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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

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2014
May
18
BARBARA WALTERS AND HER ROYAL FAREWELL FROM 'THE VIEW' By Ed Bark
 
 
No tears were shed -- at least not by the honoree herself -- during the making of Barbara Walters’ goodbye as a co-host of The View...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
17
DJANGO UNCHAINED By David Bianculli
 
 
Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this 2012 costume drama, which is loaded with juicy roles and strong performances. Leading men Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx, and villain Leonardo DiCaprio, grab lots of attention deservedly, but watch, too, for Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins and especially Kerry Washington in supporting roles. Check out her portrayal of the slave woman named, improbably but with an explanation, Broomhilda von Shaft.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
17
THE HAUNTING By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight TCM presents a classic double feature of the two best haunted-house movies made in the pre-CGI era. First up: Robert Wise directs Julie Harris and Claire Bloom in 1963’s The Haunting, a movie that’s spooky, spooky, spooky. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, comes 1973’s The Legend of Hell House, starring Roddy McDowall and Gayle Hunnicutt, and written by Richard Matheson, based on his own novel. It’s a movie that’s spooky, sexy, spooky.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
17
ORPHAN BLACK By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s episode, Tatiana Maslany takes center stage. Well, that’s always the case, as she plays so many roles on this show – but tonight she takes center stage as Rachel, the cold-hearted corporate executive who tonight threatens one clone’s life, and hires the former confidante of another as her personal security guard.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
17
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s new episode is another perfect representation of the eclectic entertainment offered by this imported talk show. Norton’s guests tonight include Stephen Mangan, whom U.S. audiences may know from Showtime’s Episodes, and also include Barry Manilow, actress Brenda Blethyn and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
17
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Andy Samberg returns, serving as guest host for SNL’s final show of the 2013-14 season. Musical guest: St. Vincent.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
16
THE VIEW By David Bianculli
 
 
Barbara Walters makes her final regular appearance as co-host of the daytime talk show she founded, on the day ABC devotes a total of three hours (two in prime time) to her official television farewell, after many storied decades on NBC and ABC. But three hours is a conservative estimate, since she’ll also be toasted on Good Morning America and, most certainly, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. On The View, Walters’ final guests include Sally Field, James McAvoy, B.J. Novak and John
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
16
BARBARA WALTERS: HER STORY By David Bianculli
 
 
From “Today girl” to the first female co-anchor of a network evening newscast, Barbara Walters ascended quickly through the ranks of network TV, shattering the glass ceiling all the way. Then, in the Seventies and ever since, conducting interviews with newsmakers and celebrities that often were as newsworthy and popular as the subjects of her inquiry.  Tonight, she becomes the interviewee for a while – but it’s the clips that will count the most here, a valuable comp
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
16
AMERICAN MASTERS: “PLIMPTON! STARRING GEORGE PLIMPTON AS HIMSELF” By David Bianculli
 
 
This latest American Masters program looks at the original, and still champion, professional amateur – a guy so curious, and so capable, that he was able to step into the shoes of other people and write stories about the experience. That was true even if those shoes belonged to the quarterback of a professional football team, and the lessons George Plimpton revealed in his book called Paper Lion was only one of his many triumphs in that arena. Yet he played in many other arenas as well, se
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
16
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
I don’t mean to slight any of the politicians and scientists appearing on tonight’s show, but I’m particularly looking forward to another return appearance by Kevin Nealon. His dry delivery, and willingness to say just about anything he thinks, usually catches Maher off guard and makes him laugh out loud. Me, too.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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