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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
 
 
 
 
 
2008
Oct
8
WHO CAME OUT AHEAD IN THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE? "THAT ONE..." By David Bianculli
 
 
In the post-debate analysis of Tuesday's second prime-time faceoff between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, Jeff Greenfield told Katie Couric on CBS that the key water-cooler topic the next day was certain to be McCain's dismissive reference to his Democratic opponent as "that one." Good call...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
6
TINA FEY AS SARAH PALIN: ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS IN THE "SNL" POLITICAL PANTHEON By David Bianculli
 
 
She's only been strutting her stuff on the national stage for a month now, yet she gets more confident, more riveting, and more anticipated with each appearance. She's amazing to watch, and more talked about, right now, than anyone else with whom she's staring the stage...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
3
DISSECTING THE DEBATE: ONE MORE EPISODE IN THIS SEASON'S BEST TV DRAMA By David Bianculli
 
 
I'm hesitant to dissect Thursday's vice presidential debate in political terms. But in TV terms -- looking at performances, drama and its place as the most compelling television drama of the season -- there's a lot worth noting...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
2
TONIGHT'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: THREE PREDICTIONS, ONE RECOMMENDATION By David Bianculli
 
 
Just to set the table for tonight's one and only vice presidential debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, here are three predictions... and one recommendation...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
1
"FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT" RETURNS -- BUT WHERE? AND WHAT IS NBC THINKING? By David Bianculli
 
 
"Friday Night Lights," the fabulous NBC drama series about a high-school football team and the town obsessed by it, returns tonight for its third season. But this time, for now, it's not on NBC. Good luck finding it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
29
SARAH PALIN MAY BE SLIPPING, BUT KATIE COURIC AND TINA FEY ARE SOARING By David Bianculli
 
 
The trajectory of Sarah Palin has been both accelerated and extreme. When she steps to the podium Thursday to debate Joe Biden, it'll be only a month since she was introduced to the nation... Since then, her political stock has risen and fallen with a rapidity that makes Wall Street look stable...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
26
"DEXTER" RETURNS -- SHOWTIME'S KILLER SHOW IS BACK, AND IS THRILLING By David Bianculli
 
 
Showtime's "Dexter" series, starring Michael C. Hall as a serial killer who targets and kills other serial killers, begins its third season Sunday night at 9 ET. Please seek it out, and dive in...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
25
MCCAIN BAILS ON TOMORROW'S DEBATE -- AND ON LAST NIGHT'S "LETTERMAN" By David Bianculli
 
 
Yesterday Republican presidential nominee John McCain not only announced he was temporarily suspending his campaign in order to return to Washington and focus on the financial crisis, but he backed out, at the very last minute, of a scheduled appearance on Wednesday's "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
24
MORE PREMIERES, MORE SEASON RETURNS, MORE YAWNS By David Bianculli
 
 
If the broadcast networks are hoping to get us excited that they're back with new shows and fresh episodes of old ones, tonight's lineup isn't exactly an enticing pile of bait...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
23
NETWORK SERIES PREMIERE, BUT PBS SHINES WITH "AMERICAN MASTERS" By David Bianculli
 
 
Two new series premiere tonight: "The Mentalist" on CBS, which is okay, and "Opportunity Knocks" on ABC, which I'll see tonight for the first time as it airs nationwide...But there's an additional option: the first two-hour chunk of a five-hour, three-night PBS "American Masters" documentary on the history of Warner Bros...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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