I know, this isn‘t TV. But it’s related to TV – and unless I launch a website called Radio Worth Hearing (don’t hold your breath), this is as close as I get. Today on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the show is featuring a long 50th anniversary piece on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It’s one of the longest and most complex pieces I’ve ever done for Fresh Air, and special thanks to my producer, Phyllis Myers, for crafting it so skillfully – a

2017

Feb

THE GRAPES OF WRATH By David Bianculli

John Steinbeck’s novel swept the nation as a blistering depiction of, and reaction to, the Great Depression – and this 1940 movie, starring Henry Fonda, certainly bears another viewing these days, when joblessness, corporate financial heartlessness and environmental abuse are anything but ancient news. But also watch to admire the work of John Ford, the most celebrated director in Hollywood history, whose reputation needs and deserves to be established anew for the present generation

2017

Feb

SMOKEY ROBINSON: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE FOR POPULAR SONG By David Bianculli

SPECIAL: This year’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song special goes to Smokey Robinson, who really has written an amazing number of memorable hit songs. When it comes to giving him this honor, I second that emotion. Check local listings.

2017

Feb

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli

Can’t miss this one: This week’s scheduled guests include Minnesota Sen. Al Franken (pictured in an earlier appearance with Maher), comic Jim Jefferies, and, as the roundtable panelists, activist Karine Jean-Pierre, talk-show host Piers Morgan, and filmmaker John Waters.

2017

Feb

TV CHEFS SHOULD TO STICK TO BOILING WATER, NOT WALKING ON IT By Tom Brinkmoeller

I watch a lot of cooking shows, so it’s time to list some of the foolishness that parades through many of the commercial and non-commercial cooking programs that over-populate our TV set...

2017

Feb

COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: What a perfect little streaming series this is. And by “little,” I’m not insulting the show, but praising its laser-focused beauty. Every episode is just Jerry Seinfeld, picking up his week’s guest in a vintage car, going somewhere to eat or drink, and chatting amiably. No audience. No promotions for upcoming projects. Just talk and laughter, making this arguably the purest of all talk shows. It’s such a precise concept, and Seinfeld is so revered and

2017

Feb

RIVERDALE By David Bianculli

This new treatment of the Archie comics universe really goes in a different direction this week, in an episode about Internet bullying and the “shaming” of several Riverdale high school girls. One of them, new Riverdale arrival Veronica (Camila Mendes), becomes an angry activist. Another student, Betty (Lili Reinhart), just becomes angry. In fact, blonde Betty channels the spirit of her late sister Polly, and goes brunette, sexy, and very, very vengeful (pictured).

2017

Feb

THE HISTORY OF COMEDY By David Bianculli

DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES PREMIERE: Sean Hayes is one of the executive producers behind this new documentary series, which looks at various aspects of the development of comedy – standup and otherwise. Episode one is called “Going Blue.” Appreciate, in this hour, the daring thoughts, and words, of George Carlin (pictured), whose Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television include at least three that are now okay on basic cable. Also saluted: Richard Pryor and the godfather of come

2017

Feb

BASKETS By David Bianculli

In this week’s episode, Chip (Zach Galifianakis) takes a road trip to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and becomes exposed to the man’s legacy. Chip’s reaction: He tossed away a fine film career for a boring desk job.

2017

Feb

LIP SYNC BATTLE By David Bianculli

Actress Sarah Hyland, who plays one of the “kids” on ABC’s Modern Family, is 26 now. On the sitcom, her character of Haley Dunphy is fighting to be seen, and treated, as a grown-up. But as a guest on tonight’s Lip Sync Battle, she doesn’t have to fight. She just has to dance, and pretend to sing, to the Pussycat Dolls song “Don’t Cha.” I mention it not as a sign of feminist progress, but as a passionate enthusiast of TV evolution.

Posts 131-140 of 199

13 14 15 16 17

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption