DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2020
Oct
18
 
 
The dueling town halls, and their aftermath, are bound to be at the heart of this week’s show. Fasten your seat belts…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
18
 
 
On this day in 1953, Orson Welles made his television debut in the Omnibus production of King Lear...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
On this day in 1999, HBO presented what it thought would be a one-time, one-hour special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
I get a particular feeling of joy on those rare occasions when I can steer readers and viewers, during this seemingly endless and soul-sucking pandemic, towards something that is so full of joy itself – that will make you feel good watching it, and beaming with satisfaction and happiness even afterward. Well, for a while. And here’s a wonderful example: Directed by Spike Lee, it’s HBO’s TV adaptation of a buoyant Broadway treat: David Byrne’s American Utopia,&n
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
And speaking of things to recommend and watch that bring joy… Here’s another TCM showing of the 1952 movie musical classic, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. TCM shows this movie a lot, and why not? It’s great. And Reynolds, who was cast in this movie and filmed it when she was just 19 years old, turned 20 only 10 days before Singin’ in the Rain premiered in 1952. Her first starring performance is fabulous – but so is just about every performance i
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
When the Tampa Bay Rays took the first three games in this year’s American League Championship Series, proceeding to the World Series seemed an almost foregone conclusion. In baseball history, 38 teams have fallen behind 0-3 in the league series, and 37 of them lost. The sole exception: the Boston Red Sox, who climbed back against the New York Yankees to claim the pennant in 2004. But after winning last night’s Game 6, the Houston Astros have won three straight, and tied the ALCS at
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
Yes, it’s another fresh episode of NBC’s SNL – and it’s hard to imagine that Alec Baldwin won’t return to make fun of Donald Trump’s town hall appearance on the same network earlier this week. Can’t wait. Issa Rae of HBO’s Insecure guest hosts, marking her first time appearing as such at Studio 8-H. And the musical guest, Justin Bieber, has been featured on this show many times – not only appearing as himself, but as imper
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
17
 
 
It was a time before Elvis or Aretha, a time when "rock" and "soul" were mostly just nouns. It was when Sister Rosetta Tharpe brought a rocking, soulful feel to gospel music...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
16
 
 
At its heart, the Photo Ark is one man's 25-year mission to save the world's wildlife, one photo at a time...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Oct
16
 
 
MOVIE PREMIERE: Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed this new take on the 1969 trial of the Chicago 7 – originally, the Chicago 8. They were various revolutionary leaders put on trial by the Nixon administration, which claimed conspiracy as the cause of the protests and violence outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There have been other dramatizations of this trial, which took six months in 1969, and was derailed from several angles: the outrageously eccentric and conserv