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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
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All Along the Watchtower

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Ed Martin's TV Mix

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TV Feeds My Family

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2020
May
17
I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, this HBO miniseries, featuring Mark Ruffalo in a dual role, began with one of the more gripping opening scenes in years kicking off a TV drama in recent memory. Ruffalo plays twin brothers, one of whom is schizophrenic – and who, in the starting scenes, goes to a public library, begins quoting from the Bible, and cuts off his own hand. Then his brother, in the emergency room, supports his twin’s pleas to not have the hand reattached. How do you not keep watching
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
17
BILLIONS By David Bianculli
 
 
Sunday night is, indeed, a night of riches for TV, with so many shows bursting with talented casts and gripping story lines. Here’s another one, of course, and Corey Stoll already has established himself as a worthy opponent for Axe (Damian Lewis), in both financial dealings and overall ruthlessness.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
17
PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS By David Bianculli
 
 
Here’s another excellent Sunday night Showtime series – and tonight’s episode allows the veteran cop played by Nathan Lane to get deeper into the hidden underbelly of Los Angeles, where, improbably, he uncovers Nazis, scientists, and links to the rumored development of what could turn out to be the atomic bomb.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
17
RUN By David Bianculli
 
 
Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag guest starred in last week’s episode, and so did Archie Panjabi – but the latter’s guest run on Run was cut short when her character, Fiona, suffered an unexpectedly serious fall from the second story of a barn. And tonight, to retrace their steps and retrieve evidence from the scene of that tragic accident, Billy and Ruby (Domhnall Gleeson, Merritt Wever) have to go back to that farmhouse. And, perhaps, re-encounter the survi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
17
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli
 
 
I think it’s a new show this week. These days, though, I’m not completely certain of much of anything, so tune in to the first moments and see. If he’s discussing old news, John Oliver is not really discussing last week on Last Week.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
16
'THE GREAT' MIGHT NOT BE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY FUN TO WATCH By David Hinckley
 
 
Just a year after Helen Mirren portrayed Russia’s iconic ruler Catherine the Great, Catherine is back on TV with a startlingly different look...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
16
GRADUATE TOGETHER: AMERICA HONORS THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2020 By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL: This commencement TV special is simulcast by all the major commercial networks, and by the CW, too, as well as a bunch of streaming sites. So it’ll be easy to find. But why should you watch? One reason: If you’ve got an impending graduate under your roof right now, whether from high school or college, this may be all the pomp they’ll get, under the circumstances. (See what I did there? Pomp and circumstance?) Another reason: This is LeBron James’ idea, so he&rsqu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
16
TRUE GRIT By David Bianculli
 
 
Passion projects, in the hands of talented artists, can be wonderful things. Noah Hawley, for example, so admired the cinematic work of the Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan, in their 1996 movie Fargo that he set out to make an homage of a TV series, using the same title and tone, but different plots and characters. FX’s Fargo, eventually to begin its fourth season, has been one of television’s tastiest treats in years. And in 2010, the Coen Brothers themselves exerci
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
16
JOKER By David Bianculli
 
 
Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar several times over the years, but it was  his performance in this 2019 Batman spinoff prequel, presenting the origin story of one of Gotham City’s most infamous and colorful villains, that finally earned Phoenix an Academy Award. Joker premieres on HBO tonight, as one of the best films, along with Wonder Woman, to come from the DC Comics side of the comic-book movie universe. Co-stars include Franc
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
16
THE GENERAL By David Bianculli
 
 
This recommendation, like the one immediately following, is for every TVWW reader – but, in particular, should be of special interest to any readers who also happen to have signed up to be students in my Fall 2020 Film Appreciation I class at Rowan University. That’s because one of the people we’ll be studying in that class is comic actor and filmmaker Buster Keaton, and TCM is saluting Keaton tonight in prime time by showing his comic masterpiece The General, followed by
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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