It’s been decades, literally, since Johnny Carson made jokes about the Flying Wallendas – but here’s one of them, daredevil Nik Wallenda, doing a live stunt in which he walks a tightrope across Niagara Falls. It’s a stunt that was banned more than 120 years ago, but here he goes… albeit on a wire so thick he likens it to a sidewalk, and with a harness that will prevent him from falling. Unless he removes it, which some advocates of live TV are rooting to happen. My

2012

Jun

THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW By David Bianculli

This new episode makes room for a lot, conversation-wise. It goes from the microcosmic – Karl Pilkington’s travails in buying and assembling a new bed – to the cosmic, with Karl’s views on the origin of the universe. Watch, and I predict you’ll get a Big Bang out of it.

2012

Jun

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli

David Frum and Alan Thicke are among the guests tonight. That leaves open the possibility for jokes about being Thicke-headed versus thick-headed, but I’m not biting. I will, however, be watching.

2012

Jun

1969: 'HEE HAW' MAKES ITS CBS DEBUT By Christy Slewinski

On this day in 1969, CBS introduced the cornball variety show, Hee Haw, as a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Hee Haw was patterned after the competing NBC series, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, but with a decidedly rural/country theme. Country music stars Buck Owens and Roy Clark hosted the show, which featured a stable of regulars, including the beloved Louis M. "Grandpa" Jones. The show consisted of comedy skits and musical performances by some of the day's biggest co

2012

Jun

WILL THE "WALLENDA WALK" DRAW VIEWERS? By Alan Pergament

ABC isn’t taking a Wallenda-sized risk with Friday's high-wire walk over Niagara Falls, and it may even garner decent ratings, since the national prime time network competition isn’t much of a threat...

2012

Jun

2012 NBA FINALS By David Bianculli

Tuesday’s Game 1 delivered a higher rating for ABC than any Game 1 NBA Final in the network’s history – credited with more than 16.1 million viewers, and becoming the night’s most-viewed TV offering. Those who watched until the end saw the Oklahoma City Thunder come back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Miami Heat. Tonight, LeBron James and his high-profile teammates will try to even the series, while the Thunder, of course, will try to steal their… thunder.

2012

Jun

41 By David Bianculli

Last year, HBO presented His Way, a totally flattering – but totally entertaining – profile of entertainment mogul Jerry Weintraub, whose storied clients and clients’ stories included everyone from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to George Clooney. Tonight, HBO presents a Weintraub-produced documentary that is equally flattering – this time on 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush, an old friend of Weintraub’s (who, by the way, made an appearance in His Way). Don&rsq

2012

Jun

BURN NOTICE By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Continuing this season’s trend of starting new seasons precisely where previous season cliffhangers ended, this new year of Burn Notice begins with Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) hunting for Anson (Jere Burns), who doublecrossed him and put Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) at risk. In fact, as the show opens, she’s taken into federal custody – where she encounters a familiar face.

2012

Jun

THE COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF WILLIAM SHATNER By David Bianculli

Another summer roast rerun, this one from 2006. It’s the one which William Shatner, in his recent Broadway show Shatner’s World, poked fun at guest roaster and former Star Trek actor George Takei for not being funny. Takei did land one solid joke, though, by clarifying the pronunciation of his last name by alluding to Shatner’s widely rumored hairpiece (Takei, he explained, rhymes with “toupee”). The best joke, though, came from Jeffrey Ross, who noted the presence

2012

Jun

ROCK CENTER WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS By David Bianculli

On tonight’s program, Dr. Nancy Snyderman provides a solid, non-sensational look at a serious medical question: whether those who donate bone marrow for transplants should be compensated, as blood donors often are. Some medical organizations say no, but advocates say a financial incentive might widen the field of possible donors, or at least increase the percentage of donations.

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