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

 
 
 
 
 
2008
Jan
18
 
 
I suspect, when I describe AMC's new "Breaking Bad" series to you, the description alone won't make you eager to see it - because it didn't make me eager to see it. Having watched three episodes, though, all I can do is beg you to give the new series, premiering Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET, a chance...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
17
 
 
I'm tired. Tired of watching all the late-night shows, night after night, to see who's doing what, not doing what, and how various shows are faring with or without writers. Two weeks after the returns of Jay, Dave, Conan and Craig, there still are a lot of surprises, a lot of shifting... and a lot that's missing...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
16
 
 
Last night's two-hour season premiere of "American Idol," summarizing the initial audition days from Philadelphia, pulled all the old tricks for which the mega-popular Fox competition series is famous. And really, to do otherwise would have been foolish...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
15
 
 
Strike or no strike, it starts again tonight - just when, and how it was planning to come back all along. Yes, "American Idol" is back, and Fox has got it, at 8 p.m. ET And with it, Fox has the momentum to ride out the rest of this season, no matter what happens...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
14
 
 
NBC, annoyed that solidarity by actors honoring the Writers Guild of America picket line ended up canceling yesterday's Golden Globes ceremony, devoted an hour of Sunday's prime time to the announcement of the winners anyway. It was an embarrassingly low-rent, inexcusable, unwatchable waste of air time...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
11
 
 
Three programs, on three different networks, are televised Sunday night, each aiming to recapture past glories or wide the waves of past successes. Each has moments of interest, but only one truly succeeds...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
10
 
 
As the writers' strike continues, evidence of its reach and impact is more evident every day. There's always news... bad, but some of it even good...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
9
 
 
The news that CBS plans to import and present all 12 episodes of the first season of Showtime's Dexter, beginning February 17, isn't surprising. It's an excellent drama series, CBS is desperately short of inventory, and CBS owns Showtime. What could go wrong? Glad you asked...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
8
 
 
What a pleasure it was to have Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert return to TV last night. Both hosts hit just the right tone with everything, right from the start...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Jan
7
 
 
It doesn't matter that much, at least not to me, that ABC is launching its "Dancing with the Stars" spinoff, "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann," tonight in prime time. What's a lot more interesting, this week no less than last week, is "Talk War: Jay vs. Dave, and Everybody Else"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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.

 
 
 
 

This Day in TV History