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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

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
 
 
2014
May
4
MAD MEN By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, the partners who had handed Don Draper (Jon Hamm) a forced leave of absence finally, and reluctantly, gave Don a deal he could very well have refused – but he didn’t. So this week, we get to see him find his place in the ad agency he left behind, and, at the same time, figure out his place in his currently bicoastal, and rocky, marriage.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
4
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli
 
 
The premiere edition of this series last Sunday was a success by any yardstick – and makes it an easy call to recommend Oliver again as a strong Sunday night viewing option.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
A WALK ON THE VILE SIDE: HAS TV GONE TOO 'FARGO'? By Noel Holston
 
 

The reviews are in, and they’re overwhelmingly raves, but nonetheless I’m going to forego Fargo. I’ve taken one too many walks on the vile side...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
WE'RE THE MILLERS By David Bianculli
 
 
This 2013 comedy stars SNL graduate Jason Sudeikis as a guy who recruits a fake family to help him smuggle a large pot shipment across the U.S.-Mexico border. Said recruits are portrayed by, among others, Emma Roberts from American Horror Story: Coven as his daughter, and Jennifer Aniston as a stripper he hires to portray his wife. And now I have to select a picture to go with this item. Hmm, here’s a good one of Sudeikis. Then again…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
24 - LIVE ANOTHER DAY: JACK'S BACK By David Bianculli
 
 
The return of Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer begins Monday, in a new, trimmed-down, 12-hour version of 24. As a teaser, Fox tonight presents a 30-minute special, recapping the character to date and giving enticing previews of what’s to come.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
ORPHAN BLACK By David Bianculli
 
 
Among the many things that happen to the many clones on Orphan Black tonight, one is that Alison gets to opening night in the Dexter-like blood-spatter musical, “Blood Ties,” in which she’s starring. What I’ve found out only recently is that Blood Ties is an actual musical, written not for this series, but for a fringe festival a few years ago.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING By David Bianculli
 
 
This 1966 comedy stars Carl Reiner, and is based on a novel by Nathaniel Benchley, so it’s got comedy cred in every frame. But watch, in particular, for a young actor named Alan Arkin. This was his first movie role, playing a Soviet submarine crewman whose vessel runs aground off the coast of New England – and it’s a star-making turn. Arkin has been brilliant, in both comedies and dramas, ever since, and holds his own here in a movie that also co-stars Jonathan Winters, Theodor
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
3
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli
 
 
Andrew Garfield is the guest host tonight, with musical guest Coldplay. If Garfield is as funny in the show as he is in the show’s teaser promos, this one should be a strong outing.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
2
WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s guest star, playing along with the improv crowd, is actress Mircea Monroe. She appears here, on this CW series, primarily because she appears on a CW drama, Hart of Dixie, as Tansy, but I’m pointing her out because she also appears on the much more watchable Showtime comedy, Episodes, as the eerily ageless actress Morning Randolph.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
2
BREAKER MORANT By David Bianculli
 
 
Australian actress Jacki Weaver, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook, hosts this month’s Friday night salute to movies from her native land. The salute begins tonight, in prime time, with two of the best Australian movies ever to make a impact here in the States, starting with 1980’s Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford. Edward Woodward stars in the title role, as a lieutenant in the Boer War in a unit accused of war crimes –
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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