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

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

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...

2008

Aug

MICHAEL PHELPS' MIDAS TOUCH: EVERY OUTSTRETCHED HAND TURNS TO GOLD By David Bianculli

You had to see it to believe it, and even after seeing it -- from several angles and speeds -- believing it wasn't easy. But last night, by one-hundredth of a second, Michael Phelps somehow found a way to win gold, tie Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold medal record, and set the stage for tonight's unprecedented opportunity...

2008

Aug

YOUR MISSION, MR. PHELPS, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT... By David Bianculli

Tonight is Michael Phelps' penultimate Olympics event, his last individual one, and the one in which he faces a competitor who, rather than he, holds the world record. The race is televised live in prime time tonight on NBC, and the audience ought to be huge...

2008

Aug

THANKS TO THE OLYMPICS, NBC LOOKS LIKE A NETWORK AGAIN -- FOR NOW By David Bianculli

So far, NBC's prime-time coverage of the XXIX Summer Olympics has averaged more than 31 million viewers. That's a huge number that's bound to get even bigger, because this weekend, if Michael Phelps makes it to the point of eclipsing swimmer Mark Spitz's single-Olympics gold-medal record, the number of viewers drawn to their TV sets should be astronomical...

2008

Aug

SMOTHERS BROTHERS FINALLY COMING OUT ON VIDEO -- WITH MY LINER NOTES! By David Bianculli

Excuse me for being excited about this, but there's no hiding my enthusiasm or pride here. After decades as one of the last important TV series never released on home video, the influential 1967-69 "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" is finally being released...

2008

Aug

NBC'S OLYMPICS COVERAGE -- SO FAR, SO GREAT By David Bianculli

OLYMPICS-swimming-lanes.jpg Sunday night's NBC prime-time telecast of the XXIX Olympic Games -- part live, part replayed from hoarded video coverage -- was nothing short of fabulous. The U.S. athletes shone in some events, faltered in others and barely missed in still others, but NBC, in its first weekend of Olympics coverage, has been a winner all the way...

2008

Aug

OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY WAS TRANSCENDENT TV -- HERE'S AN ANNOTATED SCRAPBOOK By David Bianculli

The opening ceremony of the XIX Summer Olympics was a transcendent TV event. Every time you think the Chinese couldn't top themselves, they did. "A picture is worth a thousand words," usually cited as an ancient Chinese proverb, actually isn't ancient or Chinese at all. But with the Olympics opening ceremony handled so stunningly by China, only an annotated photo album does the evening, or the NBC telecast, justice. So here goes...

2008

Aug

OLYMPICS OPENING WEEKEND: WHAT AND WHERE ARE YOU WATCHING IT? By David Bianculli

Normally on TV WORTH WATCHING, I'm describing and recommending things to watch, and where to find them. For the Olympic Games, since they're spread so far and wide over cable, broadcast and the Internet, I've decided to reverse the traffic flow...

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