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DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2013
May
22
THE NATURAL By David Bianculli
 
 
Usually, when I point out this 1984 movie, it’s to praise the supporting performances around Robert Redford, playing an overage rookie baseball phenom. Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley, Robert Duvall and others. And this time, I’d be happy to single out Kim Basinger, who plays the tempting bad girl to Close’s angelic good one. But since Randy Newman just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, let’s single him out, because he wrote this movie score. And it’s a
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
22
MODERN FAMILY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Phil’s mother dies in this season-ending episode. That may not sound like an occasion for a lot of laughs – but on this sitcom, it will be.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
22
LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: What starts out as the seemingly routine arrest of a man exposing himself in Central Park turns into something much more complicated – and darker. And also leads for a guest star turn by Lauren Ambrose, who’s been scoring solid guest spots ever since Six Feet Under went, well, six feet under.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
22
NASHVILLE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Brad Paisley guest stars in tonight’s season one finale. But for me, the two most dramatic things about tonight’s show are a) the ongoing chapters in the stories of Rayna and Juliette (Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere), and b) the good news that ABC has renewed Nashville for a Season 2. More drama! More Connie and Hayden! And more music!
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
22
DVD: A LOOK AT THE JEWISH LEGACY IN BROADWAY MUSICALS By Eric Gould
 
 
When you look at the long lists of songwriters showcased in the documentary Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, it's hard to argue with the film's premise...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
21
LITTLE CAESAR By David Bianculli
 
 
You want to watch a classic genre film – one of the toughest pre-Code gangster movies ever made? Then watch this one. Made in 1931, it stars Edward G. Robinson in the killer role of a hood on the make. And this violent film is one of the movies whose excesses led to a “decency” code. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell co-star.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
21
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
Last night, Maroon 5 sang as part of the Top 10 competition show – not in the competition, just as part of the program. Last night’s show, then, was additive: 10+5.  Tonight’s voting results show is subtractive: 10-2.  But which two?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
21
CONSTITUTION USA WITH PETER SAGAL By David Bianculli
 
 
“Created Equal,” the idea that “all men are created equal,” didn’t become law until after the Civil War, thanks to the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. In tonight’s show, Peter Sagal crosses the country to find and examine cases where the spirit, and the letter, of that law are being put to the test. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
21
THE PETRIFIED FOREST By David Bianculli
 
 
Another classic film noir thriller, this one stars Humphrey Bogart – but not as the hero. In this 1936 suspense movie, he plays a convict on the run, who gathers hostages in a desolate café. Co-stars include Bette Davis and Leslie Howard.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
21
GRIMM By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Last week’s episode ended with a nice visual image: the zombie-making bad guy locking his entranced victims into a railroad shipping car, only to have the camera pull back and reveal that it’s only one freight car among hundreds. Tonight, this show’s zombies come closer to being set free – and the puffy-and-spiky-faced man shall lead them.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley