Run, do not walk, to order one of TV's all-time most enduring comedies on DVD, released this week in a bonus-loaded complete series set. Barney Miller finally gets the treatment it deserves, from our friends at Shout! Factory, who know how to make pop culture milestones come alive...

2011

Oct

'ONCE UPON A TIME,' ABC HAD A CHARMING IDEA FOR A NEW TV SERIES By David Bianculli

Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you -- and if you believe, really believe, then maybe ABC's new Once Upon a Time series will come true, too. After previewing two episodes, I'm not sure yet whether this new Sunday series, premiering this weekend at 8 p.m. ET, has the vision to go the distance. But my, this new mix of enchanted fantasy land and small-town soap opera starts out with a tantalizingly original premise, and certainly shows promise...

2011

Oct

WHO'S THE 'BOSS'? KELSEY GRAMMER -- AND ON HIS NEW SHOW, HE'S THE ONE TO WATCH By David Bianculli

The impressive first scene of Boss, the new Starz drama starring Kelsey Grammer as a volatile and domineering Chicago mayor, locks in entirely on Grammer's Tom Kane as (seen above) he receives a death sentence from his doctor -- a long, dispassionate description of the probable effects, short-term and long-term, of his rare brain disease...

2011

Oct

ABC BOLDLY TRIES TO MAKE MAGIC WITH 'ONCE UPON A TIME' By Ed Bark

Fairy tales can come true, they can happen to you -- not once but twice in the coming week. NBC was supposed to be first in line with "Grimm", but delayed its announced Friday, Oct. 21 premiere by a week to be closer to Halloween. That leaves ABC to sally forth with "Once Upon A Time"...

2011

Oct

ABC HAS A FAIRY TALE WINNER IN 'TIME' By Alan Pergament

Once upon a time, ABC used to carry a Sunday night series called The Wonderful World of Disney that enabled the whole family to sit together and watch a sweet family-oriented program. That magical time is back...

2011

Oct

IN 'BOSS,' KELSEY GRAMMER BREAKS NEW GROUND -- BUT IS SURROUNDED BY THE FAMILIAR By Theresa Corigliano

I didn't think Kelsey Grammer could do it, but I have to hand it to him. In the new Starz drama series "Boss," with his edgy, calibrated, scary performance as Tom Kane, the Machiavellian mayor of Chicago with a devastating secret, Grammer blots out any memories of Frasier Crane...

2011

Oct

EYE REMEMBER, MAMA: CBS LOGO TURNS 60 YEARS OLD By David Bianculli

One of the most recognizable logo brands of the 20th century, one that's still around (with modernized variations) here in the 21st, celebrates its 60th anniversary Thursday. It's the CBS eye, which, only in the most literal sense, is a black eye on the face of the CBS network. Otherwise, it's a marketing triumph that would make Don Draper weep with pride. The CBS Eye, with the CBS Television Network identified in the pupil, and with the eye floating behind a sky of black-and-white clouds, was broadcast for the first time on Oct. 20, 1951...

2011

Oct

IT'S A ZOMBIE JAMBOREE AT AMC, WITH 'WALKING DEAD' REGISTERING MONSTER RATINGS NUMBERS By David Bianculli

TVWW managing editor Diane Werts has beaten me to the punch on this one, reporting on the amazing audience estimates for Sunday's Season 2 premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead in her For Better or Werts column -- But those numbers, like the show, bears repeating. They really are shocking -- and multiplying about as quickly as a zombie epidemic...

2011

Oct

HARRY BELAFONTE BIO ANOTHER HBO TREAT -- AND TRIUMPH By David Bianculli

Monday night at 10 ET, HBO premieres Sing Your Song, a 90-minute biography of Harry Belafonte that has a lot in common with that network's recent, equally triumphant and illuminating George Harrison documentary. Both are loaded with rare photographs, recordings and film and TV clips. Both drop more big names than a Who's Who compendium. And both look at artists who were as concerned with social activism, and personal enlightenment, as with making music...

2011

Oct

RATINGS: 'WALKING DEAD' STOMPS 'EM ALL By Diane Werts

Whoa, and boy howdy -- these are some impressive ratings numbers! Sunday's second-season premiere of The Walking Dead was one live wire for AMC, smashing cable viewership records in key demos -- Clearly, Bianculli's rave had sway!...

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