2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
Aug
6
NO OFFENCE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This British series launched overseas in 2015, and recently started its run stateside thanks to Acorn TV. Today marks the unveiling of Season 2, continuing the adventures of Joanna Scanlan as DI Vivienne Deering, an investigator who has more than her share of social quirks and flaws. And that’s not surprising since this series comes from Paul Abbott, whose output of lovable misfits includes the antagonistic protagonists of Cracker, State of Play, and Shameless. For a full
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
BETTER CALL SAUL By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Season 4 of this superb Breaking Bad spinoff begins with two very different scenes, advancing the plot in two very different timelines and styles. And without giving any spoilers, let me rhapsodize a bit about both of those scenes. The pre-credits sequence, like all other Better Call Saul season openers, is shown in a black-and-white vignette set in the post-Breaking Bad future, and continues the story of Jimmy McGill a.k.a. Saul Goodman, now a.k.a. Gene Tacovic. And once again,
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
P.O.V.: "STILL TOMORROW" By David Bianculli
 
 
Yu Xiuhua (pictured) is a 39-year-old woman with a high-school education, cerebral palsy, and, in her home country of China, an unusual amount of fame. She published a book of her own poems, a book that quickly became the best-selling poetry collection in China over the past 20 years. So the story of tonight’s P.O.V. is a success story – except that her success, and her unexpected fame, combine to give her another set of problems. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
LODGE 49 By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: The most newsworthy thing about this new AMC series is that one of its executive producers is Paul Giamatti. The next most newsworthy thing is that AMC has opted to release its entire Season 1 run of 10 episodes today, but only on its streaming service, AMC Premiere – which is available to Comcast Xfinity and YouTube TV subscribers for an additional charge of $4.99 monthly. The regular cable AMC network will roll out the show on a weekly basis – and for Lodge 49, bin
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
'BETTER CALL SAUL' INCHES TOWARD 'BREAKING BAD' By David Hinckley
 
 
Part of the reason the Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul has worked so well for three seasons is its refreshing quotient of humanity and humor...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
'LODGE 49' SHOWS PROMISE By David Hinckley
 
 
The line between comedy and drama, already a distant memory in some television neighborhoods, blurs further in AMC’s new Lodge 49...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
'NO OFFENCE' IS NO NONSENSE YET FUN-FILLED By David Hinckley
 
 
Tormented cops, and sometimes there seem to be no other kind on television except maybe for Tom Selleck on Blue Bloods, often have spells of depression...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
FROM TCA: A LITTLE 'LODGE 49' BACKGROUND By Roger Catlin
 
 
Jim Gavin was raised in Southern California - specifically Long Beach, where the quirks and characters of the sun-kissed area belted the strip malls, and the struggles on the ground...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
6
THE TCA AWARDS: HONORING TV'S BEST By Roger Catlin
 
 
The gathering clouds of Russian spying carried over to the TV Critics Association’s 34th TCA Awards ceremony Saturday, with The Americans winning program of the year...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Aug
5
TAKE ON MANAFORT By Eric Gould
 
 
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert kick’s it 80s-style with this look at what happens when courtroom illustrations from the Paul Manafort tax fraud trial come to life via the original sketch-romance from the “Take On Me”...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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