The dance around the delicate subject of interracial marriage played out in full last week when firefighter Bart "Black Shawn" Johnston (Larenz Tate) married into the rowdy Irish Gavin family on FX's Rescue Me. Of course the nuptials really were not surprising, given Shawn's tenacity and his just plain weird attraction to the alcoholic Colleen Gavin (Natalie Distler)...

2011

Sep

TAKE NOTE: THE FINAL FRONTIER REACHES MIDDLE AGE By Diane Werts

Do you know what happened on Sept. 8, 1966? Well, neither do the TV networks. Or cable channels. Because there's a big anniversary Thursday. And no one on the tube seems to be taking note of it. Gene Roddenberry's culture-shifting space series Star Trek debuted 45 years ago -- Sept. 8, 1966 -- on NBC. Before that, there was no Mr. Spock. No warp drive. No beam-me-up-Scotty...

2011

Sep

FX 'RESCUE ME' FINALE DOES ITSELF, AND ITS SUBJECT, PROUD By David Bianculli

"Rescue Me" started on FX in 2004, and ends seven years later, four days before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. The expanded finale, shown at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, provides an ending that will not be revealed here -- but which, like the series itself, is remarkably entertaining, satisfying and impressive, and emotionally all over the place...

2011

Sep

FALL TV: NETWORK PREVIEW SPECIALS By Diane Werts

So what's new on the networks this fall? We're preparing our own TVWW fall preview, but in the meantime, you can find out from the networks themselves. They've all produced half-hour fall preview specials that are unreeling on local stations and related cable channels -- not to mention online in various formats...

2011

Sep

CAN SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR MOVE BEYOND BUFFY WITH 'RINGER'? By Jane Boursaw

Screeners for the new fall TV shows have been rolling into Reel Life With Jane headquarters, and my family and I have been busily watching to see what's ahead. As is usually the case, some shows are godawful, some are mediocre, and some have us wishing we could jump right into the next episode...

2011

Sep

STUDENT BLOG #9: ANOTHER STAB AT EXPLAINING AND EXPLORING ANIME By David Bianculli

[The Rowan University student who has written more guest blogs for TVWW than any other is Rich Greenhalgh, who is, among other things, a walking encyclopedia of Anime programs and sub-genres. Last time I asked him to explain the appeal, and various archetypes, of the animated Asian imports. This time, I challenged him to list some of the programs he thought readers of this website might like best -- and places where to sample them. Fasten your seat belts... he compares some to Rubicon, House, even Lost... -- DB]

2011

Sep

STUDENT BLOG #8: 'AIRHEADS,' A CURE FOR 'STEVE BUSCEMI AMNESIA' By David Bianculli

[Just before school starts for a new term, here's a welcome entry by one of my former film and TV students -- who sympathizes with fans of HBO's Boardwalk Empire who may not remember exactly where they've seen the actor before. This student gives the condition a medical term -- Steve Buscemi Amnesia -- and also provides a cure, with a 1994 movie televised this weekend... -- DB]

2011

Sep

HIGH STEAKS RADIO: MY RIB-EYE DISCUSSION WITH MARK BITTMAN REPLAYS ON 'FRESH AIR' By David Bianculli

I'll be posting two interesting student blogs this weekend, but right now, on Friday morning, I'm diving into hosting NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. So for the moment, I'll leave you with a link to a story the show ran yesterday... a rerun of my conversation with cookbook author Mark Bittman, in which I had a very animated discussion about grilling steaks...

2011

Sep

LINDA ELLERBEE EXPLAINS 9/11 TO YOUNG VIEWERS -- AND KEEPS IT BRILLIANTLY SIMPLE By David Bianculli

Linda Ellerbee, by now, really, really knows what she's doing. After carving out one distinguished career in TV news as an anchor and commentator, she's spent decades establishing another, as the anchor, and heart and soul, of Nickelodeon's Nick News, which explains complex issues and news events without resorting to insider doublespeak, verbal duels or flashy visuals...

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