DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2008
Feb
12
 
 
When I visited "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" last month to attend the rehearsal of an hour devoted entirely to Ringo Starr, I was impressed enough by one unfamiliar face to consider going up backstage and complimenting her afterward...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
11
 
 
The end of the Writers Guild of America strike, if it plays out this week as expected, will arrive just in time, and conclude the only way it should: With the membership voting to accept terms, rather than accept the decision of the WGA equivalent of super-delegates...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
8
 
 
What happens tomorrow, in separate East and West Coast meetings of active members of the Writers Guild of America, will determine whether the four-month-old strike will be ending very, very soon. My guess is based on a combination of conversations and an urgent Hollywood syzygy, with the Oscars, the upfronts and the May sweeps all dependent upon a swift resolution...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
7
 
 
The writers' strike, now officially into month four, could end any day now (for once, that's the same word I'm getting from various sources, who have yet to agree on anything). If these are the waning days - and nights - of the strike, then it ought to be noted that TV's late-night shows have managed to do some especially strong work lately, with or without writers...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
6
 
 
When Hillary Clinton showed up on CBS on "Late Show with David Letterman" Monday night - the day after the Super Bowl, the day before Super Tuesday - she likened the then-upcoming "national primary" contest to the game just played in Arizona. She and Barack Obama, Clinton predicted, probably would be battling down to the very last minute...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
5
 
 
Sunday was the Super Bowl, that amazing, astounding game that made "Super" seem inadequate. Monday the Nielsen ratings came in, anointing it as the most-viewed Super Bowl ever with 97.5 million viewers. Only the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H, which drew an estimated 106 million viewers, ranks higher as a TV show seen by American viewers...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
4
 
 
It was a huge upset, but not at all upsetting. Last night's Super Bowl XLII ended with Eli Manning and the New York Giants robbing the New England Patriots of the lead, and their perfect season, in the final minute of play. It was a great game - and in every way, it was great for broadcast network television...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Feb
1
 
 
After months of moaning the length and impact of the writers' strike, let's sound a different note today - and give thanks for four nationally televised events, just presented or upcoming, that qualify as both popular and important. In all four cases, TV is better for them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
31
 
 
The fourth season of ABC's "Lost" begins - finally - tonight at 9 ET, eight months after the previous first-run episode. It's a strong season premiere, introducing new characters, dilemmas and mysteries, but the biggest question of all regarding "Lost" is this: Now that ABC has built it, who will come...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
30
 
 
Tomorrow, January 31, is the start of the February ratings sweeps, one of those months set aside, in a increasingly archaic practice, to use ratings results to establish future advertising rates. This year, the February sweeps end on February 27 , leaving the last two days (it's a Leap Year) out of the running...