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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
Mar
11
HOMELAND By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s episode had Carrie (Claire Danes) caught for not taking her meds, and had Saul (Many Patinkin) caught in the middle of a violent shootout at the cult compound. But tonight, the plot also revolves around the escalation and dissemination of fake news – as embodied by an inflammatorily captioned and misleading photograph.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
11
TIMELESS By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This show wasn’t supposed to have a Season 2. It was canceled by NBC, then quickly reinstated – and after that smart reconsideration, returns tonight, with new time-travel episodes heading the team directly into the paths of Hedy Lamarr, Robert Johnson, Ronald Reagan and others.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
11
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli
 
 
The smartest of all the topical comedy shows presents another fresh episode tonight. That’s all I need to know to tune in – and after each week of wallowing in the latest news, I need to tune in.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
11
ABC'S 'DECEPTION' ISN'T VERY MAGICAL By David Hinckley
 
 
The best magic tricks seem to be effortless. ABC’s new drama Deception, which revolves around an illusionist, too often feels like it’s working too hard...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
10
MY COUSIN RACHEL By David Bianculli
 
 
Based on the 1951 novel by Daphne du Maurier, this 2017 movie stars Rachel Weisz as another Rachel – a recent widow suspected by her cousin of murdering her husband in cold blood, and with very sinister intent. He sets out to prove her guilt, but quickly begins falling under her spell. And with Weisz in the role, that doesn’t exactly strain credulity.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
10
PATRIOTS DAY By David Bianculli
 
 
A trio of world-class likable actors – Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, and Kevin Bacon – star in this recreation of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing, and the rapid, full-city reaction by first responders and  law enforcement, both in aiding victims and hunting for the terrorists responsible. Peter Berg directs.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
10
PLANET EARTH: BLUE PLANET II By David Bianculli
 
 
This marvelous miniseries is over, but it has one final treat to deliver: a compilation of the behind-the-scenes sequences that ended each episode in one stand-alone, how-they-did-it The Making of Blue Planet II special. From the state-of-the-art technology of manned submersibles to the low-tech approach of a man with a snorkel, this show, in its own way, is every bit as amazing as the episodes focusing on the natural world itself.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
10
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Sterling K. Brown, who plays Randall on NBC’s This Is Us, is tonight’s guest host. Musical guest: James Bay.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
10
THE MANIA OF MARCH MADNESS By Gerald Jordan
 
 
The countdown is well underway. True basketball fans already have a full weekend of conference tournaments under their belts and we’ll wrap up all of it this week before the NCAA tournament tips off...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Mar
9
SNEAKY PETE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Graham Yost, who has given us such delightful characters in The Americans and Justified, continues to do so here in Sneaky Pete, which begins its second season today on Amazon, presenting 10 new episodes.  Giovanni Ribisi stars as Marius, who got away with posing as former cellmate Pete Murphy last season, playing a long con that involves some very deadly gangsters. This season, it also involves Pete’s grandmother Audrey, played by the great Margo Martindale – w
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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