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
Jun
4
 
 
Tonight’s scheduled guest is NBC news anchor Brian Williams, who generally gets more respect from Stewart here than he does from his own network, where NBC has all but abandoned the newsmagazine with Williams’ name on it. Don’t be surprised if Stewart brings that up – and if Williams, as usual on this show, has a very funny response.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
The Top 6 contenders perform for the right to continue. Meanwhile, now that American Idol is over for the year, its unsurprising announcements of which judges will not be returning makes this show’s lineup a model of consistency – even with, and maybe especially with, the announced revolving-door returns of Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, followed by the returns of their temporary replacements, Usher and Shakira. Meanwhile, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine hold firm – as do t
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
SERIES FINALE: 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton, who also created this ABC Family series, says thank you and goodbye with this finale episode – titled, fittingly, “Thank You and Goodbye.” Tonight’s episode, the last in a series that began in 2008, is most notable not for wrapping up the plot line, but for freeing up its star, the talented Shailene Woodley, who broke out opposite George Clooney in 2011’s The Descendants. And she won’t be hurting for work, or f
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
For those with access to Showtime 2, I just wanted to point out this prime-time opportunity to catch this instant repeat of last weekend’s new documentary profile of Richard Pryor. It’s loaded with valuable interviews, from Robin Williams to Mel Brooks, and includes a piece of footage that’s new to me, and fascinating: unused footage of Pryor’s post-flameout comeback concert movie, taken during the first night, when things didn’t go well.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
This series has been so even that no team, regardless of home-court advantage, has won two consecutive games. The Indiana Pacers even things up in Saturday’s Game 6, forcing tonight’s must-win Game 7, with the Miami Heat playing before its home crowd. But will Miami’s LeBron James be playing alone, or will the rest of his teammates finally rise to the occasion and find a way to get around Indiana’s stifling defense? Either way, this ought to be one extremely intense game
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
One surprise served up long ago by this series was the appearance of a time-traveling H.G. Wells into the continuing story line. Another, even more imaginative surprise was the revelation – fictitious, but fascinating – that Wells actually was a female writer hiding behind her initials, and that the “H” stood for Helena. With Wells played by Jaime Murray, who bedeviled Dexter Morgan as the deadly and unpredictable Lila on Dexter, every appearance by Wells is worth watchin
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
3
 
 
The imminent arrival of ABC’s heavily teased “Man Candy Monday” dangles hopes for eventual Sonofabitch Sundays or Wanton Women Wednesdays...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
2
 
 
Jean Stapleton, who played the better half to TV’s most significant icon as Edith Bunker on CBS’s All in the Family, has died at age 90, her family has confirmed…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
2
 
 
This 1985 one-hour documentary was the third Ken Burns program shown on PBS, after 1981’s Brooklyn Bridge and a modest but informative 1984 study called The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God. Statue of Liberty hits on many of the themes, and all of the production methods, that would come to be known as Burns hallmarks. Why repeat the program now? Because the New York landmark has been closed since Hurricane Sandy hit the area last October, and repairs are scheduled to be completed
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Jun
2
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: After watching the two hours that make up tonight’s Season 3 premiere, I’m still not sure how enthusiastically to recommend it. I continue to love, and respond to, the abrasive but oddly endearing characters of Holder (Joel Kinnaman) and Linden (Mireille Enos) – but they’re on different paths for most of these first two hours. And the central guest star, Peter Sarsgaard as Death Row prisoner Ray Seward, barely has time to interact with either of them yet.