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

 
 
2017
Dec
21
 
 
Sometimes, with this cute sitcom, all you need is the episode’s title to make you want to tune in. That’s the case tonight, for sure, with tonight’s episode, in which Sheldon is asked, or bribed, to tutor his less intellectually gifted older brother. The show’s title: “Spock, Kirk, and Testicular Hernia.”  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
20
 
 
South Park collects some of its most memorable holiday episodes – wholly appropriate, since the entire South Park series and phenomenon sprouted unexpectedly but virally from a Christmas holiday short film, distributed on VHS in a sort of pre-You Tube frenzy. Starting this afternoon, a lot of them are shown, back-to-back, throughout prime time. That’s a lot of Mr. Hankeys, so don’t poo-poo this Christmas mini-marathon’s popularity.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
20
 
 
Tonight’s new installment of Nova is called “Bird Brain,” and looks at old and new studies of avian creatures to determine whether their intelligence has been collectively and individually underestimated. I’m guessing studies by Pavlov and Skinner, training pigeons to do simple tasks, will be part of this narrative – but don’t feel bad if those studies, and names, don’t ring a bell. Nova will explain it all for you, I’m sure. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
20
 
 
MINISERIES CONCLUSION: Part 3 of 3. As the “Farm Film Report” critics used to say on SCTV, this miniseries “blows up real good.” Kit Harington from Game of Thrones stars in the conclusion of this three-part miniseries import from the BBC, tracing the origins of the rebellious movement known as Guy Fawkes Day… a.k.a, 1605 London’s “Gunpowder Plot.” Harington plays Robert Catesby, the scheme’s major planner.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
20
 
 
Anything in the news this week catch your eye, Samantha Bee? A newly passed major piece of tax legislation, perhaps?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
19
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Netflix is carpet-bombing so many new series, miniseries and movies onto its platform these days that it’s easy to let some of them slip away. But some of this year’s very best series have come from Netflix, including Godless and Mindhunter – and today, a four-part miniseries premieres that may never even pop up as a promoted new arrival, forcing you to search for it. But seek and ye shall find a very entertaining series, in the same delightful fish-out-of-
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
19
 
 
From now until Christmas Day night, BBC America is working its way through the modern era of Doctor Who, leading up to the new episode introducing the new Doctor. The retrospective begins this morning with some of the 2006 episodes starring David Tennant as the titular time-traveler, back when his TARDIS companion was played by Billie Piper.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
19
 
 
CYCLE FINALE: The winner of this latest cycle of The Voice is revealed tonight – and I stand firm in my prediction that this go-round of The Voice has belonged, from the start, to the youngsters. And after last night’s final performances, while all four finalists performed impressively, I still figure Chloe Kohanski, who closed her night with a husky cover of “Bette Davis Eyes,” to be crowned the winner. Although she has some fairly stiff competition from Addison Agen, wh
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
19
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Part 2 of 3. Kit Harington from Game of Thrones continues to star in this three-part miniseries import from the BBC, tracing the origins of the rebellious movement known as Guy Fawkes Day. Harington plays Robert Catesby, the major force behind the Gunpowder Plot in London in 1605.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Dec
19
 
 
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: Sam Kinison died 25 years ago, at age 38, but he’s still remembered, mostly fondly, as a standup comedian with a short fuse, and an ability to rage that makes Lewis Black look sedated. This documentary looks back at his life and career, and in retrospect, his act’s misogyny and anger may seem particularly out of touch with today’s sensibility. But Kinison also was a genuinely funny fellow, as when he roared at, and against, victims of world hunger, particu