Father's Day is Sunday, and this year, it seems, it's a day to wallow in nostalgia, on or about TV. Sunday night offers competing prime-time awards shows: "The Tony Awards" on CBS, featuring an amazing competition among Broadway musical revivals, and the "TV Land Awards," a nonstop stroll down TV's memory lane...

2008

Jun

"CELEBRITY CIRCUS" ANOTHER BIG (TOP) NETWORK EMBARRASSMENT By David Bianculli

Even when I come to new series with apprehension, I'm prepared, and often hoping, to be pleasantly surprised. And I must admit that NBC's "Celebrity Circus," which premiered last night and was unavailable for preview because it was performed live, wasn't as bad as I expected. It was worse...

2008

Jun

NBC'S "CELEBRITY CIRCUS": ANOTHER SUCKER-BORN-EVERY-MINUTE MOVE By David Bianculli

Tonight at 9:30 ET, NBC proudly presents its latest reality-TV competition show, "Celebrity Circus." I say "proudly," because here it is, occupying valuable prime time at a time when network TV desperately needs to attract viewers, not repel them...

2008

Jun

"SOAP" NAVIGATES SLIPPERY SLOPE OF OVERPOPULATED DVD BOXED SETS By David Bianculli

At the start of the 21st century, releasing TV series on DVD seemed like a gold mine so rich, so deep, the vein would never run dry. Less than a decade later, there still are plenty of old television series to be repackaged and sold -- but already, there's a serious problem. So many shows -- so little shelf space...

2008

Jun

ONE GOOD SIDE EFFECT OF THE WRITERS' STRIKE: SUMMER TV DOCUMENTARIES By David Bianculli

There aren't many good side effects to the 2007-08 writers' strike, but one is just starting to become evident. A wealth of quality documentaries has been scheduled for summer -- some as ongoing recurring series, others scheduled to help fill the holes caused by a lack of scripted programming...

2008

Jun

NEW CBS DRAMA TAKES "SYBIL" LIBERTIES By David Bianculli

In 1976, Sally Field -- who, at the time, was all but dismissed as the cutie from TV's "Gidget" -- grabbed the brass ring by playing a series of distinctly different characters in the psychological miniseries "Sybil," based on an actual case of what then was called multiple personality disorder. This weekend, 32 years later, CBS presents a new version... very, very quietly...

2008

Jun

"SWINGTOWN" LANGUISHES ON CBS, "FEAR ITSELF" SURPRISES ON NBC By David Bianculli

Tonight marks the arrival of two new series on the broadcast networks, and they couldn't be more different. One is "Swingtown," a CBS drama that tries to mine the free-love 1970s for nostalgia and shock value; the other is "Fear Itself," an NBC attempt to revive the near-dead anthology drama series...

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