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
 
 
2014
Nov
16
THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli
 
 
Could things get any worse for poor Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry)? Yes. And tonight, they do. He and Diane (Christine Baranski) are called into an FBI office to listen to an official wiretap – one that appears to have the very dangerous Lemond Bishop, one of Cary’s well-connected but ruthless clients, ordering Cary’s death. Within the week. And that’s just for starters…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
16
THE WALKING DEAD By David Bianculli
 
 
This season’s theme, based on the way different episodes have focused on different members of Rick’s increasingly separated team, seems to be “divide and conquer.” And tonight, we focus on yet another individual, one who already has been responsible, this season, for saving the lives of Rick and the others. It’s Carol (Melissa McBride) – and tonight, we see flashbacks of her survival quest with Daryl (Norman Reedus), and follow the path that, eventually, leads
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
16
THE NEWSROOM By David Bianculli
 
 
The Boston Marathon bombing proved a very smart subject to examine the sorts of issues Aaron Sorkin is most interested in probing in this HBO series. How is breaking news disseminated, collected and, most important, verified in this new century of social media and intense TV news competition? Last week’s season premiere showed that getting the story, and getting it right, is not easy. But, more than ever, it’s important. In tonight’s episode, Jane Fonda returns as cable news ne
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
16
HOMELAND By David Bianculli
 
 
Saul (Mandy Patinkin) looks to be in the most dire of situations, captured by the enemy, paraded before a video camera, and threatened with death. But Carrie (Claire Danes) looked to be in the most dire of situations last week – and here she is, trying to figure out a way to secure Saul’s release.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
16
TV IS THE OBJECT OF DESIRE IN 'HAPPINESS' By Eric Gould
 
 
Snobs who look down on television ought to see it through the eyes of those who have never had it and yearn to see it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
16
1981: 'GENERAL HOSPITAL' CELEBRATES LUKE AND LAURA'S WEDDING By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1981, one of television's most famous wedding celebrations took place, with General Hospital's Luke and Laura saying "I do" in front of 30 million viewers...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
15
1989: THE COMEDY CHANNEL GOES LIVE By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1989, Time Warner introduced cable's first all-comedy channel, simply called The Comedy Channel...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
15
AN ALTERNATE VIEW OF ERNIE By Linda Donovan
 
 
Over ten years ago Katie Couric demonstrated to us all, by being brave enough to have a colonoscopy on the air during the Today show, that it was the responsible, painless, and smart thing to do for our health. Now someone new is offering us that same encouragement...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
15
THE LEGO MOVIE By David Bianculli
 
 
If I hadn’t been on a long plane trip heading to Europe, I might not have seen this 2014 comedy – but I’m glad I did, because its freshness and unpredictability really made that trip go by a little faster. Writers and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller make an all-LEGO, full-length comedy adventure much more fun that it had any right to be. And Chris Pratt, the Parks and Recreation player who provides the voice of reluctant Everyman hero Emmett, used this movie as the f
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Nov
15
ON THE WATERFRONT By David Bianculli
 
 
What a case, and what a movie. Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger star in this 1954 classic about dockside corruption, loyalty and personal integrity. Elia Kazan directs, Budd Schulberg wrote the script, and the allegorical echoes of the Communist witch hunts of the mid-Fifties are by no means accidental.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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