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

 
 
2021
Jan
9
 
 
Pete Davidson of Saturday Night Live stars in this 2020 movie, one of the first to bypass theaters and go straight to a TV “home” movie premiere. Judd Apatow directs, and co-wrote with Davidson, whose co-stars include Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, and Steve Buscemi.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Hailee Steinfeld returns as Emily Dickinson for Season 2 of this aggressively anachronistic period piece. It’s an examination of celebrity and ambition, artistic angst, and sexism that has fun mixing old and new: this season, when someone close to the poet begins spreading word of Emily’s literary output, that person is referred to by Emily, admirably, as “an influencer.” The first three episodes of Season 2 drop today on Apple TV+, with the remaining epi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This nonfiction series presents a series of conversations with author and outspoken New Yorker Fran Lebowitz. Some were taped, over the years, at live pre-pandemic appearances in which she converses in front of an audience with the likes of Spike Lee and Toni Morrison. The remainder are new, presenting casual conversations in which she discusses New York, and sometimes herself, with longtime friend Martin Scorsese, who also directs. HBO showcased Lebowitz similarly in 2010&rsquo
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
Today’s episode of Jeopardy! is the final episode hosted by Alex Trebek, and is structured to include some forms of tribute to his popularity, impact and longevity. Trebek died of pancreatic cancer Nov. 8, 2020, after hosting the revival of the game show steadily since 1984. This episode was taped Oct. 29, little more than a week before his death, making this installment a poignant one not to miss. The syndicated show appears at different times and on different channels in separa
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
The laughs reliably provided by Graham Norton’s show are sorely, sorely needed this week, so I can’t wait to see how Tom Hanks makes fellow Graham Norton Show guest Emily Blunt collapse with laughter.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
Curtis Harrington directed this somewhat neglected 1967 thriller, which stars a pre-Godfather James Caan, and a just-pre-Graduate Katharine Ross, as a wealthy, somewhat twisted couple who engage in increasingly elaborate and sinister mind games. Simone Signoret co-stars as someone else drawn into the “fun,” which descends quickly into the macabre, and possibly even to murder. Games rarely is televised, so take this late-night opportunity to watch or record it.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
8
 
 
On this day in 2004, Survivor producer Mark Burnett brought his successful elimination-style format to the boardroom with the reality game show, The Apprentice...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
7
 
 
On this day in 1982, NBC introduced the drama, Fame, a series spun from the same-name 1980 film...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
7
 
 
That long-awaited 30 Rock spinoff, after a few detours, has finally gyrated its way to television...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
7
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Ted Danson is back, in a series created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock of 30 Rock – and it’s very funny. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and my appreciation of Danson’s long and impressive comedy career on television, visit the Fresh Air website. And for full reviews here at TVWW, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Mike Hughes' Open Mike.