2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2014
Nov
7
DETOUR By David Bianculli
 
 
This low-budget 1945 film noir launches TCM’s November series of Friday-night road movies – and what a start. Tom Neal stars as a hitchhiker who catches a ride, and maybe a break: The driver dies suddenly, offering an alternate identity to be adopted. But then, as another hitchhiker, along comes Ann Savage, and all bets are off, all claws are out, and Detour takes its characters on quite a twisting, and twisted, ride.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
7
CONSTANTINE By David Bianculli
 
 
The premiere episode of this new NBC series, based on a DC Comics character, was a dreary mess. Last week’s follow-up episode was an obvious reboot, trying to inject a lighter, Elementary-type flavor by pairing him with an evil-hunting partner, Zed, played by Anjelica Celaya. Didn’t help. So tonight, for episode three, what’s left to try? I know: Giving up and changing the channel.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
7
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Given the results of the midterm elections, Bill Maher is bound to be in quite a mood – especially when he reveals the final results of his season-long “Flip a District” campaign. But amid all the political post-mortem, there also are guests to welcome, including Lisa Kudrow, whose The Comeback comes back, after almost a decade in hibernation, this weekend on HBO.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
7
THE FOO FIGHTERS: SONIC HIGHWAYS By David Bianculli
 
 
Last weeks episode on Nashville was quite interesting, showing a range of talents and influences, and ending with one of the best songs yet from the Foo Fighters’ location-inspired Sonic Highways album. Up tonight: another location. Specifically, Austin,. TX, where stops include the Austin City Limits studio.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
7
1976: 'GONE WITH THE WIND' MAKES ITS BROADCAST TV APPEARANCE By Christy Slewinski
 
 
Today in 1976, the epic 1939 film Gone with the Wind made its broadcast television debut on NBC...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
6
1967: 'THE PHIL DONAHUE SHOW' LAUNCHES By Christy Slewinski
 
 
Before Oprah, there was Phil. And it was on this day in 1967 that Phil Donahue debuted his eponymous talk show in Dayton, Ohio...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
6
BULL DURHAM By David Bianculli
 
 
Baseball is over until next spring, but in the cinema, baseball springs eternal. Here’s one of the best baseball movies ever made, starring Kevin Costner as a veteran catcher, Tim Robbins as a rookie pitcher – and Susan Sarandon as the woman who’s attracted to them both, but only under certain conditions.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
6
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
On tonight’s episode, the gang decides to go up on the roof – and stage a prom. Not everyone thinks that’s a good idea… but there’s at least one person who loves the idea.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
6
GRACEPOINT By David Bianculli
 
 
Emmett and Ellie (David Tennant, Anna Gunn) work together, trying to retrace the steps of young David the night he died. Starting with tonight’s episode, this miniseries, patterned after the British miniseries Broadchurch, veers off onto its own path. From now on, according to the show’s producers, the story – even the solution to the murder – will be different. So if you’ve been avoiding this Fox series because you’ve seen Broadchurch already, maybe it’
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
6
WHITE COLLAR By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This USA series is beginning its final season – and if it takes advantage of that advance warning, can build towards its finale with a sense of purpose. Or, at least, a sense of direction.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley