DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

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MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2016
Dec
11
 
 
This new ABC special actually is pulled from the Blu-Ray DVD of Frozen – one of the many extras, in which cast members host a behind-the-scenes look at the origins and development of the original Snow Queen story and its animated Disney adaptation. Since Disney owns ABC, this entire night of TV has a sheen of product placement or corporate synergy to it. But hey, as I said before: let it go.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
11
 
 
Okay, okay, we’re sold. We believe it. Game of Thrones has nothing on Shakespeare...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
10
 
 
This 1964 Disney movie musical is a delightful little film treat, if decidedly oddball. There’s those weird animated penguins and lambs, and Dick Van Dyke’s crazy cockney accent – but there’s also Julie Andrews, who was only 29 years old when she starred as the parasol-sporting nanny and made a perfect musical companion piece to her cinematic starring role in another family musical, The Sound of Music. If you have young ones around, I’d highly recommend watching thi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
10
 
 
This holiday TV special, narrated and with the theme song sung by Burl Ives, was made way, way back in 1964, and has been repeated annually for more than 50 years. So it seems a little churlish, perhaps, to point out that this particular Rudolph special already has been televised by CBS in prime time this season – on November 29, just a few days after Thanksgiving. Or that the special that follows it tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS, 1969’s Frosty the Snowman, also has been shown alrea
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
10
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Whatever’s going on here, in this wildly strange detective story, will be wrapped up tonight. Just don’t expect too tight a bow, or too concrete an ending. After all, the realities presented in Dirk Gently have shifted several times as it is. Besides, BBC America has renewed this series for a Season 2 – so it’s not ending soon, period.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
10
 
 
Last week, when Tom Hanks was one of the guests, he told Graham Norton, quite accurately, that American TV talk shows were stealing from Norton’s approach left and right. They are – but no one is doing it as effectively, or entertainingly, as the original, who always finds ways not only to put his celebrity guests at ease, but to get them to interact playfully. Tonight’s scheduled guests include Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Jamie Oliver, and will.i.am.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
10
 
 
Tonight’s guest host, on this new edition, is John Cena. Musical guest: Maren Morris. Not an all-star lineup, to be sure, but there it is. And for me, the star of tonight’s show will be, or ought to be, Alec Baldwin, whose guest-star president-elect impersonation reliably Trumps any other comedy sketch being presented here.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
9
 
 
On the surface, the new Netflix docuseries Captive looks like the kind of crime-themed revisitation that we regularly see on Dateline, 48 Hours and various reality shows...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
9
 
 
Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, previously one of the coolest shows around, remains one of the coolest shows around...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
9
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: It’s Season 3 for this likable Amazon series about an orchestra and its behind-the-scenes travails and triumphs. Gael Garcia Bernal continues to shine like an imperious star – so perfect for his role as a self-obsessed conductor – and this year, even the scenery is an upgrade. Many of the episodes are set in Venice. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.