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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
 
 
2018
Jun
1
A LOVELY TRIBUTE TO A SHORT LIFE By Monique Nazareth
 
 
“Destiny is a gift … Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero. Don’t think … Become!”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jun
1
CINEMAX MAKES SOLID CONTACT WITH J.K. ROWLINGS' 'C.B. STRIKE' By Ed Bark
 
 
How sweet it is to see a straight-ahead crime solving series starring a detective with no built-in superpowers, physical or otherwise...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
31
MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION WITH DAVID LETTERMAN By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: The guest for David Letterman’s sixth and final monthly talk show of the season is a person with whom Letterman first conversed on TV in 1984 (a brief clip confirms it). That guest is Howard Stern, and their conversation tonight is as freewheeling and fascinating as any of the best chats on Stern’s SiriusXM satellite radio – including the part when they talk about satellite radio. It’s no secret that many folks at NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross are
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
31
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! By David Bianculli
 
 
This special prime-time edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live! is indeed live, but it has a very specific purpose, which is to set up, and kick off, the evening of ABC’s coverage of the 2018 NBA Finals. Expect: sports jokes, a monologue on current events, and celebrity guests. Do not expect: Roseanne Barr.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
31
MARLENE DIETRICH CELEBRATION By David Bianculli
 
 
Thursday nights in May, on TCM this month, belong to Marlene Dietrich, and tonight’s lineup, ending the month, has some late-career must-see films. In prime time, there are two classics. At 8 p.m. ET, it’s the restored and expanded version of Orson Welles’ 1958 film A Touch of Evil (pictured), with that masterful opening shot. And at 10 p.m. ET, it’s 1957’s Witness for the Prosecution, with Dietrich’s masterful climactic scene. Watch them both.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
31
2018 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS By David Bianculli
 
 
The Golden State Warriors, defending NBA champions, fought their way back to make it to this year’s finals – and so did their most famous rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers. So here we go again, with Game 1 of what promises, or at least has the potential, to be a very exciting series.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
31
FAREWELL TO 'THE AMERICANS' By Ed Bark
 
 
It was a somber farewell to The Americans... Here are some explanations as to why it played out the way it did -- and whether there might be more...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
30
‘THE HANDMAID’S TALE’ AFTER MARGARET ATWOOD’S NOVEL: A FUTURE IMPERFECT FORETOLD By Alex Strachan
 
 
The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t treading uncharted emotional territory as it reaches the midpoint of its harrowing, nerve-inducing second season — not exactly, anyway...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
30
CHICAGO By David Bianculli
 
 
Rob Marshall’s energetic, whipsaw-paced 2002 movie version of the long-running musical Chicago is a provocative examination of fame, betrayal, and the cynical manipulations of the media, politicians, and lawyers. In 2018, it’s almost a song-by-song primer, preparing us for the evening news. And with Renee Zellweger as headline-grabbing murderess Roxie Hart, competing for media attention and juror sympathy with Catherine Zeta-Jones’ equally deadly Velma Kelly, this Chicago is pa
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
May
30
REVERIE By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: The good news: This new sci-fi summer series stars Sarah Shahi, the Person of Interest co-star who’s been an impressive but underrated TV player ever since playing Carmen in The L Word and starring opposite Damian Lewis in 2002’s Life. The bad news: This new series comes from Mickey Fisher, whose last broadcast network summer series was CBS’s senseless Extant. And this new one, Reverie, stars Shahi as a woman who ventures into the artificial realities of others
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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