The newest HBO drama from David Simon and company, "Treme", is a quality cousin to his previous classic examination of a specific urban landscape and populace, "The Wire". But where The Wire was set in Baltimore and exuded an air of grim hopelessness, Treme, set in a post-Katrina New Orleans, exudes something else entirely...

2010

Apr

STUDENT BLOG #4: THE SUN SHOULD SET ON FOX'S "SONS OF TUCSON" By David Bianculli

I asked Rich Greenhalgh, who last wrote on the subject of anime, to take a look at one of the new shows aimed at young viewers, and write about whether it did or didn't work for him, a college student at Rowan University. Here is his not-so-glowing report on Fox's newest sitcom...

2010

Apr

THE BEATLES ON "IDOL," "AMAZING RACE," "GLEE": YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, OR NO, NO, NO? By David Bianculli

I hate it when any Beatles music shows up in a TV commercial, as when "Hello Goodbye" is covered during a Target ad. But when music associated with the group or its former members is showcased on prime-time network TV, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Depends...

2010

Apr

TONIGHT ON "LATE LATE SHOW": ATTACK OF THE ROBOT By David Bianculli

Late shows and robots have been co-exisiting peacefully since the 1950s -- thanks to B movies -- but tonight marks a new, Terminator-type evolutionary moment. Tonight at 12:35 a.m., on CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", we're introduced to the host's brand-new robot sidekick...

2010

Apr

AN INCIDENTAL EASTER WEEKEND ANNIVERSARY: 41 YEARS AGO, CBS FIRED THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS By David Bianculli

On Easter Weekend in 1969, CBS refused to air the program Tom and Dick Smothers had supplied for telecast on Easter Sunday -- the one containing David Steinberg's second comic sermonette -- and fired off a memo which also fired the Smothers Brothers. So unhappy anniversary, guys, but thanks for letting me tell your story...

2010

Mar

69TH ANNUAL PEABODY AWARDS ANNOUNCED: AS USUAL, GREAT TASTE -- HONORING GREAT SHOWS By David Bianculli

The University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication just revealed the winners of its Peabody Awards for the best electronic media efforts in 2009 -- and, as usual, the Peabody panel has demonstrated a jaw-dropping combination of taste, breadth and depth. Glee made the cut...

2010

Mar

'JAMIE OLIVER'S FOOD REVOLUTION': TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT By David Bianculli

There's something about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, the new ABC reality series launching Friday night at 8 ET, that comes as a total surprise. For a program about the dangers and proliferation of disgusting processed foods, it's shockingly easy to swallow. In fact, this has the makings of one tasty reality show...

2010

Mar

FABULOUS, FRACTURED FEMALES: "NURSE JACKIE" AND "UNITED STATES OF TARA" RETURN TONIGHT ON SHOWTIME By David Bianculli

On Showtime tonight, two engrossing TV characters return who are struggling to keep themselves together: Edie Falco as the pill-popping "Nurse Jackie", and Toni Collette as the woman with several distinct personalities in "The United States of Tara". Both shows are wonderful -- and if both Collette and Falco aren't competing this fall for Best Actress Emmys, something's awfully wrong somewhere...

2010

Mar

AMC'S "BREAKING BAD" COMES CRAWLING BACK -- AND IT'S TERRIFIC By David Bianculli

The opening, pre-credits sequence of Sunday's third-season premiere of AMC's "Breaking Bad" is a wordless marvel. It begins with a shot of a beautiful landscape, then pans down to reveal one man crawling. Then another, then many more, like human ants following some invisible, humbling trail. Where? Why?...

2010

Mar

DISCOVERY'S NEWEST NATURE SERIES: IT'S A SEMI-WONDERFUL "LIFE" By David Bianculli

Discovery Channel's previous major co-production with the BBC, 2006's Planet Earth, was a fabulous nature miniseries, presenting astounding visuals and intelligent, illuminating narration in every installment. The networks' newest collaboration, a 10-part series called Life, is just as satisfying... but only in the visual sense...

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