The newest installment of the PBS Nova series is the best mystery thriller I've seen on TV this year. It's got forensic scientists trying to identify partial fingerprints and examine photographic evidence, investigators traveling the globe to track down promising leads, experts adamantly offering conflicting testimony -- and enough twists and turns to satisfying the most fervent mystery fan. The hour, premiering Wednesday night at 9 ET on PBS (check local listings), is called Mystery of a M

2012

Jan

BOSTON GETS A GIFT, NEW YORK GETS A BREAK -- AND I MAY GET AN ULCER By Eric Gould

Standing at midfield with CBS Sports' JIm Nantz Sunday night, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said into the microphone, his words reverberating throughout Gillette Stadium, "I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us." It was blunt and accurate -- though not, perhaps, the most eloquent post-game recap by a top national sports figure...

2012

Jan

PHIL OCHS DOCUMENTARY KICKS OFF SECOND QUARTER-CENTURY FOR SUPERB PBS 'AMERICAN MASTERS' SERIES By David Bianculli

Impressively -- and amazingly -- the PBS American Masters series has been examining popular art and profiling gifted artists for a quarter of a century. And now, to start Season 26, it turns it attention to yet another worthy, inspirational figure: talented, tragic folksinger Phil Ochs... Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune, a 2010 documentary written and directed and co-produced by Kenneth Bowser, premiering Monday at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings) will please and inform those who are fans o

2012

Jan

BARKY DOES 'DALLAS' (THE NEXT GENERATION) By Ed Bark

TNT's new version of Dallas won't be premiering until sometime this summer. But the network already has the opening episode completed, and sent it to TV writers in advance of January's press tour in Pasadena. This won't be a full review by any means. Instead, consider it an extended first impression. And in that context, Dallas will be getting off to a high, wide and handsome re-start, beginning with a jolt...

2012

Jan

FLICKS: BELA SAYS 'PULL THE STRING!' By Diane Werts

If I tout a triple feature of Bela films, nobody's going to ask "Bela who?"...Eighty years after his first Hollywood splash, Bela Lugosi remains an icon, whether it's from Martin Landau's delirious tribute in Tim Burton's Ed Wood or Lugosi's eerie work in films like the three '30s chillers unreeling Sunday night (Feb. 22) on Turner Classic Movies...

2012

Jan

KARL PILKINGTON TALKS TO TVWW ABOUT 'AN IDIOT ABROAD 2: THE BUCKET LIST' By David Bianculli

You've seen similar scenes dozens of times on CBS's Survivor, even on the same South Pacific islands of Vanuatu: people stranded and working frantically to build a makeshift shelter as the rain pelts them mercilessly...except, this time, one of the people marooned is Karl Pilkington, the reluctant world traveller sent around the globe by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for the new season of the Science Channel TV series An Idiot Abroad...

2012

Jan

SWIMMING WITH SHARKS IN THE GREAT RECESSION By David Sicilia

Sometimes a TV show -- even a reality TV show -- can break the bonds of its premise. Shark Tank, which returns to ABC Friday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. ET, had a pretty good premise to begin with. The season premiere, though, serves up a couple of engrossing surprises...

2012

Jan

MMM, DOUGHNUTS! ... AND OTHER MENU ITEMS ON MY CAN'T-MISS 'TV DINNERS' RESTAURANT By David Bianculli

They laughed at me when I brought doughnuts into the Fresh Air with Terry Gross office in Philadelphia last Friday. Not because I brought doughnuts -- I always do that when I guest host...They laughed because last week, I brought in special Dunkin' Donuts, offered in celebration of the 60th anniversary of NBC's Today show -- But while they're laughing, I'm dreaming...

2012

Jan

THE MIDDLE By

ABC isn’t televising the Super Bowl this year, but tonight’s episode of its Indiana-set sitcom is alluding to it anyway. That’s because the real Super Bowl XLVI is being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis – and for some members of the Heck family, that’s close enough to get very, very excited by the prospect.

2012

Jan

AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Last year, this series survived the disappearance of Simon Cowell and the introduction of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez as Randy Jackson’s fellow judges. Then came the NBC semi-copycat hit The Voice, and Cowell’s less-than-hit Fox competition, The X Factor. So how, after all that, will Idol fare this season? One thing’s for certain: There’s no shortage of auditioners.

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