the critic as about the shows he is picking.

World News

Contestant From War-Torn Syria Wins 'Arab Idol'

6:09pm December 16, 2014

by Alice Fordham

Over the weekend, a champion was crowned in the Middle East's version of American Idol. Syrians cheered as 21-year-old Hazem Sherif from the war-scarred city of Aleppo was announced the winner.

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Inside the control room, dozens of monitors allow the production team to keep an eye on the live games and the available replays and graphics.

Sports

7 Chaotic Hours Behind The Scenes At NFL RedZone

1:17pm December 15, 2014

by Becky Sullivan

On 17 Sundays every fall, millions of people tune in to this cable channel, which airs for just seven hours a week and endeavors to show each score from as many as 12 simultaneous football games.

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The Fuller family's Christmas light display in Clayton, N.C.

Arts

Watts Going On: The Gaudy Excess Of 'The Great Christmas Light Fight'

12:11pm December 15, 2014

by Linda Holmes

If you've never seen hundreds of thousands of lights used to do things like animate wire-frame animals, you're going to love this bonkers piece of television.

Arts

Funny, Dirty, Sad: The 'Holy Trinity' For 'Transparent' Creator Jill Soloway

1:32pm December 12, 2014

When writer Jill Soloway's father came out as a trans woman, Soloway says, it was a huge relief. And it helped her create the series Transparent about "boundaries, legacy, gender, family."

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Arts

The Great 'Parks And Rec' Clip War Of 2014

9:41am December 12, 2014

by Linda Holmes

When critics are anticipating the end of a show they've liked a lot, strange things happen.

Charlie Hunnam co-stars with Katey Sagal (center) and Drea De Matteo on FX's biker drama Sons of Anarchy.

Arts

'Sons Of Anarchy' Ends As A Macho Soap Opera Often Anchored By Women

9:29pm December 09, 2014

by Eric Deggans

FX's biker drama Sons of Anarchy airs its final episode tonight, capping a seven-season run. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says cable's most macho series succeeded by finding strong roles for women.

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A still image from the Discovery TV special Eaten Alive, which angered some viewers after it aired Sunday.

Arts

(Not) Eaten Alive: A Snake Tale, Made For TV

1:31pm December 09, 2014

by Bill Chappell

More than 20 million people watched Discovery's YouTube trailer for the special, in which naturalist Paul Rosolie said, "We're going to get me inside of a snake." But that didn't happen.

The cast of WKRP in Cincinnati, recently reissued on DVD by Shout! Factory, which collected licenses to include most of the original music broadcast on the show.

Music & Culture

WKRP In Perpetuity

11:06pm December 06, 2014

by Michaelangelo Matos

The AM radio station that gave the late 1970s series WKRP in Cincinnati its name was better than most real radio stations of its era. A new reissue includes most of the songs broadcast on the show.