As so many cable channels morph to new formats that abandon their original fans, it's nice to see Turner Classic Movies getting even deeper into "classic" mode. This weekend's Silent Sunday Nights presentation is a 1929 epic from India, A Throw of the Dice (late July 25 at 12:30 a.m. ET on TCM), adapted from the Sanskrit poem The Mahabharata and featuring everything from a tiger hunt to death by cobra-in-bed...

2010

Jul

GUEST BLOG #106: TOM BRINKMOELLER SALUTES THE LONG, IMPRESSIVE LINEAGE OF PBS'S "AMERICAN MASTERS" By Tom Brinkmoeller

[Bianculli here: Wednesday night at 9 ET, most PBS stations are presenting the latest "American Masters" documentary, a profile of veteran country artist Merle Haggard. He's survived for decades despite the fickle currents of pop culture -- but so has American Masters itself. Tom Brinkmoeller tracked down the show's persistent and perceptive executive producer, Susan Lacy, to learn how...]

2010

Jul

NEWS FLASH: 'DAMAGES' MOVES TO DIRECTV By Diane Werts

Channel worth watching? That's what DIrecTV seems to be creating in its original programming channel The 101. Not content with grabbing the first run of Friday Night Lights from NBC, they're now adding Damages, after FX balked at continuing Glenn Close's costly legal thriller when ratings lagged...

2010

Jul

COMEDY: 'SCRUBS' ON TV, 'DAILY SHOW' IN CENTRAL PARK By Diane Werts

Comedy Central provides summer laughs all over the place this week. The cable channel is airing mini-marathons of Scrubs... And they're sponsoring a live performance from The Daily Show in Manhattan's Central Park on Wednesday...

2010

Jul

LETTER FROM THE TVWW MAILBAG -- ONE CONTRIBUTOR WRITES A READER ABOUT... ME? By David Bianculli

Bianculli here: It's getting nuts around here. First Eric Gould writes a column about a Lady Gaga video. Then I write an open column, addressed to Eric, challenging him to review three more videos, and selecting them for him as a dare. Then one of our readers writes in, good-naturedly questioning my psychological stability...

2010

Jul

GUEST BLOG #104: P.J. BEDNARSKI ON THE RUMORS ABOUT LARRY KING'S PROBABLE CNN REPLACEMENT By P.J. Bednarski

Apparently someone -- in addition to Piers Morgan's agent, his family and Piers Morgan himself -- believes that this British star of America's Got Talent, our nation's favorite derivative reality competition series, needs a second career as the new host of CNN's Larry King Live...

2010

Jul

USA'S "COVERT AFFAIRS" WORTH WATCHING; OTHER SUMMER SHOWS, NOT SO MUCH By David Bianculli

The newest offering from the USA Network, a mostly lighthearted concoction called "Covert Affairs" and starring Piper Perabo as a fledgling CIA agent, couldn't be more well-timed, given the recent Russian spy swap and the inescapable images of young, sultry Anna Chapman. For that, and other reasons, it's TV worth watching -- but many other summer offerings are not...

2010

Jul

DVD THIS WEEK: 'WHITE COLLAR,' 'DARK BLUE,' BRITISH DETECTIVES By Diane Werts

For somebody I had pretty much never heard of before, Matt Bomer instantly became one of my most anticipated TV sightings last year on White Collar. As soon as I saw this USA romp's slick and witty pilot, I was hooked, and not only because Bomer's such a looker. He's also supremely effective in a tough role -- his cop-helping con man is supposed to be an irresistible charmer...

2010

Jul

TVWW INTERNAL MEMO: YOUR MISSION, ERIC GOULD, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT... By David Bianculli

The website upgrade is coming along great. Lots of progress on all fronts this weekend. Meanwhile, our website designer, Eric Gould, posted one wildly entertaining column, analyzing Lady Gaga's latest video. So I have a challenge for him, which I'm sharing with all of you...

2010

Jul

THE WATCHMAN By About TVWW

(New Jersey Monthly - by Tom Wilk) Like a journey of a thousand miles that begins with a single step, the road to becoming a television critic starts with a solitary sentence. In David Bianculli’s case, it was an entry printed in his diary on December 3, 1960...

Posts 11-20 of 25

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