Under different circumstances, and with different restrictions, broadcast TV's late-night shows are poised to return. NBC's "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," will be back Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008, but without their writers...

2007

Dec

YESTERDAY, AFI EMBRACED TV'S BEST; TODAY, ABC AND NBC DON'T By David Bianculli

Clash of the Choirs The American Film Institute yesterday announced its eighth annual roster of the year's most outstanding achievements in film and television. Today, ABC and NBC present the premiere installments of their latest prime-time series offerings: a quiz show named "Duel" on ABC, and a music competition show named "Clash of the Choirs" on NBC...

2007

Dec

EASIER THAN ROLLING OFF A BLOG By David Bianculli

By mere coincidence, the writers' strike and TV WORTH WATCHING began the exact same day, on November 5. Ever since, I've written every single day - and every single day, they haven't. Something's gotta give... so, beginning today, I'm giving up writing a blog on weekends...

2007

Dec

RICKY GERVAIS AND HIS "EXTRAS" SPECIAL TV SHOW By David Bianculli

It's miraculous enough for someone to have the talent to create a brilliant TV comedy series. It's even more rare to know when to end it - and rarer still to provide a satisfying, memorable ending. Ricky Gervais and his writing and directing partner, Stephen Merchant, have pulled off that impressive perfecta not once, but twice...

2007

Dec

"LATE SHOW" CHRISTMAS - BABY, PLEASE COME HOME By David Bianculli

My wish for the holidays this year is simple but sincere, and involves the no-end-in-sight writers' strike. I wish "Late Show with David Letterman" could get special dispensation to resume production of its CBS talk show, if only for one day...

2007

Dec

REALITY CAN BE CRUEL, AND SO CAN REALITY TV By David Bianculli

Don't blame the month-long Writers Guild of America strike, and the growing scarcity of scripted programming, for tonight's premiere of CW's "Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants." That mother-daughter competition was in the works long before the strike. As to what's around the corner, you ain't seen nothing yet...

2007

Dec

ANOTHER SIGN THIS STRIKE IS A TOUGH ONE: FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE TCA HAS CANCELED ITS PRESS TOUR By David Bianculli

Last night around 11 p.m. ET, members of the Television Critics Association were sent an email delivering some bad news. TCA President Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times Picayune, who has been working exhaustively to preserve the January 2008 TV press tour, pulled the plug. It will be the first TCA semiannual press tour scrubbed since the organization of TV critics and reporters was formed in the late 1970s...

2007

Dec

IT'S TIME FOR DAVID LETTERMAN TO COME BACK - AND JON, AND CONAN, AND ALL THE REST By David Bianculli

So long as both sides were at least attempting to negotiate an end to the month-long strike by the Writers Guild of America, it made sense to support the shutdown of most scripted shows, wait patiently, and hope for the best. But the best isn't happening, so it's time for viewers to make some demands of their own: Bring back Dave. And Jon, and Conan, and all the rest...

2007

Dec

TOM BROKAW BRINGS "1968" UP TO DATE By David Bianculli

Tom Brokaw, who celebrated WWII veterans as "The Greatest Generation," focuses on the 1960s in his latest book - and tonight at 9 ET on The History Channel, in a two-hour documentary, he hones in on one year in particular: 1968...

2007

Dec

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS: STRIKE TALKS BREAK OFF AGAIN, AND SOUND REALLY BROKEN By David Bianculli

Press releases from the networks started coming in about 10 p.m. ET last night, late enough to minimize coverage on a Friday night in December. But there was news, and the news was bad: The studios and networks had walked away from the negotiating table, leaving them and the striking Writers Guild of America members both moaning about intractable positions and irreconcilable differences...

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