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

 
 
 
 
 
2007
Nov
30
 
 
The newest round of strike talks completed its fourth day yesterday, and finally there was some news...This seems to be progress, and definitely is movement. Even that postponement of talks, though, all but guarantees that the strike, which began on November 5, will carry into its second month...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
29
 
 
"The strike is over!" That happy announcement was made last night by actor Roger Bart, and was met with lots of cheers and applause from those in attendance. They had just seen Bart and company complete a performance of "Young Frankenstein," one of the few Broadway shows not shuttered by a stagehands strike...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
28
 
 
CNN and You-Tube team up tonight at 8 ET in St. Petersburg, FL, to hold the second debate among potential candidates for President of the United States. The Democrats did it in July, fielding digitally recorded questions from average American citizens, and now the Republicans gets their chance. Most likely, they'll learn the same thing...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
27
 
 
Charlie Brown and Linus would look at tonight's ABC presentation of A Charlie Brown Christmas (8 p.m. ET), a Peanutsholiday special first broadcast 42 years ago, somewhat differently. In this case, they'd both be correct. Linus, the faithful optimist, would say that it's one of the few places left, other than the Super Bowl and "American Idol," where entire families can and will gather annually to enjoy a television show together...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
26
 
 
The music channel Fuse presents a new 10-part series tonight at 10 p.m. ET, called "Videos That Rocked the World." The opener, on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," makes the point about how influential music videos could be - back in 1991. But could any video rock the world of 2007? And if not, why not?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
25
 
 
Representatives on both sides of the Writers Guild of America strike are scheduled to meet tomorrow, for the first time in weeks, and talk. They're supposed to be negotiating a settlement - and both sides better talk fast. All around them - and all around us - the TV season is starting to evaporate...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
24
 
 
Ordinarily, the biggest weapon in a TV writer's arsenal, when a point needs to be made, is the national soapbox of his or her television show. But when you're a writer on strike, you can't even pick up your mightier-than-a-sword pen. So what's a writer-producer to do?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
23
 
 
Remember that classic scene in "The Graduate," when Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin Braddock was corralled at his college graduation party by an older-generation businessman friend of his father's? He uttered one word of advice, a word which was supposed to unlock the future, and future fortunes: "Plastics"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
22
 
 
Happy Thanksgiving. We who care about quality TV have a lot about which to be thankful on this particular Thanksgiving. And no, I'm not talking about tonight's ABC season premiere of the sappy "October Road"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2007
Nov
21
 
 
Final audience numbers for the 15-hour PBS documentary series "The War" were released yesterday - and for quality TV lovers, they're reason for celebration. Sort of. PBS is boasting that the Ken Burns-Lynn Novick production is "the most watched series in the last 10 years on PBS..."
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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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