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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

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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
 
 
2017
Apr
7
THE BEACH BOYS: MAKING 'PET SOUNDS' By David Bianculli
 
 
Midway through the Sixties, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys loved what The Beatles had done with their groundbreaking album Rubber Soul, and decided to break some ground of his own. The result, after months of painstaking songwriting and studio work, was the 1966 LP Pet Sounds, which included such classic, beautiful songs as “God Only Knows,” “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” “Wouldn’t It be Nice” and “Sloop John B.” This new documen
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
7
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Every week, my head spins at the headlines. This week, my head didn’t so much spin as revolve like a top. One hundred years to the day after the U.S. declared war on Germany, President Donald Trump authorized the firing of cruise missiles at Syria, in retribution of the apparent deployment of chemical weapons by Syria against its own people. It was a marked, and remarkable, about-face for the current administration, and a military follow-through of a type that former President Barack Obama
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
7
DON JON By David Bianculli
 
 
On the same day Amazon presents a new documentary series about Hugh Hefner, The Movie Channel presents the 2013 movie Don Jon, a movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a modern playboy so devoted to being not devoted to women, he earns the nickname “Don Jon.” But Scarlett Johansson co-stars, and in her, he may have met his match – even if a match is the last thing he’s seeking.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
MANY REASONS TO LOVE NETFLIX'S 'LOVE' By Bill Brioux
 
 

Season Two of the Judd Apatow-produced Netflix rom-com dropped less than a month ago. A third season has already been ordered...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
SPRING HOPES ETERNAL WITH THE MASTERS By Gerald Jordan
 
 
If buying a TV is on your shopping list, then this is the week to accelerate the process. It’s Masters Week...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
Sheldon (Jim Parsons) may not work well with others on a normal basis, but somehow he’s found himself collaborating, on several different fronts, with several members of his inner circle. That might smooth, or at least improve, some of his social skills – but not when they’re all demanding his time at the same time, and adding to his stress level.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
THE EXORCIST By David Bianculli
 
 
The recent Fox remake of the 1973 film vindicated itself nicely with its first season, complicating and adding to the story told by novelist and screenwriter William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin in the original movie. But with Cinemax offering an unedited and uninterrupted showing, in prime time, of the original article, it’s too good an offer to ignore. Next year, The Exorcist will be 45 years old – but it’s still one of the scariest movies ever made. Ellen Burst
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
RIVERDALE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s episode has Archie accompanying Cheryl on one of Riverdale’s big local events: the start of maple syrup season, when the locals go out into the woods to tap the trees. On any other teen soap, such a plot might be considered, uh, sappy…  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
THE CRYING GAME By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the 25th anniversary of this gripping character study, written and directed by Neil Jordan. It shocked moviegoers back then, and if you don’t know the film’s central secret, it’ll be just as dramatic today – but its surprise will end up being a lot more topical, and less ahead of its time, than it was in 1992. Forest Whitaker plays Jody, a British soldier kidnapped and interrogated by IRA terrorists Fergus and Jude, played respectively by Stephen Rea and Miranda R
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
WHEN THE INSULTS WERE REVERSED By Eric Gould
 
 
Insult comic king Don Rickles passed away today (April 6, 2017), and YouTube is full of riotous Rickles moments throughout his 50-year comedy career...  Rickles appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show over 100 times, and this clip from 1976 veers from the usual fare of Rickles loose in the hen house...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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