2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
2019
Feb
20
THE MASKED SINGER By David Bianculli
 
 
Two singers are unasked tonight, leaving the field to the final – and presumably most talented – three. Among the costumed singers still standing: Well, see for yourself…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
20
DOCUMENTARY NOW! By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Season 3 of this wildly eccentric, creatively obsessive comic parody of specific documentary films begins with Batshit Valley, a mashup tribute to two nature documentaries: Netflix’s Wild Wild Country and 2012’s The Source. Owen Wilson plays a cult leader (pictured), with Michael Keaton as someone hot on his trail. Seth Meyers wrote the script.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
20
PBS' 'NATURE' EXAMINES LIFE ON “THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION” IN ‘LIVING VOLCANOES’ By Alex Strachan
 
 
You could be forgiven if, asked how most of the victims in Pompeii died when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, you replied that they were asphyxiated by ash and poisonous gas...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
19
REHABBING SAMMY DAVIS JR. IN PBS' 'I'VE GOTTA BE ME' By Ed Bark
 
 
The complexities of Sammy Davis Jr. run far deeper than that hug of Richard Nixon or those deferential, knee-slapping, “with your kind permission” appearances on a variety of talk shows...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
19
THE GIFTED By David Bianculli
 
 
The issues that divided this show’s central family have been resolved, and now the common enemy has been identified. The problem is: At this point, is she too powerful to be overcome?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
19
THIS IS US By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, we finally learn more about Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and her family, including in this show’s secret-weapon narrative form, the extended flashback. One family member we meet tonight, in fact, is Beth’s mother, played by an actress, Phylicia Rashad, who already has played one of the most famous moms in TV history: Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
19
AMERICAN MASTERS: “SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I GOTTA BE ME” By David Bianculli
 
 
Sammy Davis Jr. seems to have been around show business forever – but he died at age 65, which, since I have lapped that age myself, now seems unsettlingly young. And yet, despite his Rat Pack associations, his killer TV variety show appearances, and his iconic photo-op kiss with Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Davis has never been the subject of a full-length artistic biography – until now. So even if it misses some cultural moments (Billy Crystal’s impersonation, for one
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
19
THE BIO OF A CAPTIVATING ENTERTAINER COMES TO PBS WITH 'SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I'VE GOTTA BE ME' By David Hinckley
 
 
There’s a compelling case that no entertainer of the 20th century could multitask better than Sammy Davis Jr...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
18
HIGH NOON By David Bianculli
 
 
Do not forget this, oh, my darling: It’s tonight’s TCM showing of the classic 1952 Western starring Gary Cooper as a man standing alone – a movie made at a time when its analogies were both obvious and powerful. Today, another reason to watch is to pay particular attention to Grace Kelly, who walked away from movie stardom to become a real-life princess. She did well by herself, inarguably, but I sometimes wonder what roles she may have played in the years since, and just how l
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Feb
18
THE PASSAGE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s episode in this modern vampire thriller is called: “I Want to Know What You Taste Like.” Which is an episodic title you might not otherwise encounter on TV this side of, say, NBC’s Hannibal.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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