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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

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
 
 
2018
Dec
13
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL By David Bianculli
 
 
This prime-time highlights special offers many of the holiday sketches SNL has presented over its many, many years. One highlight to look for:  Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig singing a naughty yet nice holiday jingle, “Santa’s My Boyfriend.” And it’s in three-part harmony, so… Ho ho ho.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
13
THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight it’s cookie and bread week on The Great American Baking Show. And since I’m already covered in flour churning out cookies for the grandkids these days, I’ll be watching for tips. (Tips like: Don’t procreate, and you won’t have to churn out cookies like a Dickensian factory worker thirtysomething years later.)
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
13
MURPHY BROWN By David Bianculli
 
 
We’re getting to the end of the season for this modern reboot of Murphy Brown, which always was intended, according to series creator Diane English, to consist of 13 episodes (tonight’s new episode is number 12 in that run). There have been reports that, because of not continuing with a midseason additional order, Murphy Brown has been cancelled, but English says that’s not the case, and she expects she will, along with Murphy, return next fall. Meanwhile, tonight, Murphy (Cand
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
12
'PARIS TO PITTSBURGH' DEBUTS ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC By David Hinckley
 
 
The documentary Paris to Pittsburgh works hard at separating the politics of the climate change debate from the science of climate change...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
12
A TASTE OF THE GLAMOROUS LIFE ON 'CHAMPAIGN ILL' By David Hinckley
 
 
Champaign ILL could be described as the hip-hop version of the classic Townes Van Zandt song “Pancho and Lefty.”...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
12
ELVIS PRESLEY DAY By David Bianculli
 
 
Elvis has returned to the building – at least in spirit, and at least today, when TCM presents an all-day buffet of cinematic treats from Elvis’ Hollywood years. The starting gun goes off at 6 a.m. ET with 1968’s Speedway, and keeps running laps until 8 p.m. ET. Highlights include the 1970 documentary Elvis: That’s the Way It Is at noon ET, followed at 4 p.m. ET by 1957’s Jailhouse Rock, featuring a title song immortalized by Jay Marmo in an early 1970s Nova High Sc
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
12
ELLEN'S GAME OF GAMES: HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR By David Bianculli
 
 
Whether the contestants on this holiday special have been naughty or nice, there’s a good chance they’ll plummet from a great height through a trap door – with happy holiday hostess Ellen DeGeneres pushing the button and laughing with glee.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
12
SOUTH PARK By David Bianculli
 
 
If you’re a fan of Breaking Away, as am I, expect to derive maximum enjoyment from tonight’s new episode, which has the gang’s chances of winning the local bike parade hampered when Kenny decides not to take part. And other kids have other concerns as well...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
11
'LAW & ORDER' NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE THIS WAY By Noel Holston
 
 

Weird. It's like we're all watching Back to the Future in a huge movie theater and a third of the audience is pulling for Biff. Feeling mischievous and snarky, I posted that analogy on Facebook not long ago...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Dec
11
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight TCM presents a double feature that, basically, presents the absolute best examples of two different film genres. First up is the movie musical – and you don’t get any better than this 1952 musical, starring Gene Kelly, that presents a hilarious account of the movie industry’s transition from silent to sound films, and, along the way, the movie musical itself. Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor co-star, Kelly and Stanley Donen co-direct, Betty Comden and Adolph Gr
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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