DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

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TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2014
Jan
19
 
 
On this day in 1988, CBS News introduced its still-running documentary series, 48 Hours...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
TV writer-producer Peter Tolan always shows up for Television Critics Association press conferences ready to entertain. And this time, he brought his personal journal...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
This new Lifetime telemovie version of the famous book is different from the previous screen adaptation, which had less incest but more hanging. Its best performances are from actors two generations apart: Ellen Burstyn as the abusive grandmother, and Kiernan Shipka – who plays Don Draper’s daughter, Sally, on Mad Men – as the elder granddaughter hidden, like her three siblings, in the attic. The story still has its absurd and gothic flourishes, but those two performances, spec
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
Based on the autobiographical novel by Matthew Quick, this 2012 movie, written and directed by David O. Russell, is an outstanding character study – laugh-out-loud funny, when it’s not wincingly dramatic. Bradley Cooper stars as Pat, a man just leaving a mental institution after a lengthy court-mandated stay, and Jennifer Lawrence co-stars as Tiffany, a neighborhood Philadelphia girl who agrees to help him get his life back together, even though she’s got some baggage of her ow
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
Tonight’s new show includes Sylvester Stallone, who throws a staged punch at Graham Norton while Robert De Niro watches, somewhat bemusedly, from the couch. Other guests include Jonah Hill and Carey Mulligan – making it, once again, a very entertaining and star-filled hour of this imported, free-spirited talk show.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: After several go-rounds as the reluctant globe-traveling star of An Idiot Abroad, Karl Pilkington leaves the Ricky Gervais-Stephen Merchant nest (where he also flourished in the animated The Ricky Gervais Show on HBO) to set out on his own. In this five-part series, Pilkington goes to various places in search of answers to some questions that are hitting him as he turns 40. The reach of this new series seems a bit restricted – in all but one of the episodes, Pilkington fin
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
18
 
 
Drake is the guest host and musical guest for tonight’s show – but tonight’s new installment, in the long run, may be more remembered as the on-air debut of new SNL cast member Sasheer Zamata, who is joining the show after a season in which headlines were made about the lack of diversity among the show’s female players. Zamata is the first black woman to join SNL in six years, the last being Maya Rudolph.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
17
 
 
I couldn’t think of anyone better, or more charismatic, to carry on Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series and legacy than astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who matches wits, and wit, so well with  Bill Moyers on this show, they ought to think about starring in the talk-show equivalent of a buddy movie. Their conversation began last night – and went so well, it’s going into overtime with tonight’s installment. It seems only fitting: their cosmic conversation, likes the u
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
17
 
 
Robert Altman directed this 2001 film, and with such spirit, subtlety and a sense of fun that it’s well worth revisiting many times to relish the performances, the subplots and the surprises, large and small. But at this particular moment in television, it’s also fascinating to watch because Altman, 13 years ago, was basically serving up what could be considered a template for today’s Downton Abbey. And lest you think that’s too much of a stretch, in this mannered comedy/
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jan
17
 
 
Very quickly in this second season of Banshee, the bad guys – and gals – have come out of the woodwork, guns blazing and tempers flaring. So if you were impressed by the high-voltage action sequences from last season’s finale, get ready for more of the same.