It will make many readers of this column feel quite old when I refer to Murphy Brown, one of the most “contemporary” comedies in television history, as a “classic.” I remember enthusiastically writing about this show whenever I was able...

2014

Oct

UNLIKE MOST TV DRAMAS, 'THE WALTONS' PUT DEATH IN THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE By Ed Martin

“The Gift,” a recently repeated episode from the second season of The Waltons (seen in four-hour blocks Monday-Friday on Hallmark Channel) got me to thinking about the depiction of death in scripted television...

2014

Aug

'THE PATTY DUKE SHOW' REMINDS US OF THE POWER OF NEWSPAPERS By Ed Martin

A recent viewing of an episode of The Patty Duke Show helped remind me what's happened to the power of newspapers these last 20 years or so...

2014

Jun

HOW 'BEWITCHED' TACKLED TV VIOLENCE -- MORE THAN 40 YEARS AGO By Ed Martin

I’m noticing a significant uptick in concerned comments by television critics and bloggers about the rising tide of graphic ultra-violence in television programming. Television violence is certainly nothing new... but since when has bloodlust been so hot?...

2014

Jun

FAREWELL, ALICE By Ed Martin

The passing on Sunday of beloved Brady Bunch star Ann B. Davis brings all sorts of memories to mind for people lucky enough to have grown up during the Television Generation...

2014

May

THE PROS AND CONS OF 'THE COMIC-CON EFFECT' ON TV By Ed Martin

The most interesting story about the fall season to come is the incredible number of superhero, fantasy and genre shows on the broadcast networks...

2014

Apr

GOOD NIGHT, JOHN-BOY; HELLO, TELEVISION By Ed Martin

I remember a period spanning many years when The Waltons and its characters were part of the national conversation. They were household names; their routine "good nights" to each other at the end of every episode were mimicked by adults and kids alike...

2014

Feb

ME-TV’S SVENGOOLIE BRINGS BACK HAPPY MEMORIES OF SATURDAY NIGHT HORRORS By Ed Martin

Those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up as members of the television generation fondly remember the monster movie shows run by our local independent stations... I grew up in the Tri-State area around New York...

2014

Jan

'DEVIL BABY' LEAPS OUT AT TCA By Ed Martin

I can’t help but be amused when a promotional video with a running time of less than two minutes jumps out at me amid all of the extraordinary material that I have been surrounded by during the last week [at TCA]...

Posts 1-9 of 9 1

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption