Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is an American
magazine, published by Meredith Corporation, that covers film,
television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture.
Different from celebrity-focused publications like Us Weekly, People
(a sister magazine to EW), and In Touch Weekly, EW primarily
concentrates on entertainment media news and critical reviews.
However, unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which are aimed at
industry insiders, EW targets a more general audience.
Contents
1 History
2 Typical content and frequency
2.1 Layout
2.1.1 News and notes
2.1.2 Feature articles
2.1.3 Reviews
2.1.4 The Bullseye
2.2 Specialty issues
3 Thousandth issue and redesign
4 Website
5 Poppy Awards
6 Notable former contributors
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History[edit]
The first issue was published on February 16, 1990, and was formed as
a sister magazine to People.[4][5]
Created by
Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis and founded by Michael Klingensmith, who served
as publisher until October 1996,[6] the magazine's original
television advertising soliciting pre-publication subscribers
portrayed it as a consumer guide to popular culture, including movies,
music, and book reviews, sometimes with video game and stage reviews,
too. ("the post-modern Farmers' Almanac").[clarification
needed]
In 1996, the magazine won the coveted National Magazine Award for
General Excellence from the American Society of Magazine Editors. EW
won the same award again in 2002.[7]
In September 2016, in collaboration with People,
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly
launched the People/
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly Network. The network is "a
free, ad-supported online-video network carries short- and long-form
programming covering celebrities, pop culture, lifestyle and
human-interest stories". It was rebranded as PeopleTV in September
2017.[8]
Beginning with the August 2019 issue,
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly
transitioned to a monthly issue model.[9]
Bruce Gersh, president of the Meredith entertainment division, which
includes both EW and People, said that the cutback in print would be
accompanied by deeper 24/7 digital coverage.
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly will
still produce weekly digital “covers” and push into podcasts, and
plans events and experiential offerings with stars and festivals.
[10]
JD Heyman, deputy editor of People, replaced Henry Goldblatt as
editor. About 15 people were cut as a result of the change. Previous
owner Time Inc. spent $150 million developing EW after its February
1990 launch, and was rewarded for its patience when the magazine made
a six-figure profit at the end of 1996, and in its peak years was
cranking out $55 million in annual profit. [11]
Though still profitable before the switch to a monthly, it was
squeezed in recent years as celebrity coverage exploded across all
platforms and print advertising shrank. While still called a
“weekly,” before the switch, EW was publishing only 34 issues a
year. Meredith considered selling the title along with several others
after it completed its $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc., but was
convinced to keep EW in part because it was so intertwined with top
money-maker People.[12]
Typical content and frequency[edit]
The magazine features celebrities on the cover and addresses topics
such as television ratings, movie grosses, production costs, concert
ticket sales, ad budgets, and in-depth articles about scheduling,
producers, showrunners, etc.
The magazine is published once per month, although the legacy name
"
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly" is still used.
Layout[edit]
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly follows a typical magazine format by featuring a
letters to the editor and table of contents in the first few pages,
while also featuring advertisements. While many advertisements are
unrelated to the entertainment industry, the majority of ads are
typically related to up-and-coming television, film or music
events.[citation needed]
News and notes[edit]
These beginning articles open the magazine and as a rule focus on
current events in pop culture. The whole section typically runs eight
to ten pages long, and features short news articles, as well as
several specific recurring sections:
"Sound Bites" usually opens the magazine. It's a collage of media
personalities; actors, presenters or comedians, alongside their recent
memorable quotes in speech bubble form.
"The Must List" is a two-page spread highlighting ten things (books,
movies, songs, etc.) that the staff loves from the week; it usually
features one pick from EW readers.
"First Look", subtitled "An early peek at some of Hollywood's coolest
projects", is a two-page spread with behind-the-scenes or publicity
stills of upcoming movies, television episodes or music events.
"The Hit List", written each week by critic Scott Brown, highlights
ten major events, with short comedic commentaries by Brown. Typically,
there will be some continuity to the commentaries. This column was
originally written by Jim Mullen and featured twenty events each week,
and Dalton Ross later wrote an abbreviated version.
"The Hollywood Insider" is a one-page section that reports breaking
news in entertainment. It gives details, in the separate columns, on
the most-current news in television, movie and music.
"The Style Report" is a one-page section devoted to celebrity style.
Because its focus is on celebrity fashion or lifestyle, it is
graphically rich in nature, featuring many photographs or other
images. Recently,[clarification needed] the page converted to
a new format: five pictures of celebrity fashions for the week, graded
on the magazine's review "A"-to-"F" scale (see Reviews section below).
A spin-off section, "Style Hunter", which finds reader-requested
articles of clothing or accessories that have appeared in pop culture
recently, appears frequently.
"The Monitor" is a two-page spread devoted to major events in
celebrity lives with small paragraphs highlighting events such as
weddings, illnesses, arrests, court appearances, and deaths. Deaths of
major celebrities are typically detailed in a one-half- or full-page
obituary titled "Legacy". This feature is nearly identical to sister
publication People's "Passages" feature.
The "celebrity" column, the final section of "News and Notes", is
devoted to a different column each week, written by two of the
magazine's more-prominent writers:
"The Final Cut" is written by former executive editor and author Mark
Harris. Harris' column focuses on analyzing current popular-culture
events, and is generally the most serious of the columns. Harris has
written about the writer's strike and the 2008 presidential election,
among other topics.
"Binge Thinking" was written by screenwriter Diablo Cody. After
several profiles of Cody in the months leading up to and following the
release of her debut film, Juno (2007), she was hired to write a
column detailing her unique view of the entertainment business.
If You Ask Me..." Libby Gelman-Waxer (Paul Rudnick) was brought in to
write his former Premiere column for
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly in
2011.[13]
Feature articles[edit]
There are typically four to six major articles (one to two pages each)
within the middle pages of the magazine. These articles are most
commonly interviews, but there are also narrative articles as well as
lists. Feature articles tend to focus mostly on movies, music and
television and less on books and the theatre. In the magazine's
history, there have only been a few cover stories (e.g., John Grisham,
Stephen King) devoted to authors; there has never been a cover solely
devoted to the theater.[citation needed]
Reviews[edit]
There are seven sections of reviews in the back pages of each issue
(together encompassing up to one half of the magazine's pages). In
addition to reviews, each reviews section has a top-sellers list, as
well as numerous sidebars with interviews or small features. Unlike a
number of European magazines that give their ratings with a number of
stars (with normally 4 or 5 stars for the best review), EW grades the
reviews academic-style, so that the highest reviews will get a letter
grade of "A" and the lowest reviews get an "F", with plus or minus
graduations in between assigned to each letter except "F".
The sections are:
"Movies"
Typically features all the major releases for that weekend, as well as
several independent and foreign films that have also been released.
Chris Nashawaty is the primary film critic. "Critical Mass" was a
table of the grades that have also been given by a number of noted
movie reviewers in the American press (such as
Ty Burr from The Boston
Globe, Todd McCarthy from Variety and
Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert from the Chicago
Sun-Times). Also eliminated from this section was the box-office
figures from the previous weekend and some sort of infographic. The A+
rating is rarely awarded by EW. Two films to have received it are
Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane and My Left Foot (1989). DVDs are now profiled in the
one-page "Movies on DVD" section that follows. Longtime critic Lisa
Schwarzbaum left the magazine in 2013, and critic
Owen Gleiberman was
let go after a round of layoffs in spring 2014.[14] In 2015 it
started publishing the scores of movies from Metacritic, Rotten
Tomatoes, and
IMDb

IMDb under "Critical Mass."
"Television"
Features reviews by critics Darren Franich and Kristen Baldwin for
made-for-television films and new television program or series, as
well as some television specials. The section no longer includes the
Nielsen ratings for the previous week. On the following page is
typically a "TV on DVD" section, profiling releases of television
films and specials or complete seasons of television shows. Current
Reviewers include Melissa Maerz.
"What to Watch"
Currently written by Ray Rahman, features brief, one- or two-sentence
reviews of several television programs on each night of the week, as
well as one slightly longer review, usually written by someone else,
with a letter grade.
"Music"
Reviews major album releases for the week, divided by genre. There is
also typically at least one interview or feature, as well as a section
called "Download This", highlighting several singles available for
download from the Internet.
"Books"
Features reviews of books released during the week. Sometimes, authors
will write guest reviews of other works. There is also typically one
interview or spotlight feature in this section per issue. Bestseller
lists appear at the end of this section.
"Theater"*
Reviews productions currently playing, listed by the city where they
are running.
"Games"*
Reviews current video game releases.
"Tech"*
Reviews new websites and products, and profiles current Internet or
technology phenomena.
* Not in every issue.
The Bullseye[edit]
This section occupies the back page of the magazine, rating the "hits"
and "misses" from the past week's events in popular culture on a
bullseye graphic. For example, the May 22, 2009, edition featured
Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake hosting
Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live in the center, while the
then-drama between
Eminem
.jpg/490px-Eminem_live_at_D.C._2014_(cropped).jpg)
Eminem and
Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey missed the target
completely for being "very 2002". At the time when this was printed on
a small part of a page, events that were greatly disliked were shown
several pages away.
Specialty issues[edit]
Every year the magazine publishes several specialty issues. These
issues are often published as double issues (running for two
consecutive weeks). Many times these features are so long that they
replace all other feature articles.
Common specialty issues include:
Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter Preview issues: Generally each quarter
the magazine reports on upcoming releases in movies, music,
television, live shows and books. Typically the summer issue's focus
will be on upcoming movies only unless major television series or
events, music releases or book releases are occurring then.
The Photo issue: Once a year, an issue is dedicated to featuring
(aside from the normal reviews and news content) only photographs of
celebrities. Unlike tabloid issues, these photographs done with the
celebrities' cooperation, and often they use some form of artistic
expression. A wide variety of celebrities have been used, including
Green Day, Reese Witherspoon, Morrissey, the cast of the television
series Arrested Development,
Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire and Cameron Diaz.
Generally, the photographs will contain some descriptive text,
sometimes about the person or sometimes a commentary from the
photographers who photographed them for a story.
Academy Awards issues: In the past the magazine devoted at least four
cover stories per year to the Academy Awards; "The Oscar Race Begins"
issue in January predicts the nominees, the "Nominees" issue in
February profiles the recently announced Oscar contenders, the "Oscar
Odds" issue predicts the winners the week before the awards, and the
"After-Awards" issue covers the ceremony the week after it airs.
Virtually every issue mentions the Oscars in some capacity, often on
the cover, and a film or actor's Academy-Award chances are often noted
in the magazine's reviews. In comparison, music's Grammy Awards,
television's Emmy Awards, and theater's Tony Awards are given
relatively limited coverage.
The "Must List": A double-sized issue that is usually timed for
release in the last week of June. It focuses on what the magazine
considers "musts" in entertainment with the latest hot movies, TV
shows, music projects and novels along with previews of upcoming
projects in those media that are gaining interest.
The Fall TV Preview issue: Generally released in early September, this
issue has the magazine detailing the upcoming fall season of both new
and returning series.
End-of-the-Year issue: The last issue of each year, whose cover shows
the "Entertainer of the Year" chosen by readers at EW's official
website. The issue features the ten-best releases in theater, film,
television, music, DVD, literature and (as of last year) fashion that
year. Music, television and film have two critics give their top ten;
the others only have one. Each section also has a five-worst list
(film is the only section in which both critics give the worst). Also
in the issue are special sections devoted to the Entertainer of the
Year, great performances, newly arrived stars, a timeline of infamous
celebrity mishaps, and obituaries of stars who died (this used to be
in a separate issue; it was combined with the "end-of-the-year" issue
in 2003). This is the only issue without any reviews.
The complete list of the annual "Entertainer of the Year" winners:
Bart Simpson

Bart Simpson (1990)
Jodie Foster
.jpg)
Jodie Foster (1991)
the cast of the television series
Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live (1992)
Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg (1993)
Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks (1994)
the cast of the television series
Friends

Friends (1995)
Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell (1996)
Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres (1997)
Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio (1998)
Ricky Martin
.jpg/440px-Ricky_Martin_in_store_appearance,_Sydney_Australia_(1).jpg)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe (2000)
Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman (2001)
Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington (2002)
the cast of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003)
Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart (2004)
the cast of the television series Lost (2005)
the cast of the television series
Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy (2006)
J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling (2007) (the first entertainer named known primarily for
writing)
Robert Downey, Jr.
.jpg/440px-Robert_Downey_Jr_2014_Comic_Con_(cropped).jpg)
Robert Downey, Jr. (2008)
Sandra Bullock
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Sandra_Bullock_(9192365016)_(cropped).jpg)
Sandra Bullock (2009)
Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift (2010)
Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe (2011)
Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck (2012)
Sandra Bullock
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Sandra_Bullock_(9192365016)_(cropped).jpg)
Sandra Bullock (2013)
Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon (2014)
Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence (2015)
Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds (2016)
Thousandth issue and redesign[edit]
The 1,000th issue was released July 4, 2008, and included the
magazine's top-100 list for movies, television shows, music videos,
songs, Broadway shows, and technology of the past 25 years
(1983–2008).
As of its 1,001st issue, EW drastically revamped the look, feel and
content of the publication—increasing font and picture sizes and
making all columns' word count shorter.
Website[edit]
The magazine's website EW.com provides users with daily content,
breaking news, blogs, TV recaps, original video programming,
entertainment exclusives and serves as an archive for past magazine
interviews, columns and photos. Along with a website, they also have
a radio station on Sirius XM.[15]
In April 2011, EW.com was ranked as the seventh most popular
Entertainment

Entertainment News property in the United States by comScore Media
Metrix.[16]
Poppy Awards[edit]
Previously named the EWwy Awards, the Poppy Awards were created by
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly to honor worthy series and actors not nominated
for the Primetime Emmy Awards.[17] The Poppys are awarded in
ten categories and no person nominated for an equivalent Primetime
Emmy is eligible. Votes and nominations are cast online by anyone who
chooses to participate. The categories are: Best Drama Series; Best
Comedy Series; Best Actor in a Drama Series; Best Actor in a Comedy
Series; Best Actress in a Drama Series; Best Actress in a Comedy
Series; Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; Best Supporting Actor
in a Comedy Series; Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series; and
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Notable former contributors[edit]
Ty Burr
Ken Tucker
Gillian Flynn
David Hajdu
Owen Gleiberman
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Jeff Jensen
Stephen King
References[edit]
^ a b "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly To Go Monthly, Names New Editor-In-Chief".
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^ "EW Loses Its Top Editor". New York Post. January 7, 2009. Retrieved
June 23, 2018.
^ "New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "Top 100 U.S. Magazines by Circulation" (PDF). PSA Research Center.
Retrieved February 6, 2016.
^ Sumner, David E.; Rhoades, Shirrel (2006). Magazines: A Complete
Guide to the Industry. Peter Lang. p. 142.
ISBN 978-0-8204-7617-9. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
^ "Mag Bag". Media Daily News. October 26, 2007.
^ "Winners and Finalists Database ASME". www.magazine.org. Retrieved
2017-05-23.
^ Spangler, Todd. "'PeopleTV' Is New Name of Time Inc.'s Celeb and
Entertainment

Entertainment Online Network". Variety. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
^ "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly Going Monthly". The Hollywood Reporter.
Retrieved June 9, 2019.
^ Kelly, Keith. "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly will become a monthly
publication". New York Post. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ Kelly, Keith. "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly will become a monthly
publication". New York Post. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ Kelly, Keith. "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly will become a monthly
publication". New York Post. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ "Ask Libby".
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly. 13 January 2012. Retrieved
January 2, 2017.
^ "EW Lays Off Longtime
Film

Film Critic
Owen Gleiberman in Staff Purge".
The Hollywood Reporter. April 2, 2014.
^ "
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly Radio - The latest In Pop Culture News -
SiriusXM Radio". siriusxm.com. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
^ "ew.com at WI.
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly". informer.com. Retrieved 2
January 2017.
^ Bierly, Mandy (September 14, 2008). "'Mad Men,' 'John Adams,' Win
Big at Creative Arts Emmys".
Entertainment

Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the
original on October 21, 2012.
Further reading[edit]
Petersen, Anne Helen (June 10, 2014). "The Trials of Entertainment
Weekly: One Magazine's 24 Years of Corporate Torture". The Awl.
Archived from the original on 2014-06-17. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
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