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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
 
 
2008
May
14
UPFRONT UPDATE: CBS DIMS "MOONLIGHT," EMBRACES "MOTHER" By David Bianculli
 
 
CBS, at its press breakfast this morning, announced the addition of five new series to the fall schedule, and the re-establishment of a Wednesday night comedy block. The biggest news for fans of current series, though, is that "How I Met Your Mother" made the final cut, and "Moonlight" did not...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
14
WHAT'S NEW AT THE NETWORK UPFRONTS? SO FAR, LESS THAN USUAL... By David Bianculli
 
 
In past years, the network upfront presentations have been all about unveiling not only the fall schedules, but the long roster of brand new series. This year, at least at ABC and CW's Tuesday upfronts, not so much. As Jimmy Kimmel joked, "Here at ABC, we are very excited about BOTH our new shows!"...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
13
ABC RESCUES NBC'S "SCRUBS," WHILE NBC LAUNCHES FIRST FALL PROMO AND NBC NY ANCHOR DROPS THE 'F' BOMB By David Bianculli
 
 
Today I'm diving into New York's upfronts, and will report later from ABC's presentation late this afternoon, so please check back for updates and first impressions of the new series. Meanwhile, among ABC's morning announcements to the press are two very welcome returns by veteran series -- while, last night on NBC, two promos broadcast during NBC's telecast of Medium definitely got my attention, for very different reasons...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
12
BEING UP FRONT WITH THE NETWORK UPFRONTS By David Bianculli
 
 
This is Upfronts Week, the week in which the networks (except for NBC, which jumped the gun last month) unveil their fall slates for advertisers. Starting tomorrow with ABC, I'll be there -- but, for the first time, reporting for my website, not for a newspaper. It's the latest phase of my post-career transition, as I set out to redefine what it is I do and how it is I do it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
9
THE ALOHA TV SEASON: YOU SAY HELLO, I SAY GOODBYE By David Bianculli
 
 
In Hawaii, "Aloha" means both hello and goodbye. Consider 2007-08 the Aloha TV Season, because just as we've welcomed our favorite shows back to the schedule, it's time to say farewell again...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
8
HBO'S "HEAR AND NOW" IS A TREAT FOR THE EYES -- AND EARS By David Bianculli
 
 
Geese. That's the image, and the sound, I can't shake after watching HBO's "Hear and Now," the evocative, emotional, breathtakingly personal documentary by Irene Taylor Brodsky...an up-close-and-super-personal study of her own parents, Paul and Sally Taylor, both of whom have been deaf since birth...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
7
CBS CALLS INDIANA FOR CLINTON, THEN SWEATS HOURS WAITING FOR A SECOND OPINION By David Bianculli
 
 
For a while Tuesday night, and into Wednesday morning, there were fewer than 15,000 votes between CBS and a potentially huge embarrassment....
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
6
"TWO AND A HALF MEN" SPOOFS "CSI" -- BUT NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME By David Bianculli
 
 
Even by sweeps-month TV standards, it's a bizarre crossover stunt: writers on the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" and the drama series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" taking a stab at writing an episode of each other's shows. The CSI version of Men aired last night, and the more comedic version of CSI airs Thursday. So far, it's a fun stunt...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
5
CBS GOES TO THE DARK SIDE OF THE "MOONLIGHT" PROMOS By David Bianculli
 
 
Viewers tuned to CBS last Friday night may have caught something that made their jaws drop. I know my jaw did...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
May
2
WATCHING RINGO STARR NOW AND THEN -- AS IN 2008 AND 1981 By David Bianculli
 
 
Ringo Starr talks with Dave Stewart about his life and career, and his new album, tonight at 11 p.m. ET on HBO's "Ringo Starr: Off the Record." He also talks about his life and career, and his then-new album...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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