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

 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 

I love quality TV as much as the next guy. More than the next guy, probably. But on Sunday nights, even I find myself saying enough is enough. Or, maybe, too much…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: One of the few new bright spots on broadcast TV last season, Once Upon a Time took its fairy-tale premise, and its Disney imprimatur, and emerged with the best mythic mystery series since Lost. That enchanting season ended with a cliffhanger, as all the residents of Storybrooke were freed from their amnesiac spells, and Mr. Gold – a.k.a. Rumpelstiltskin – enveloped the town with a mysterious purple mist. What will the mist do? Tonight’s Season 2 opener, obvious
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Everyone who enjoyed Downton Abbey should make a special effort to catch this new British import, which begins a six-week run tonight on PBS. This BBC production is set in London’s East End in the 1950s – the same time and place that, in England, inspired the long-running soap opera EastEnders. But the focus this time, based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, is a woman who worked as a midwife in the poor section of London in the Fifties. Young Jessica Raine plays the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last season, we learned that the dangerous man chasing Kalinda, and now Alicia, was Kalinda’s husband. Tonight we find out more about him – and meet him in the flesh, rather than as a scary voice on the phone.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last season ended with Dexter’s sister, Debra, witnessing her brother plunging a sword into the torso of the Doomsday Killer. The new season begins where that left off, with Debra holding a gun on Dexter and demanding an explanation. Talk quickly, Dex. For a full review of this season premiere, and of Homeland, see or hear my report on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last week at this time, Showtime’s Homeland was racking up one Emmy win after another. This week, it begins Season 2, and immediately proves that those wins were no fluke. Six months have passed in the narrative since we last saw Carrie (Claire Danes) and Brody (Damian Lewis), but this first episode of the season gets us, and them, up to speed in no time. For a full review, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
 
 
On this day in 1960, ABC introduced The Flintstones, TV's most popular Stone Age family...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
 
 
The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert challenged his guest, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, to a “Meth Off,” to see just how many street names for methamphetamines the showrunner could recall...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
 
 
Coming late to the Homeland party, or just want a refresher? Basking in its multiple Emmy wins for this stellar drama series, Showtime has decided to preface tomorrow’s Season 2 premiere by giving viewers a chance to watch all of Season 1 in a conveniently scheduled 12-hour, 12-episode marathon. It starts at noon ET, ends at midnight, and includes 12 hours of fabulous television. For my review of the Season 2 premiere, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
 
 
BBC America has been presenting Doctor Who specials almost weekly, and here’s another one. This one is a nod to all the times the Doctor has steered his Tardis to somewhere (and somewhen) in the United States, from Central Park to the wild wild West.