Today I have a question to ask, as well as one to answer. The one to ask concerns Fox's House -- and the one I've been dared to answer involves something that happened to me on press tour some, sigh, 30 years ago. And I've decided, in this instance, it's high time to come clean...

2009

Jan

IF BROADCAST TV IS TO SURVIVE, ALL IS "LOST" By David Bianculli

Tuning in to the two-hour season premiere of ABC's "Lost," I did something I haven't done with a commercial broadcast TV drama all year. I stopped everything else I was doing, leaned forward excitedly, and watched. If broadcast television has a future, the future is "Lost." And shows like it...

2009

Jan

I WATCHED PRESIDENT OBAMA IN MY TV HISTORY CLASS -- WHERE WERE YOU? By David Bianculli

Purely by coincidence, the opening-day class of my Tuesday "TV History & Appreciation 2" class at Rowan University began at 10:50 a.m. -- the perfect time of day to make Barack Obama's inauguration part of the curriculum. How cool...

2009

Jan

WATCH HISTORY ON TV TODAY, ALMOST WHEREVER YOU TURN By David Bianculli

Today, Jan. 20, 2009, President-Elect Barack Obama becomes President Obama, the 44th President of the United States. It's THE show to watch today, wherever you decide to watch it. Let me know where you watched, and what you thought and felt, and I'll do the same...

2009

Jan

SUNDAY SERVES UP TWO POWERHOUSE BATTLES FOR VIEWER ATTENTION -- BOTH INVOLVING HBO By David Bianculli

What a Sunday. In the afternoon, and again in the evening, different factions of TV are vying for our attention, serving up powerhouse lineups that exemplify TV Worth Watching. It's a day made for VCRs, DVRs, picture-in-picture TVs, and rapid-fire channel-flipping...

2009

Jan

APPRECIATING PATRICK MCGOOHAN: TO ME, HIS "PRISONER" WAS NUMBER 1 By David Bianculli

Patrick McGoohan's death at age 80 this week, announced Tuesday, was a sad event -- made sadder by the realization that, in the media world of 2009, few editors and opinion-makers seemed to know or care who he was and what he contributed to TV alone...

2009

Jan

MAKE 'EM LAUGH: PBS HUMOR DOCUMENTARY IS A LAUGHING MATTER By David Bianculli

For the next three Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, PBS presents a six-hour humor documentary. Not a funny documentary, like "This is Spinal Tap!," but a documentary about funny. And, thankfully, it's funny...

2009

Jan

JACK'S BACK ON FOX'S "24," ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY -- BUT UNAPOLOGETIC By David Bianculli

It's that time of year -- time for the Fox network to relaunch its two most important mid-season weapons. "American Idol" returns Tuesday, and "24" returns Sunday. Both are coming back in slightly retooled, but still recognizable, models for 2009...

2009

Jan

PACKING AWAY THE HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS, AND SAYING THANKS... By David Bianculli

Overdue, but done: The TV WORTH WATCHING Holiday Shopping Guides and TV listings are retired from the site, packed away. No more little Nippers with Santa hats. Nothing left to do but say thanks...So, thanks...to Eric Gould for the special holiday designs -- and for surviving a holiday meal of grisly bear...

2009

Jan

MAXIMIZE YOUR "DAMAGES": INTENSE FX LEGAL DRAMA IS BACK By David Bianculli

Now that we know what tricks FX's "Damages" is capable of pulling -- time shifts, loyalty shifts, stunning plot relevations, character assassinations in both the figurative and literal sense -- is there any way for a second season to live up to the first?...

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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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