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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
 
 
2012
May
10
THE OFFICE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: As part of his tireless lobbying efforts, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) offers free family portraits to his office mates – while Jim (John Krasinski) sees an opportunity to victimize Dwight with a career-best prank. Oh, and James Spader makes another appearance as Robert California – but since Spader had a one-year deal as the new head of The Office, this may well be his swan song.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
PARKS AND RECREATION By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: It’s Election Day in Pawnee, with Leslie (Amy Poehler) squaring off against her wealthy competitor, dimwitted but amiable Bobby Newport (played by Paul Rudd). How dim-witted? At the local precinct voting house, he informs the media that he’ll be voting for Leslie – adding to her, in a confused whisper, that to vote for himself would be illegal, right?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
THE MENTALIST By David Bianculli
 
 
Every season, near the end of the run of episodes, this series revives the specter of Red John, the killer who murdered Jane’s family nine years ago now. And on the anniversary of their deaths, Red John sends a young emissary to meet Jane (Simon Baker) at a graveyard and extend her hand – not in friendship, but with another iconic reminder of his continued malevolent presence.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
EVERYBODY'S A CRITIC: A REAL PENNY, MARRIED TO A REAL SHELDON, DISCUSSES 'THE BIG BANG THEORY' By TVWW Guest Contributor
 
 
An average American girl meets a brilliant-but-odd guy. Today's EVERYBODY'S A CRITIC guest columnist, Emily Steinway, lives a life that parallels CBS's The Big Bang Theory...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
1989: GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID DEBUTS ON TNT By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1989, TNT debuted the made-for-TV movie Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid. The film, starring Val Kilmer, told the story of legendary American outlaw William H. Bonney. Kilmer's co-stars included Wilford Brimley, Duncan Regehr, John O'Hurley and Ned Vaughn. Author Gore Vidal had an uncredited role as a preacher in the film...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
HILL STREET BLUES MAY 11, 1987 By David Bianculli
 
 
After supplying reviews for two years on the local version of Fresh Air in Philadelphia, this was my first TV review for the nationally broadcast NPR version – included as part of the opening-day broadcast. On May 11, 2012, NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross celebrates its 25th anniversary...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
1961: FCC CHAIRMAN NEWTON MINOW DELIVERS HIS 'VAST WASTELAND' SPEECH By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1961, at the the National Association of Broadcasters convention, the newly-appointed Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow delivered his "Vast Wasteland" speech, which challenged broadcasters to create more intelligent, educational programming...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
QUALITY SHOWS + SMART TV EXECS = VIEWER VICTORIES By Eric Gould
 
 
Fringe and Southland have been renewed, proving shows don't have to be a gold mine to survive. Somewhere out there, some smart television execs have realized you can't put a price tag on quality TV...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
That big sigh of relief you hear is from everyone at American Idol, who get to proceed to the end of this year’s music-competition finish line, from tonight on, without having to compete for attention with NBC’s The Voice.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME By David Bianculli
 
 
Any youngsters who think The Hunger Games is this bold new idea in fiction and moviemaking – watch humans be hunted for sport – may enjoy being old-schooled by watching this movie, which is about a sociopathic big-game hunter who strands shipwreck victims on a deserted island, then hunts them down. Based on the classic short story by Richard Connell, it was filmed in 1932 – only eight years after its original publication. It stars Joel McCrea and, one year before starring in
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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