What a weekend for quality TV. I don't know whether it's coming or going -- and this weekend, with Friday Night Lights leaving NBC and Breaking Bad returning to AMC, it's doing both...In both cases, I'll end up referring you elsewhere...

2011

Jul

EMMY NOMINATIONS 2011: NODS AND SNUBS FOR 'JUSTIFIED,' 'EPISODES,' OTHERS By David Bianculli

Many of the nominations I most wanted to see this year, acknowledging such superb work as Margo Martindale's sinister Mags in FX's Justified and Kelly Macdonald in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, ended up making the cut. But others, as usual, did not, starting with egregious snubs in the Outstanding Drama category for FX's Rescue Me and Justified, and HBO's Treme and True Blood...

2011

Jul

'RESCUE ME," 'DAMAGES': TWO GREAT TV SERIES RETURN, FIERY AS EVER By David Bianculli

Wednesday night at 10 ET, FX's Rescue Me returns with the first of its final nine episodes about New York firefighters, in a run culminating with a finale scheduled, fittingly, the week of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Damages, the Glenn Close legal drama formerly seen on FX, returns for a new season, its fourth, Wednesday night at 10 ET as well -- but in a new location, on DirecTV's exclusive Audience network. Both series are great, and both should, must, be seen...

2011

Jul

SUMMERTIME BOUNTY: TV, LIKE FRUIT, IS RIPE AND DELICIOUS By David Bianculli

It's almost laughable that September still is considered the start of the TV season -- because if you think of seasons in terms of a bountiful harvest, now is the season of our contentment. This month, in particular, brings back fresh episodes of more great shows than we have a reason to expect at any one time. Put it this way: How many series you're watching each week right now are likely to end up on your end-of-year Top 10 TV list? For me, it's a lot...

2011

Jul

'TORCHWOOD,' 'CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM' RETURN: SUMMER TV JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER By David Bianculli

Two more delightfully different TV shows return this weekend to brighten up the summer: HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm sitcom, returning Sunday at 10 p.m. ET, and the sci-fi drama series Torchwood, returning Friday at 10 p.m. ET on Starz, its new home. Both shows are daring, playful, and far more intelligent than the norm in their respective genres...

2011

Jul

MY WISH CAME TRUE: JAMES SPADER IS JOINING NBC'S 'THE OFFICE' By David Bianculli

I'm really happy about this one. NBC has confirmed that James Spader, one of the many guest actors who appeared as candidates to replace Steve Carell's Michael Scott in the season finale of The Office, will join the cast next season. It's exactly what I hoped for when the episode was televised in May...

2011

Jul

'MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE' PRESENTS SEASON FINALE ON TNT... AND TALK TODAY ON NPR By David Bianculli

Wednesday night at 10 ET on TNT, Men of a Certain Age presents its second-season finale, with Ray Romano's Joe competing in the qualifying round for golf's Seniors Tour. Meanwhile, today on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, I talk to Ray Romano about his excellent drama series, his life and his career. Just some middle-aged guys sitting around talking -- just like on his TV show...

2011

Jul

FROM COHAN TO CONAN IN ONE EASY (SOFT-SHOE) STEP By David Bianculli

Watching the movies Conan O'Brien selected as TCM's guest programmer July 4 was a treat in itself: two James Cagney films, Paddy Chayefsky's classic Network, the Marx Brothers' equally classic Duck Soup. Just as much fun, though, was what he shared about them with TCM host Robert Osborne...

2011

Jul

YES, IT'S OUR COUNTRY'S ANNIVERSARY -- BUT REMEMBER SOME SUMMERTIME TV ANNIVERSARIES AS WELL By David Bianculli

The adoption, on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence will be remembered widely and enthusiastically this weekend. Two TV-related anniversaries this summer, though, are likely to receive almost no attention -- the 30th anniversary of MTV, and the 70th anniversary of commercial television itself...

2011

Jun

I'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS -- AND THE STEPS FROM 'MIDNIGHT IN PARIS' By David Bianculli

Yes, I'm back from Paris...I wrote were BEST BETS, while watching the view out my window of, sigh, the Notre Dame cathedral...And return to this column for a picture or two from Paris... including those magical time-travel steps in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris...

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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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