After the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan so forcefully, the Fukushima Daaichi nuclear plant was dangerously exposed and damaged. Pools of radioactive spent fuel were exposed to the atmosphere, risking a disaster even greater than a “standard” nuclear meltdown. After a week, the government ordered a high-risk mission, to have a helicopter drop thousands of gallons of water on the site to avert a horrifying tragedy. Tonight, Frontline interviews one of the pilots, spe

2012

Feb

JUSTIFIED By David Bianculli

In this new episode, two generations of Givens men are on the warpath, each treading straight and boldly into enemy territory. With Raylan (Timothy Olyphant), he’s confronting Neal McDonough’s usually cool Robert Quarles, left, who seethes openly after the latest Raylan visit. And with Raylan’s father, Arlo (Raymond J. Barry), he walks straight into very dangerous territory: the hollow run by the intermittently vicious Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson).

2012

Feb

PBS 'AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE AMISH' IS A WONDERFUL DOCUMENTARY, PURE AND SIMPLE By David Bianculli

The opening moments of The Amish, Tuesday's new two-hour American Experiencedocumentary on PBS, are brilliant, and beautiful, in their unyielding sparseness. You see a farmstead, and a countryside, at dawn. All is quiet -- including the soundtrack, which provides no complementary music to open the program. Just the sounds of silence, and the sights of quiet isolation...

2012

Feb

AMERICAN MASTERS: "CAB CALLOWAY: SKETCHES" By Diane Werts

"Cab Calloway: Sketches" is now streaming complete, in case you missed its PBS "American Masters" premiere. Click the link for the whole hour. Or sample the clip above for its tasty blend of vintage footage and smart commentary on the livewire "Hi-De-Ho" bandleader. - DW

2012

Feb

THE VOICE By David Bianculli

Why is it taking this series, and these judges, so long to decide upon the members of their respective teams? Because NBC and The Voice learned, when this show came out of the blocks so explosively last year, that these early audition rounds are pure gold. So this season, there are more of them, as well as more contestants – and the back-and-forth byplay among the celebrity judges is stressed more and edited less. Watch, if you never have, and you’ll see why.

2012

Feb

I MARRIED A WITCH By David Bianculli

In case you thought the TV series Bewitched was conjured out of thin air, here’s a fairly obvious predecessor. Veronica Lake stars as a 17th-century witch who is reincarnated in New England in 1942 – the year this fanciful romantic comedy was released. Fredric March plays her somewhat bewitched, often perplexed husband. Or, if you prefer, her Darren.

2012

Feb

IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE: “RED, WHITE & BLUES” By David Bianculli

(Check Local Listings) In honor of Black History Month, this White House intimate concert, mounted less than a week ago, celebrates the blues, and features B.B. King and Buddy Guy, along with long-time blues enthusiasts Jeff Beck and Mick Jagger. And when the music shifts to Chicago blues, stay tuned for a few lines from an impromptu guest vocalist: the President of the United States.

2012

Feb

SMASH By David Bianculli

Tonight’s episode ought to boost the younger demographics: the guest star is Nick Jonas, one of the Jonas Brothers, who plays a hot young rock star who hosts an investors’ party at which Megan Hilty’s Ivy is introduced. And it isn’t long at all, after Ivy sings, and displays her talents, that the wealthy, cocky rock star attempts to introduce her – to his bedroom.

2012

Feb

AMERICAN MASTERS: "CAB CALLOWAY: SKETCHES" By David Bianculli

(Check Local Listings) Cab Calloway was such an original vivacious talent, and had his hand – and voice, and music, and dance moves – in so many enterprises and media at once, from recordings and concerts to movies and cartoons, that it takes a wide focus to catch it all. This bouncy biography provides just that, and ought to make instant converts of any new initiates to the “Hi De Ho” man.

2012

Feb

AND THE WINNER IS... BLACK AND WHITE By Eric Gould

The Best Picture Oscar Sunday night, awarded to The Artist, was a bold nod to Hollywood's past, and to its half-century of work in black and white. Amazingly, it was the first silent-film win since the first Oscar awards in 1929...Television left black and white behind in the mid-'60s and has never gone back -- but TV has an equally honored foundation and history...

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