Thirty-five years ago, PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre imported a brilliant BBC miniseries about a family so twisted, it makes The Borgias and The Sopranos look like The Waltons -- now, reissued in a lavish new DVD set, I, Claudius still amazes...

2012

Apr

2000: LAST SHIFT FOR UPN'S COP DRAMA, "THE BEAT" By Christy Slewinski

Today in 2000 marked the last broadcast of UPN's police drama, The Beat. Produced by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson - the team behind the critically-acclaimed Homicide: Life on the Street - the short-lived series followed the lives of two NYPD cops played by Mark Ruffalo and Derek Cecil. Heather Burns and Poppy Montgomery (of Without a Trace and Unforgettable) co-starred as their respective love interests. The show employed hand-held cameras and quirky angles for a more unconventional look.

2012

Apr

2000: ABC DEBUTS ITS THREE STOOGES BIOPIC By Christy Slewinski

The Farrelly brothers aren’t the only Hollywood superstars to shine a spotlight on the Three Stooges. Today in 2000, ABC debuted its own Stooges film, executive produced by Mel Gibson. The Three Stooges offered a dramatized look at the famed comedy group’s ups and downs, told through the eyes of Moe..(and here's a special link...)

2012

Apr

GLEE By David Bianculli

It’s official: Glee did not learn its lesson about Very Special Episodes, which pretty much derailed the show, or at least the momentum of its primary plot lines, in Season 2. Last week, the music of Saturday Night Fever. This week, the songs sung by Whitney Houston.

2012

Apr

MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN By David Bianculli

Some people, when they watch this 1979 Monty Python comedy and view the climactic crucifixion sing-along, get a little cross. Not I. (I don’t even throw toast when I watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show.) Then again, there are those (and again, I do not count myself among them) who, as the song goes, “Always Look on at the Bright Side of Life.”

2012

Apr

THE VOICE By David Bianculli

Last week, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera had to prune back their teams. This week, fellow judges and team leaders Cee Lo Green and Adam Lambert are doing the same – but can these two judges match last week’s honesty (from Blake) and theatricality (from Christina)? Let’s hope so, in the first case – and hope not, in the second.

2012

Apr

FUNNY GIRL By David Bianculli

Today is Barbra Streisand’s 70th birthday, and TCM is celebrating by presenting six of her movies in a mini-Babsathon. The salute begins at 8 p.m. ET with 1973’s The Way We Were, starring Robert Redford, but I have a soft spot for this 1968 movie version of the Broadway musical. The story of follies comic and singer Fanny Brice, It’s one of the high school stage musicals for which I designed the lighting, back when Richard Nixon was President. All these years later, I’m

2012

Apr

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT By David Bianculli

Here’s another Barbra Streisand movie, but one’s that not televised as often. This 1970 movie is based on Bill Manhoff’s Broadway comedy about a bookstore employee and aspiring novelist who falls for a prostitute and aspiring actress. On stage, the roles in this offbeat interracial romance were played by Alan Alda, pre-M*A*S*H, and Diana Sands. But for this movie, the leads were filled by George Segal and Barbra Streisand, eliminating the racial element entirely. A lot remain

2012

Apr

COSTCO CUNNING: CNBC EXAMINES THE RETAIL GIANT By David Sicilia

We know Costco charges membership dues and sells goods off pallets on concrete floors under cheap lighting. We know the portions are large. And we assume all of this means the prices are low.

2012

Apr

BONES By David Bianculli

There’s a body found in the woods (which, come to think of it, happens a lot on this show), which leads to some unexpected investigative trails – a karate class, for one, and, for another, a fish. I wonder: Is this a clever new episode of Bones, or are the writers floundering? Sorry. I don’t mean to carp.

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