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

 
 
2017
Jan
20
 
 
Coverage of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump begins at 10 a.m. ET on most networks covering the event, with the actual swearing-in events occurring closer to noon. Eighteen months ago, I could never have imagined writing that sentence. For one thing, I would have thought coverage would begin closer to 11:30…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
20
 
 
Donald Trump is promising jobs once he’s sworn in as president of the United States... One guy, however, is about to lose his job: Keegan-Michael Key...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
20
 
 
Tonight’s episode really blows, but in a good way: It’s all about the Santa Ana winds, and how those mercurial weather patterns end up changing the moods and behaviors of Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) and her friends.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
20
 
 
This Great Performances special features Alicia Keys singing about, and all over, New York City, in a special filmed over a one-year period in various scenic locations. And yes, she saves the best, her “Empire State of Mind” anthem duet originally recorded with Jay-Z, for last. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
20
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: It’s the start of season 15 of this long-running, increasingly valuable political and public affairs comedy talk show – with more talk, and sometimes less comedy, than the regular Sunday morning TV variety. Given what’s happened today, and since Maher went off the air for his winter hiatus, today’s return ought to be a doozy. And his guests, for the occasion, can be expected to pack quite a punch. They’re scheduled to include Jane Fonda at the start
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
19
 
 
The most heartbreaking show on television is a comedy. Okay, a really dark comedy. The happier news is that FX’s Baskets is also one of the best shows on television...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
19
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: In case you haven’t watched any of the previous seasons of this program, know two things. One, that it covers team play of various countries working their way to the Olympic games. Two, that curling is one of the most oddly soothing and hypnotically addicting competition events on television – right up there with darts and putting sheepdogs through their paces, but you have to watch British TV to see that stuff most of the time. This coverage of curling, that strange
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
19
 
 
SEASON FINALE: The final two episodes of this season’s The Good Place are presented tonight – each with a cliffhanger that makes you wonder where the story, with Kristen Bell’s Eleanor trying to stay in a heavenly afterlife to which she’s been sent mistakenly, possibly will go next. After the first episode, at 8 p.m. ET, is over, you have to wait only a few minutes, and wade through a few commercials, to learn the answer. But after the 8:30 p.m. ET season finale is over,
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
19
 
 
It’s no secret that Mom star Anna Faris has slept with the guest star of tonight’s episode, or that it’s how he got the role. But there’s no scandal or shame involved. The guest star in question is Chris Pratt – and he’s not only the former co-star of Parks and Recreation, and the breakout movie star of Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s the husband of Anna Faris. And tonight, on Mom, he plays the new boyfriend of Faris’ Christy. But don’t exp
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jan
19
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Zach Galifianakis plays two roles on Baskets, which returns on FX tonight to begin its second season. Yet the actor getting the most attention last year was Louie Anderson, who won an Emmy for playing the role of a mom. Specifically, the mother of the twins played by Galifianakis. Both comic actors are doing something truly special here, and delicately subtle. Baskets has been described as a “slapstick drama,” and that’s pretty damned close. Watch it and see&he