2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
2015
Apr
9
THE COMEDIANS By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: I love Billy Crystal, and thought Josh Gad was hilarious on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, but there’s something about this new series, in which they play exaggerated versions of themselves forced to work together on a new TV show, that doesn’t gel – at least not in the first eight episodes provided for preview. There are moments, though, including their first meeting in tonight’s premiere, that hit the right tone, and make you want to root for them to r
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
9
LIP SYNC BATTLE By David Bianculli
 
 
After watching last week’s two-part premiere, I thought I already had seen plenty of this new spinoff competition series from Jimmy Fallon and company, and didn’t need to see any more. But then, this week’s contest was announced, with Anne Hathaway vs. Emily Blunt. Hathaway, who sang live on film rather than lip synch when she starred in Les Miserables, throws down the gauntlet by performing – without using her own voice – Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball&rdq
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
9
LOUIE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Season 5 of Louie begins with a laugh-out-loud scene, and that’s even before the opening credits (yes, the old credits and music theme are back). FX provided four episodes for preview, and all four all smart little mini-movies. For a full TVWW review, see Eric Gould's The Cold Light Reader. For a sample clip, and my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, see the Fresh Air website.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
‘LOUIE’ SEASON FIVE: BIGGER, BADDER, BLACKER By Eric Gould
 
 
The promo portrait for Louis C.K.’s fifth season on FX has his Louie character upside down... Inversion is no surprise for the comedian-actor-director who has made his mark by crossing up almost every traditional sitcom trope...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, this series brought back Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson, as both mentor and performer – one of the many ways Idol is trying to invigorate itself, and lure back viewers, in its autumn years. Tonight, it makes room for another former Idol singer turned star: Jennifer Hudson, who didn’t win the year she competed, but afterward, ended up winning an Oscar. And tonight, she sings a duet with Iggy Azalea, one of today’s hottest female singers – but someone who, I susp
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
Both American Idol and this show are competing directly tonight, and with live editions. Just a few years ago, Idol would have been the pre-emptive ratings winner, but things have reversed, and now The Voice, in these head-to-head battles among singing-competition shows, has the upper hand – and, this season, the more entertaining group of judges.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
NATURE: "NATURE'S ANIMAL HOMES" By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: This three-part documentary series is hosted by ecologist Chris Morgan, who dives in with an enthusiasm that makes him a potential nature TV successor to Sir David Attenborough. At any rate, it’s the footage, and the subject, that are so captivating here: In tonight’s Part 1, “The Nest,” all manner of birds, from ospreys to strange Australian turkeys, are shown building, protecting and using their nests, using everything from mud to their own downy fe
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
THE AMERICANS By David Bianculli
 
 
Both Justified and The Americans, this season, are building up the tension almost unbearably as they follow their plotted courses. That’s one thing they have in common. Another is that their executive producer is Graham Yost – so, well done, sir. Tonight, the sleeper couple’s daughter, Paige (Holly Taylor), asks some tough questions. And she’s not the only one, by a long shot.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
BIG TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, FL By David Bianculli
 
 
This quirky series continues to propel itself at warp speed, while being warped itself, combining cinematic parodies with a telling satire of the stardom-seeking, Internet-loving new generation of wannabe filmmakers. On tonight’s show, one of the filmmaking brothers receives a horrifying letter, telling of his brother’s descent into grocery-store baggery and serious depression – but there’s a catch.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Apr
8
"YOU ARE NOT KEVIN COSTNER!" By Eric Gould
 
 
Here's a YouTube fan clip reminding us of how intertwined the plot references of Vince Gilligan's Better Call Saul are to its forefather, Breaking Bad...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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