The day I launched this website, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. Less than a week later, the Local One union of stagehands went on strike in New York. Both strikes are still going on strong - which means, among other things, that Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention," scheduled to have its opening night tonight on Broadway, isn't. His drama about TV has, in effect, been turned off...

2007

Nov

GATHER YE TV SHOWS WHILE YE MAY By David Bianculli

You know that feeling, in the middle of May, when you're watching the last few first-run installments of your favorite shows - and feel a little sad because you know you're going to have to wait four months to see them again? Just into the second week of the strike, I feel the same way. Actually, I feel worse...

2007

Nov

IS THERE QUARTERLIFE AFTER TELEVISION? YES. By David Bianculli

Today, on its own website called www.quarterlife.com, a new TV series, also called "Quarterlife," is scheduled to be unveiled. Actually, it was unveiled yesterday as a sneak preview on MySpace -- where, as I watched on my laptop that afternoon, a MySpace counter announced that "Quarterlifehas 856 friends..."

2007

Nov

AARON THE STRIKE OUT KING By David Bianculli

The Aaron in the title doesn't refer to baseball legend Hank Aaron - but to stage, screen and TV writer Aaron Sorkin. His "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" series folded after its freshman season, but on other fronts, the prolific and gifted writer seemed set, with a new Broadway play opening this Wednesday...

2007

Nov

THOSE WERE THE (SATUR)DAYS By David Bianculli

The writers' strike is going to make it trickier to find six outstanding TV recommendations each night, especially as the networks begin stockpiling scripted series like nuts for the winter. (If the producers don't settle the strike soon, they're the nuts - but I digress.) Except for "Saturday Night Live" being relegated to reruns, though, tonight's TV lineup pretty much is the same as it would have been pre-strike...

2007

Nov

THE PLAY'S THE THING By David Bianculli

The new Broadway play by Aaron Sorkin, "The Farnsworth Invention," opens next week. When it does open, I'll be reviewing it for NPR's Fresh Air, because it's got TV written all over it, and couldn't be more in my wheelhouse...

2007

Nov

STRIKE ONE! STRIKE TWO By David Bianculli

The last time there was a writers' strike in Hollywood - meaning show biz rather than geography, since it hits New York as well - it was in 1988, it lasted just over 22 weeks, and it was writers vs. producers, while the networks sat by as concerned bystanders. The net result was that about 10 percent of the broadcast TV networks' audience defected to cable and never looked back...

2007

Nov

UP AND CYBER-RUNNING By David Bianculli

This is the third day of TV WORTH WATCHING. After all those decades of being a TV critic, I can't help but think of the launch of the website in terms of the launch of a new TV series. You plan for months to craft a "pilot," then have to turn right around and churn out additional episodes - all while having no idea whether your project will attract enough viewers to survive...

2007

Nov

DAY ONE, OF BOTH THE WEBSITE AND THE WRITERS' STRIKE By David Bianculli

I worked so hard, along with website co-conspirators Chris Spurgeon and Eric Gould, to launch this website on schedule - the day my farewell column would run in the New York Daily News - that I never thought about how I would feel when the day finally arrived...

2007

Nov

OUT TO LAUNCH By David Bianculli

Welcome to the official launch of TV WORTH WATCHING, a website devoted to the discovery, discussion and dissemination of quality television. The fact that it comes into existence at midnight on November 5 - the very moment the writers in Hollywood threatened to strike - is pure, goofy coincidence. TV, it is the firm position of this website, is better when it's written...

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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.