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

 
 
2013
Apr
10
 
 
Family Band: The Cowsills Story exposes the cracked foundation that supported a squeaky-clean American family image...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
10
 
 
VH1 is billing its new reality series, Off Pitch, as a real-life Glee (although a real-life Waiting for Guffman may be more apropos)...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
Annette Funicello will endure as a cheerful icon of Disney innocence, but also as a brave example of dignity and hope. It's a legacy that will forever hold her banner high...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
NBC has had such a rough year, in the ratings and in the press, that the stability and success of this series shouldn’t be taken for granted – especially not by NBC. It’s a good-natured, positive competition show, when most of the other prime-tie network efforts, including American Idol and The X Factor, have devolved into anything but.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
It’s always worth noting, especially on a slow TV night, whenever Disney fills its prime-time schedule by presenting a classic animated movie from its vault. This movie musical, from 1994, may feel too young to deserve classic status, but next year, it’ll be 20 years old.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
This 2004 comedy horror film may deserve credit for reinvigorating the zombie story as a popular piece of pop culture. Simon Pegg stars as Shaun, who tries to win back his ex-girlfriend while all around them are besieged by the undead. Co-stars include Lucy Davis, who played the adorable Dawn Tinsley in the original British version of The Office. By the way: Shaun of the Dead? Terrific title.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
Frontline reporter Olly Lambert didn’t choose sides when filming this documentary about the front lines in Syria’s civil war. He spent five weeks living on both sides, and returning with this very intense ground-level study that captures the continued effects of a brutal, ongoing armed conflict. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
9
 
 
SEASON FINALE: TBS ends its first season of showing this inherited series, formerly on ABC, by presenting two fresh episodes back to back. Since there’s a season finale to celebrate, expect even more drinking than usual by the characters on this sitcom. If that’s even possible.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
8
 
 
Both The Voice and American Idol swapped out some members of the judges’ panels this season, and the results couldn’t be more different. On Idol, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj don’t even speak to one another, except in the language of silent disapproving eyerolls. Meanwhile, on The Voice, the judges all make fun of one another, but good-naturedly: Usher gets gently ridiculed for his sexy seated posture, Shakira lobs insults at all her male cohorts, and everyone despairs at how n
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Apr
8
 
 
If you liked the musical Chicago, you have to see this. It’s the 1942 non-musical version of the same basic tale, starring Ginger Rogers as a dark-haired Roxie Hart, and Adolphe Menjou as her flashy attorney, Billy Flynn. As docudramas go, it’s pretty loose with the facts: Hart, after all, is based on the story of accused murderess Beulah Annan, so even the names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. But entertaining? Absolutely – and Rogers clearly revels in playin