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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
 
 
2018
Jun
3
POSE By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Ryan Murphy’s latest (and last, since he’s moving to Netflix) new series for FX, set in the 1980s, is a drama about a particular New York subculture known as competitive balls, when rival houses of showy “models” (think the inspiration for Madonna’s “Vogue” video) compete for attention, acclaim, and bragging rights. Its breakout stars, among a cast of actual transgender thespians, include Indya Moore (pictured), playing competitive &ldqu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
WESTWORLD By David Bianculli
 
 
In this series, most of the characters are both corrupt and corrupted – and in a literal, or at least computerized, sense. Season 2 is nearing its close, and some of these characters are nearing their fates. Except, in Westworld and on Westworld, what really is fate, and fated? And when is an ending, or a death, really the end?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
BILLIONS By David Bianculli
 
 
Asian Kate Dillon, as Taylor, breaks out of her quiet mode, and confronts Axe directly, in tonight’s new episode of Billions, which is built around the annual tradition of assessing, and arguing for, one’s individual worth at Axe’s company.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
SUCCESSION By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Brian Cox plays a billionaire mogul patriarch, and Jeremy Strong plays one of his ambitious children vying for the family fortune (and power), in this new HBO series created by Jesse Armstrong. Behind the scenes, the other talent includes such impressive names as Frank Rich and Adam McKay. On camera, the costars include Kieran Culkin and Alan Ruck.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli
 
 
One thing to wonder about, given this week’s episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (pictured): If John Oliver mentions Bee and Ivanka Trump in tonight’s news recap, what words will he use to describe them?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
'POSE' OFFERS AN HONEST AND ELEGANT LOOK INTO THE 1980S LGBTQ COMMUNITY By David Hinckley
 
 
One of the oddest side effects of our increasingly fragmented society is that almost everyone sometimes gets to feel like an outsider. So it’s worth reminding ourselves that some folks are way more outside than others...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
FX'S 'POSE' CHARTS NEW TERRITORY BUT SOMETIMES GROANINGLY SO By Ed Bark
 
 
FX offers a case study in counter-programming with Sunday’s premiere of Pose (9 p.m. ET) opposite Game 2 of the NBA Finals...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
3
AMC'S 'DIETLAND' IS A DIFFERENT TREAT WITH MANY FLAVORS By David Hinckley
 
 
AMC’s new series Dietland achieves the remarkable feat of not feeling like anything else currently on television. Like a diet itself, it feels valuable while sometimes seeming hard to quantify, shape and digest...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
2
BLADE RUNNER 2049 By David Bianculli
 
 
This long-dormant sequel to the classic, influential 1982 Ridley Scott movie continues the story of Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard, but only obliquely. This time, Deckard is the hunted, not the hunter – and this time, the man hunting the “blade runners,” in this continuation directed by Denis Villeneuve, is played by Ryan Gosling. Ana de Armas co-stars as his omnipresent virtual-reality companion, aptly named Joi. As the movie’s title states, this sequel takes place i
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
2
PATRICK MELROSE By David Bianculli
 
 
This is Episode 4 of this intense, searingly acted semi-autobiographical story by Edward St. Aubyn, who used his Patrick Melrose novels and alter ego to exorcise some very traumatic childhood memories and demons. Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the title role – and tonight, memories of his past, and especially of his parents (played by Hugo Weaving and Jennifer Jason Leigh), don’t get any lighter.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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