The original release of this set was packaged in a tiny replica of a filing cabinet. Now in a more standard (and less expensive) issue, it’s still a keeper. It’s also still one of the best cop series ever made...

2013

Jul

THE ORIGINAL “LONE RANGER” CREDITS SEQUENCE By David Bianculli

With the current The Lone Ranger movie now released, it’s certainly worth watching the original credits sequence of ABC’s pioneering Western TV series, which ran from 1949-57...The Lone Ranger became the first hit Western on TV. The first Western, period, for that matter...

2013

Jul

W. KAMAU BELL'S RETURN TO LATE NIGHT By Eric Gould

What you see is what you get with W. Kamau Bell. He's often grinning, running to the punchline... all of which spilled through the telephone loud and clear late last month...

2013

Jul

CARSON ON TCM By David Bianculli

For the second Monday in a row, TCM presents Carson on TCM, a series of 12-minute shorts, hosted by Conan O’Brien, presenting vintage Tonight Show interviews conducted by Johnny Carson. The fifth and final of tonight’s interviews, a 1973 visit with Tony Curtis at 8:48 p.m. ET, leads directly into TCM’s 9 p.m. ET telecast of Curtis’ 1959 hit comedy Some Like it Hot, also starring Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe (pictured). But those two aren’t represented in tonight&r

2013

Jul

GASLAND PART II By David Bianculli

Three years after Josh Fox explained and explored the issue of fracking in his 2010 documentary Gasland, and showed a resident lighting his contaminated tap water on fire, he’s back with a sequel. And this time, he travels across the country – stopping in Texas, Colorado, Arkansas and elsewhere, as well as his native Pennsylvania – to show how natural gas companies are using political influence, public relations, and lots and lots of money to continue and expand their practice

2013

Jul

UNDER THE DOME By David Bianculli

Stephen King’s new hit TV series really is turning out to be the television equivalent of a summer beach read: It’s not too deep, not too dark, and easy to watch. And there’s a little bit of casting irony, as one of the stars, Dean Norris, already is shown breaking bad – quite fitting, since he costars on AMC’s Breaking Bad.

2013

Jul

DANGERMAN: THE INCREDIBLE MR. GOODWIN By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Jonathan Goodwin stars in this new import, which showcases his fascination with recreating and re-popularizing some of the magic and carnival tricks of old, from Houdini-style escapes to breaking and eating glass. He hangs from the top of a skyscraper, using only the number of fingers represented by a roll of a volunteer’s dice. Actually, it’s just one dice, which is a die – which is what he could do, if he’s not careful.

2013

Jul

WAREHOUSE 13 By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: My head spins, trying to figure out, with Syfy and USA shows, what’s a season finale, a midseason finale, or just another episode. Last week I got it wrong, prematurely identifying that night’s episode as the season ender. It’s actually tonight. I think. And if it’s the episode I think I previewed, it’s got a very clever ending, which puts our heroes on either side of an impenetrable barrier. Sort of like Under the Dome.

2013

Jul

BROADCHURCH By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: This new British import is another example of TV’s current fixation with single-crime limited series and extended stories, a mini-genre that, in essence, also includes Top of the Lake, The Killing and The Bridge. What distinguishes Broadchurch, initially, isn’t its plot or the way it’s unfurled. It’s the photography (one early shot is a very extended, complicated tracking shot, following a character as he walks through much of his small town and interacts

2013

Jul

THE BRIDGE By David Bianculli

The killer in this series keeps getting away with murder – and in increasingly ghoulish ways, designed to call attention to himself and his stated cause. And so far, it’s working. The media attention is building, as is the pressure for the temporarily teamed investigators – one from the U.S., the other from Mexico – to identify and find the murderer and solve the case.

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