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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

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All Along the Watchtower

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

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Ed Martin's TV Mix

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MNtv

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TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

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Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2019
May
21
FRONTLINE: "SUPREME REVENGE" By David Bianculli
 
 
Brett Cavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the behind-the-scenes figbt on both sides to either elect or oppose him, amounted to what Frontline calls the first “all-out war” for control of the Supreme Court. Here is that story. Check local listings. For a full review, see Alex Strachan’s TV That Matters. 
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
21
FOSSE/VERDON By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s seventh episode of Fosse/Verdon has choreographer Bob Fosse, played by Sam Rockwell, fighting with dancer and actress (and estranged wife) Gwen Verdon, played by Michelle Williams, over the content of their upcoming Broadway musical Chicago. She wants a crowd-pleasing comeback vehicle, but he wants something much, much darker. If you’ve ever seen Chicago, the show or the movie, you know who won that one. Both of them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
20
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Tonight and tomorrow, The Voice presents its first two-night finale of 2019. Tomorrow night is when the visiting stars will perform,  filling time until the results are revealed – but tonight is the night the four finalists, on live TV, do their best to outshine their rivals. So far as coaches this cycle are concerned, Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine have no skin in the game – or, at least, no members of their team in the final. Blake Shelton boasts three of four f
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
20
THE LATE LATE SHOW CARPOOL KARAOKE PRIMETIME SPECIAL 2019 By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL PREMIERE: Last year’s prime-time James Corden Carpool Karaoke special, in which he drove around Liverpool with Sir Paul McCartney and presented a surprise McCartney mini-concert at a local pub, was my favorite TV moment of last year. I don’t expect to be similarly moved by this year’s outing, which is dominated by him driving Celine Dion around the Las Vegas strip – but I’ll still watch, and listen, with interest, because the “Carpool Karaoke” co
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
19
AMERICAN IDOL By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This is not a recommendation. Remember when this show, when it was on Fox, ruled the ratings and dominated media attention? Now it’s the ABC finale again this year, and I’d be surprised if anyone could name all of this year’s judges – much less any of the finalists. Which leads to that age-old philosophical question: If a 2019 American Idol finalist sings on ABC, and no one hears it, did they ever sing at all?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
19
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD By David Bianculli
 
 
This 1962 movie version of Harper Lee’s story is a magnificent movie, anchored by a fabulous performance by Gregory Peck as small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. TCM’s showing of it in 2019 is especially timely, since Aaron Sorkin’s new stage version of Lee’s story is still playing on Broadway. And, for the record, is one of the best stage dramas I’ve ever seen.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
19
KILLING EVE By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode of Killing Eve, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) continues her undercover work as Billie – helping Eve (Sandra Oh) to investigate another crime, and catch another killer. But Villanelle, as a field agent, is a dangerous weapon: less of a guided missile than a loose cannon.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
19
GAME OF THRONES By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES FINALE: You may have heard. This HBO series ends tonight. And when it’s all over, my guess is that the giant throne will be occupied by the show’s most diminutive character. But this program's plots have Throne me before...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
19
BARRY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Last week’s episode ended with an intense cliffhanger: Fuches (Stephen Root), angered by Barry’s treatment of him, had taken Gene (Henry Winkler) out to his cabin in the woods, where Fuches led Gene to the hidden site of the car of Detective Moss – Gene’s missing girlfriend, who was missing because Barry had killed her in last year’s finale. And after Fuches ordered Gene to open the trunk of Moss’ car, he pointed a gun at Gene’s head. This
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
18
‘GAME OF THRONES’ ENDS ON A WING AND A PRAYER By Alex Strachan
 
 
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about popular TV, it’s that great expectations don’t always lead to grand results...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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