2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
2016
Jan
16
SESAME STREET By David Bianculli
 
 
NEW NETWORK PREMIERE: The first new episode of the Sesame Street season is here – but here isn’t where it used to be. After 45 years on PBS, Big Bird and his buddies have migrated to the upscale, gentrified neighborhood of HBO. These new episodes – 30 minutes each, with two of them premiering today, and one new and one repeat appearing each subsequent Saturday – will get to PBS eventually, about nine months later. The good news is that this three-year exclusive head start
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
AFC DIVISIONAL ROUND: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS By David Bianculli
 
 
The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated in the last 11 games, but the team’s wild-card victory last weekend was its first postseason win since 1993. The New England Patriots, on the other hand, have won a total of 21 playoffs games under the tandem teamwork of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady – and that’s just to date. In this showdown, the Patriots might well end the Chiefs’ streak, which would be deflating. But at this point in the season, how much deflating
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND: GREEN BAY PACKERS VS. ARIZONA CARDINALS By David Bianculli
 
 
The last time these two teams met was only three weeks ago, and the Cardinals ran roughshod over the Packers, 38-8. But in last week’s wild-card game, in beating the Washington Redskins, Aaron Rodgers looked like a completely different, rejuvenated player. This rematch should be very different – and very, very interesting.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
LOVE ON THE SIDELINES By David Bianculli
 
 
Emily Kinney, who had a tough time of it as Beth on The Walking Dead, and who has worked around egomaniacal medical researchers as Nora on Masters of Sex and Nurse Daisy on The Knick, gets a change-of-pace occupation as the personal assistant to an injured football player (John Reardon). And since it’s a Hallmark romance movie, it’s hardly a Spoiler Alert to predict that, before this new telemovie is over, he’ll be healed enough to score. Maybe even on the field…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Adam Driver, of Girls and now of the Star Wars franchise, is tonight’s guest host. Musical guest: Chris Stapleton.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
SHOWTIME'S CHEERFUL 'ROADIES' WILL CONVEY THE PASSION IN MUSIC By David Hinckley
 
 
Roadies is a warm, affectionate look at the bonds that form among the people who set the staging, work the lights, police the VIP lounge and otherwise set the table for the band...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
16
WAS THE VOTE TO END 'AMERICAN IDOL' THE RIGHT ONE? By David Hinckley
 
 
It seems not everyone associated with Fox’s American Idol thought it was time for the show to be sent home...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
15
LIKE ITS FICTIONAL COUNTERPART, AL JAZEERA AMERICA WILL CLOSE By Monique Nazareth
 
 
In 2013, I wrote a piece for TVWW on Al Jazeera America’s premiere in which I compared it to the fictional channel in HBO’s The Newsroom. That much-praised show was canceled after three seasons and the real life newsroom is meeting the same fate...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
15
JAMES CORDEN DOING CAR KARAOKE WITH ADELE By David Bianculli
 
 
The latest edition of The Late Late Show host James Corden’s singalong karaoke car rides is with Adele, and this one is super-sized...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
15
FOX IS RETURNING 'PRISON BREAK' -- AND '24' MINUS JACK BAUER By David Hinckley
 
 
Even before the new X-Files reaches the air, Fox is dipping into its archives to revive two more well-remembered past hits: 24 and Prison Break...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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