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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
 
 
2017
May
19
AMERICAN MASTERS: “JAMES BEARD: AMERICA’S FIRST FOODIE” By David Bianculli
 
 
American Masters, this week and next, is serving up a quartet of shows that food-loving cooking enthusiasts will enjoy. One new program will be paired each Friday with one related rerun, and tonight the new production is James Beard: America’s First Foodie. That title may sound like a stretch, but in TV terms, it’s absolutely and incontrovertibly accurate: His first TV series about food and food preparation, NBC’s I Love to Eat, was a 15-minute show that was shown in 1946, as o
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
19
AMERICAN MASTERS: “JULIA CHILD! AMERICA’S FAVORITE CHEF” By David Bianculli
 
 
This is a repeat show, from 2004, saluting Julia Child, who came to public television with The French Chef way back in 1962, making more than 200 episodes over the next 11 years. Her story, before, during, and after the show, is fascinating – just as Dan Aykroyd’s parody of her during the first season of Saturday Night Live (“save the liver!”) is unforgettable. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
19
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
I confess to not being familiar with political analyst Boris Epshteyn, who is scheduled as the leadoff guest for tonight’s show – but given my Rocky & Bullwinkle tutelage, I’m presuming that Boris will have a lot to say about Russia. But the other guests slated to appear are among host Bill Maher’s all-time most vocal and intelligently combative guests: astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, conservative editor David Frum, and liberal academic Cornel West.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
SUSAN BLOMMAERT MULLS 'BLACKLIST' REVENGE By David Hinckley
 
 

It’s been a harrowing year for Susan Blommaert’s Mr. Kaplan on NBC’s The Blacklist, and it’s not over yet. In fact, Blommaert jokes, she may need another bottle of wine to get to the finish line...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
THE BEATLES CHANNEL By David Bianculli
 
 
CHANNEL PREMIERE: I know, I know. As channels go, this one is on radio, not TV – and only on satellite radio, at that. But this is the Beatles we’re talking about, so until I launch a sister website called Radio Worth Hearing (don’t hold your breath), I’m taking the time and space here to note the launch of the world’s first official Beatles 24-hour radio channel. It’s got special programs (including Chris Carter’s long-running FM radio staple “Bre
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
GREY'S ANATOMY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: I don’t recommend watching this show, really, not any more. But I do marvel at both its impact and its longevity. With tonight’s episode, Grey’s Anatomy concludes Season 13, a truly impressive stretch. And it’s not just limping to the seasonal finish line – it’s sprinting there as ABC’s most popular drama series. That’s why so many of ABC’s dramas, for good or for ill, tend to be painted with the same Shonda Rhimes brush, wheth
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
SUPERNATURAL By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: And here’s another series that’s not being recommended, really, but also is being noted for its durability. Supernatural, with tonight’s two-hour episode, concludes Season 12 – and that’s really an astounding achievement, when you consider that the network presenting it, the CW, is only 11 years old. (Nothing paranormal about that fact: Supernatural began on the WB, and was imported to its new home when the WB and UPN merged to form the CW.)
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
SOUNDTRACKS By David Bianculli
 
 
For two weeks running now, the scheduled episode of CNN’s Soundtracks – about the shooting of students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard in 1970, and the music it inspired, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s searingly swift response, “Ohio” – has been pre-empted by breaking news emanating from the White House. And a betting man, or woman, would be wise to bet that tonight will make it three for three. But I’m setting my DVR anyw
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
BIG NIGHT By David Bianculli
 
 
Stanley Tucci co-directs (with Campbell Scott), co-writes (with Joseph Tropiano) and co-stars (with Tony Shalhoub) in this utterly captivating 1996 movie, about dissimilar brothers, both gifted cooks, teaming together to make a go of it with their proudly authentic Italian restaurant. The restaurant’s future all comes down to one super-important “big night,” and it’s as hilarious as it is touching, dramatic and intense. And the final scene, performed and shot in real time
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
18
THE CONTROVERSIAL ROGER AILES, 1940 - 2017 By David Hinckley
 
 
The television legacy of Roger Ailes is as impressive as his personal conduct seemed to be deplorable...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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