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

 
 
2013
Jul
10
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir star in this new murder mystery series, adapted from a Scandinavian series and transplanted to the U.S.-Mexico border. Imagine The Killing with sunny skies instead of rain, and with occasional subtitles, and you’ve got some idea of what to expect. But expect more than just that, because in terms of both performance and plot, The Bridge is well above average. For full reviews, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader, and read or hear my own r
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
10
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This summer TV series about summer camp probably won’t be viewed by its perfect target audience, because summer campers will be… away at camp. But even the promos for this new comedy-drama feature a few laughs, which are a few laughs more than many NBC comedies these days. And the leading character, a woman who inherited the camp and continues to run it after her husband suddenly walks out, is played by Rachel Griffiths, who won so many fans in both Six Feet Under a
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
9
 
 
This 1997 Ken Burns documentary – directed by Burns and co-written by Burns and Dayton Duncan – takes a story most people think they know, and tells it anew, in the type of depth that makes it seem like a new story indeed. And, as with so many Burns documentaries, it begins its story at a point in history long before you might have expected. Hal Holbrook narrates. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
9
 
 
Both Bette Davis and Paul Henreid star in tonight’s prime-time TCM double feature. First up in this 1942 drama, featuring Davis in one of her best roles, as a woman who finds happiness later in life. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, comes 1946’s Deception, in which the two stars reteamed four years later, in a story that involved murder as well as passion.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
9
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This series has been harmless enough, in a Candid Camera type of way, and, a as a geriatric version of Punk’d, slightly less mean-spirited. But tonight, there’s a more persuasive reason to tune in: For this final show of the season, the scheduled guest prankster is Ed Asner, who first co-starred opposite Betty White when she played Happy Homemaker Sue Ann Nivens to his Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (pictured).
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
9
 
 
Much like the series of Up documentaries by Michael Apted, visiting the same small group of people over every seven years of their life, Bill Moyers and Frontline have produced a series of intimate, involving studies checking in with the same two Milwaukee families – the Stanleys (top) and the Newmanns (bottom) – over a period of several decades. The last time was before 9/11, and this time, like the last time, these formerly upwardly mobile families are finding it very difficult jus
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
9
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new Comedy Central series, based on the long-running web series, is a more polished version, but maintains its oddball mixture of historical facts and frat-boy misbehavior. People are filmed explaining various events from history – in tonight’s premiere, that includes Watergate (with Fred Willard guest starring as Deep Throat). The disclaimer tells the story: “Every storyteller you are about to see is completely drunk.” And the actors act out this ra
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
8
 
 
The original release of this set was packaged in a tiny replica of a filing cabinet. Now in a more standard (and less expensive) issue, it’s still a keeper. It’s also still one of the best cop series ever made...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
8
 
 
With the current The Lone Ranger movie now released, it’s certainly worth watching the original credits sequence of ABC’s pioneering Western TV series, which ran from 1949-57...The Lone Ranger became the first hit Western on TV. The first Western, period, for that matter...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jul
8
 
 
What you see is what you get with W. Kamau Bell. He's often grinning, running to the punchline... all of which spilled through the telephone loud and clear late last month...