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

 
 
2015
May
7
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Last weeks episode, which featured Laurie Metcalf and Christine Baranski as the respective mothers of Sheldon and Leonard, was strong enough to have been a season finale. But the Big Bang writers had one more explosion up their sleeves: Tonight, Sheldon, in order to deflect attention from his five-year “anniversary” with Amy, pushes Leonard and Penny to settle on a date for their wedding.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
7
 
 
This is a good episode with which to give this series a second chance: Josh (Josh Gad) thinks he has a great shot at a movie role, and he isn’t exactly circumspect about his chances or his behavior. Billy (Billy Crystal), of course, doesn’t take this new attitude well – and he wasn’t even too fond of Josh’s old attitude. I like the performers here, and just keep hoping for the writing to get a little sharper.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
7
 
 
In tonight’s episode, Louie takes daughter Jane (Ursula Parker) to the doctor. I love when Jane gets a scene now and then: When she pulled out her violin for an unexpected duet with Louie’s non-English-speaking girlfriend, it turned out to be my favorite moment yet from the series – and the direction, and Louie’s reactions, all added to the immediacy and believability of the moment. In the doctor’s office, who knows what can happen?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
7
 
 
Jon Stewart, Like David Letterman, is on his exit lap, and pretty much can do, and is doing, whatever he wants. So tonight, his guests are one of his favored musical acts: Mumford & Sons.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
7
 
 
David Letterman, like Jon Stewart, is on his exit lap, and pretty much can do, and is doing, whatever he wants. So tonight, his guests include one of his favorite comic writers and actresses: Tina Fey.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
6
 
 
Here’s an early rarity from an extraordinary film career: A film noir heist movie, made in 1956, featuring all the taut writing, bitter betrayals and memorably shadowy characters you expect from this genre. But co-written and directed, in this case, by a young moviemaker named Stanley Kubrick – who, even this early, put his stamp on the visuals, the pacing, the performances, and the overall impact. Sterling Hayden, later to co-star in Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, stars as the man
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
6
 
 
Back in 1981, the slogan for a brand-new music channel was “I Want My MTV!” Well, in this episode, The Goldbergs essentially pays homage to that explosion of interest in the music video, with Adam (Sean Giambrone) and his mom (Wendi McLendon-Covey) teaming up to co-direct a video submission for Erica (Hayley Orrantia), who has her sights set, perhaps a bit too high, on Juilliard. And what could impress Juilliard more than a home-made music video audition, Eighties style?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
6
 
 
Alex (Ariel Winter) is given the Valedictorian award in this week’s new episode. The bad news is that she has to share it – and the worst news is the person she has to share it with: her arch-enemy academic rival. There’s still a way to claim victory, though, and it’s a race to the finish – literally.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
6
 
 
In this episode, dreams to mount an independent movie are revived, thanks to the unexpected return of Cuba Gooding, Jr. The episode title, in another nod to the moviemaking meta-approach of this series, is itself also a movie title: “What Dreams May Come.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
6
 
 
The countdown continues, as David Letterman approaches his last weeks of shows. Tonight’s scheduled guests – and this sounds like a great roster – are Martin Short and Norah Jones. And for my appreciation of Letterman’s lengthy TV career, read and hear my report on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross website.