Tonight’s interview guest is Don McLean. As the 1970s began, McLean burst onto the scene with two fabulous, inescapable songs: “American Pie” and “Vincent.” Both of them had to do with the impact specific artists had on him – Buddy Holly in the first, Vincent Van Gogh in the second. I’d gladly watch an entire TV hour devoted to just those two songs, and tonight, I hope to.

2020

May

BOMBSHELL IN CONCERT By David Bianculli

If, like me, you liked the NBC series Smash, a fictional musical drama about the making of a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe, you’ll love this. The musical within the musical, eventually titled “Bombshell,” was supposed to be fictional too. But by the time Smash was over, enough songs had been written, and production numbers staged, for “Bombshell” to look like a tantalizing prospect for the actual stage. And that actually happened, once, w

2020

May

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS By David Bianculli

In tonight’s episode, an old acquaintance returns, visits, and moves in. And with this group of vampires, any old acquaintance is likely to be very, very old indeed.

2020

May

2002: THE END OF 'ALLY MCBEAL' By TV WW

This day in 2002 marked the final telecast of the Fox series, Ally McBeal...

2020

May

1994: 'L.A. LAW' ENDS AFTER EIGHT SEASONS By David Bianculli

L.A. Law ended its eight-season run on this day in 1994...

2020

May

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: ‘PBS FRONTLINE’ TAKES A STIRRING LOOK AT THE MEDICAL FRONT LINES AGAINST COVID-19 IN NORTHERN ITALY By Alex Strachan

Inside Italy’s COVID War isn’t just about the numbers. Far from. This is a deeply moving and personal story about life and death...

2020

May

PATTON OSWALT: I LOVE EVERYTHING By David Bianculli

SPECIAL PREMIERE: Patton Oswalt has gone through a lot since his previous standup special – he’s married again, for one thing. But in this solo standup act, recorded at Charlotte before the coronavirus began to spread, he doesn’t devote much time to that topic, or even to politics. “I don’t have any Trump material, that’s what I’m saying,” he says. Instead, he spends a few minutes on why he doesn’t joke about President Trump: &ldquo

2020

May

THE STORY OF SOAP By David Bianculli

Right now, television has every reason to look back fondly upon its past – because the present is not so bright, and the future is bleak. At this moment, though, ABC is doubling down on nostalgia, with a Garry Marshall salute last week and this salute to the soap opera tonight. The soaps began on radio, so this special actually is mourning a pair of formerly popular media enterprises. When the soaps migrated to television, the first generation of daily dramas was staid and somber – b

2020

May

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION By David Bianculli

Last year, to mark the silver anniversary of this inspirational film based on the Stephen King novella, Mark Dawidziak wrote a well-researched book titled The Shawshank Redemption Revealed: How One Story Keeps Hope Alive. It explains how director and screenwriter Frank Darabont, and actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, absolutely nailed their respective attempts to bring King’s story and characters to the screen. Have you seen The Shawshank Redemption before? If you&r

2020

May

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: "MR. TORNADO" By David Bianculli

Does the name Tetsuya Theodore Fujita ring a bell? It didn’t to me. But he’s the scientist who, more than anyone else, established the science behind severe storms. The measure of tornado damage intensity, the F-scale, is named after him. But his interest in the extent of the damage of cataclysmic events is not at all limited to weather patterns: He began by analyzing the reach and devastation of the nuclear explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Check local listings.

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