DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES PREMIERE: This new documentary series goes over a lot of familiar ground – but also goes deeper in some spots, providing home movies and photos of the people drawn into Charles Manson’s gravity field, and sampling some from Manson himself. It also uses enough of his studio and home recordings to establish his level of talent as a singer and composer, which was one of his driving ambitions. Most interesting in this study, though, is how it punctures popular myth

2020

Jul

I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK By David Bianculli

At the end of last week’s installment, Michelle McNamara, the woman struggling to meet a deadline on her first book while solving the murder and rape cases at its center, died suddenly. At the time, her book wasn’t finished – and neither is this documentary miniseries, which continues to tell her story posthumously, and no less rivetingly.

2020

Jul

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli

So Jacksonville is out as the relocated site for the Republican National Convention, and President Donald Trump is now encouraging the use of masks during the pandemic, and paramilitary forces similar to the ones occupying Portland are being dispatched to other cities, and there’s a vital American debate about whether to open schools in the fall. Anything you want to say about any of this, John? Please?

2020

Jul

1999: MTV INTRODUCES 'UNDRESSED' By TV WW

On this day in 1999, MTV introduced its soapy anthology, Undressed...

2020

Jul

1999: THE WB AIRS FINAL EPISODE OF 'THE PARENT 'HOOD' By TV WW

This day in 1999 marked the final telecast of the sitcom, The Parent 'Hood, on The WB...

2020

Jul

THE CISCO KID MARATHON By David Bianculli

This weekend’s TV marathon from Decades is the rarest one yet: It’s a two-day binge of one of television’s earliest Western series, noteworthy for being devoted to color – in both photography and subject. The series is the syndicated TV version of The Cisco Kid, which launched on the small screen in 1950. That’s only one year after The Lone Ranger began hiho-ing Silver on ABC, and a full five years before Matt Dillon began marshaling his forces o

2020

Jul

MALCOLM X By David Bianculli

This 1992 Spike Lee movie stars Denzel Washington, who gives a terrific performance, in the title role, based on the book and original Playboy interview with Malcolm X by Alex Haley, author of Roots. Lee plays a character named Shorty in the film, whose heavyweight co-stars include Angela Bassett, Theresa Randle (later to star in Lee’s 1996 drama Girl 6), and Delroy Lindo (a co-star, 28 years later, of Lee’s latest film, Da 5 Bloods).

2020

Jul

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL By David Bianculli

ESPN has been televising major league baseball in the few days since play began for the new, reduced season. But today, Fox gets into the act, and dives in, as enthusiastically as it can, with a triple-header. (After all, what good is Fox Sports without… sports?) At 1 p.m. ET, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs, live from Wrigley Field in Chicago. At 4 p.m. ET, it’s the San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, live from Dodger Stadium. And at 7 p.m. ET, it’

2020

Jul

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN By David Bianculli

Edward Norton wrote the screenplay adaptation of this Jonathan Lethem novel, but didn’t stop there. He also stars in, and directed, this 2019 movie about a detective in 1950s New York, who has Tourette syndrome, determined to solve the murder of his best friend. Co-stars include Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale, and Doctor Who veteran Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

2020

Jul

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY By David Bianculli

“I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it…” Tonight, as guest host of TCM’s The Essentials, Brad Bird, director of both Ratatouille and Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, discusses and presents this 1968 masterwork by Stanley Kubrick. I’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey dozens of times, easily, and it always captivates me from the start. Two fun facts this time around: One, the man-apes

Posts 41-50 of 179

4 5 6 7 8

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption