DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2019
Jan
18
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This British import from ITV, which was televised there last fall, pulls off the same tricky balancing act as Showtime’s U.S. adaptation of Shameless: It creates characters so believable that you actually begin to worry about them and even root for them. (I know, that’s the goal of every scripted show, but I rarely forget that I’m only watching actors in a TV program.) The first three episodes of Butterfly are available today, and they introduce a family that&r
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
18
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: It’s Season 5 for this third-act comedy series, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and the entire season arrives today. Nudity and mind-altering substances definitely included.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
18
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: It’s been two months since Bill Maher presided over an installment of his live, comically barbed dissection of current events. And he returns, for the start of Season 17 of Real Time with Bill Maher, one day after new allegations suggest that President Donald Trump may have suborned perjury by directing his attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about his real estate negotiations with Russia during his campaign for president. Among tonight’s scheduled guests are
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
18
 
 
Give Howie Mandel all due credit – lots of it – for reinvention. In the early 1980s, he was a young standup comic whose goofy act included lots of props, and included such oddball moves as pulling a surgical glove down over his forehead and letting it slowly snap off into the air. Then he joined the initial cast of NBC’s St. Elsewhere, becoming a central member of the ensemble of what was TV’s most daring drama at the time, doing very solid work. Then, after a quiet perio
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
17
 
 
Remember Blue Planet II and its moments of wonder and grace? Dynasties is not that. This new David Attenborough-narrated nature series is darker and more adult, though no less compelling for it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
17
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: The first season of this latest offshoot in the Star Trek canon established its time line (before the events of the original series), its alternate mirror universe, and many of its characters and conflicts. Season 2 gets a bit more aggressive, boldly going where the original Star Trek went before – at least in terms of characters. We get, for example, the introduction of Anson Mount as Captain Pike, who preceded James T. Kirk as captain of the Enterprise, and who figured i
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
17
 
 
Kal Penn and Sean Astin guest star as scientists who confirm the super asymmetry theory put forth by Sheldon and Amy. The only problem in going forward: these other scientists would prefer to do so without one central part of the equation: Amy.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
17
 
 
At least two classic villains from the old Batman universe ascend dramatically in tonight’s new installment of this prequel series. One is Penguin, who has fashioned himself the hero of a Gotham City that’s become dangerously isolated. The other is Selina, who, now that her paralysis has been cured by Poison Ivy, is through pussyfooting around. Or she’s just starting, as her quest for vengeance makes her more fully embrace her emerging alter ego as Catwoman.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
17
 
 
On tonight’s new episode, Chidi sees the time knife. I have no idea what that means, but that’s the title of this entry – and it takes place at an IHOP. Not a pancake house, but some sort of celestial universal portal. It’s another unexpected journey for the formerly alive heroes of this show – and I’m more enchanted with them, and this show, every step they take.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Jan
16
 
 
The worst thing about this series, now that it’s begun to settle in and establish its strengths and weaknesses, is the absurd optimism of the celebrity panelists. They try to deduce, by deciphering clues and paying close attention to vocal mannerisms and performance moves, which celebrities are under the various elaborate costumes. But their guesses are absurdly detached from reality. Lady Gaga, guesses one panelist. One of the Kardashians, guesses another. Elton John, guesses a third. No,