2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
 
 
 
2011
Jan
1
HAPPY NEW YEAR! MY TVWW RESOLUTION FOR 2011 IS... By David Bianculli
 
 
We've got reason to celebrate here at TV WORTH WATCHING: In 2010, the roster of writers expanded exponentially, the redesign brought daily video and other offerings to the site, and we've got equally ambitious plans for 2011. And personally, part of it begins now, as I make a sincere resolution to try to offer one new daily feature for you loyal, treasured readers...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
29
FINAL NOTES FOR 2010: BEST AND WORST LISTS, AND ONE FINAL THANKS By David Bianculli
 
 
It's the end of the year --and though I've already revealed my year's best and worst on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross (you can hear my lengthy conversation with her HERE), I'm reprinting it here, with additional comments. And, after that, with one final 2010 thank-you, to both the writers and readers of TV WORTH WATCHING...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
26
THANKS FOR ALL THOSE 'WHITE CHRISTMAS' DREAMS, DAMNIT... By David Bianculli
 
 
The weather forecast for Sunday in Philadelphia is for a foot of snow, and blizzard-like conditions which at least one of our local meteorologists insists on calling a "thundersnow...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
24
DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: FOR ONCE, AMERICA GETS TO SHARE THE BRITISH TV TRADITION By David Bianculli
 
 
doctor-who-christmas-specia.jpg Here in the U.S., our Christmas TV traditions include seasonal reruns and movie marathons -- but in the U.K., there's a Christmas Day TV tradition that each year offers something new: a fresh Doctor Who holiday special, broadcast by BBC 1 as a family post-dinner treat. Thanks to BBC America, this year -- for the first time -- we in the colonies get the same treat, on the same evening...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
22
HEY, LISTEN! TERRY GROSS AND I TALK TV, FOR MOST OF TODAY'S 'FRESH AIR' By David Bianculli
 
 
Hey, Listen! Terry Gross and I Talk TV, for Most of Today's 'Fresh Air'. I didn't want to mention this until it got scheduled for sure -- but on today's (Wednesday's) edition of NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Terry spends almost the entire show talking about the year in television with... me. Listen in, either on air -- or later, on the Fresh Air website -- and be prepared to take exception with my choices, or at least my omissions, for the year's Top 10. Terry already did, in a very funny way...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
15
READERS, TIME FOR YOUR HOLIDAY WRITING ASSIGNMENT: IDENTIFY YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY SPECIALS AND MOVIES, AND WHY By David Bianculli
 
 
Maybe it's because I've just graded my final college papers of the year. Maybe it's because Diane Werts has been listing such great holiday offerings on TV and DVD. Probably, it's a little of both. Regardless, here's what I'd like to know: Are there any holiday TV traditions you still keep? Any all-time favorites? Any memories you'd like to share of watching holiday TV specials or movies as a kid?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
13
'TIS REALLY THE SEASON TO BE CHECKING OUT OUR SITE -- AND CHECKING IT TWICE By David Bianculli
 
 
Diane Werts, our esteemed managing editor and over-the-top Christmas entertainment nut, can't stop herself. Now she's added not only the latest listings to her ever-expanding lists of hoiday-related TV episodes, specials and movies, but she's added pictures, too. So now, the mere sight of something may jog your memory and make you want to set your recorders. The Yule Log, for instance...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
10
ON NPR'S 'FRESH AIR,' I REVEAL MY FAVORITE DVD GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE HOLIDAYS: HERE'S THE LIST, AND LINKS TO BUY THEM By David Bianculli
 
 
Sometime Friday afternoon, you'll be able to tune to your local NPR station and hear my list of the very best new TV boxed sets and gifts for the holidays. But for TV WORTH WATCHING readers, the list follows immediately, along with easy links to go buy them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
8
DO 'THE SIMPSONS' BLUSH? AND, IF SO, WHAT COLOR? By David Bianculli
 
 
I've watched The Simpsons with delight, and with rather dedicated regularity, ever since they first popped up on Fox's The Tracey Ullman Show 23 years ago. And though I'm merely noting, not complaining, last Sunday's Christmas special ended with what I consider the naughtiest joke in the lengthy history of Matt Groening's cartoon clan. And yes, it involved the week's special "human" guest star, Katy Perry...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
4
Q: WHAT DO "DEXTER" AND "WALKING DEAD," AND WIGWAMS AND TEPEES, HAVE IN COMMON? A: THEY'RE TOO TENSE... By David Bianculli
 
 
Don't worry, I'm not revealing ANY secrets about this Sunday's installments of Showtime's Dexter or (the season finale of) AMC's "The Walking Dead". But what I AM revealing -- what I marvel at -- is how incredibly, impressively tense these two shows make me as I watch...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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