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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

MIKE HUGHES

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
 
 
2018
Nov
9
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Another season gets added today to Netflix’s pantry of British Baking Show programs – a newer season, and thus not one of the classic and generally more beloved ones, but it arrives nonetheless. And this week, Netflix also added the show’s “origin” episodes, the very first season, called The Beginnings. So either way, new or old, if you’re fond of fondants, here you go again…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
9
GREAT PERFORMANCES: "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" By David Bianculli
 
 
This special on Great Performances is the U.S. premiere of a British IVT production that originally aired live there in 2015. That’s two years after NBC presented its own live telecast in 2013, starring Carrie Underwood, Stephen Moyer and Laura Benanti. In this U.K. version, Maria is played by Kara Tointon, and the Trapp family patriarch by Julian Oventon. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
9
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s scheduled roundtable guests are political strategist Cornell Belcher, BBC news anchor Katty Kay, and columnist Bret Stephens. And wait, that’s not all, not by any means: the midshow guest is Sarah Silverman, and Maher’s opening guest is author Bob Woodward (pictured).
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
9
ROOM 104 By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Series creators Mark and Jay Duplass are back with another season of this wide-ranging anthology series, whose common thread is a particular room in a particular, somewhat seedy motel. Except for flashbacks, everything takes place in that titular Room 104, and each time an episode (or the door) opens, you never know quite what you’re about to witness. Which is a large part of the fun here. Two new episodes are shown each Friday by HBO, starting tonight.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S ‘DYNASTIES’ PICKS UP WHERE ‘PLANET EARTH,’ ‘BLUE PLANET II’ LEFT OFF By Alex Strachan
 
 
The world is flat. We’re living in a wired global village, where a TV show that airs on one side of the planet can be seen anywhere else on Earth, virtually instantly, in real time...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
'THE CRY' IS A TAUT, DISTURBING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER By David Hinckley
 
 
The Cry may be the most gripping and unsettling portrayal of a woman on the edge since the first season of The Sinner...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
THE CRY By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Increasingly, more and more cable and network services are presenting streaming sister sites, which require monthly fees to watch – and as these services stack up, it takes more and more persuasion, and at least one really, really good TV show, to entice people to sample that service and add it to their viewing list (and monthly bill). In my opinion, today the Sundance Now streaming service does just that, by presenting a new four-part imported British miniseries calle
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, the gang tries to bond with Amy’s parents, played by Teller (of Penn and Teller) and Kathy Bates (currently raising hell on American Horror Story: Apocalypse). Wolowitz has a plan to win over Amy’s dad, in particular: card tricks.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
THE GOOD PLACE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s new episode of my favorite current TV comedy is called “The Worst Possible Use of Free Will.” I recommend you watch it, but hey: it’s up to you.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Nov
8
MURPHY BROWN By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, Murphy and her gang attend an awards ceremony, which makes room for a lot of guest stars, including John Larroquette, Bette Midler, and Katie Couric.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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