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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

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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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
 
 
2014
Apr
11
AMC'S 'MAD MEN' IS BACK - JUST DON'T ASK FOR DETAILS By David Bianculli
 
 

AMC’s Mad Men returns this weekend, starting its final season with an episode that arrives with lots of restrictions about what critics can and can’t say about it…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
11
COLBERT: CBS GETS IT EXACTLY RIGHT By Bill Brioux
 
 

Bill Carter, of The New York Times, has told me for at least two years that Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman. On Thursday, CBS made it official....

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
11
THE NO MESSAGE MESSAGE By Eric Gould
 
 
Here's an example of a TV ad that uses just stock footage to highlight the icons and words we see in commercials...with no product to sell. In other words, it's a prime example of Marshall McLuhan's 1964 maxim that "the medium is the message"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) takes a hard look at himself, and his life, and vows to redefine one of his life’s most important relationships – with string theory. It all leads to the attempt at a makeover, which the girls are more than willing to try.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
BLAZING SADDLES By David Bianculli
 
 
Here’s another chance to catch Mel Brooks’ 1974 comic masterpiece. Well one of them, anyway. That same year, he also released Young Frankenstein – and that’s a comic one-two punch that qualifies as a double knockout. Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder star, and Madeline Kahn steals the show as saloon singer Lili von Shtupp.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
TWO AND A HALF MEN By David Bianculli
 
 
Ashton Kutcher, in tonight’s episode, reunites onscreen with former That ’70s Show costar Mila Kunis, in a plot that has his Walden falling madly in love with her one-shot guest role of Vivian. On That ’70s Show, they played on-again-off-again boyfriend and girlfriend Kelso and Jackie – Jackie being a role for which Kunis auditioned when she was only 14. In real life, Kutcher and Kunis are now engaged. Call it typecasting – of the long-dormant variety.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
THE CRAZY ONES By David Bianculli
 
 
There’s quite a TV reunion occurring tonight. Pam Dawber, real-life wife of Mark Harmon, hasn’t acted on television in 15 years, but she shows up tonight, playing an author who sparks an immediate attraction with Robin Williams’ Simon. And no wonder: They demonstrated lots of chemistry before, as costars of Williams’ star-making ’70s ABC sitcom, Mork & Mindy. This one will be worth watching just for the closing credits outtakes reel.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
PARENTHOOD By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s especially emotional tonight, as Ryan (Matt Lauria) returns to the show, and into the life of Amber (Mae Whitman) – but only in the aftermath of a devastating accident.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
10
COLBERT REPLACING LETTERMAN? SMART FOR CBS, RISKIER FOR COLBERT By David Bianculli
 
 

CBS took only a week to announce David Letterman’s successor – Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Smart move for CBS, but a risky one for Colbert…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Apr
9
THE TOM AND JERRY SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
Tom and Jerry, the antagonistic animated cat and mouse, have been fighting each other for quite a while – since 1940, in fact, when the first theatrical short featuring them was produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Different animators have tackled them over the years, the best being Chuck Jones’ efforts during the 1960s. The most violent Tom & Jerry cartoons were the prototype for “Itchy & Scratchy” on The Simpsons, and TV series featuring the cat and mou
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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