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

 
 
2014
Jun
26
 
 
The first game shown today on ESPN2 is Group G’s Portugal vs. Ghana. Fans with a rooting interest in the U.S. should back Portugal in this game, because the U.S., even with a loss to Germany, probably will emerge with the edge in the goal-differential tiebreaker. Both of these teams, though, need Germany to win, and many other things to happen, before they can move on. Then, at 4 p.m. ET in Group H, Algeria plays Russia. Algeria advances if it wins, while Russia has to win this game, plus
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
26
 
 
Part 5. A Long March to Freedom examines and recounts the civil rights battle as it exploded in the 1960s – a tall order, and one which already has sparked an excellent documentary series of its own (PBS’s Eyes on the Prize). But The Sixties, thus far, has found a way to mine local TV footage to look at old stories in new ways, so expect the same here.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
26
 
 
Last week’s Season 2 premiere took place with Daniel (Aden Young), the death row inmate freed after 19 years in prison because of overturned evidence, in a coma after his brutal beating. In this episode, he emerges from that coma – if not, there’s no series, so don’t yell “Spoiler Alert!” – and faces an even more traumatic return to society than when he first was released from prison.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
26
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This ABC medical documentary summer series returns tonight, with another set of intertwined stories observing patients, physicians and caregivers at specific New York area hospitals. As with previous outings, the stories are told patiently and artfully, and everywhere the camera turns, it captures humanity at its most unvarnished. This is not reality TV – it’s reality, on TV. And this season, I set a personal record, and didn’t cry until midway through the seco
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
26
 
 

ABC’s NY Med is the type of nonfiction series that makes you appreciate life. And at the same time, it also succeeds at making you appreciate television…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
25
 
 
Today’s games decide the fates of the teams in Groups E and F. On ESPN, play begins at noon ET with Group F’s Nigeria vs. Argentina. Argentina already has earned its way into the upcoming knockout round, while Nigeria can advance if it earns a win, or a draw, against Argentina, which has plenty of reasons to save some resources for the next game. Then, at 4 p.m. ET, ESPN presents Group E’s Ecuador vs. France match. If France wins or draws, it will win the group and advance to k
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
25
 
 
Meanwhile, over on ESPN2, concurrent games are played from each group. At noon ET, the remaining two teams in Group F, the ones not playing on ESPN, are shown here: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Iran. Only Iran still has a chance to advance, and it needs to win this game, and hope that Nigeria loses to Argentina – and even then, Iran still has to score enough goals to win a tiebreaker. Then, at 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2 presents Group E’s Honduras vs. Switzerland, two teams that are still possib
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
25
 
 
Sir David Attenborough is the presenter of this lighthearted new documentary, which means he’s on camera, not just narrating. And whenever Attenborough is on camera, it’s must-see nature TV, because he’s positively peerless in both his knowledge and his enthusiasm about the natural world. In Fabulous Frogs, he reveals that frogs were the first animals he kept as a kid –and the ease with which he lets them crawl all over him, and gently strokes them to coerce them to croak
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
25
 
 
Lawrence Tierney stars as tough-guy gangster John Dillinger in this crisp 1945 crime drama, which co-stars the lovely Anne Jeffreys. Tierney plays a good bad guy, and his toughness only got tougher with age: Almost 50 years after starring in this crime classic, he co-starred in another, as the growly Joe, who organizes the gangster squad for 1992’s Reservoir Dogs.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
25
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: I’ve never been totally sold on this series, about a man whose pet is either a dog or a man in a dog suit – but those who have will want to know that it returns tonight for its fourth and final season. And that, though it was launched on the FX network, it now appears on that channel’s sister network, FXX.