The A.V. Club

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The A.V. Club
Avclub logo.png
Type Popular culture and entertainment news and reviews
Format Internet
Owner(s) The Onion, Inc.
Editor-in-chief John Teti
Founded 1993
Language English
Headquarters Chicago
Sister newspapers The Onion
Website www.avclub.com

The A.V. Club is an entertainment website featuring reviews of films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. The A.V. Club was initially created in 1993 as a supplemental part of The Onion and had a minimal presence on The Onion’s website in its early years, but in 2005—during a website redesign—its online identity grew and matured in ways that allowed it to have an identity all of its own. Unlike its parent publication, The A.V. Club is not satirical.

The publication’s name is a reference to school audiovisual clubs, "composed of a bunch of geeks who actually knew how to run the filmstrip and film projectors."[1]

History

In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW student Stephen Thompson launched an entertainment section, later renamed The A.V. Club as part of the newspaper's 1995 redesign. While the section was initially viewed as an afterthought to the publication's flagship fake news stories, Thompson credited it as becoming "very important" in allowing The Onion to expand distribution nationwide, as it was easier to sell advertising next to movie reviews and concert listings than satirical news items.

Both The Onion and The A.V. Club made their Internet debut in 1996, although not all print features were immediately available online. The A.V. Club website was redesigned in 2005 to incorporate blogs and reader comments. In 2006, concurrent with another redesign, the site shifted its model to begin adding content on a daily rather than weekly basis.

In December 2004, Stephen Thompson left his position as founding editor of The A.V. Club.[2]

According to then Onion president Sean Mills, the A.V. Club website received more than 1 million unique visitors for the first time in October 2007.[3] In late 2009, the site was reported as receiving over 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month.[4]

On December 9, 2010, it was discovered 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.[5] The offending review was removed from The A.V. Club, and editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on the site.[6]

At its peak the printed version of The A.V. Club was available in 17 different cities.[7] 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 alongside the print version of The Onion and, in December 2013, publication ceased in the final three markets.[8]

2012–14 senior staff departures

On December 13, 2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps—who oversaw the development of the site for eight years after Stephen Thompson left—stepped down from his role as editor of The A.V. Club stating, "Onion Inc. and I have come to a mutual parting of the ways."[9][10][11]

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, "After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday."[12]

On April 26, 2013, it was announced that longtime writers Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson and Genevieve Koski would also be leaving the site to begin work on a new project alongside Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps,[13] with Genevieve Koski stating on her Twitter that she would continue to write freelance articles.[14] In the comments section of the article announcing the departures, writer Noel Murray also announced he would also be joining their project but would continue to contribute to The A.V. Club in a reduced capacity.[13] On May 30, 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.[15]

In 2014, senior staff writers Kyle Ryan, Sonia Saraiya, and Todd VanDerWerff left the site for positions at Entertainment Weekly, Salon and Vox Media, respectively.[16][17] In 2015, Ryan returned to Onion Inc. in a new position.[18] Nathan Rabin also returned to write freelance for the site in May 2015, including the resumption of his regular "My World of Flops" column, following his departure from The Dissolve earlier that month.[19]

Regular features

Current

  • 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
  • A.V. Undercover, a video series featuring bands covering songs in the A.V. Club office.
  • AVQ&A, a forum where staff members offer opinions and personal anecdotes in response to a weekly pop culture-related question.
  • Comics Panel, monthly (formally bi-weekly) reviews of comic books.
  • HateSong, An interview series in which a guest discusses a song they personally dislike
  • 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"
  • One-Season Wonders, Weirdos, And Wannabes, a series focusing on television shows that lasted only one season.
  • Memory Wipe, a series examining the popular culture of the 1980s and 90's.
  • My Year of Flops and My World of Flops, reviews of box-office, television, and literary bombs by Nathan Rabin
  • Newswire, blog-style reporting of pop culture news items
  • Podmass, a review of podcasts from the past week; published every Monday
  • Primer and Gateways to Geekery, in-depth retrospective series intended to introduce readers to a popular culture subject, such as the films of Akira Kurosawa, 1970's television sitcoms, and the discography of The Fall. Gateways to Geekery articles are usually shorter than Primer installments, but are published more frequently.
  • Pop Pilgrims, travel video series related to famous film, TV, and literary locations.
  • Random Reads, an interview focusing on several works from an author's career
  • Random Roles, an interview focusing on several selected roles from an actor's career
  • 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.
  • Taste Test, reports and reviews of unusual foodstuffs
  • The Hater, a column by Amelie Gillette focusing on pop culture and celebrity news, and its offshoot The Tolerability Index. The Hater was put on hiatus in May 2010 as Gillette left The A.V. Club to become a writer for the TV series The Office. The Tolerability Index is still published weekly.
  • T.V. Club, episode-by-episode reviews of a wide variety of both current and classic TV shows
  • We're #1, an in-depth essay series on the subject of albums that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Wiki Wormhole, an examination of unusual Wikipedia articles

Former

  • A.V. Club Crossword, edited by Ben Tausig
  • Cheap Toy Roundup, An annual feature showcasing cheap, 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
  • My Favorite Music Year, a series where various writers try to answer the question: What year in music means the most to you.
  • 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 '90s and the '00s 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!
  • Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?, Steven Hyden's personal retrospective on alternative music in the 1990s.

The formerly available print version included subsections containing local content such as event previews and 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 site'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

The A.V. Club began publishing website consensus year-end album and film lists beginning in 2006. Before that year (starting in 1999), only individual writers' lists were published. 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 [20]
2007 Arcade Fire Neon Bible  Canada [21]
2008 TV on the Radio Dear Science  United States [22]
2009 Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix  France [23]
2010 Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy  United States [24]
2011 Wye Oak Civilian  United States [25]
2012 Frank Ocean Channel Orange  United States [26]
2013 Kanye West Yeezus  United States [27]
2014 Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire for No Witness  United States [28]
2015 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly  United States [29]

Film of the Year

Year Director Film Nation Source
2006 Alfonso Cuarón Children of Men  United States
 United Kingdom
 Mexico		 [30]
2007 Coen Brothers No Country for Old Men  United States [31]
2008 Andrew Stanton WALL-E  United States [32]
2009 Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker  United States
 Canada
 France		 [33]
2010 Debra Granik Winter's Bone  United States [34]
2011 Terrence Malick The Tree of Life  United States [35]
2012 Paul Thomas Anderson The Master  United States [36]
2013 Richard Linklater Before Midnight  United States [37]
2014 Richard Linklater Boyhood  United States [38]
2015 George Miller Mad Max: Fury Road  Australia
 United States		 [39]

Television Show of the Year

Year Show Network Source
2010 Breaking Bad AMC [40]
2011 Louie FX [41]
2012 Breaking Bad AMC [42]
2013 Enlightened HBO [43]
2014 Hannibal NBC [44]
2015 Mad Men AMC [45]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ David Shankbone (24 November 2007). "An interview with 'America's Finest News Source'", Wikinews
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  9. ↑ Goodybyes & Hellos Untitled Keith Phipps Project, December 13, 2012
  10. ↑ Keith Phipps is no longer editor of The A.V. Club The A.V. Club, December 14, 2012
  11. ↑ Editor Keith Phipps Leaves The A.V. Club Criticwire, December 13, 2012
  12. ↑ Scott Tobias Leaves A.V. Club, Site Looking For a New Film Editor Criticwire, April 2, 2013
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 An Update from the AV Club The AV Club April 26, 2013
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ [1][dead link]
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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