The A.V. Club
 | |
| Type | Popular culture, entertainment, news, reviews, politics, progressive[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Format | Internet |
| Owner(s) | The Onion, Inc. |
| Editor-in-chief | Laura M. Browning, Sean O’Neal |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Sister newspapers | The Onion |
| Website |
avclub |
The A.V. Club is an entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other regular offerings that examine media such as films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop culture. The A.V. Club was created in 1993 as a supplement to The Onion, although it had a minimal presence on The Onion's website in its early years. A 2005 website redesign placed The A.V. Club in a more prominent position, allowing its online identity to grow. Unlike its parent publication, The A.V. Club is not satirical.[3]
The publication's name is a reference to school audiovisual clubs "composed of a bunch of geeks who actually knew how to run the film strip and film projectors".[4]
History
In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UWM student Stephen Thompson launched an entertainment section, later renamed The A.V. Club, as part of the newspaper's 1995 re-made.
Both The Onion and The A.V. Club made their internet debut in 1996.[5] The A.V. Club acquired its own internet domain name in December 1999.[6]
In December 2004, Stephen Thompson left his position as founding editor of The A.V. Club.[7] The website was redesigned in 2005 to incorporate blogs and reader comments. In 2006, concurrent with another redesign, the website shifted its model again to begin adding content on a daily, rather than weekly, basis.
According to Sean Mills, then-president of The Onion, the A.V. Club website received more than 1 million unique visitors for the first time in October 2007.[8] In late 2009, the website was reported to have received over 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month.[9]
On December 9, 2010, the now-defunct website ComicsComicsMag revealed that a capsule review for the book Genius, Isolated: The Life And Art Of Alex Toth had been fabricated—the book had not yet been published or even completed by the authors[10]—and published on "The A.V. Club". The offending review was removed, and then-editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on the website.[11] Leonard Pierce, the author of the review, was terminated from his freelance role with the website.[12]
At its peak, the print version of The A.V. Club was available in 17 different cities.[13] Localized sections of the website were also maintained, with reviews and news relevant to specific cities. The print version and localized websites were gradually discontinued, and in December 2013, print publication ceased in the final three markets.[14]
2012–14 Senior Staff Departures
On December 13, 2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps, who oversaw the development of the website for eight years after Stephen Thompson left, stepped down from his role as editor of The A.V. Club. He said, "Onion, Inc. and I have come to a mutual parting of the ways."[15][16][17]
On April 2, 2013, longtime film editor and critic Scott Tobias stepped down from his role as film editor of The A.V. Club, stating via Twitter, "After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday."[18]
On April 26, 2013, longtime writers Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, and Genevieve Koski announced that they would also be leaving the website to begin work on a new project alongside Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps.[19] Koski also stated on her Twitter that she would continue to write freelance articles.[20] In the comments section of the article announcing the departures of Rabin, Robinson, and Koski, writer Noel Murray announced he would also be joining their new project but would continue to contribute to The A.V. Club in a reduced capacity.[19] On 30 May 2013, it was announced that the six writers would be a part of the senior staff of The Dissolve, a film website run by Pitchfork Media.[21]
In April and June 2014, senior staff writers Kyle Ryan, Sonia Saraiya, and Todd VanDerWerff left the website for positions at Entertainment Weekly, Salon and Vox Media, respectively.[22][23] In 2015, Ryan returned to Onion, Inc. for a position in development.[24] Nathan Rabin also returned to write freelance for the website in May 2015, including the renewal of his regular column "My World of Flops", following his departure from The Dissolve earlier that month.[25] The Dissolve itself folded in July 2015.[26]
Television series
On 16 February 2017, The A.V. Club's editor-at-large, John Teti, posted an article to the website announcing the upcoming release of a television series, also titled The A.V. Club, based on the website.[27] The series, hosted by Teti, began airing on Fusion on 16 March 2017.[28] The series features news, criticism and discussion about various popular culture topics and features staff members from the website.
Regular features
Current
- 11 Questions: an interview series in which each participant is asked the same 11 interview prompts, along with a 12th question created by the previous interviewee.[29]
- 100 Episodes: a look back on the syndicated TV series that made it to 100 or more episodes discussing their inception, their rise to popularity and their legacy.[30]
- A.V. Undercover: a video series featuring bands covering songs in the A.V. Club office.[31]
- AVQ&A: a forum where staff members offer opinions and personal anecdotes in response to a weekly pop culture-related question.[32]
- Comics Panel: monthly (formerly bi-weekly) reviews of comic books.[33]
- Expert Witness: an extended interview or oral history with individuals who were either participants in a certain event or are industry insiders in a particular field. Past interviews have included game show participants, employees of the Columbia House mail-order music service, and American Idol winner David Cook.[34]
- Great Job, Internet!: a news strand devoted to interesting websites, articles, or YouTube videos.[35]
- HateSong: an interview series in which a guest discusses a song they personally dislike.[36]
- Inventory: a list of examples from a pop culture-related theme, such as "15 True Comeback Albums" or "24 Great Films Too Painful To Watch Twice."[37]
- Memory Wipe: a series examining the popular culture of the 1980s and 1990s.[38]
- Newswire: blog-style reporting of pop culture news items.[39]
- One-Season Wonders, Weirdos, And Wannabes: a series focusing on television shows that lasted only one season.[40]
- Podmass: a review of podcasts from the past week; published every Monday.[41]
- Primer and Gateways to Geekery: in-depth retrospective series intended to introduce readers to a specific popular culture subject, such as the films of Akira Kurosawa, 1970s television sitcoms, or the discography of The Fall.[42][43] Gateways to Geekery articles were usually shorter than Primer installments, but were published more frequently. Gateways to Geekery was discontinued in July 2014, but installments of the longer Primer series have continued to be published.
- Pop Pilgrims: travel video series related to famous film, TV, and literary locations.[44]
- Popcorn Politics: a video series on the political messages in movies.[45]
- Random Reads: an interview focusing on several works from an author's career.[46]
- Random Roles: an interview focusing on several roles from an actor's career.[47]
- Savage Love: a syndicated sex advice column by Dan Savage.
- Scenic Routes: Mike D'Angelo looks at key movie scenes, explaining their meaning and importance.[48]
- Taste Test: reports and reviews of unusual foodstuffs.[49]
- T.V. Club: episode-by-episode reviews of a wide variety of both current and classic TV shows.[50]
- We're No. 1: an in-depth essay series on the subject of albums and songs that reached number one on various worldwide charts, with a focus on the Billboard 200 album chart and Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[51]
- Wiki Wormhole: an examination of unusual English Wikipedia articles.[52]
Former
- A.V. Club Crossword: edited by Ben Tausig.
- Cheap Toy Roundup: an annual feature showcasing cheap and poorly-made dollar-store toys.
- Commentary Tracks of the Damned: a feature reviewing DVD audio commentaries of films that were not particularly successful.
- Films That Time Forgot: an examination of B movies.
- Games of Our Lives: a weekly column written by actor Wil Wheaton about retro video games. Games of Our Lives ran from 2005 to 2006.[53]
- The Hater: a column by Amelie Gillette focusing on pop culture and celebrity news, and its offshoot The Tolerability Index, a weekly infographic. The Hater was put on hiatus in May 2010 after Gillette left The A.V. Club to become a writer for the TV series The Office. Gillette continued to write The Tolerability Index for the website until April 2016.
- My Favorite Music Year: a series where various writers try to answer the question: What year in music means the most to you?
- My Year of Flops and My World of Flops: reviews of box-office, television, and literary bombs by Nathan Rabin.[54][55] The feature was discontinued by the site on May 11, 2017,[56] but Rabin has announced that he plans to continue writing new entries in the series for his personal website.[57]
- Money Matters: a set of interviews conducted by Nathan Rabin with individuals who had to overcome financial setbacks after having early success in entertainment.
- Random Rules: an interview asking a celebrity to account for random tracks on his or her personal MP3 player.
- Red Meat: a syndicated comic strip by Max Cannon.
- Sawbuck Gamer: a column highlighting inexpensive games.
- The New Cult Canon: a series by Scott Tobias examining movies from the 1990s and the 2000s that have attained cult status.
- Then That's What They Called Music: a series by Nathan Rabin chronicling pop music's evolution through the CD series Now That's What I Call Music!
- TV Outland: an analysis of unusual television networks.
- Wrapped Up in Books: a monthly book club for AV Club readers which included analysis articles and live discussions on the book with the A.V. Club staff. Named for the song "Wrapped Up in Books" by Belle & Sebastian. Discontinued in 2011.
The formerly available print version included subsections containing local content such as event previews, dining guides and comics such as Postage Stamp Comics by Shannon Wheeler and Wondermark by David Malki.
Books
In 2002, The A.V. Club released a collection of 68 interviews that had been featured in previous issues, entitled The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders (2002, ISBN 1-4000-4724-2).
On 13 October 2009, the second A.V. Club book, Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists (2009, ISBN 1-4165-9473-6) was released, featuring a combination of never-before-published lists and material already available on the AV Club website.
The A.V. Club released My Year of Flops: The A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep into the Heart of Cinematic Failure (2010, ISBN 1-4391-5312-4) on 19 October 2010. The book consists of entries taken from the website's recurring My Year of Flops column along with new material not previously available. It is the first A.V. Club release credited to a single author, Nathan Rabin.
A.V. Club year-end lists
Starting in 1999, only lists written by individual writers were published. Beginning in 2006, The A.V. Club began publishing website-consensus year-end album and film lists. Lists for individual writers continue to be published alongside the website-consensus list. Yearly best-of lists for television began in 2010.
Album of the Year
| Year | Artist | Album | Nation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Hold Steady | Boys and Girls in America |  United States | [58] |
| 2007 | Arcade Fire | Neon Bible |  Canada | [59] |
| 2008 | TV on the Radio | Dear Science | United States | [60] |
| 2009 | Phoenix | Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix |  France | [61] |
| 2010 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | United States | [62] |
| 2011 | Wye Oak | Civilian | United States | [63] |
| 2012 | Frank Ocean | Channel Orange | United States | [64] |
| 2013 | Kanye West | Yeezus | United States | [65] |
| 2014 | Angel Olsen | Burn Your Fire for No Witness | United States | [66] |
| 2015 | Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly | United States | [67] |
| 2016 | David Bowie | Blackstar |  United Kingdom | [68] |
Film of the Year
Television Show of the Year
| Year | Show | Network | Nation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Breaking Bad | AMC | United States | [80] |
| 2011 | Louie | FX | United States | [81] |
| 2012 | Breaking Bad | AMC | United States | [82] |
| 2013 | Enlightened | HBO | United States | [83] |
| 2014 | Hannibal | NBC | United States | [84] |
| 2015 | Mad Men | AMC | United States | [85] |
| 2016 | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story | FX | United States | [86] |
References
- ↑ "Nasty women Emily Winter and Jenn Welch on organizing an anti-Trump comedy festival". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
- ↑ "The A.V. Club discusses how Meryl Streep is more presidential than Donald Trump". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
- ↑ "About Us". The A.V. Club. 1 January 1988. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ↑ "About Us". The A.V. Club. 1 January 1988. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The Onion: America’s Finest News Source". The Onion. 1996-12-19. Archived from the original on 1996-12-31. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ↑ "Whois Record for AvClub.com". DomainTools. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ↑ "Bio for Stephen Thompson, Editor, NPR Music". Npr.org. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ David Shankbone (24 November 2007). "An interview with 'America's Finest News Source'", Wikinews
- ↑ Steve Johnson (27 October 2009). "Onion’s A.V. Club is building up its brand". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ↑ "The Most Amazing Review of the Year". Comics Comics. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ↑ "An apology from The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ↑ Kaufman, Rachel. "AV Club Writer Loses Gig After Faking Review". Adweek. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ↑ Gilmer, Marcus (8 Nov 2013). "The Onion bids adieu to print". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ↑ Ryan, Kyle. "The Onion & A.V. Club ending print publication next month". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ↑ Goodybyes & Hellos Untitled Keith Phipps Project, December 13, 2012
- ↑ Keith Phipps is no longer editor of The A.V. Club The A.V. Club, December 14, 2012
- ↑ Editor Keith Phipps Leaves The A.V. Club Criticwire, December 13, 2012
- ↑ Scott Tobias Leaves A.V. Club, Site Looking For a New Film Editor Criticwire, April 2, 2013
- 1 2 An Update from the AV Club The AV Club April 26, 2013
- ↑ @GenevieveKoski (26 Apr 2013). "To clarify: I'll still contribute as a freelancer whenever I can, but I am no longer an editor. So you can't blame me for mistakes anymore!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Introducing The Dissolve, A New Film Site". Pitchfork. 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
- ↑ Adams, Sam (9 June 2014). "A.V. Club Exodus Continues as Todd VanDerWerff Becomes Vox's First Culture Editor". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ↑ Bazilian, Emma (21 April 2014). "Matt Bean staffs up at Entertainment Weekly". Adweek. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ↑ Ryan, Kyle (16 March 2015). "I know it might sound strange, but I believe you’ll be coming back before too long". CMYKyle: Kyle Ryan's Shameless Self-Promotion. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ↑ Rabin, Nathan (25 August 2015). "Nathan Rabin • The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ↑ Phipps, Keith (8 July 2015). "The End". The Dissolve. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ↑ Teti, John (16 February 2017). "The A.V. Club will soon exist in TV show form". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ↑ Hughes, William (15 March 2017). "The A.V. Club TV show debuts tomorrow night, on Fusion". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ↑ "11 Questions". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "100 Episodes". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "A.V. Undercover". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "AVQ&A". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Comics Panel". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Expert Witness". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Great Job, Internet!". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "HateSong". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Inventory". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Memory Wipe". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Newswire". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "One-Season Wonders, Weirdos, And Wannabes". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Podmass". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Primer". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Gateways to Geekery". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Pop Pilgrims". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Popcorn Politics". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Random Reads". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Random Roles". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Scenic Routes". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Taste Test". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "T.V. Club". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "We're No. 1". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "Wiki Wormhole". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "The A.V. Club".
- ↑ "My Year of Flops". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ "My World of Flops". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ Rabin, Nathan (11 May 2017). "The spy who disappointed me case file #85: The Brothers Grimsby". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ↑ Rabin, Nathan. "Big Announcement! (Like, Huge!)". Nathan Rabin's Happy Place. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ↑ Bahn, Christopher. "Best Music Of 2006 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Bahn, Christopher. "The best music of 2007 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The best music of 2008 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The top 25 albums of 2009 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Heller, Jason. "The best music of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Eakin, Marah. "The best music of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The best music of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Adams, Erik. "The 23 best albums of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Anthony, David. "The 20 best albums of 2014 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The 15 best albums of 2015". Avclub.com. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ↑ "The A.V. Club’s 20 best albums of 2016". Avclub.com. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ Murray, Noel. "The Year In Film 2006 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Murray, Noel. "The Year In Film 2007 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Murray, Noel; Phipps, Keith; Rabin, Nathan; Robinson, Tasha; Tobias, Scott. "The year in film 2008 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Murray, Noel. "The year in film 2009 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Murray, Noel. "The best films of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Adams, Sam. "Best films of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Adams, Sam. "The best films of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Adams, Sam. "The best films of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The 20 best movies of 2014 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The 20 best films of 2015". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
- ↑ "The 20 best films of 2016". Avclub.com. December 19, 2015.
- ↑ Alston, Joshua. "The 25 best television series of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "Best TV of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The best TV of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Todd VanDerWerff. "Enlightened was the best TV show of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ Adams, Erik. "The best TV shows of 2014 (part 2) · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
- ↑ "The best TV of 2015, part 2". Avclub.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ↑ "The best TV of 2016, part 2". Avclub.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.