The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club
Type Popular culture, entertainment, news, reviews, politics, progressive[1][2]
Format Internet
Owner(s) Onion, Inc.
Editor-in-chief Laura M. Browning
Founded 1993 (1993)
Language English
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Website avclub.com

The A.V. Club is an online newspaper[3] and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop culture media. The A.V. Club was created in 1993 as a supplement to The Onion, despite having a minimal presence on its 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 consciously satirical.[4]

The publication's name is a reference to school audiovisual clubs.[5]

History

In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stephen Thompson, launched an entertainment section of the newspaper.

In 1996, both The Onion and The A.V. Club made their internet debut.[6] The A.V. Club was originally a sub-section[7] of the main theonion.com domain name. It was eventually moved to its own theavclub.com domain name [8] before the 2005 acquisition of the shorter avclub.com domain name[9] which coincided with a redesign that incorporated reader comments and blog content. In 2006 the website shifted its content model again to add content on a daily, rather than weekly, basis.

In December 2004, Stephen Thompson left his position as founding editor of The A.V. Club.[10]

According to Sean Mills, then-president of The Onion, the A.V. Club website first received more than 1 million unique visitors in October 2007.[11] In late 2009 the website was reported to have received over 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month.[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]

2012–2014 senior staff departures

On December 13, 2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps who oversaw the website 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, long-time film editor and critic Scott Tobias stepped down from his role as film editor of The A.V. Club. He stated via Twitter, "After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday."[18]

On April 26, 2013, long-time 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 that she would continue to write freelance articles.[20] 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 May 30, 2013, it was announced that those six writers would be 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] Following his departure from The Dissolve earlier that month, Nathan Rabin returned to write freelance for the website in May 2015;[25] this included the renewal of his regular column "My World of Flops". The Dissolve folded in July 2015.[26]

Television series

On February 16, 2017 The A.V. Club's editor-at-large, John Teti, posted an article on the website announcing the upcoming release of a television series, 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 discussions about various popular culture topics and features staff members from the website.

Move to Univision

In January 2016 Univision Communications acquired "a 40 percent, controlling stake" in Onion Inc., the parent company of The A.V. Club.[29] Later that year, Univision also purchased Gawker Media and reorganized several of Gawker's sites into the new Gizmodo Media Group, a division of Fusion Media Group.[30] The site was subsequently migrated from Bulbs, an internal content management system developed by Onion Inc., to the Gawker-developed Kinja platform[31][32], deleting the comment section and audience reviews hosted on the previous site.

Controversy

On December 9, 2010, the 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 nor even completed by the authors.[33] The review was removed, and then-editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on the website.[34] Leonard Pierce, the author of the review, was terminated from his freelance role with the website.[35]

Regular features

Current

  • 11 Questions: an interview series in which each participant is asked the same 11 interview prompts followed by a 12th question created by the previous interviewee.[36]
  • 100 Episodes: a discussion on the inception, rise to popularity, and legacies of syndicated TV shows that made it to 100 or more episodes.[37]
  • A History of Violence: a series written by Tom Breihan looking at what he perceives as the most significant action movie of each year since 1968.[38]
  • A.V. Undercover: a video series featuring bands covering songs in the A.V. Club office.[39]
  • AVQ&A: a forum where staff members offer opinions and personal anecdotes in response to a weekly pop culture-related question.[40]
  • Comics Panel: a monthly review of comic books.[41]
  • Expert Witness: an extended interview or oral history with participants in a certain event or 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.[42]
  • Great Job, Internet!: a news strand devoted to interesting websites, articles, or YouTube videos.[43]
  • 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."[44]
  • Marooned: An advice column for musicians written by Paul Maroon, the keyboardist for The Walkmen.[45]
  • Newswire: blog-style reporting of pop culture news.[46]
  • Podmass: a review of podcasts from the previous week.[47]
  • 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.[48][49] 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.
  • Popcorn Politics: a video series discussing the political messages of movies.[50]
  • Random Reads and Random Roles: interview series focusing on several works from an author's or actor's career, respectively.[51][52]
  • 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.[53]
  • T.V. Club: episode-by-episode reviews of a wide variety of both current and classic TV shows.[54]
  • Wiki Wormhole: an examination of unusual Wikipedia articles.[55]

Former

  • A.V. Club Crossword: a crossword puzzle edited by Ben Tausig.
  • Cheap Toy Roundup: showcases of cheap and poorly-made dollar-store toys.
  • Commentary Tracks of the Damned: reviews of DVD audio commentaries of films that were not particularly successful.
  • Films That Time Forgot: examinations of B movies.
  • Games of Our Lives: a weekly column written by actor Wil Wheaton about retro video games.[56]
  • The Hater: a column by Amelie Gillette that focused on pop culture and celebrity news. 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.
    • The Tolerability Index, a weekly infographic that was an offshoot of The Hater and also written by Gillette. Despite her departure from The A.V. Club, Gillette continued to write weekly installments of this feature for the site until April 2016.[57]
  • HateSong: an interview series in which a guest discusses a song they dislike.[58]
  • Memory Wipe: a series examining the popular culture of the 1980s and 1990s.[59]
  • My Favorite Music Year: a series where various writers tried 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.[60][61] The feature was discontinued by the site on May 11, 2017,[62] but Rabin announced soon after that he would continue writing new entries in the series for his personal website.[63]
  • Money Matters: a set of interviews conducted by Nathan Rabin with individuals who had to overcome financial setbacks after having early success in entertainment.
  • One-Season Wonders, Weirdos, And Wannabes: a series focusing on television shows that lasted only one season.[64]
  • Pop Pilgrims: travel video series related to famous film, TV, and literary locations.[65]
  • Random Rules: an interview that asked celebrities to account for random tracks on their personal MP3 player.
  • Red Meat: a syndicated comic strip by Max Cannon.
  • Sawbuck Gamer: a column that highlighted inexpensive games.
  • Taste Test: Reports and reviews of unusual foodstuffs.[66] The feature has since moved to The A.V. Club's sister food website The Takeout.
  • The New Cult Canon: a series by Scott Tobias that examined movies that had attained cult status from the 1990s and the 2000s .
  • 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.
  • 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.[67]
  • Wrapped Up in Books: a monthly book club for AV Club readers which included analysis articles and live discussions on various books with the A.V. Club staff.

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

  • The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders (2002, ISBN 1-4000-4724-2) is a collection of 68 interviews featured in previous issues.
  • 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) is a combination of never-before-published lists and material already available on the AV Club website.
  • 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) 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 rankings alongside lists for individual writers.

Annual rankings for television began in 2010.

Album of the Year

Year Artist Album Nation Source
2006The Hold SteadyBoys and Girls in America United States[68]
2007Arcade FireNeon Bible Canada[69]
2008TV on the RadioDear Science United States[70]
2009PhoenixWolfgang Amadeus Phoenix France[71]
2010Kanye WestMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy United States[72]
2011Wye OakCivilian United States[73]
2012Frank OceanChannel Orange United States[74]
2013Kanye WestYeezus United States[75]
2014Angel OlsenBurn Your Fire for No Witness United States[76]
2015Kendrick LamarTo Pimp a Butterfly United States[77]
2016David BowieBlackstar United Kingdom[78]
2017Kendrick LamarDAMN. United States[79]

Film of the Year

Year Director Film Nation Source
2006Alfonso CuarónChildren of Men United States
 United Kingdom
 Mexico		[80]
2007Joel and Ethan CoenNo Country for Old Men United States[81]
2008Andrew StantonWALL-E United States[82]
2009Kathryn BigelowThe Hurt Locker United States
 Canada
 France		[83]
2010Debra GranikWinter's Bone United States[84]
2011Terrence MalickThe Tree of Life United States[85]
2012Paul Thomas AndersonThe Master United States[86]
2013Richard LinklaterBefore Midnight United States[87]
2014Richard LinklaterBoyhood United States[88]
2015George MillerMad Max: Fury Road Australia
 United States		[89]
2016Kenneth LonerganManchester by the Sea United States[90]
2017Sean BakerThe Florida Project United States[91]

Television Show of the Year

Year Show Network Nation Source
2010Breaking BadAMC United States[92]
2011LouieFX United States[93]
2012Breaking BadAMC United States[94]
2013EnlightenedHBO United States[95]
2014HannibalNBC United States[96]
2015Mad MenAMC United States[97]
2016The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime StoryFX United States[98]
2017The Good PlaceNBC United States[99]

References

  1. ↑ "Nasty women Emily Winter and Jenn Welch on organizing an anti-Trump comedy festival". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  2. ↑ "The A.V. Club discusses how Meryl Streep is more presidential than Donald Trump". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  3. ↑ Castillo, Jay (December 14, 2017). "This Photo Is The Perfect Example Of What Internet Will Look Like If Net Neutrality Loses". Inquisitr. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  4. ↑ "About Us". The A.V. Club. 1 January 1988. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "About Us". The A.V. Club. 1 January 1988. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  6. ↑ "The Onion: America's Finest News Source". The Onion. 1996-12-19. Archived from the original on 1996-12-31. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  7. ↑ "Wayback Machine". 1996-12-19. Archived from the original on 1996-12-19. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Wayback Machine". 2001-09-30. Archived from the original on 27 November 1999. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  9. ↑ "Home | The A.V. Club". 6 August 2005. Archived from the original on 6 August 2005. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Bio for Stephen Thompson, Editor, NPR Music". Npr.org. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  11. ↑ David Shankbone (24 November 2007). "An interview with 'America's Finest News Source'", Wikinews
  12. ↑ Steve Johnson (27 October 2009). "Onion's A.V. Club is building up its brand". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  13. ↑ Gilmer, Marcus (8 November 2013). "The Onion bids adieu to print". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Ryan, Kyle. "The Onion & A.V. Club ending print publication next month". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Goodybyes & Hellos Untitled Keith Phipps Project, December 13, 2012
  16. ↑ Keith Phipps is no longer editor of The A.V. Club The A.V. Club, December 14, 2012
  17. ↑ Editor Keith Phipps Leaves The A.V. Club Criticwire, December 13, 2012
  18. ↑ Scott Tobias Leaves A.V. Club, Site Looking For a New Film Editor Criticwire, April 2, 2013
  19. 1 2 An Update from the AV Club The AV Club April 26, 2013
  20. ↑ @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.
  21. ↑ "Introducing The Dissolve, A New Film Site". Pitchfork. 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  22. ↑ Adams, Sam (9 June 2014). "A.V. Club Exodus Continues as Todd VanDerWerff Becomes Vox's First Culture Editor". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  23. ↑ Bazilian, Emma (21 April 2014). "Matt Bean staffs up at Entertainment Weekly". Adweek. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (25 August 2015). "Nathan Rabin • The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  26. ↑ Phipps, Keith (8 July 2015). "The End". The Dissolve. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  27. ↑ Teti, John (16 February 2017). "The A.V. Club will soon exist in TV show form". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  28. ↑ Hughes, William (15 March 2017). "The A.V. Club TV show debuts tomorrow night, on Fusion". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  29. ↑ David Folkenflik (19 January 2016). "Area Satirical Publication The Onion Sold To Univision (Seriously)". NPR.
  30. ↑ Veronica Villafañe (22 September 2016). "Univision Rebrands Gawker Media As Gizmodo Media Group; Starts Translating Content For Univision.com". Forbes.
  31. ↑ Benjamin Mullin (16 June 2017). "Kinja, the publishing system at the heart of Gawker, lives on under Univision". Poynter.
  32. ↑ Laura M. Browning and Sean O'Neal (23 August 2017). "Welcome (back) to The A.V. Club". The AV Club.
  33. ↑ "The Most Amazing Review of the Year". Comics Comics. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  34. ↑ "An apology from The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  35. ↑ Kaufman, Rachel. "AV Club Writer Loses Gig After Faking Review". Adweek. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  36. ↑ "11 Questions". The A.V. Club.
  37. ↑ "100 Episodes". The A.V. Club.
  38. ↑ "A History of Violence". The A.V. Club.
  39. ↑ "A.V. Undercover". The A.V. Club.
  40. ↑ "AVQ&A". The A.V. Club.
  41. ↑ "Comics Panel". The A.V. Club.
  42. ↑ "Expert Witness". The A.V. Club.
  43. ↑ "Great Job, Internet!". The A.V. Club.
  44. ↑ "Inventory". The A.V. Club.
  45. ↑ "Marooned". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  46. ↑ "Newswire". The A.V. Club.
  47. ↑ "Podmass". The A.V. Club.
  48. ↑ "Primer". The A.V. Club.
  49. ↑ "Gateways to Geekery". The A.V. Club.
  50. ↑ "Popcorn Politics". The A.V. Club.
  51. ↑ "Random Reads". The A.V. Club.
  52. ↑ "Random Roles". The A.V. Club.
  53. ↑ "Scenic Routes". The A.V. Club.
  54. ↑ "T.V. Club". The A.V. Club.
  55. ↑ "Wiki Wormhole". The A.V. Club.
  56. ↑ "The A.V. Club".
  57. ↑ Gillette, Amelie. "This week we're barely putting up with the end of the Tolerability Index". TV Club. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  58. ↑ "HateSong". The A.V. Club.
  59. ↑ "Memory Wipe". The A.V. Club.
  60. ↑ "My Year of Flops". The A.V. Club.
  61. ↑ "My World of Flops". The A.V. Club.
  62. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (11 May 2017). "The spy who disappointed me case file #85: The Brothers Grimsby". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  63. ↑ Rabin, Nathan. "Big Announcement! (Like, Huge!)". Nathan Rabin's Happy Place. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  64. ↑ "One-Season Wonders, Weirdos, And Wannabes". The A.V. Club.
  65. ↑ "Pop Pilgrims". The A.V. Club.
  66. ↑ "Taste Test". The A.V. Club.
  67. ↑ "We're No. 1". The A.V. Club.
  68. ↑ Bahn, Christopher. "Best Music Of 2006 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  69. ↑ Bahn, Christopher. "The best music of 2007 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  70. ↑ "The best music of 2008 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  71. ↑ "The top 25 albums of 2009 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  72. ↑ Heller, Jason. "The best music of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  73. ↑ Eakin, Marah. "The best music of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  74. ↑ "The best music of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  75. ↑ Adams, Erik. "The 23 best albums of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  76. ↑ Anthony, David. "The 20 best albums of 2014 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  77. ↑ "The 15 best albums of 2015". Avclub.com. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  78. ↑ "The A.V. Club's 20 best albums of 2016". Avclub.com. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  79. ↑ "The A.V. Club's 20 best albums of 2017". The A.V. Club. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  80. ↑ Murray, Noel. "The Year In Film 2006 · Article · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  81. ↑ Murray, Noel. "The Year In Film 2007 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  82. ↑ 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.
  83. ↑ Murray, Noel. "The year in film 2009 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  84. ↑ Murray, Noel. "The best films of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  85. ↑ Adams, Sam. "Best films of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  86. ↑ Adams, Sam. "The best films of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  87. ↑ Adams, Sam. "The best films of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  88. ↑ "The 20 best movies of 2014 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  89. ↑ "The 20 best films of 2015". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  90. ↑ "The 20 best films of 2016". Avclub.com. December 19, 2015.
  91. ↑ "The 20 best films of 2017". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  92. ↑ Alston, Joshua. "The 25 best television series of 2010 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  93. ↑ "Best TV of 2011 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  94. ↑ "The best TV of 2012 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  95. ↑ Todd VanDerWerff. "Enlightened was the best TV show of 2013 · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  96. ↑ Adams, Erik. "The best TV shows of 2014 (part 2) · Best of · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  97. ↑ "The best TV of 2015, part 2". Avclub.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  98. ↑ "The best TV of 2016, part 2". Avclub.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  99. ↑ "The A.V. Club's 20 best TV shows of 2017". The A.V. Club. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
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