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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
3
ALICE IN WONDERLAND By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the 1933 version of Lewis Carroll’s wonderfully fanciful tale, and it boasts a wildly improbable collection of co-stars. Who would have imagined a movie that makes room for Gary Cooper (as the White Knight), Cary Grant (as the Mock Turtle), and W.C. Fields (as Humpty-Dumpty)? All this, and animation by Max Fleischer as well…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
3
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
This week’s guests include comic Marc Maron, whose new IFC comedy series premieres in the exact same time slot as he’s appearing with Maher. Now that’s funny. I wonder: Since Real Time is live, what’s to stop him from telling viewers to change channels?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
3
MARON By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Comedian Marc Maron is the latest comic to go the Larry David route, playing an exaggerated version of himself – in this case, complete with podcasts he records in his garage. It’s a clever show at times, and shows strong potential. For a full review, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
GEORGE JONES FUNERAL COVERAGE By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s not often that a funeral takes place at the Grand Ole Opry, or is televised live and loaded with guest performers paying musical tribute — but George Jones was no ordinary country star. The seminal genre performer, who died last Friday, is being honored at a funeral service that is scheduled to celebrate his influence, music and legacy by including performances by Brad Paisley, Charlie Daniels, the Oak Ridge Boys, Wynonna Judd, Alan Jackson and many others.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
This may be the TV casting coup of the season: Tonight’s new episode has the gang giddy about the chance to meet a childhood idol, TV science-show host “Professor Proton.” And he’s played, by what sounds like perfect casting, by Bob Newhart.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
COMMUNITY By David Bianculli
 
 
This new episode is called “Heroic Origins,” and has Abed (Danny Pudi) claiming that all the community college buddies have known each other before — not in a previous life, but earlier in this one. Cue Abed’s super-detailed investigative scrapbook, and a series of flashbacks.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s Idol shows were a total waste — a free pass for the final four female contestants, since the judges couldn’t agree (big surprise there) on a unanimous save. So, with one extra week to fill before the finale, Ryan Seacrest announced that no one would go home last week, with the week’s voting’s totals saved for, and added to, this week’s totals. Well, this week was a lackluster competitive session, memorable less for the singers’ performan
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
GLEE By David Bianculli
 
 
The good news: Katey Sagal, from Sons of Anarchy and Married with Children, guest stars in this new episode as the mother of Artie (Kevin McHale). The bad news: She doesn’t sing, even though Sagal once was one of the Harlettes, the trio of backup singers for Bette Midler. Bring Sagal back — and let her sing next time.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
2
SEASON FINALES: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD By David Bianculli
 
 

The May ratings sweeps have begun, ushering in a bumper crop of season finales. The Good Wife, The Following and The Americans just presented theirs, with varying results…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
May
1
MANHUNT By David Bianculli
 
 
This new documentary looks at the sort of lengthy, patient, ongoing investigative work that led to the identification of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. Its narrative begins well before that of Zero Dark Thirty, and its female protagonists are a bit different than Jessica Chastain’s character in that film, but this is the real deal. For more on Manhunt, see Eric Gould's Cold Light Reader.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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