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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
 
 
2019
May
31
MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION WITH DAVID LETTERMAN By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This season’s guests include Ellen DeGeneres, but David Letterman’s guest guaranteed to get the most attention this season, because of the seeming oil-and-water chemistry between host and guest, is Kanye West.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
31
MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s episode was a rarity, played mostly for laughs upon a galactic casino. This week, S.H.I.E.L.D. gets back to its more dour basics: saving the universe while looking out for fellow team members.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
31
DEADWOOD: THE MOVIE By David Bianculli
 
 
MOVIE PREMIERE: Oh, my, what a total treat this is. Thirteen years after ending abruptly and prematurely, HBO’s Deadwood returns – with a telemovie sequel that serves as a perfect end to one of TV’s most perfect series. The acting is fabulous, and Milch’s script is a triumph. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, listen to today’s show or visit, later this afternoon, the Fresh Air website. (The Friday program I host also makes room for replay
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
30
IZOMBIE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s new episode has Liv (Rose McIver) riding the wave, and attitude, of the brains of a 19-year-old genius – whom the CW press materials describe as a “Ferris Beuller” type.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
30
THE NAME OF THE ROSE By David Bianculli
 
 
John Turturro stars in this new Sundance miniseries version of bestselling Umberto Eco novel – and is one of its teleplay adapters as well. So if you’re not caught up in this fresh adaptation (which premiered last Thursday), you have him to blame. Twice.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
29
ON NBC'S 'INBETWEEN,' SHE SEES DEAD PEOPLE – HAVEN'T WE SEEN THIS BEFORE? By David Hinckley
 
 
Turns out zombies aren’t the only people who can be dead but not quite gone...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
29
THE STORY OF ALBERT EINSTEIN ON 'LIGHT FALLS' By David Hinckley
 
 
If you’re looking for a breezy bit of TV candy to kick off the summer, PBS stands ready to serve...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
29
THE VERDICT By David Bianculli
 
 
Paul Newman has been showcased in many, many excellent movies as Star of the Month on TCM in May – but as we get near the end of the month, and the end of Newman’s film resume, some of his very best performances and films have been saved for last. Exhibit A: This 1982 courtroom drama, written by David Mamet, in which Newman plays an alcoholic attorney who summons the drive and self-respect to tackle one more tough legal case, and give it the energy and combativeness it requires. Co-s
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
29
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Tonight is the Season 1 finale for Shadows, but never fear. Never fear because a) this is a comedy series about vampires, so it isn’t scary, and b) FX already has renewed Shadows for a second season. Tonight’s season finale is called “Ancestry,” and has Nandor tracking down one of his still-living descendants.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
29
ARCHER: 1999 By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This animated comedy premiered a decade ago, and has reinvented itself wildly over the years. In fact, for three seasons now, its titular hero has been in a coma, lingering near death, while his subconscious spins through a series of odd fantasies recasting his friends and co-workers in alternative roles in a string of unpredictable misadventures in exotic settings. This season, the setting is outer space, and Archer’s fertile imagination takes him and his “crew&rdqu
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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