http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand RSS Feed for Inq Col David Hiltbrand en-us Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:16:26 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120218_Dave_on_Demand__A_mute_awakening_to_Kardashiana.html It happened quite by accident. The phone rang just as I sat down at my desk to start the day. So I muted the TV, which was still set on E! from taping The Soup the night before. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120219_Hot_item__but_really_a_cool_lady.html Some 100 million people saw the promo for The Celebrity Apprentice that NBC aired during the Super Bowl. Teresa Giudice wasn't one of them. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120211_Dave_on_Demand__Wrong_again.html I like to think I'm big enough to admit it when I've been wrong. (Given the frequency of my errors, that makes me pretty immense.) http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120207_Up_the_Amazon__on_a_scary_search_for_a_missing_man.html Give ABC's The River (9 p.m. Tuesday, 6ABC) credit for bringing something new to the flat screen. It's a thriller shot in the jerky, underlit, handheld style that was previously the province of feature films such as The Fourth Kind, Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120204_Dave_on_Demand__No_deceiving_Dave.html People, please, can we end this silly charade? You're not fooling me. The minute I tell one of you I write about television for the newspaper, the lying starts. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120205__Smash__offers_song_and_dance__plus_a_dash_of_Marilyn_Monroe.html The big-ticket item for NBC in 2012 is - drumroll, please - show tunes. Seriously. They won't let me make this stuff up. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120203_This_is_almost_like_Hogwarts_all_over_again.html Presumably there will come a point in Daniel Radcliffe's film career when his appearance on the screen will not immediately and overwhelmingly summon up thoughts of the boy wizard. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120202_Declining_ratings_a_sour_note_for__American_Idol_.html TV shows live by the numbers and die by the numbers. At the moment, American Idol is being gashed with the Nielsen saber. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120128_Dave_on_Demand__The_Renaissance_man.html Rob Lowe is on fire, isn't he? Usually, he contents himself with throwing a few jarringly artificial notes into the otherwise carefully calibrated comic mix on NBC's Parks and Recreation. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20120127_Blowing_the_whistle_on_Big_Tobacco.html This dilatory documentary, Addiction Incorporated, chronicles the battle against Big Tobacco, an industry that just a couple of decades ago was considered invincible.