2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
Sep
22
RAY DONOVAN By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Last week’s episode provided an unexpected and revealing twist, as Ray (Liev Schreiber) faced up to a long-buried secret, that his brother was not the only Donovan sibling who was abused as a child by the same priest – the priest that paid for his sins with a circular mark on his forehead that had nothing to do with Ash Wednesday. And tonight, the Feds are circling – for Ray as well as his father, Mickey, who’s done some hot-tempered close-range shooting of
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
22
PUT NBC'S 'BLACKLIST' ON YOUR WATCHLIST By David Bianculli
 
 

Very little about the premise of NBC’s Blacklist, which has a canny career criminal ominously advising a young female profiler, is original – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Because it is…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
HITCHCOCK By David Bianculli
 
 
In 2012, HBO mounted its own HBO Films presentation The Girl, in which Alfred Hitchcock was played by Toby Jones, and Tippi Hedren, Hitch’s star in The Birds, was played by Sienna Miller. Imelda Staunton played Alma, the director’s wife. Tonight, HBO presents this rival film, a similarly themed 2012 drama starring Anthony Hopkins as Hitch, Helen Mirren as his wife, Alma, and Scarlett Johansson as Psycho star Janet Leigh. Also appearing here: Jessica Biel as actress Vera Miles and Jam
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT By David Bianculli
 
 
Less than a decade after the cinema went from silence to sound, director Frank Capra presented this perfect little gem of a romantic comedy that was as heavy on the dialogue as it was on the laughs. Clark Cable and Claudette Colbert star, with Gable playing a reporter and Colbert a runaway heiress. This 1934 classic was the first film to sweep the major Oscars, winning awards not only for Best Picture, but for actor, actress and direction as well.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
2013 CREATIVE ARTS EMMY AWARDS By David Bianculli
 
 
These awards were handed out in a pre-Emmy Awards ceremony last Sunday – but you can watch this delayed broadcast anyway, courtesy of the new network FXX. And it’s worth finding, in this case, if only to see Bob Newhart, at age 84, winning and holding his first Emmy ever, getting a standing ovation, and misting up.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
THE WHITE QUEEN By David Bianculli
 
 
In this new episode, both Margaret and Mary get married – and there’s also that little issue about a royal pardon to consider…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Next week, Saturday Night Live returns with its season premiere, and with quite a changeover among its repertory cast. Tonight, NBC repeats last season’s SNL finale, which turned out to be the swan song for several long-time late-night players – including the talented Bill Hader, who, as the outrageous Stefon, gets a regal sendoff during “Weekend Update.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
21
SUNDAY NIGHT'S OTHER GREAT DRAMA WRAPS UP FIRST SEASON By Eric Gould
 
 
Trotting out TV's  latest antihero, Showtimes's Ray Donovan has been a dark and often riotous look at brawn and brains in LA...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
20
QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT SUNDAY'S UPCOMING EMMYS By David Bianculli
 
 

A few things to ponder about Sunday’s 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (CBS, 9 p.m. ET)…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Sep
20
LA JETEE By David Bianculli
 
 
Another Back to the Future night on TCM begins with this 1962 French peek into the future, a short film about a time-traveler seeking clues to the planet’s survival after the devastation of World War III. Also on tonight’s bill, two films that later were remade as inferior versions: the original, 1975 Rollerball, starring James Caan (8:45 p.m. ET), and the original, 1990 Total Recall (1:45 a.m. ET).
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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