12 Great Websites for TV Fans

Maybe you have that one special show you love. Maybe you love every show. Maybe you like to follow the latest insider news on awards shows and casting. Maybe you want to see what happened on tv last week. Whatever your interest in that little box we call television, there are plenty of websites which can supply you with a TV info fix.

TVGuide (www.tvguide.com)
If you're not thrilled with the new, glossy, big-sized TVGuide, you're not alone. But TVGuide still has some of the best tv listings, breaking news, interviews and scoop anywhere. You may have to wade through fifty five articles on the same five shows every week, but you can find what you're looking for. An archive and a movie database are also on the site. Speaking of databases…

Internet Movie Database: TV (www. imbd.com)
The IMDB is the best site for checking the who's who on your favorite shows. Whether you're interested in knowing who starred in that 50s sitcom you just caught on cable or you're wondering where you saw the Law & Order guest actor before, you can look it up here. The IMDB has just about every show known to man listed with cast and crew details and links, info on production, viewer-supplied trivia and message boards. Speaking of message boards…

TV.Com (www.tv.com)
The site formerly known as TV Tome provides message boards for tons of old and new TV shows. You can also look up cast info and episode recaps. Or you can submit your own recaps and reviews. There are also interactive features where you can rate episodes and shows in general. While some shows have skimpy reviews/recaps, others are quite in-depth.

n:zone TV (www.atnzone.com)
n:zone, formerly known as @N-Zone Magazine has recaps, too. You can find top shows reviewed indepthly by fans such as yourself. There are message boards here, too, plus a huge sweepstakes section that often offers TV-on-DVD giveaways. There is also a significant Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel archive for fans who can't get enough of the defunct Whedon creations. There are also opinion columns on TV-related trends and coverage on the big TV awards shows. N:ZONE TV also features news off the wire. Music and movie fans can cross over to other sections of n:zone which provide for their addictions.

zap2it.com
This site provides up-to-now news on television, including schedule changes, ratings, and star interviews. They also offer regular columns by TV Gal and the writer whose capsules are featured at YahooTV's section on the night's programs. There are also sweepstakes and message boards for users.

tvtattle.com
This site plugs you into TV news from all over. With links to top magazines and new sources, tattle is a very comprehensive TV news source for fans who like to stay "in the know." They also offer generic links to top TV sites you may also want to visit.

Yahoo! tv (http://tv.yahoo.com/)
Yahoo's TV section provides news from the wire, ratings info, schedule grids (up to a week in advance) and write-ups of what's on for a given night. They also have a very large database of TV shows which includes cast lists, link lists, production information, and tons of images for most listed shows.

E! Online TV (http://tv.eonline.com)
It's E! what more must we say. E's online department for television includes news, features and commentary. You can also "Watch with Kristin" - follow her TV-related column.

Jump The Shark (http://www.jumptheshark.com/)
A show jumps the shark, as TV fans know, when it has that episode which pushes that little bit too far, signaling the show's downward spiral. The name comes from the famed Happy Days episode where Fonzie donned water skiis and literally jumped a shark. Here, you can find out what moments thousands of fans pinpoint as the time their favorite show stopped being good. You can also add your own thoughts, choosing from categories like "same character, different actor" and "They did it!" (meaning to people, you know, consummated things…) No passwords needed.

Television Without Pity (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com)
TWoP is a vast recap guide database covering many of today's 1-hour drama and reality shows (no sitcoms, sorry) and similar shows of the recent past. The recaps here, as the title of the site suggests, often heap on the snark, but only because the recappers (we're guessing some disgruntled would-be screenwriters among them…) have "love-hate relationships" with their show of choice. The recaps are dense, more often than not resembling transcripts, so you can really get a good idea of what happened on an episode you missed. Careful, though, because many guides are discontinued after a season or two due to lack of interest either by the fans or the site. Also has forums.

MediaWeek (www.mediaweek.com)
If you enjoy reading about the inside scoop on the television industry- buying, selling, ratings, conferences, MediaWeek may be for you. Some features are accessible without registration/subscription, like Marc
"Mr. TV" Berman's daily rundown of the ratings winners and losers for a night.

The Futon Critic (www.futoncritic.com)
The Futon Critic offers news on TV, including links to wire stories and network press releases. There's also an impressive listing of shows in production. Some that may never see the light of day and some may go on to be the next big hits.

TV Barn (www.tvbarn.org)
This popular site offers viewers TV news stories and nightly picks that come from the site master, Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star. Plus: tons of commentary/critique on a wide range of shows from network and cable, drama, comedy, reality and news.

TEEVEE (www.teevee.org)
This site provides reviews of television shows. While it's not the most frequently updated of sites (and doesn't apparently respond too all queries from wannabe contributors…) the reviews and the site set-up are amusing and offer reviews that can be a little more in-depth or different in approach than your standard fare critique.