In an era when government funding for public radio and television seems to be under new attack, the importance of program underwriters has risen sharply. And despite economics and politics, some big companies have continued their support...

2011

Mar

NBC: HURTS SO BAD By Ed Bark

Has a big-time broadcast network ever been in sorrier prime-time shape than NBC? The network's new owner, Comcast, and its new entertainment president, Showtime export Robert Greenblatt, have miles to go before they can even feel safely ahead of Univision. And given the ongoing population shifts, that day might well never come...

2011

Mar

I SAID IT FIRST, AND NOW NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AGREES: HE SHOULD HOST A TV VARIETY SHOW By David Bianculli

Two years ago, after Neil Patrick Harris delivered standout turns as host of The TV Land Awards and, for CBS, the much bigger stage of the 2009 Tony Awards, I wrote the following sentence of praise: "If Justin Timberlake doesn't want to be the guy to single-handedly save the TV variety show, maybe Neil Patrick Harris does." And now, it turns out, there's no "maybe" about it. He wants the job -- and CBS should be the network to give it to him...

2011

Mar

FLICK PICKS: JEAN HARLOW, STILL SIZZLING By Diane Werts

Hollywood's original blonde bombshell only lived to be 26 years old. But she made 20 films that make her worth showcasing as Turner Classic Movies' star of the month on Tuesdays through March. And 75 years after her death, movie mavens still know -- and love -- Jean Harlow...

2011

Mar

SOME PLEDGE SHOWS ARE WELL WORTH WATCHING -- IF YOU CAN FIND THEM By David Bianculli

Want to see a new televised concert version of Billy Joel's 2008 farewell to Shea Stadium? You should, because it's a true TV treat. Finding it, though, is more of a trick. Like other good but hard-to-pin-down public TV offerings this month, it's a pledge special -- the TV-scheduling version of Whack-a-Mole...

2011

Mar

'THOUSANDS OF CHOICES' AND NOT ONE TO BE FOUND By Tom Brinkmoeller

On March 4, two Republican U.S. senators introduced legislation that isn't that unique in the Washington, D.C., that exists today. Their bill would end all government funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the same idea that has longer roots in the U.S. House of Representatives...

2011

Mar

WHY I LIKE NBC'S NEW 'AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT' SERIES -- BUT FIRST, WHY I LIKE OUR TVWW CORRESPONDENTS By David Bianculli

I'm about to provide a review of NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, which premieres Sunday (8 p.m. ET). And as a veteran TV critic, an amateur chef, and a fan of Bravo's Top Chef (whose producers created this new reality-competition series), I feel eminently qualified to do so...

2011

Mar

PEOPLE, LET ME TELL YOU 'BOUT MY BEST EXTRAS... By David Bianculli

Sometimes, TV can really take you by surprise and serve up a delightful, unexpected treat. Tuesday night, Fox did just that, in its latest episode of Raising Hope, by giving an extended, unexpected, very funny nod to a 42-year-old TV theme song by Harry Nilsson...

2011

Mar

GREETINGS FROM TOON TOWN: THE SPY, THE SAVANT AND A ROBOT CHICKEN By Eric Gould

Back in the day, cartoon characters lived on the wrong side of the tracks -- a noirish, seedy Los Angeles neighborhood called Toon Town (1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). The idea was that Toons, as they were slurred, were fully formed cartoons living alongside us in the real-action world: hustling, conniving C-level actors and two-bit criminals not to be trusted. Well, so they remain. Most of the Toons living on cable and the net are still on society's fringe...

2011

Mar

TV'S OFFICIAL NOW-WE-HAVE-SEEN-EVERYTHING MOMENT By Diane Werts

If this isn't it...From Bravo: Pregnant in Heels, "a docudrama following Rosie Pope, maternity concierge to the most affluent expecting mothers in New York City." Since you're now dying to know when you can see it, Bravo premieres the series on Tuesday, April 5 at 10 p.m. ET...

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