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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

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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Aerial View

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MNtv

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TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

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Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2014
Oct
11
DOCTOR WHO By David Bianculli
 
 
I think Jenna Coleman’s Clara is still mad at the Doctor, because she doesn’t appear in any of the promos or publicity photos for tonight’s new show. But it ought to be a memorable voyage anyway, because tonight, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) suits up in a tuxedo instead of a spacesuit or his normal duds, and climbs aboard the intergalactic Orient Express. And naturally, before long, there’s a murder mystery to solve…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
11
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE VINTAGE By David Bianculli
 
 
NBC could make a last-minute substitution for tonight’s episode, in deference of this week’s death of former Saturday Night Live cast member Jan Hooks – but I hope the network proceeds as planned. That’s because this long-scheduled prime-time SNL Encore show, originally broadcast in late night (and in longer form) on April 21, 1990, featured Hooks prominently, and very effectively, with her playing not only Greta Garbo, but a sassy waitress who serves Baldwin at a diner.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
11
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, this fast-moving, effortlessly watchable talk show launched Season 16, with another unpredictably entertaining hour: Washington revealed the secret of his “magic finger,” and Capaldi talked of giving a young Doctor Who fan in Budapest a gift he wouldn’t fully appreciate for months. This week, the guests include Emma Thompson, who was hilarious last time she visited Norton’s show, and Hugh Grant, whose self-deprecating humor is perfectly attuned to Norton’
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
11
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s installment, hosted by Sarah Silverman and featuring Maroon 5, was one of the flattest SNL shows in years. Usually, after sliding off the rails like that, SNL rebounds strongly with its next episode – and it’ll probably happen again tonight, because the guest host is the slyly hilarious former repertory cast regular, Bill Hader. The musical guest is Hozier – but the person I’m most waiting to see is Hader’s Stefon.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
IS JON STEWART THE NEW WALTER CRONKITE – OR THE NEW ERNIE KOVACS? By David Bianculli
 
 

I was asked by CNN.com if I had any reaction to the reports that Jon Stewart had been offered the hosting duties on NBC’s Meet the Press, and had declined. I did…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
TOE-TAPPING SAUL By Eric Gould
 
 
Here’s the first sneak peek at AMC’s backstory spinoff about Breaking Bad crook lawyer Saul Goodman, Better Call Saul...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
IN FRONT OF AND BEHIND THE CAMERA: THE STRONG WOMEN OF 'MADAM SECRETARY' By Donna J. Plesh
 
 
Creating, writing and producing series featuring strong female characters has been a hallmark of much of Barbara Hall’s career. Her stamp has been on Homeland, Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, Army Wives and this season’s new CBS Sunday night series Madam Secretary, starring Téa Leoni as a newly appointed Secretary of State...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
GENESIS - SUM OF THE PARTS By David Bianculli
 
 
Showtime has done very well booking and showcasing its Friday night music documentaries, and here’s another. Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel are well-recognized solo pop stars in their own right – but in the beginning, there was Genesis. That was the group that spawned them both, and which, after all these years, they’re reuniting. This overview captures both past and present, with emphasis on the past. Some vintage performance footage captures Genesis in concert, while other cl
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
2014 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES By David Bianculli
 
 
The Baltimore Orioles host the Kansas City Royals in tonight’s Game 1 of the ALCS. Baseball fans will be there, but why watch, if you’re not into baseball? Two reasons. One: The Orioles play in one of the most beautiful ballparks in all of baseball, and that beauty translates even through the small screen. Two: The Kansas City Royals are an upstart team trying to win its first pennant since 1985, and are doing it with defiant, daring speed on the base paths. In other words, it’
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Oct
10
CRISTELA By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This is a warning, not a recommendation. Give Cristela Alonzo credit for being part of this year’s welcome trend of casting minorities in lead roles in prime-time sitcoms and dramas. But then watch something else, because this sitcom, Cristela, does not showcase her talents, or those of any of her costars, effectively, much less admirably. My original notes when watching tonight’s pilot say it all: “Bilingual boredom: Unfunny in any language.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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