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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
May
9
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK By David Bianculli
 
 
Australian actress Jacki Weaver, the mom in Silver Linings Playbook, hosts this month’s Friday night salute to movies from her native land – and tonight, the tribute begins with what, for her, is a very personal representative.  She has a small role in this 1975 film, playing a young maid, in a moody mystery story about a school outing that results in the disappearance of a group of young girls and their teacher. Peter Weir directed this chilling little movie almost 40 years ago
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s most familiar guest is one whom Maher has featured on his comedy talk shows for years – long before she became a new-media tycoon. In fact, the two once filed a joint election-year report for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The guest: Arianna Huffington.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
THE LAST WAVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Another Peter Weir film classic from Australia, this one, from 1977, stars Richard Chamberlain as a lawyer defending five Aborigines charged with committing a ritual murder. The plot may sound straightforward – but the film itself, and where it leads, is anything but.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
HILL STREET BLUES (THE COMPLETE SERIES) By David Bianculli
 
 
This 1981-87 NBC cop show would have been given a DVD Seal of Approval a long time ago except it’s never been released in its entirety until now...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
HORROR OF HORRORS: SHOWTIME’S ‘PENNY DREADFUL’ IS WONDERFUL, NBC’S ‘ROSEMARY’S BABY’ IS DREADFUL By David Bianculli
 
 

Two new TV programs this weekend revisit and reinterpret classics in the horror genre. One is well worth the effort, and worth watching. The other is, well, horrible…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
8
‘MARON’: LEFT COAST LOUIE RETURNS By Eric Gould
 
 
It’s spring, and along with the flowers, a couple of weeds in the form of comedy pariahs have returned. On Monday night, Louie bloomed after a year-long hiatus. On Thursday, it’s Maron’s turn...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
8
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, called “The Gorilla Dissolution,” we visit the set of Penny’s monster movie, where Penny (Kaley Cuoco) is having problems with the director (Wil Wheaton, playing himself), the whole concept of the tacky movie – and maybe even her relationship with Leonard.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
8
BROADWAY IDIOT By David Bianculli
 
 
This 2013 documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at the adaptation of Green Day’s American Idiot album into a Broadway musical, with lots of input from Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong.  About 20 years ago, a floor-to-ceiling painting of Green Day’s Dookie album cover adorned my son Mark’s bedroom wall – so this should be a special Best Bet for him. If he reads it.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
8
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS By David Bianculli
 
 
This romantic comedy-drama movie is 25 years old now, but has plenty of elements that make it worth revisiting. One is a relatively rare sibling showcase by brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges, who play piano-playing brothers who are down on their luck, and barely getting along, until they add to their act a flashy female singer, played stunningly by Michelle Pfeiffer. Put it this way: Pfeiffer on top of a grand piano is the flashiest show-biz ornament since Liberace’s candelabra.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
8
MARON By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: As Marc Maron returns for Season 2 on IFC, he returns by pretending to guest star on a show from a rival network: AMC’s The Talking Dead. Except, as rivals go, the two cable networks are fairly friendly. Both are owned by AMC Networks Inc., as are Sundance and WeTV.  For a full review of the new season premiere of Maron, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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