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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

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

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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
 
 
2016
Dec
31
FOX'S 'THE MICK' IS NOT MICKEY MOUSE-ING By Ed Bark
 
 
ABC is filled to the brim with mom, dad, and the kids sitcoms. On current-day Fox, though, they need not apply unless they’re cartoons...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
THE TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s one of TV’s more inexplicable yet wonderful annual traditions: a New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day marathon showing of The Twilight Zone on the Syfy network, selecting different episodes each year from the amazing canon of half-hours and hours from the Rod Serling canon. Because of this annual exposure, this program, more than any other Golden Age TV classic, retains familiarity among members of the new generation – at least if my students at Rowan University a
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
DICK CLARK’S NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN’ EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017 By David Bianculli
 
 
Now that American Idol is over, this annual ball-dropping bash may well become the brightest jewel in Ryan Seacrest’s crown – the thing that cements him as his generation’s Dick Clark, which, given Seacrest’s proclivity with TV production, clearly is a goal. ABC turns over a lot of time to this host, and this special, including three hours of prime time, and, after the local news, the countdown clincher beginning at 11:30 p.m. ET. Jenny McCarthy continues in her role as l
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
NEW YEAR’S EVE LIVE WITH ANDERSON COOPER AND KATHY GRIFFIN By David Bianculli
 
 
Every year at this time, Anderson Cooper puts his reputation on the line, and watches with inexplicable amusement as co-host Kathy Griffin tightropes on that line on live television, threatening to say something that will be among the first newsworthy quotes of the new year.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! MARATHON By David Bianculli
 
 
If you want to end the year with good song, good cheer, and good dancing, it’s hard to envision a better place than TCM, which presents a marathon of all the That’s Entertainment! movie compilations of the best singing and dancing moments from MGM musicals. Gotta sing! Gotta dance! Gotta watch…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECIAL By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the first year NBC has found time to work Seth Meyers into its New Year’s Eve mix. Let’s see what he does with it – and with such guests as Leslie Jones and Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson is scheduled to perform her song from The Hamilton Mixtape, so that’s one reason to tune in right there.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
PITBULL'S NEW YEAR'S REVOLUTION By David Bianculli
 
 
Fox’s answer to a televised New Year’s Eve party is to have Pitbull as ringleader again, in a concert broadcast live from Miami. Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg are the official hosts this year, with such guests as Nelly and Coolio.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
NBC'S NEW YEAR'S EVE WITH CARSON DALY By David Bianculli
 
 
With his profile upped considerably by The Voice, Carson Daly gets to host NBC’s prime New Year’s Eve slot again this year – but it’s something he’s been doing for 14 years, long before The Voice. This year his cohost is Mel B., and the performers scheduled to ring in the New Year include Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and even some performers who didn’t judge on The Voice this year.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
'THE WALKING DEAD'S' NEGAN SHOULD GET SENT TO THE VILLAIN MINOR LEAGUES By David Hinckley
 
 
You hate to say this, for several reasons, but it can’t be avoided: Television’s worst big-league villain this year was Negan on The Walking Dead...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
31
'THE MICK' HAS BAD CHARACTER, MAYBE A SERIES By David Hinckley
 
 
You will excuse anyone who thinks the new Fox series The Mick could have been titled Aunt Buck...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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