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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

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All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

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Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
 
 
 
2012
May
25
KIDMAN COMMANDS HBO'S 'HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN' By Ed Bark
 
 
Pretty as a picture, but sometimes too much of a still life, HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn is a lengthy ode to star-powered, old time filmmaking...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
23
TBS' 'MEN AT WORK' LABORS FROM START TO FINISH By Ed Bark
 
 
TBS' Men at Work: The saga of four buds who'll drink Buds (if TBS can land a product placement deal) while plotting their next plans of attack...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
22
HIT THE ROAD WITH THE 'ROUTE 66' DVD COLLECTION By Ed Bark
 
 
During times when backlot filming provided cover for wide varieties of names and locations, Route 66 hit 40 different states for its 116 episodes — all of which can be seen on a new, 24-disc DVD collection...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
18
A FEW 'NO-SHOWS' YOU WON'T BE SEEING THIS FALL By Ed Bark
 
 
Now that we know what the 2012-2013 landscape looks like, let's look at a handful of pilots for potential series that didn't make the grade, either for the fall or midseason...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
17
NBC CANCELED 'HARRY'S LAW' FOR THE CRIME OF SKEWING 'OLD' By Ed Bark
 
 
No TV network worries in the least about being accused of the latter. And there's really no upside for a TV critic to upbraid NBC for canceling one of its very few hits, Harry's Law, because it didn't appeal to the "right" audience...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
12
'AMERICA'S GOT TALENT' READY FOR SEASON SEVEN WITH HOWARD STERN By Ed Bark
 
 
Entering to the strains of "Hail to the Chief," Howard Stern considered it his due. "I'm the big star of the show. You'll see," he told a media gathering Thursday in New York, with the proceedings also piped out to interested out-of-town TV writers. The show is NBC's America's Got Talent, which launches Season 7 on Monday, May 14 with Stern replacing Piers Morgan and joining holdover judges Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne. Stern, 58, and now a self-described "elder statesman" of broad
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
11
MEET THE PERFECT IMPERFECT PAIR ON 'COMMON LAW' By Ed Bark
 
 
Nice 'n' breezy does it. USA Network's newest series, Common Law, is reminiscent of the network's other successes: Royal Pains, Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar and Suits...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
8
'NEW GIRL' STAR JAKE JOHNSON REFLECTS ON THE SHOW'S FIRST SEASON By Ed Bark
 
 
Jake Johnson's very first pilot, New Girl, hit Fox running in September and became this season's first and really only instant hit. The actor reflects on the show's debut season, and his passion for Chicago sports...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
7
ABC AND UNIVISION TO LAUNCH NEW 24-HOUR NETWORK By Ed Bark
 
 
An "uncompromising" current events and lifestyle network aimed at Hispanics - but in English - is set for a 2013 launch, ABC and Univision jointly announced Monday. The 24-hour network, yet to be named, is aimed at tapping the burgeoning U.S. Hispanic population, which currently makes up 16 percent of the country's population and is expected to almost double by 2050, according to an ABC News publicity release. "Our mission is clear," ABC News president Ben Sherwood (pictured at far left w
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
6
MICK JAGGER TO HOST SNL; FOX MATCHES SINGLE CELEBRITIES ON NEW DATING GAME SHOW By Ed Bark
 
 
Saturday Night Live has landed iconic Mick Jagger to host the iconic show's May 19 season finale. He'll also be the musical guest, marking his third time in that capacity. Jagger (pictured with Jimmy Fallon, right) also has participated in a handful of SNL sketches over the years, but this will be his inaugural stint as ringmaster. *** The sly, cunning Fox network isn't joking with The Choice, a new celebrity dating game show that will feature swivel chairs and "the world's most eligibl
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Ed Bark

Since 2006, Ed Bark's local and national TV stories and observations have been showcased on his pioneering website, www.unclebarky.com.  For 26 years before that, he was TV critic for the Dallas Morning News. He's a past president of the Television Critics Association, and for seven years served on the national Peabody Awards board.
 
 
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