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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
Sep
22
EMMYS THE DAY AFTER: GOOD WINS, BAD HOSTS, DULL PRESENTERS, NICE SURPRISE By David Bianculli
 
 
When Tommy Smothers was given his honorary Emmy last night, in recognition of his having unduly removed himself from the list of winning writers on the final 1968-69 season of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," that was my favorite moment of the entire night...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
19
EMMY VOTING PROCEDURES BETTER, BUT STILL TRICKY TO PREDICT By David Bianculli
 
 
Changes to the voting procedures for the Emmy Awards, in both nominations and final tallies, have improved things by widening the field and reducing the rote reappearance of certain nominees. But problems remain, and so does the unpredictability...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
17
THREE QUIRKY NEW DVD SETS, ALL WORTH WATCHING (AND OWNING) By David Bianculli
 
 
One of the best TV series on the air right now, one of the classic children's series of all time, and a super-obscure import from England all have been released on DVD -- and all three qualify as TV WORTH WATCHING...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
16
TUESDAY'S ONE-TWO-THREE PUNCH OF QUALITY TV: "HOUSE," "FRINGE," "SHIELD" By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight, as the Fox series "Fringe" settles into its regular time slot, TV gives us a way to enjoy three straight hours of gripping, unpredictable, quality television simply by making one channel change...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
15
"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" RETURNS BRILLIANTLY -- FOR FIVE MINUTES By David Bianculli
 
 
Expectations for the 34th-season opener of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" were high, and the show delivered brilliantly. For five minutes. Once the opening sketch was over, SNL, for a variety of reasons, tanked more than it floated, and never again soared...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
12
GOOD FOR VIEWERS: BAD NEW SHOWS ARE REJECTED QUICKLY By David Bianculli
 
 
The ratings are in, and so far, the news is all good -- at least from the perspective of TV WORTH WATCHING. Episode one of "Fringe" did well, while episodes two of "90210" and "Hole in the Wall" didn't. For now, all is right with the world...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
11
CRAIG FERGUSON GOES ALL HOWARD BEALE, IN A GOOD WAY By David Bianculli
 
 
Last night's edition of CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" featured the host getting all incensed as soon as the show started. He began to rant and rave (more ranting than raving) about American political coverage, the presidential campaigns and national apathy about voting...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
10
THE "HOLE" TRUTH ABOUT FOX'S "HOLE IN THE WALL" By David Bianculli
 
 
Last night Fox presents "Fringe" with very limited commercial interruptions -- class upon class. Then, the second that fine new series is over, Fox presents a sneak preview of "Hole in the Wall," based on the Japanese game show about people trying to squeeze themselves through cutout shapes in giant walls sliding towards them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
9
AMONG THE NEW BROADCAST SERIES WE'VE SEEN, FOX'S "FRINGE" IS THE BEST By David Bianculli
 
 
Right from the start, two things are wonderful about Fox's new drama series "Fringe." It's the best new broadcast series among the fall shows we've seen (though many have not been provided for preview) -- and Fox also deserves credit for the manner in which Fringe is being broadcast...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Sep
8
TV SEASON IS ROLLING OUT NEW STUFF -- AND SO ARE WE By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, CW finally unveiled "90210." (Yawn.) Last night, HBO premiered "True Blood" (cool). Tomorrow night, Fox presents the first episode of "Fringe" (exciting). After a summer enlivened mostly by politics and the Olympics, things finally are starting to pop. And here at TV WORTH WATCHING, we're trying to keep pace...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

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