SEASON PREMIERE: This is cycle 14 for this long-running music competition series, which is far past its prime, but seems determined this season to weather the storms and surge ahead. It’s tough going, because what’s surged ahead lately is NBC competitor The Voice, which now draws significantly more viewers than the once-dominant Idol. At its peak in Season 2, American Idol pulled more than 38 million viewers. Last year, it managed only 10.5 million. But there are some positive signs

2015

Jan

EPISODES MARATHON By David Bianculli

Episodes, one of television’s most underrated series, returns Sunday for Season 4 – and tonight, Showtime is providing a public service of sorts by repeating the entirety of Season 3 in a nine-episode marathon, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Included in here somewhere (I won’t say where, exactly, because it should be served up as a surprise) is what I consider the funniest TV moment of 2014 – and, actually, for the last several years. One hint: It happens during a couples therap

2015

Jan

EMPIRE By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: The pilot episode of this new Fox series, unfortunately, is a bit too broad and stereotypical, pulling a bit too obviously from both highbrow (Shakespeare’s King Lear) and lowbrow (ABC’s Dynasty) for inspiration. Yet the cast, creators and premise of this drama, which is set in the privileged world of a successful hip-hop record company, bring enough to the table to make you root for it to improve quickly, and hit some notes – dramatic, not musical, that is &nd

2015

Jan

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW By David Bianculli

Bright lights, big city! In tonight’s episode, Elsa (Jessica Lange) is planning to head to Hollywood to pursue her long-simmering dream of stardom – but you can bet something will happen tonight to derail those best-laid plans. Given this series, it will, no doubt, be something freaky.

2015

Jan

MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: You can think of this new limited ABC adventure series as either a prequel to ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or a sequel to the 2011 Marvel movie Captain America: The First Avenger. Because it’s both. It’s set in 1946, with Captain America presumed dead, and his memorably effective colleague, secret agent Peggy Carter, relegated to a boring desk job. But as played, once again, by Hayley Atwell, she doesn’t stay trapped behind that desk for lo

2015

Jan

THE STING By David Bianculli

Tuesdays in February, this year, belong to Robert Redford, and to start off its month-long tribute, TCM is wasting no time in bringing out the big guns. Three of Redford’s finest performances, and most entertaining movies, are shown in a row tonight, starting with his two famous teamings with Paul Newman. First up, out of chronological sequence, is 1973’s The Sting, a remarkably entertaining movie that, like the movie that follows, sucks me in every time it’s televised. The Sti

2015

Jan

FRONTLINE: “GUNNED DOWN: THE POWER OF THE N.R.A.” By David Bianculli

This new Frontline starts with a given -- that the National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful and effective lobbying groups in Washington – then deconstructs the organization’s history to shed light on how, and when, it got that way. The power wielded by the NRA is a surprisingly modern phenomenon, it turns out, and this new documentary explains the group’s rise and increased clout. Check local listings.

2015

Jan

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID By David Bianculli

Made in 1969, this movie, like The Sting four years later, was directed by George Roy Hill and starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The difference, this time out, was the screenwriter, William Goldman, whose perfect script managed to be both retro and modern at the same time, and introduce almost as many bits of dialogue and business into the national consciousness as his later The Princess Bride. “You just keep thinkin’, Butch – that’s what you’re good at.&rdquo

2015

Jan

JEREMIAH JOHNSON By David Bianculli

This 1972 Robert Redford movie was filmed in Utah, near the ski area of what was then known as Timp Haven. The rugged, beautiful scenery, filmed during several drastically different seasons, is a major character in this story of a reclusive mountain man played by Redford – and the scenery had a major impact on Redford as well. After the movie was finished, he bought the ski resort and some of the surrounding land, and named it after one of the other cinematic alter egos. Presto: Sundance w

2015

Jan

GOTHAM By David Bianculli

This series returns with new episodes for the New Year, starting the second half of its run with James Gordon still at Arkham Asylum – where, in this first-run outing, he encounters a doctor played by Morena Baccarin, formerly of Homeland.

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