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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
Apr
9
I'VE GOT A "SECRET" I DON'T WANT By David Bianculli
 
 
The CBS celebrity competition series "Secret Talents of the Stars" sounded like a horrible concept, but I didn't want to prejudge -- and couldn't, because it was televised live last night. Well, now I've seen it, and it's time for the postjudging...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
8
BROADCAST SHOWINGS OF CABLE SERIES: SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLEW By David Bianculli
 
 
The ratings are in. The first outing for NBC's Sunday-night duo of recycled "Monk" and "Psych" episodes (first seen on USA Network) drew only 5.6 million and 4 million viewers, respectively, and only a fraction of that in the coveted younger demographic. So should the strike-induced move be considered a failure, or a success?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
7
MORE SHOWS RETURNING! ANOTHER STRIKE LOOMING? By David Bianculli
 
 
How long has it taken for things to return to normal after the writers' strike? This long... and longer. Scripted prime-time series began to check in with their first post-strike episodes during the past two weeks, but there are plenty left to come...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
4
"BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" RETURNS WITH FRAKKING STRONG EPISODE By David Bianculli
 
 
It's always dangerous, when you're talking about TV, to think in terms of firsts, onlys and absolutes, but Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" holds, arguably, a very distinctive place in TV history. It may well be the best series ever made based on one of the worst series ever made...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
3
NBC PLANS, GOD LAUGHS By David Bianculli
 
 
What I love most about NBC's "52-week" schedule plan, announced yesterday, is the unbridled optimism of it. It's actually a 65-week plan...the brainchild of relatively new NBC Entertainment and Universal Studios co-chairman Ben Silverman, who laid out the plans of his fourth-place network with pride and enthusiasm....
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
2
THIS JUST IN: 2007 PEABODY AWARDS ANNOUNCED, AND IT'S ANOTHER DISCERNING ROSTER By David Bianculli
 
 
The University of Georgia just released its list of the 2007 Peabody Award winners for excellence in broadcasting... and what an amazing, discerning, inspiring list it is. These folks sure know excellence when they see it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
2
NETWORKS MISSING THE VALUE OF RELIABILITY By David Bianculli
 
 
If you're watching broadcast network TV these days, you've been inundated with the various ways they're letting you know their scripted programs are about to come back. NBC plays the theme from "Welcome Back, Kotter." CBS has gone from "All Gnu" to letting you know, like ABC, that you have only a week or two until your favorites will be back!...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Apr
1
BROADCAST NETWORKS BOUNCE BACK FROM STRIKE WITH AMBITIOUS NEW SCRIPTED SERIES... APRIL FOOLS! By David Bianculli
 
 
More scripted shows are trickling back into prime time in their post-strike incarnations -- both "My Name Is Earl" on NBC and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS return Thursday. But as some shows return, and others are benched until fall or buried forever, what's next? Maybe it's better not to ask...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
31
WE'RE NUMBER 1'S! TOP NCAA SEEDS ADVANCE TO FINAL FOUR By David Bianculli
 
 
Last night's Davidson-Kansas game was a down-to-the-buzzer thriller, and I wish Davidson had won. As it is, though, Kansas' victory means that all four regional #1 seeds made it to the Final Four. That's unprecedented -- and it makes for the prospect of some more terrific television...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
28
IT'S SHOW TIME ON SHOWTIME: "TUDORS" RETURNS, TRACEY ULLMAN DEBUTS By David Bianculli
 
 
Last year was an image-changing year for the Showtime cable network in its battle to emerge from the shadow of HBO. "Dexter," more brilliant than ever. "Californication," audaciously enjoyable. "Meadowlands," quirky and unpredictable. "Weeds," always a delight, with its best guest-star list ever...And, oh yes, "The Tudors"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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