In one of today’s challenges, the competing chefs have to prepare steak – for more than 100 ranchers and cowboys. I wonder if any of them will use the new method with which I’ve been experimenting: Cooking the steak directly on the coals. Believe it or not, it works – great.

2015

Jul

TUT By David Bianculli

Part 3 of 3. This Spike miniseries about Tutankhamun the boy king concludes tonight. Which means, if you’re not aware of that fact, you won’t know whether he’s Tutankhamen or going.

2015

Jul

THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART By David Bianculli

Do not miss this. Jon Stewart has said, several times, he didn’t want to load his final shows with special guests, but tonight’s show clearly is an exception. His guest is Barack Obama, making his seventh and final appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – and his third appearance as the sitting President of the United States. Obama first appeared on the show in 2005, before he even ran for the Oval Office. As President, he visted Stewart in 2010, and again in 2012.

2015

Jul

KNOCK KNOCK LIVE By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Knock Knock, who’s there? Ryan. Ryan who? Ryan Seacrest – who is smart enough, I guess, to see the writing on the wall and start thinking about life after American Idol. The concept of this summer series is a bit like that opening-month James Corden experiment on CBS’s Late Show, when he took his entire show on the road one night – surprising a local homeowner by asking to host his show from their house. In Knock Knock, Seacrest stays put, in the studio,

2015

Jul

FRONTLINE: “DRUG LORD: THE LEGEND OF SHORTY” By David Bianculli

This documentary, released theatrically last year, is about Joaquin Guzman Loera, the Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo.” If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the drug lord who vowed to escape from his high-security prison – and just did. The documentary is updated with a new prologue reflecting the latest, but the main story is about the filmmakers, who set out to find and interview “El Chapo” prior to his 2014 capture. Check local listing

2015

Jul

HUMANITY FROM SPACE By David Bianculli

In shaping history, perspective is everything. This new PBS documentary looks at the evolution of human history, and looks at it from the perspective from outside our planet. This allows for some interesting computer work, and also some very egocentric thinking: Man may be the dominant global species, but the best one for the planet? Arguments could be made for the bees. Or, as both Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut have suggested, the dolphin. Check local listings.

2015

Jul

EXPLAINING THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF SUMMERTIME 'ROADSHOW' REAPPRAISALS By Tom Brinkmoeller

For anyone who ever has guessed the exact number of jellybeans in a jar, correctly picked a 40-to-one long shot to win a horse race or accurately predicted what Donald Trump would say next, Antiques Roadshow's summer reruns should be a natural viewing choice...

2015

Jul

PACKED IN A TRUNK: THE LOST ART OF EDITH LAKE WILKINSON By David Bianculli

I’d never heard of this artist before, much less her story, but wow. In the early 20th century, the family of Massachusetts painter Edith Lake Wilkinson committed her to an asylum – and her story ends there. Or at least it did, until these filmmakers began examining her artwork for clues, and intent upon retracing her steps, and her relationship with both her family and her canvases.

2015

Jul

TUT By David Bianculli

Part 2. In Ed Bark’s full review on Uncle Barky’s Bytes, he expresses a bit of amazement that the miniseries Tut is better than he expected – given that it’s presented by the Spike network, hardly known as a bastion of scripted TV drama. I agree completely, and context is everything. On PBS – and even on TBS – this would seem like a much less impressive effort. Ben Kingsley stars, but not as Tut.

2015

Jul

POV: "RETURN TO HOMS" By David Bianculli

This documentary won the 2014 World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, and follows 19-year-old Basset Saroot, whose recent drastic changes in life direction include going from star goalie for the Syrian soccer team to protestor during the so-called Arab Spring to armed insurgent. Check local listings.

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