This 1977 ABC miniseries, a record-breaker whose finale ranks as one of the most popular scripted TV events ever televised, is repeated today by BET in its entirety. The story begins at 8 a.m. ET, with LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte being captured in Africa and transported to the United States aboard a slave ship – and ends several decades later, in the concluding episode at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the triumphant birth of a new generation.

2012

Dec

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE By David Bianculli

This is the second of NBC’s two annual showings of this 1946 holiday fantasy film, a dark drama that inspired a hundred episodic TV variations, predicted the real-estate bubble and ruthless banking systems, and gave Jim Henson the impetus to name two of his beloved Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie.

2012

Dec

A CHRISTMAS STORY MARATHON By David Bianculli

The annual 24-hour Christmas Story marathon begins at 8 p.m. ET, with Peter Billingsley still craving that BB gun, and that one-legged lamp still a prominent part of the household.

2012

Dec

A CHRISTMAS CAROL By David Bianculli

This month I’ve highlighted several versions of the Charles Dickens classic holiday story. Here’s one more: the 1999 version starring Patrick Stewart as a perfectly gruff, and perfectly British, Ebenezer Scrooge. I give it the highest of Christmas Carol ratings: four humbugs.

2012

Dec

1966: NEW YORK'S WPIX INTRODUCES 'THE YULE LOG' By Christy Slewinski

On this day in 1966, New York television station WPIX introduced its beloved broadcast tradition, 'The Yule Log...

2012

Dec

BROADCAST NEWS By David Bianculli

After a full season of Aaron Sorkin’s take on HBO’s The Newsroom, now’s a good time to revisit James L. Brooks’ 25-year-old (!) exploration of the same themes: love and news ethics in a broadcast newsroom. In this one, the anchor is William Hurt, the talented reporter is Albert Brooks, and the feisty female producer is Holly Hunter. And somewhere in here is the question posed to me by my son, shortly before his wedding. And the answer. But I’ll keep it to myself.

2012

Dec

1951: DUMONT BROADCASTS TV'S FIRST NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME By Christy Slewinski

On this day in 1951, DuMont presented the first coast-to-coast broadcast of a National Football League championship game...

2012

Dec

THE SOUND OF MUSIC By David Bianculli

This may seem longer than previous telecasts, and, if so, it’s not just because you’re getting older. It’s because this 1965 musical has been restored to its original length, thereby gobbling up all four hours of ABC’s Sunday night prime-time slot. So tonight, if you tune in to Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and company, you’re likely to feel even more (von) Trapped.

2012

Dec

60 MINUTES By David Bianculli

Though there’s been plenty of breaking news to explore of late, 60 Minutes is taking the easy holiday way out, and presenting a compilation of recent personality profiles under the umbrella title An Evening of Music. The featured artists, whose stories and profiles are well worth encores, are Adele, Taylor Swift, and the lesser-known but just as inspirational Rodriguez.

2012

Dec

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS VS. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS By David Bianculli

NBC was supposed to show a New York Jets-San Diego Chargers game tonight, but, since those teams have won only 11 games between them, used its “flex time” contractual option to select and substitute another game instead. This one features the San Francisco 49ers (10-3-1) and the Seattle Seahawks (9-5), and two young quarterbacks on the rise: Seattle rookie QB Russell Wilson and 49ers second-year QB Colin Kaepernick, whose record since coming off the bench has been 4-1.

Posts 51-60 of 212

5 6 7 8 9

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption