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

 
 
 
 
 
2017
Jun
7
 
 

Even in this digital age, on most newsstands you still can buy a printed magazine copy of TV Guide – and if you buy the issue on stands beginning today (June 7), covering June 12-25, you can read the inaugural entry by the magazine’s newest columnist. That would be me…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
3
 
 
Tonight’s new episode, “The Lie of the Land” (lie, not lay – get it?), concludes this unofficial trilogy story line about the menacing alien monks. In the first episode, the end of the Earth turned out to be an artificial test-run simulation before the monks’ actual invasion. In the second episode, the blinded Doctor (Peter Capaldi) regained his sight, but potentially at the loss of Earth for real. But tonight, the Doctor and his companions have one last chance to s
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
2
 
 

Thursday, I had an hour-long conversation with singer, songwriter, and author Janis Ian – and it was recorded for TV, connected with this weekend’s Rutgers University Writers’ Conference in New Brunswick. It was fun, and you can see it here…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
11
 
 

Today, May 11, Fresh Air with Terry Gross celebrates its thirtieth anniversary as a national public radio series on NPR. I’m proud, and a little amazed, to say I was there at the start, am still there today, and will be there tomorrow. Literally, because tomorrow I’m guest hosting...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
May
3
 
 

The recent death of filmmaker Jonathan Demme reminded me of one of my favorite early works of his – a comedy-drama special made for TV in 1982, and a show which most obituary writers and columnists had overlooked completely. But I thought, partly because of that, it warranted a second look…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Apr
6
 
 

Don Rickles has died, at age 90 – leaving behind a legacy of some hilarious TV clips from the 1960s and beyond. With Rickles, there are more personal elements as well: I remember fondly my Fresh Air interview with him in 2007, and Eric Gould, one of our TVWW editors, owes his very life to Don Rickles…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Mar
24
 
 
This week’s scheduled guests include MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who has interviewed Bill Maher on his own show in the past (pictured), but is showing up tonight on Real Time with a new book to promote – but who, this week, better be prepared to talk about a lot more than just that book…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
27
 
 

The climax of Sunday’s 89th Academy Awards on ABC was the most amazing ending in televised awards show history. It was also the biggest mistake in awards show history, by far. But before long, it also will become the most-viewed moment in Oscar history…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
4
 
 

Fifty years ago, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered on CBS and shook up TV seismically. And based on reader reaction to my Feb. 3, 2017 New York Times Op-Ed story about their show’s golden anniversary, the brothers, and their show, continue to be much appreciated…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
4
 
 
I haven’t seen a preview of this show – but since Fox is the official network showing the Super Bowl this year, I’m very curious about how this special intends to handle the most infamous Super Bowl halftime show of all. Well, maybe “handle” is the wrong word. But will this Fox special be sufficiently fair and balanced to recount the furor surrounding Janet Jackson’s unexpected unveiling at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004? Or, since CBS got in so much trouble for b
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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.

 
 
 
 

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