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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
 
 
2014
Dec
16
NICK NEWS WITH LINDA ELLERBEE: “OLD SCHOOL/NEW SCHOOL” By David Bianculli
 
 
I have a soft spot for this particular subject. Tonight on a new edition of Nick News, Linda Ellerbee looks at nontraditional schools, and their various methods of teaching – some turning every learning activity into games, others giving students unusual amounts of freedom and responsibility. I attended Nova High School in Florida, a place that was  boldly experimental then – and which gave me my first, indelibly important exposures to newspapers, television and theater. In this
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
16
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: The winner is announced for this final cycle of 2014 – but on this show, the contestants tend to take a back seat to the judges. That’s especially true tonight, when the coaches are among the acts performing tonight, as part of the effort to turn a 10-second announcement into a two-hour finale. But as for this cycle’s final entrants, Matt McAndrew, daring to sing his original song “Wasted Love,” deserves the win for an unexpectedly strong display of b
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
16
ASCENSION By David Bianculli
 
 
Part 2 of 3. This new Syfy miniseries imagines a 100-year space voyage from Earth to some unpopulated but hospitable planet, and picks up the drama at the halfway point, 51 years in. By coincidence, tonight’s episode, the second of three parts, marks the halfway point as well – and if you watched last night, I’m betting you’re sticking around for the rest of the trip. For a full review, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
16
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART By David Bianculli
 
 
Pay attention, fellow Beatlemaniacs: Tonight’s guest is Sir Paul McCartney.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
16
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON By David Bianculli
 
 
Craig Ferguson, over the years, has done a devastating impersonation of Larry King – yet that hasn’t kept them from developing an ongoing and mutually appreciative friendship. Tonight, King shows up to schmooze on one of Ferguson’s very last shows – as does another Ferguson favorite, Angela Kinsey.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
15
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Part 1 of 2. Tonight and tomorrow, the current season of The Voice ends and proclaims a winner. But this year, the four finalists competing tonight are all male: Not one judge selected a female to advance to the final rounds. Coincidence – or sexism? (The answer, if you’re wondering: Coincidence.)
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
15
JANE THE VIRGIN By David Bianculli
 
 
This show has done a delightful job of expanding and deepening its plots and its characters, while nevertheless remaining true to the show’s unique flavor and lightness. And Gina Rodriguez, as the title character? No question, the new TV star of the year. Mexican recording star Paulina Rubio guest stars as herself, seen here with series costar Andrea Navedo, who plays Xiomara.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
15
ASCENSION By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: I love the premise of this miniseries. Here it is: Back in the early Sixties, very shortly after President John F. Kennedy pledged that the U.S. would, by decade’s end, send a man to the moon and return him safely to Earth, he also approved and realized a much less visible space mission. In fact, it was top secret: the launching of a modern-day spaceship ark, filled with people whose descendants eventually would populate a new outpost for humanity, after a 100-year jou
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
15
THE COLBERT REPORT By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s the final week for Stephen Colbert on his late-night show, so tune in every night, out of respect and gratitude, and with an expectation of the unexpected, even for him. Tonight’s guest: Seth Rogen.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
15
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s the final week for Craig Ferguson on his late-night show, so tune in every night, out of respect and gratitude, and with an expectation of the unexpected, even for him. Tonight’s guest: Tim Meadows and Jon Hamm.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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