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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
 
 
 
 
 
2009
Nov
30
MY SMOTHERS BROTHERS BOOK "DROPS" THIS WEEK -- AND SO DO I, INTO A FEW NATIONAL TV AND RADIO SHOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
Well, this is the week I've been waiting for -- for some 15 years -- so please forgive a little pride, and self-promotion. But "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'" hits bookstores Tuesday -- and this week, I show up on a few national shows to promote the book. Here's the breakdown of where and when...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
26
AVOIDING CROWDS ON BLACK FRIDAY? BURNT SIENNA SATURDAY? CHARTREUSE SUNDAY? SHOP TV WORTH WATCHING INSTEAD! By David Bianculli
 
 
On Thanksgiving weekend, if you want to get a jump on holiday shopping, but don't want to deal with the traffic and crowds and lines, TV WORTH WATCHING is happy to provide an easy solution, Several of them, actually...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
23
LARRY DAVID'S "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM"/"SEINFELD" COMBO PLATTER: PURE, DELICIOUS BRILLIANCE By David Bianculli
 
 
Sunday's season finale of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which served up a savory Seinfeld reunion as well, was everything I hoped it would be, and more. What an episode. What a delight. And, if Larry David chooses to end Curb with this most recent episode, what a sneaky, perfect-pitch series finale...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
18
EARLY, EASY QUALITY-TV SHOPPING: THE TV WORTH WATCHING HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE RISES AGAIN! By David Bianculli
 
 
Give Diane Werts all the credit for this puppy. She's been toiling long and hard, and has compiled a terrific sampler of new holiday TV-on-DVD treats to give as gifts. Wait till you see her lineup - but you don't HAVE to wait. It's ready now, by clicking the banner just above BEST BETS...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
15
AMC'S "THE PRISONER" REMAKE: NOT WORTH THE WAIT, OR THE TIME By David Bianculli
 
 
Despite a fine performance by Ian McKellen as the chief antagonist, AMC's six-hour miniseries remake of 1968's classic "The Prisoner" series is not worth watching. And that's not news I'm pleased to report...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
11
HOW WILL "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM" END THIS YEAR? OUR WEBSITE'S DESIGNER HAS A BOLD PREDICTION By David Bianculli
 
 
Eric Gould is an architect in Boston, the designer of this TV WORTH WATCHING website, and now is eyeing a new specialty side interest: he wants to be the Nostradamus of TV critics. Specifically, he has a bold -- and, I think, brilliant -- prediction about how this season's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will end on HBO...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
10
WHY HAS TV WORTH WATCHING BEEN SLUGGISH OF LATE? GUILTY -- WITH AN EXPLANATION By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, I posted a picture of my basement office, post-book, with a vow to clean it up because my life had gotten too disorganized. Well, I haven't even gotten down the stairs yet. And last weekend, when I was out of town, my laptop decided to break by refusing to have the space bar operate...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Nov
3
AMC'S "MAD MEN" SERVES UP A STUNNING SURPRISE -- AND A MODERN-DAY TV TRIUMPH By David Bianculli
 
 
If you've recorded, but haven't yet seen, last Sunday's episode of AMC's "Mad Men," don't read any more of this column until you've watched the episode. It contains surprises too potent to spoil - but too artistic and well-handled, on the other hand, not to celebrate. So if you HAVE seen it, read on, as I praise Matthew Weiner's series for playing its hand magnificently...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
26
THE TIME HAS COME: I'M GROUNDING MYSELF UNTIL MY ROOM IS CLEAN By David Bianculli
 
 
The Best Bets will continue daily, but I'm taking a few days from writing a blog because I just can't stand it any more. Not the blogging -- the mess. My basement office, and everything in it, desperately needs some attention...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
21
POSTSEASON BASEBALL DELIVERS DRAMA, IF YOU CAN SEE IT, FIND IT -- OR STAY AWAKE FOR IT By David Bianculli
 
 
A friend called Monday night, knowing I was a big Phillies fan, to share in the joy of Philadelphia's bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out comeback victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, right after Jimmy Rollins hit the game-winning two-run double. The phone call woke me up. I'd passed out on the couch the inning before, after a long teaching day...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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