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

 
 
2016
Mar
9
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new series from WGN America is about the Underground Railroad – a fabulous subject for a series or miniseries. The topic is covered from three angles, from the perspectives of slaves in the 1850s seeking freedom, from a pair of white northerners helping to shelter runaway slaves, and from a white loner also sympathetic to the cause of slaves wishing to be free. Eventually, their paths, and these stories, intersect, and there are some strong performances along the way:
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
9
 
 

For Kevin Doyle, Happy Valley is anything but happy. He’s fine with that. After six years as Mr. Molesley, the skittish and neurotic but strangely endearing footman on Downton Abbey, Doyle resurfaces March 16...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
I’ve been keeping my eye on both American Idol and The Voice this spring, and while Idol has generated some memorable moments from returning guest stars (especially Kelly Clarkson, who became overcome with emotion while singing her farewell song to the series), it’s The Voice that has been more entertaining overall, at least to this point. But Idol gets stronger as it nears the end of each cycle, while The Voice tends to get weaker. So stay tuned, for now, to both. But on The Voice,
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
Zooey Deschanel is back from maternity leave, so tonight her Jess returns to the roost. And the new New Girl now in the roost, played by Megan Fox, meets Jess face to face, and probably won’t be staying long. But Fox – the actress, not the network – did such a good job here that she’ll probably be offered more sitcom roles, and more TV roles in general, which didn’t seem to be where her career path was headed.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This final, expanded show of the season features Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman, both of whose pasts include stories of tragic deaths. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
MIDSEASON RETURN: Now that Agent Carter has come and gone for the year, sister series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back – with a new urgency, but some of the same enemies, as the battle between good and evil gets even more fierce.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
Episode 6. This is the last of the episodes of this series that was sent out by FX for preview – and it’s the best of them all, focusing on Marcia Clark as she moves forward in the trial, dealing with adversaries of all types. That’s not only across the aisle, from the defense table, but people within her own office, and, most of all, from the media. The episode is called “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” and Sarah Paulson, in this role and especially on this night, is a vi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
8
 
 
Since we’ve hit the time of year when TV networks are well into deciding what will live or die, I thought I might throw out a couple of personal requests...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
7
 
 
This is the half of the season, it appears, when characters on both sides of the law are stepping up to make new changes. Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) intends to fight his way out of incarceration, and back into control of Gotham’s mean streets. Meanwhile, young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) begins to train seriously as the youngster who will become Batman – or, for now, Batboy.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Mar
7
 
 
These early rounds of The Voice are the most entertaining, and the best – and NBC clearly is aware of this, because this week it’s squeezing three consecutive nights out of The Voice, starting tonight. That’s six hours, fully two-thirds of NBC’s schedule between now and Wednesday, and no one gets more screen time, or a career bump, than the judges. For this tenth cycle, the judges returning from last time are Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams, and replacing