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

 
 
2011
Oct
17
 
 
There are many moments in HBO's new Monday half-hour series Enlightened where the scene dissolves to bright white light, while the main character's thoughts go in and out of meditation. These are the white spaces where the mind might drift smoothly, or in here, run rampantly and disquietly through attempted calm. They're also spaces created by another White -- Mike White...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
11
 
 
Bravo's "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" returns for a second season Wednesday (Oct, 12) at 9 p.m. ET, and it's a bit of a surprise that there was enough interest in a competition show about the art world to make another run...But, thinking on it -- it's probably a winning environment to plant artists in...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
9
 
 
Not a lot of good news comes out of war, and sometimes you have to be lucky to find it. Here's some -- a small, one-hour documentary that plays infrequently on Military Channel, where most will not see it. And it next airs at 9 in the morning, when, again, most will not see it. But a great story is a great story. So set your DVRs for Tuesday (Oct. 11) at 9 a.m. ET for an astonishing story of loyalty, steadfast determination and, most of all, love. You won't be disappointed...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
6
 
 
Political commentator Laura Ingraham's 2003 book, Shut Up and Sing: How Elites From Hollywood, Politics and the U.N. Are Subverting America, was critical of stars from the left who went public with political views when their only qualifications were to entertain us. It seems that same level of scrutiny has just been applied to a star from the right...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
5
 
 
When I first saw the title for FX's "American Horror Story", I thought: "Finally...a show about unaffordable health insurance and upside-down mortgages." Somewhat off the mark -- but it's an equally scary idea that introduces us to the troubled Harmon family as it moves into an L.A. mansion that it bought for a song...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
4
 
 
When George Harrison passed away in 2001, Brian Wilson, founder of The Beach Boys wrote: "I am horribly saddened by the death of George Harrison. While we were not personal friends, I think that just like everybody in the world, I have always considered all the Beatles to be my friends." And that's the thing about Harrison and the group: they were so much a part of our world for so long, they were like family...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Oct
1
 
 
HBO's Boardwalk Empire is, of course, a visual triumph, with the art direction up front and center as a major character in the series. Wardrobe, interiors, automobiles and product design are done with so much attention to detail, we can palpably sense the time and day of Atlantic City...Turns out, the new Ken Burns documentary for PBS, Prohibition, confirms all that mayhem and corruption...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Sep
19
 
 
Even though he's not a cop, he plays one on TV. And that's enough street cred for Dean Norris to dive deep into the history of drugs and their use on the new special The Stoned Ages (premiering Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on the History channel). From ancient opium use to new medications hatched out of multinational corporations, the two-hour show looks at the roles drugs have played in our lives since humans discovered what plants could do for our health and our consciousness -- good and bad...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Aug
25
 
 
Louis C.K. Is about to wrap up his second season of -- I'm not sure of the right term -- dramedy? Performance art work? Stand-up documentary? A hybrid of all of them? Whatever it is, Louie (Thursday nights at 10:30 ET on FX) is something uniquely his. And it deserves credit as a TV milestone, for both its structure and its intent...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2011
Aug
14
 
 
The Emmy nominations are out, and AMC's Rubicon, the one-season wonder (or blunder, depending on your point of view) got only one nomination -- for title design. It's a small, but important, nod for this cancelled little show that went way outside the lines of conventional TV storytelling. And maybe it's a fitting tribute to one of its best parts -- its tantalizing, cryptic art direction. It's also an excuse for us to look closely, and appreciatively, at one of TV's most creative elements of all: the opening credits of quality series...