Part 3 of 3. This hour concludes Sir David Attenborough's three-part career overview, and is even more impressive and emotion-stirring than the others. It's called Our Fragile Planet, and Attenborough takes the time - the entire hour - to reflect on the changes he's witnessed in the natural world, and in his own way of covering and relating to it, in the past 60-plus years as TV's finest nature host. The good news: Even with species going extinct and the polar ice melting, Attenborough finds cau

2013

Feb

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT By David Bianculli

This early sound film, one of the boldest anti-war movies ever made, is a milestone movie – and not just because its director is Lewis Milestone. Released in 1930, this version of Erich Maria Remarque’s gripping novel about life (and death) in the German trenches painted a portrait of WWI that came before, but didn’t prevent the German enthusiasm for, what became known as WWII. Lew Ayres stars.

2013

Feb

MODERN FAMILY By David Bianculli

One of the subplots in tonight’s show has Manny (Rico Rodriguez) trying out – very, very aggressively – to replace the star of his school’s upcoming production of Phantom of the Opera. Expect some backstage intrigue, worthy of matching whatever’s being enacted in front of the footlights.

2013

Feb

NOVA: "BUILDING PHARAOH'S CHARIOT" By David Bianculli

After last year’s Building Pharaoh’s Ship, this science series returns to the well with another hour devoted to examining, and reverse engineering, one of the impressive artifacts of the early Egyptian era. It’s an intriguing idea, but what’s next? Nature devoting an hour to Clutching Cleopatra’s Asp? Check local listings.

2013

Feb

THE AMERICANS By David Bianculli

Episode two of this new FX series gets to move forward, after establishing the characters, conflicts and premise in last week’s outing. Tonight, Soviet sleeper agents Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings (Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys) embark on a dangerous mission to bug the office of a top U.S. official – while, at home, Phillip has an unexpectedly “neighborly” encounter with FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), who has moved in across the street – and who, this week, is

2013

Feb

'THE POWER OF MYTH' AND ITS JEDI MOMENT By Christy Slewinski

With news of new Star Wars sequels and the release of the 25th anniversary edition of The Power of Myth, what better time to revisit Joseph Campbell's most memorable Jedi moment...

2013

Feb

WHEN PETE CAMPBELL STARTS CASTING HIMSELF By Eric Gould

No, that's not Peter Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) from Mad Men in AT&T's "It's Not Complicated" 4G network campaign, but if it walks like a Pete, and talks like a Pete, then it's a Pete...

2013

Feb

PIONEERS OF TELEVISION By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: The fourth and final of this season’s documentary studies is devoted to Miniseries – but, like the other installments, dilutes the power of its subject by being maddeningly superficial. Except for a one-minute mention of NBC’s Shogun, the entire hour is devoted to three ABC miniseries: Roots, The Thorn Birds and Rich Man, Poor Man. Though all three deserve inclusion and study, this hour isn’t a history of the genre, it’s a TV fanzine. Why in the world

2013

Feb

SMASH By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: This two-hour season premiere, overseen by new show-runner Josh Safran, essentially hits the reset button. By the time the two hours are over, several old plots (and characters) are dismissed, and new ones set into action. And the future of Bombshell, the Marilyn Monroe musical at the heart of all this, continues to be in doubt, while formerly competing leading ladies Ivy (Megan Hilty) and Karen (Katharine McPhee) continue to find their respective paths. And early on, an establi

2013

Feb

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: "SILICON VALLEY" By David Bianculli

Instead of being a profile of Silicon Valley in the modern era, this documentary tells only the early story – starting in 1957, when a small team of physicists and engineers went out to start a new industry in a new setting. Check local listings.

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