It seemed a bright idea at the time: Why not hold a 50^th anniversary conference, bringing together as many scholars as possible to investigate and celebrate The Doctor?...

2013

Nov

STAR WARS MARATHON By David Bianculli

Well, it’s a mini-marathon, really: a sequential showing of what are now the first three movies in the Star Wars cinematic narrative. (In other words, these are the three prequels to the story begun with George Lucas’ first Star Wars film in the mid-Seventies.) The action begins at 2 p.m. ET with 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. And features a markedly young Natalie Portman as Padmé, a role she would repeat in the next two films as well. 2002&rsquo

2013

Nov

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS By David Bianculli

Here’s how I, as a TV critic Grinch, review tonight’s telecast of this 1966 holiday classic: It’s shown on the wrong #&$^*! holiday. This is the day after Thanksgiving, and it’s far too early for me to watch, much less recommend, a Christmas special, when the calendar still reads November, and when I haven’t even had my first meal of turkey leftovers. Ebenezer Scrooge would say “Humbug.” Today, so do I. If you want to record tonight’s ABC telec

2013

Nov

THE LADY EVE By David Bianculli

Another Preston Sturges comedy masterpiece, this one, from 1941, gave Henry Fonda one of the funniest straight-man roles of his career, and absolutely gave Barbara Stanwyck one of the best and sexiest and most outrageous of hers. She plays a con woman who encounters newly minted millionaire Fonda on a cruise ship, and, after perceiving he insulted her, sets out on an elaborate, and delicious, plan for revenge.

2013

Nov

GREAT PERFORMANCES: “BARBRA STREISAND: BACK TO BROOKLYN” By David Bianculli

Barbra Streisand was 69 when she filmed this 2012 concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and demonstrates how to hold a large crowd (19,000) without expending Mick Jagger-like arena energy. She does it with her voice, and a few guests (including her son, Jason Gould, singing solo and with his mother) – and with some very funny vintage film clips. Not of her, but of old fans from Brooklyn. Songs include “The Way We Were,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “Funny

2013

Nov

NIKITA By David Bianculli

This show, now in is final season, isn’t really good enough to warrant a Best Bets nod. But it’s a very slow TV night on a Thanksgiving weekend, and Nikita is aiming to shake things up during this final season – and tonight’s plot has the villainous Amanda making doubles of various VIPS. I always wonder about this particular sci-fi plot, and this is what I always wonder: Once you perfect the technology to create perfect physical duplicates on anyone you choose, why don&rs

2013

Nov

THE 87TH ANNUAL MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE By David Bianculli

This morning, New York city officials will determine whether the sustained winds and wind gusts in the city are sufficiently severe to ground the Macy’s balloons this year – in which case the 2013 parade telecast will really blow. The cutoff numbers are 23 m.p.h. sustained and 34 m.p.h. for gusts – anything above that, and the airborne part of the parade is grounded. After all that work, expense and planning? Good grief, Charlie Brown.

2013

Nov

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL By David Bianculli

NBC doesn’t even bother to change the name of its showcase pro football series when it televises a special edition on Thursday. But how special is it, really? The game has “playoff implications,” yes, but it’s a prime-time contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, both of which have identical losing records of 5-6. Bring the stuffing: enjoy the turkey.

2013

Nov

POV: “LISTENING IS AN ACT OF LOVE: A STORYCORPS SPECIAL” By David Bianculli

POV has done this before, and at the time, I strongly urged they do it again – so I’m glad to see this latest StoryCorps special. StoryCorps, of course, is an exisiting, long-running feature on public radio, an intimate oral history experiment that is one of the very best ideas in its history. For television, these existing audio recordings are augmented with basic, simple animation – much like Ricky Gervais turned his podcast conversations into HBO’s The Ricky Gervais Sh

2013

Nov

THE RETURNED By David Bianculli

Part 5. This is anything but standard Thanksgiving night fare. But if you’ve been watching, you might want to keep up, because this is a pivotal episode in this creepy, moody, haunting miniseries. But don’t worry: If you don’t want to sacrifice tonight’s viewing time, Sundance is mounting a catch-up marathon of The Returned this Saturday.

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