If not for the strike, this wouldn't have happened... but starting Sunday, CBS will be repeating the first season of "Dexter," the daring Showtime series I ranked as one of the Top 10 TV shows of 2007. But it arrives, it should be noted, a little differently...

2008

Feb

THE WRITERS ARE BACK: WOW! WOW! WOW! By David Bianculli

At first, it appeared that Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart hadn't gotten the memo that the writers were back. Otherwise, why start the show by calling it "A Daily Show," Stewart's personal show of support for his missing staffers, rather than the non-strike title The Daily Show?

2008

Feb

VIEWERS HELD HOSTAGE, DAY 100: OUR LONG NATIONAL TV NIGHTMARE IS OVER By David Bianculli

When Writers Guild of America members voted yesterday to authorize an end to the strike, it had been exactly 100 days, by my count, since the strike began on Nov. 5, 2007. And I'm pretty sure I'm counting correctly, since that was the day, by coincidence, I launched TV WORTH WATCHING...

2008

Feb

FIDDLING AROUND WITH "MY GRAMMY MOMENT" By David Bianculli

When I visited "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" last month to attend the rehearsal of an hour devoted entirely to Ringo Starr, I was impressed enough by one unfamiliar face to consider going up backstage and complimenting her afterward...

2008

Feb

TV WRITERS VOTE TOMORROW, AND MAY BE BACK TO WORK WEDNESDAY By David Bianculli

The end of the Writers Guild of America strike, if it plays out this week as expected, will arrive just in time, and conclude the only way it should: With the membership voting to accept terms, rather than accept the decision of the WGA equivalent of super-delegates...

2008

Feb

THE STRIKE MAY BE ENDING - AND HBO'S "INSIDE THE NFL" DEFINITELY IS By David Bianculli

What happens tomorrow, in separate East and West Coast meetings of active members of the Writers Guild of America, will determine whether the four-month-old strike will be ending very, very soon. My guess is based on a combination of conversations and an urgent Hollywood syzygy, with the Oscars, the upfronts and the May sweeps all dependent upon a swift resolution...

2008

Feb

WITH OR WITHOUT WRITERS, LATE-NIGHT SHOWS ARE HITTING HOME RUNS By David Bianculli

The writers' strike, now officially into month four, could end any day now (for once, that's the same word I'm getting from various sources, who have yet to agree on anything). If these are the waning days - and nights - of the strike, then it ought to be noted that TV's late-night shows have managed to do some especially strong work lately, with or without writers...

2008

Feb

SUPER TUESDAY'S CLEAR WINNER IS... A PLAYER TO BE NAMED LATER By David Bianculli

When Hillary Clinton showed up on CBS on "Late Show with David Letterman" Monday night - the day after the Super Bowl, the day before Super Tuesday - she likened the then-upcoming "national primary" contest to the game just played in Arizona. She and Barack Obama, Clinton predicted, probably would be battling down to the very last minute...

2008

Feb

SHIFTING FROM SUPER BOWL TO SUPER TUESDAY By David Bianculli

Sunday was the Super Bowl, that amazing, astounding game that made "Super" seem inadequate. Monday the Nielsen ratings came in, anointing it as the most-viewed Super Bowl ever with 97.5 million viewers. Only the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H, which drew an estimated 106 million viewers, ranks higher as a TV show seen by American viewers...

2008

Feb

YES, VIRGINIA, IT WAS A SUPER BOWL By David Bianculli

It was a huge upset, but not at all upsetting. Last night's Super Bowl XLII ended with Eli Manning and the New York Giants robbing the New England Patriots of the lead, and their perfect season, in the final minute of play. It was a great game - and in every way, it was great for broadcast network television...

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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.

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