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DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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Aerial View

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MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2014
May
16
HANNIBAL By David Bianculli
 
 
At the end of last week’s show, NBC’s on-air promo flashed a series of all-caps phrases, which, when read together, asked: “WILL HANNIBAL FINALLY GET HIS JUST DESERTS?” I’m guessing he won’t – not unless he’s been clamoring for a private Sahara.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
CW’S NEW FALL 2014 SHOWS: FIRST CLIPS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS By David Bianculli
 
 

This won’t take long: CW was so satisfied with its lineup from last year that it’s introducing only two new series for fall – both of them dramas…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
LOUIE MINUS "LOUIE" By Eric Gould
 
 
Fans of FX’s Louie  might have noticed that creator Louis C.K. has dropped the show's theme "Brother Louie," done by the band Stories in 1973...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: In last week’s episode, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) proposed to one another – at first casually, then more somberly and touchingly (pictured). Tonight, we witness the short-term fallout from that decision, especially where Leonard’s roommate, Sheldon (Jim Parsons), is involved. And as an added bonus, we’re promised an appearance by Christine Baranski, in her recurring, hilarious role as Leonard’s mother.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
WHY WORRY? By David Bianculli
 
 
Few cable networks have stayed as true to their initial missions, over the course of their corporate and programming lifetimes, at TCM. Well, ESPN and C-SPAN, maybe. But every time TCM dares to present a silent movie in prime time, I’m impressed both by the purity of the network, and the obvious respect it has for its audience. Tonight’s TCM prime-time schedule begins with Why Worry?, a Harold Lloyd charmer from 1923, in which he plays an American inadvertently caught up in a tropica
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
GREY'S ANATOMY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: When this series began, a lengthy 10 seasons ago, one of the characters who popped the most was Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang. Tonight, both the character and the actress say goodbye to the show, so even those who moved on from the series years ago may want to revisit to say goodbye.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight is the elimination episode that winnows the finalists from three to next week’s two. Based on last night’s performances, one of them should be Caleb Johnson, who, urged by the judges to fight through his illness-impaired vocal problems, saved the best for last with a soaring cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
15
MARON By David Bianculli
 
 
On tonight’s episode, Marc Maron hangs out with a fellow comic, Ray Romano. But this isn’t two best buds sharing the day – it’s more like Romano expecting Maron to help Ray with his errands, like any other personal assistant.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
14
CBS’S NEW FALL 2014 SHOWS: FIRST CLIPS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS By David Bianculli
 
 

CBS, for the 2014 fall season, presents four new dramas and one new comedy. But, like Fox, it now says it’s not really in the “fall season” business at all, but on a 12-month cycle…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
14
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
Once the new judging team settled in, I’ve pretty much ignored American Idol this season. But if you’re at all interested in this show, which presents installment number 500 tonight, this is the right time to rejoin. It’s the performance night for the final three competitors of the season, and the program which will determine the two singers who will battle for the winner’s crown next week. But don’t expect all the attention to be focused on the people on stage. Her
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley