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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
 
 
 
 
 
2008
Jan
18
AMC FOLLOWS "MAD MEN" WITH ANOTHER BOLD SERIES By David Bianculli
 
 
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
WHAT'S ON, AND GONE, ON TV'S LATE-NIGHT SHOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
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
"AMERICAN IDOL" UP TO ITS OLD TRICKS - AND WHY NOT? By David Bianculli
 
 
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
WHILE OTHERS ARE IDLE, FOX HAS "IDOL" By David Bianculli
 
 
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'S "GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS SPECIAL" A REAL LOSER By David Bianculli
 
 
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 SUNDAY TV OFFERINGS CHASE PAST GLORIES... AT VARIOUS SPEEDS By David Bianculli
 
 
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
STRIKE NEWS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By David Bianculli
 
 
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
CBS IMPORTS "DEXTER" FROM SHOWTIME - EXPECT PRESSURE GROUPS TO SCREAM BLOODY MURDER By David Bianculli
 
 
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
JON STEWART AND STEPHEN COLBERT ARE BACK - AND ARE TERRIFIC By David Bianculli
 
 
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
LATE-NIGHT COMEBACKS, TAKE TWO: JON STEWART, STEPHEN COLBERT RETURN TONIGHT By David Bianculli
 
 
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.
 
 
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
 
 
 
 

This Day in TV History

1957: Julie Andrews Stars in 'Cinderella'
By TV WW