The awards mean nothing here – let’s not kid ourselves – but as an entertaining awards show, the Golden Globes certainly has upped its game the past few years. Credit first Ricky Gervais, and now returning hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, with that. It’s the one awards show where irreverence, and even disdain, makes perfect sense.

2014

Jan

MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: "DOWNTON ABBEY" By David Bianculli

Fortunes change as quickly as moods on this series, and there are some significant reversals of both in tonight’s episode. And for those who missed last week’s two-hour Season 4 premiere, it’s repeated at 7 p.m. ET to give viewers an extra chance to catch up. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes. Check local listings.

2014

Jan

THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli

Broadcast television’s best show continues, presenting a new episode in which a couple is defended in a drug-smuggling case – and all around them, of course, loom larger issues involving Alicia’s past and present associates.

2014

Jan

TRUE DETECTIVE By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey star as two very different, equally troubled detectives, newly partnered when they happen to field a gruesome murder case with ritual overtones and suggestions of being the work of a serial killer. The performances are excellent, the story and dialogue intelligent, and the structure – which shifts among various time lines, from 1995 to 2012 – unusual and intriguing. All in all, it’s HBO’s best drama series since The

2014

Jan

SHAMELESS By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: For the Season 4 premiere, the missing Frank (William H. Macy) returns to the fold. (He had to, or there’s no show, really.) But his return, predictably, is anything but smooth. Meanwhile, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) continues to experience a better quality of life, and work, while the other Gallaghers try their own hand at entrepreneurship – some in legal ventures, others less so.

2014

Jan

GIRLS By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Season 3 begins with a doubleheader, introducing a welcome pattern of brief but entertaining appearances by familiar guest stars. In the first of tonight’s two episodes, Shiri Appleby (remember her all the way back from Roswell?) reprises her role as Adam’s ex-girlfriend, Natalia, confronting Adam (Adam Driver) and Hannah (Lena Dunham) with angry assistance from Natalia’s new friend, played by Amy Schumer. In both, Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is confronting people at

2014

Jan

HOUSE OF LIES By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Like The Good Wife, this series blew itself apart, intentionally, by taking its core workplace family and splitting it into separate, now hostile, groups. What’s interesting here is that Marty (Don Cheadle) and Jeannie (Kristen Bell) are now adversaries, and Marty’s lunatic ex-wife, Monica (Dawn Oliviera), is now a power player in the workplace arena as well. It’s a strong start to Season 3, with Bell, especially, rising to the occasion.

2014

Jan

EPISODES By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: One of television’s best and most underrated comedies, this series, now starting Season 3, continues to impress, surprise, and, unexpectedly, touch real emotional nerves. It’s a rare comedy that can make you laugh out loud and feel the characters’ emotional pain, especially at the same time – think of the Ricky Gervais British version of The Office as the nearest modern parallel. Matt LeBlanc, playing an exaggerated version of himself, is giving the perfo

2014

Jan

PRO FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS By David Bianculli

For this second-week postseason playoff game, many sports pundits are expecting the Seattle Seahawks to repeat its late-season thrashing of the New Orleans Saints. But Saints QB Drew Brees, who held tough last week to wrest victory from the jaws of the Philadelphia Eagles, says he learned a lot from that earlier game, and is determined to perform better against Seattle this time. And off we go.

2014

Jan

PRO FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS By David Bianculli

Last week, the Indianapolis Colts were 28 points down in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs, but Colts QB Andrew Luck persevered, staging one of the biggest comeback victories in NFL history. This week, Luck faces the Patriots, and stellar QB Tom Brady, so this game might be a thriller that goes down to the final minute of play – a scenario with which the Patriots, in postseason play, are painfully familiar. Speaking of painfully: TVWW’s Eric Gould, who lives in Boston,

Posts 121-130 of 199

12 13 14 15 16

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption