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

 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
ABC is filled to the brim with mom, dad, and the kids sitcoms. On current-day Fox, though, they need not apply unless they’re cartoons...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
It’s one of TV’s more inexplicable yet wonderful annual traditions: a New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day marathon showing of The Twilight Zone on the Syfy network, selecting different episodes each year from the amazing canon of half-hours and hours from the Rod Serling canon. Because of this annual exposure, this program, more than any other Golden Age TV classic, retains familiarity among members of the new generation – at least if my students at Rowan University a
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
Now that American Idol is over, this annual ball-dropping bash may well become the brightest jewel in Ryan Seacrest’s crown – the thing that cements him as his generation’s Dick Clark, which, given Seacrest’s proclivity with TV production, clearly is a goal. ABC turns over a lot of time to this host, and this special, including three hours of prime time, and, after the local news, the countdown clincher beginning at 11:30 p.m. ET. Jenny McCarthy continues in her role as l
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
Every year at this time, Anderson Cooper puts his reputation on the line, and watches with inexplicable amusement as co-host Kathy Griffin tightropes on that line on live television, threatening to say something that will be among the first newsworthy quotes of the new year.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
If you want to end the year with good song, good cheer, and good dancing, it’s hard to envision a better place than TCM, which presents a marathon of all the That’s Entertainment! movie compilations of the best singing and dancing moments from MGM musicals. Gotta sing! Gotta dance! Gotta watch…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
This is the first year NBC has found time to work Seth Meyers into its New Year’s Eve mix. Let’s see what he does with it – and with such guests as Leslie Jones and Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson is scheduled to perform her song from The Hamilton Mixtape, so that’s one reason to tune in right there.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
Fox’s answer to a televised New Year’s Eve party is to have Pitbull as ringleader again, in a concert broadcast live from Miami. Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg are the official hosts this year, with such guests as Nelly and Coolio.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
With his profile upped considerably by The Voice, Carson Daly gets to host NBC’s prime New Year’s Eve slot again this year – but it’s something he’s been doing for 14 years, long before The Voice. This year his cohost is Mel B., and the performers scheduled to ring in the New Year include Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and even some performers who didn’t judge on The Voice this year.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
You hate to say this, for several reasons, but it can’t be avoided: Television’s worst big-league villain this year was Negan on The Walking Dead...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
 
 
You will excuse anyone who thinks the new Fox series The Mick could have been titled Aunt Buck...