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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
 
 
2008
Mar
16
IT'S SOME LAUGHING MATTER: THE FIRST POST-STRIKE SITCOMS ARE BACK By David Bianculli
 
 
When the writers' strike ended and production resumed on TV shows that had been stalled by the work stoppage, the rollout of new episodes was expected to occur in several stages: fully staffed talk shows and "Saturday Night Live" first, then sitcoms, then the dramas. Tonight, with the return of the full CBS comedy lineup, we finally enter phase two...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
14
HBO'S "JOHN ADAMS" MAKES IT THREE FOR THREE FOR TOM HANKS By David Bianculli
 
 
Tom Hanks is a movie star now, and has starred in some great ones. But he started in TV and, as an executive producer, understands it better than most. He knows, for example, that the miniseries is one of the medium's most important genres - and knows what to do with it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
13
ABC'S "LOST" IS GREAT, BUT ITS "ENHANCED LOST" IS GRATING By David Bianculli
 
 
The writers' strike may explain it, but doesn't excuse it. The "enhanced" hour of "Lost" that precedes tonight's new hour of "Lost" is even worse than a week-old rerun...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
12
LEWIS BLACK DOESN'T TRIUMPH OVER "EVIL" By David Bianculli
 
 
Lewis Black is a very funny fellow. His caustic comic approach wears well, and his outrage normally is aimed at precisely the right targets. As a Daily Show correspondent, and the star of his own standup comedy specials, Black has been reliably entertaining. But Lewis Black's "Root of All Evil," which premieres tonight isn't nearly as funny as it should be. It's not Black enough...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
11
DIGGING DEEPLY INTO HBO'S "IN TREATMENT" By David Bianculli
 
 
The HBO series "In Treatment," which launched in January, will conclude its first season at the end of the month - and once again, TV has found a novel way to tell a story. Novel, as in more like a novel than anything else...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
10
WHEN IS IT FAIR, AND UNFAIR, TO REVEAL TV SECRETS?: TWO CASE STUDIES By David Bianculli
 
 
I've written plenty about the final episode of The Wire,the excellent David Simon drama that concluded last night - but was careful not to reveal any secrets or discuss the ending. Now that it's been televised, is it fair game? Or is there still a "I've recorded it, but haven't seen it" faction in play?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
7
SAYING GOODBYE TO "THE WIRE" By David Bianculli
 
 
David Simon's tantalizingly multilayered HBO drama series ends Sunday night at 9 with an expanded final episode - one that starts with the major learning of the duplicity of his own police force, and ends with one of the series' end-of-season trademark musical montages...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
6
WHEN GOOD ADS HAPPEN TO BAD TV SHOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
What do you do when an ad for a TV show is clever enough to applaud, but the show it's promoting isn't worth watching? In the case of Comedy Central's "Lil' Bush," the only thing to do is be a Lil' Creative: Dismiss the series, but support the ad...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
5
REPUBLICANS SOLIDIFY, DEMOCRATS LIQUEFY By David Bianculli
 
 
The news for Republicans last night came clearly and quickly: John McCain gathered enough delegates to make him his party's presumptive nominee, and his remaining competitor, Mike Huckabee, appeared in the midst of prime time to deliver a gracious and supportive concession speech...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Mar
4
FOR TV, IT'S SUPER-SUPER-DUPER TUESDAY By David Bianculli
 
 
No matter what happens this evening - whether Hillary Clinton sweeps Texas and Ohio, whether Barack Obama denies her that bragging right and momentum shift, and whether simple victory has anything to do with the number of delegates won - it's a night to watch politics on TV. I've outlined tomorrow's evening entertainment options in BEST BETS, but Super-Super-Duper Tuesday is a night to check in all over the dial... and to hop around, time-shift or multitask like a fiercely fickle viewer. Try t
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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