[Bianculli here: Contributing writer Tom Brinkmoeller follows a lot of public TV and informational cable TV shows. And when some of them began disappearing from his television set, he decided to keep following them, and find out where they went and why...]

2010

Mar

HBO'S "THE PACIFIC" IS A SUPERB SIBLING TO "BAND OF BROTHERS" By David Bianculli

Executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman did a great job dramatizing the European battles of WWII in 2001's "Band of Brothers". Now, nine years later, they've reteamed for another HBO miniseries, to do the same thing for "The Pacific" -- and it's just as good. Maybe even better...

2010

Mar

DIANE HOLLOWAY, AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS, GET THEIR WISH: BETTY WHITE WILL HOST "SNL" By David Bianculli

How cool is this? (Answer: Very.) Fan and critic pressure, for once, has carried the day: NBC has announced that, due to popular demand, Betty White WILL host Saturday Night Live...

2010

Mar

CBS "EARLY SHOW" PRESENTS "COLON CAM," BILLED AS "FIRST TV ANCHOR TO UNDERGO LIVE TV COLONOSCOPY" By David Bianculli

It happened Wednesday morning on the "CBS Early Show". Co-anchor Harry Smith, promoting prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer, underwent what CBS billed as "First TV Anchor to Undergo Live TV Colonoscopy." Mabel, pass the doughnuts...

2010

Mar

DVD UPDATE: HOW MANY EPISODES SHOULD A TV SEASON HAVE? By Diane Werts

I've been meaning to address is something I've noticed in season sets for vintage series from 40-50 years back. They've got as many as 39 episodes per season, compared to today's 22-ish. (Or on cable, 13-ish.)

2010

Mar

FLICK PICKS: AKIRA KUROSAWA (& GINGER ROGERS) By Diane Werts

Ginger Rogers is in the money for St. Patrick's Day. Turner Classic Movies' salute to this versatile actress continues with a double feature of her snappy Warner Bros. Depression musicals 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933. But first, on Tuesday night, TCM's March salute to Akira Kurosawa spotlights his crime thrillers -- a side of the director little known to Americans who think first of his period samurai epics...

2010

Mar

WATCH THIS: YOU ARE THERE, EXCEPT YOU'RE NOT By Diane Werts

Now you know how TV shows manage to afford the cinematic look of all that location shooting we've been seeing. They don't...

2010

Mar

MY "BREAKING BAD" INTERVIEW BREAKS TODAY ON NPR'S "FRESH AIR" By David Bianculli

Today on NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross", I interview Vince Gilligan, the creator of AMC's fabulous, and delightfully unpredictable, drama series "Breaking Bad". It reminds me, all over again, why I love being associated with Fresh Air...

2010

Mar

2010 ABC OSCAR TELECAST: TWICE THE BEST PICTURE NOMINEES, TWICE THE HOSTS, BUT NOT TWICE THE VALUE By David Bianculli

The number of Best Picture nominees was doubled, from five to 10. The running time expanded, too, with ABC's telecast running more than 30 minutes over schedule. So with Monday's Oscar telecast, if less is more, is more less? More or less...

2010

Mar

DVD THIS WEEK: POLYESTER CHEESE! By Diane Werts

Sometimes you just need to watch something awful. Shut down your brain. Let the recycled plots, banal dialogue and bad acting wash over you. Maybe even mock it madly, MST3K-style...

Posts 11-20 of 25

1 2 3

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption