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

 
 
2008
Aug
16
 
 
You had to see it to believe it, and even after seeing it -- from several angles and speeds -- believing it wasn't easy. But last night, by one-hundredth of a second, Michael Phelps somehow found a way to win gold, tie Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold medal record, and set the stage for tonight's unprecedented opportunity...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
15
 
 
Tonight is Michael Phelps' penultimate Olympics event, his last individual one, and the one in which he faces a competitor who, rather than he, holds the world record. The race is televised live in prime time tonight on NBC, and the audience ought to be huge...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
14
 
 
So far, NBC's prime-time coverage of the XXIX Summer Olympics has averaged more than 31 million viewers. That's a huge number that's bound to get even bigger, because this weekend, if Michael Phelps makes it to the point of eclipsing swimmer Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold-medal record, the number of viewers drawn to their TV sets should be astronomical...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
12
 
 
Excuse me for being excited about this, but there's no hiding my enthusiasm or pride here. After decades as one of the last important TV series never released on home video, the influential 1967-69 "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" is finally being released...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
11
 
 
OLYMPICS-swimming-lanes.jpg Sunday night's NBC prime-time telecast of the XXIX Olympic Games -- part live, part replayed from hoarded video coverage -- was nothing short of fabulous. The U.S. athletes shone in some events, faltered in others and barely missed in still others, but NBC, in its first weekend of Olympics coverage, has been a winner all the way...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
9
 
 
The opening ceremony of the XIX Summer Olympics was a transcendent TV event. Every time you think the Chinese couldn't top themselves, they did. "A picture is worth a thousand words," usually cited as an ancient Chinese proverb, actually isn't ancient or Chinese at all. But with the Olympics opening ceremony handled so stunningly by China, only an annotated photo album does the evening, or the NBC telecast, justice. So here goes...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
8
 
 
Normally on TV WORTH WATCHING, I'm describing and recommending things to watch, and where to find them. For the Olympic Games, since they're spread so far and wide over cable, broadcast and the Internet, I've decided to reverse the traffic flow...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
7
 
 
I'm really glad Diane Werts wrote all about the Olympics coverage and where to find it, even on the Internet, so I didn't have to. Her comprehensive rundown, and instruction manual, was written for TV WORTH WATCHING, and can be found here...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
6
 
 
With two days to go until China hosts the Summer Olympics, ABC devotes tonight's edition of Primetime (10 ET) to a thoughtful, valuable special, hosted by Bob Woodruff, called "China: Inside Out"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
5
 
 
"P.O.V." documentary on Johnny Cash is nothing new. In fact, it's something pretty old -- filmed in 1968 and 1969, the time in which he married June Carter, released his famous concert album recorded at Folsom Prison, and was honored as Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association...