Fox’s American Idol last Wednesday night (April 1) tried something that NBC’s The Voice did in November 2013 with similarly exciting results. For the first time ever it integrated Twitter users into its competition on an in-show, real-time basis...

2015

Apr

JAMES STEWART: A WONDERFUL LIFE By David Bianculli

This tribute to James Stewart, by now, can be considered a retrospective of a retrospective. Not only is it a Wonderful tribute to one of the cinema’s most beloved actors, but this tribute is itself 28 years old, and a nostalgic exercise in itself. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it’s as generous with interviews as it is with clips.

2015

Apr

INSIDE THE COURT OF HENRY VIII By David Bianculli

With Wolf Hall having just premiered on PBS, the network decided, quite smartly, to present this companion special, explaining the real-life intrigue, players and environments of the era and court of King Henry VIII. Check local listings.

2015

Apr

IZOMBIE By David Bianculli

If you’ve seen any of the episodes of this charming new CW series, tuning in tonight for another fresh episode is a no-brainer. If you still haven’t seen this show, and Rose McIver as what you might call a “functioning zombie,” you should. Each new episode, and new helping of cadaver brains, brings with it a new mystery to solve, and shades of a new character for McIver to play.

2015

Apr

BLOOD AND GLORY: THE CIVIL WAR IN COLOR By David Bianculli

I’m opposed to colorized Honeymooners and I Love Lucy episodes, and to the colorization of classic black and white movies. So why does this project, in which hundreds of black and white Civil War photographs have been painstakingly colorized, intrigue me more than it repels me? On principle, it’s the same messing-with-history offense. But somehow, at least in theory, this is a lot more justifiable – and intriguing. For example, I'm used to seeing Abraham Lincoln either bronze o

2015

Apr

JUSTIFIED By David Bianculli

I’m not a fan of the word penultimate, and I’m certainly not happy that tonight is the penultimate episode of Justified – but that’s only because I’m such a fan of this series that I hate to see it end. But every week, as it’s winding up its final laps, this series has amazed me with its acting, writing and directing, and at just how much flat-out fun it is to watch. After tonight, there’s only one more episode to go. Sigh.

2015

Apr

SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL By David Bianculli

Part 2 of 2. If you saw Part 1, you’ll definitely be back to watch tonight’s concluding installment of Alex Gibney’s musical biography of Frank Sinatra. But even if you missed the first half, you can jump in at this point and still be thoroughly entertained – especially by such astounding archival clips as Sinatra and Elvis Presley singing a duet, and singing each other’s hit songs. For my full review of this Sinatra documentary, which concludes tomorrow night, see

2015

Apr

THE VOICE By David Bianculli

This is the start of the Playoff Round, when the broadcasts are live, and the intensity increases. The auditions remain the best part of The Voice, but this round is a close second.

2015

Apr

2015 MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP By David Bianculli

What a year for men’s college basketball. Saturday night’s second Final Four game, in which No. 1 seed Wisconsin fought its way past another No. 1 seed, heavily favored and previously undefeated Kentucky, was a thriller all the way. The earlier game began just as thrillingly, with No. 7 seed Michigan State jumping ahead of No. 1 seed Duke, but Duke took command thereafter and kept on dominating. So tonight, coaches Bo Ryan of Wisconsin and Mike Krzyzewski (pictured) square off for th

2015

Apr

BETTER CALL SAUL By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: What a remarkable thing Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have done with Better Call Saul. Last week’s episode was so emotionally resonant, and so true to its characters, that this Breaking Bad prequel/sequel stands on its own as another excellent TV series – the best series to beget another great series since Cheers handed off to Frasier. And tonight, expect even more evidence that Bob Odenkirk, showing the evolution of Jimmy McGill into the show’s titular shyster,

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