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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
Aug
29
OBAMA GETS HIGH MARKS FROM MOST ANALYSTS, BUT CBS DESERVES LOW ONES By David Bianculli
 
 
Barack Obama ended the Democratic National Convention, and made history, with a speech that got high marks from most (but not all) analysts -- but what many called his finest hour was marred, at the start, by an arrogant editorial decision by CBS News...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
28
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION DAY 3: BROADCAST TV MISSED THE BEST PARTS By David Bianculli
 
 
By giving an hour, and only an hour, of prime-time coverage to political conventions in 2008, the commercial broadcast networks are condensing themselves into relative irrelevance...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
27
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION DAY 2: MORE UNITY, BUT ALSO MORE PUMAS By David Bianculli
 
 
On Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton went a few minutes overtime, spilling out of prime time past the 11 p.m. ET hour and giving the poor broadcast networks even less time to assess her speech. But there and on cable, most reviews ranged from positive to raves...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
26
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION TV COVERAGE: HERE'S WHAT YOU'RE MISSING By David Bianculli
 
 
Every network made choices about what to show, and ignore, while covering the Democratic National Convention Monday night. Here are those choices, culled after watching coverage on 12 TV sets simultaneously...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
25
GOODBYE, OLYMPICS -- HELLO, POLITICS AND OTHER "DANGEROUS JOBS" By David Bianculli
 
 
The XXIX Summer Olympics are over, and should be considered a major success, in several categories: As TV entertainment, inspirational content, successful propaganda. Tonight, the Olympics are replaced by day one of the Democratic National Convention from Denver...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
22
FIRST OF NEW FALL SHOWS SURFACES MONDAY -- AND SO DOES TV'S KICKOFF CURSE By David Bianculli
 
 
NBC will try to capitalize on post-Olympics momentum by unveiling its first new fall series Monday, the day after the Olympics end. But by being the first freshman show to burst out of the starting blocks, NBC's "America's Toughest Jobs" is heading straight into the jaws of a fairly lethal series-killer -- TV's Kickoff Curse...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
21
NETWORKS THRILLED BY OLYMPICS VIEWERSHIP -- BUT MAY BE EMBRACING THE WRONG MORAL By David Bianculli
 
 
Olympic viewing levels are up compared to four years ago. NBC executives are ecstatic -- and even though prime-time audiences for rival networks are down to their lowest levels in decades, executives there are thrilled, too. The moral they're embracing from these giant Olympic ratings is that broadcast network TV is alive and well...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
20
BEST NEW TV SHOW OF THE FALL SEASON? NO ONE CAN SAY... By David Bianculli
 
 
Traditionally, this is the time of year when TV critics, reporters and editors huddle at newspapers and magazines to organize their annual fall preview packages. But for the 2008 fall season, one crucial element will be missing. This year, anyone labeling a series in advance as the "best new show of the season," at this point, is lying...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
19
CW WITHHOLDS PRESS SCREENERS FOR "90210" -- EARTH CONTINUES TO ROTATE ON AXIS By David Bianculli
 
 
In the latest development to keep TV critics from seeing and evaluating advance screeners of this fall's new series, the CW network has announced that it won't be sending out preview copies of its new 90210 revival. I suppose I could scream foul. Instead, I'm shouting "Thanks!"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Aug
17
FOR MICHAEL PHELPS AND NBC'S OLYMPICS COVERAGE, EIGHT IS ENOUGH By David Bianculli
 
 
Eight is enough. Michael Phelps, his U.S. swimming teammates, fate and not a little luck -- they all combined to make all of the athlete's big-dream dreams come true. Eight races. Eight gold medals. Seven world records, and one Olympic record, in the bargain. Not bad for week one...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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