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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
Nov
2
SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH LOU REED By David Bianculli
 
 
Here’s a timely, touching repeat from the archives of this Sundance music series, hosted by Elvis Costello in front of a live audience, and dedicated to both sharing the stage and understanding the creative processes of his musical guests. In this particular installment, from the show’s freshman season of 2008, Costello’s guest was Lou Reed, who died recently, but who is captured vibrantly and candidly in this one-hour Spectacle.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
THE FUGITIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
In the moody David Janssen TV series from the Sixties, the focal point was Janssen as Richard Kimble, the doctor wrongly accused of, and perpetually hunted for, the murder of his wife. In this exciting 1993 movie remake, though Harrison Ford’s Kimble clearly is the protagonist, Tommy Lee Jones steals this film as Kimble’s dogged pursuer, Lieutenant Gerard. And when a sequel was made, it starred Jones, not Ford.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
DANCING ON THE EDGE By David Bianculli
 
 
Episode 3. In this episode of this excellent imported British miniseries, Chiwetel Ejiofor steps up as a black bandleader in London in the early Thirties. He’s been the star of this series all along – but this week, his character becomes more aggressive, taking front and center, and not just on the bandstand. And since he’s gotten Oscar buzz for 12 Years a Slave, maybe that will draw more viewers to this well-acted period drama.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
This season, Graham Norton seems to have made some sort of show-biz pact with the devil, because his guest list each week has gotten more and more ridiculously A-list, and excitingly eclectic. This week’s guests include Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Saunders from Absolutely Fabulous, and Cher.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
This isn’t exactly a Scandal, but tonight’s guest host is Kerry Washington, star of that popular ABC prime-time drama series. And the musical guest is no stranger to scandal, either: it’s Eminem.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
FERGUSON STILL WORKING WITH A SKELETON STAFF By Bill Brioux
 
 
Bill Brioux attended a couple of Late Late Show tapings last week as an audience member and gives us the bare bones report on TV's fastest and funniest late night host...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
2
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? By Eric Gould
 
 
For the celebration of what would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 70th birthday, PBS American Masters will be premiering the two-hour documentary Hear My Train A Comin’...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
1
WHY WE (HEART) VAMPIRES By David Bianculli
 
 
This is a warning, not a recommendation. I’ve been a TV critic so long that I remember when it was natural, and easy, to fan the flames of outrage whenever a local newscast would spend part of its time doing a feature story obviously tied to one of its prime-time offerings. That practice has become so accepted, nobody even blinks any more, not even TV critics. But tonight’s prime-time network special, presented under the auspices and corporate flag of NBC News, is called Why We (Hear
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
1
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT By David Bianculli
 
 
Frank Capra directed this fast-moving delight of a screwball comedy, which swept all the major Oscar awards in 1934 – becoming the first movie to do so. Clark Cable stars, and the one scene Claudette Colbert doesn’t steal with her charm and wit, she steals with her legs.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Nov
1
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
What a lineup! Neil DeGrasse Tyson (pictured) shows up to argue science in a way that makes sense, two Hollywood Robs – Reiner and Lowe – show up to argue their political views, and Ann Coulter shows up to represent the conservative side.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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