DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2020
Feb
10
 
 
This is one of the best, and most inventive, prime-time double features I’ve ever seen on TV, on TCM or anywhere else. It’s a John Wayne twin bill, but though the films are shown back to back, they were produced 30 years apart. First is John Ford’s 1939 classic Western, Stagecoach, which basically defined the genre. Then, at 9:45 p.m. ET, comes 1969’s True Grit, with Wayne still atop the saddle – and giving one of the best performances of his lif
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
10
 
 
This week’s episode is keyed to Friday’s celebration of Valentine’s Day. Bob and Abishola are approaching their first such romantic holiday since she cared for him at the hospital – and how will they get together for this one, if they will at all?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
10
 
 
Last week’s episode ended by dropping the name of a major person of interest – a new big lead in the fraud case that drained many millions from the McDonald’s Monopoly lottery contest. I’m not fully won over by the storytelling here, but the story being told is a wild one. Apparently, the firm organizing and overseeing the McDonald’s contest had its own in-house McBurglar…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
10
 
 
Whether or not it was a deliberate strategy, British TV producers were smart to have begun exploring the lighter side of murder...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
As the final Homeland season begins (Sunday, Showtime, 9 p.m. ET), one scene seems to define the fictional Carrie Mathison and the very real Claire Danes, who plays her...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
Last Sunday, Sundance televised the entirety of 1977’s Roots in an all-day miniseries marathon. Today, Sundance pulls a similar programming stunt, by presenting, in its entirety, the sequel to that top-rated Alex Haley drama, 1979’s Roots: The Next Generations. It’s better than the original, actually, and is even more loaded with big-name stars. Among them, as the story nears its conclusion: James Earl Jones as Haley himself, interviewing then-prominent neo-
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
Watching the final season of Homeland feels like watching the two veteran stars of your favorite team suit up for one last game – battered, bruised, haunted by the ghosts of teammates and battles past, yet determined to find a way somehow not to lose...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
There’s no host this year, but there is some intrigue. Netflix has two movies up for Best Picture, The Irishman and Marriage Story – two excellent films that, if either claims the victory and the Academy’s top Oscar, surely will shake the foundations of Hollywood more than a tectonic-shift earthquake. Also, watch for the battle of the Newmans: Randy Newman is up for a Best Original Score Oscar for Marriage Story, while his younger cousin Thomas is nomin
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
This past week, politically, marked both Donald Trump’s post-acquittal victory and revenge lap, and the Democratic candidates’ debate in New Hampshire, as a prelude to this Tuesday’s primary. Lots of ground to cover, even with three well-connected Circus correspondents.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
9
 
 
Tonight’s episode is titled “The One About the Yiddish Vampire,” which is a hint that we’re about to dip into the past, as well as more deeply into the weirdness. Especially the weirdness.