Tonight, just before going away for the winter break, The Big Bang Theory presents the new episode in which Bernadette has her baby – and Howard becomes a father. Such classic CBS sitcoms as I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, playing with this birthday premise, have really delivered. Here’s hoping Big Bang, given its title, does the same.

2016

Dec

HEARTRADIO JINGLE BALL 2016 By David Bianculli

Taped at Madison Square Garden last Friday night, this CW musical special features performances by Justin Bieber, Fifth Harmony, DNCE – and Ariana Grande, who’s managed to show up on three prime-time showcases in a single week: this one, The Voice, and last week’s Hairspray Live!

2016

Dec

THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW By David Bianculli

Tonight’s challenges force the contestants to bake meringue pies and hors d’oeuvre tartlets. Too bad it doesn’t force them to spell them. But it reminds me of one of my favorite Mason Williams poems, Them Hors D’oeuvres. It goes, it in entirety: “How about them hors d’oeuvres, ain’t they sweet? / Little piece o’ cheese, little piece o’ meat.”

2016

Dec

NASHVILLE By David Bianculli

SNEAK PREVIEW: This is weird but welcome. CMT, which is taking on the production and presentation of the former ABC series Nashville this season, is offering a sneak preview of the new season, which doesn’t begin officially until January 2017. But the new Nashville season premiere will be two hours long, and CMT is showing only the first half tonight. But it’s still a treat, and it’s still a chance to see how new showrunners Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, the talented writer

2016

Dec

FOX'S ‘STAR’ SO FAR IS ‘EMPIRE’-BUILDING ON A SHAKY FOUNDATION By Ed Bark

Fox’s mega-promoted follow-up to Empire can be semi-tolerable if you enjoy watching plausibility in the key of F and aren’t looking for any likable characters...

2016

Dec

EMPIRE By David Bianculli

MIDSEASON FINALE: Empire is leaving for a while, but only long enough to take a break over the holidays – and deliver a large audience for the network’s newest show, Star, which comes from the same production team. In tonight’s episode, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) organizes a free concert in the park (take that, Simon & Garfunkel) to help boost the popularity of Angelo (Taye Diggs). Meanwhile, Lucious (Terrence Howard) continues to be investigated by the FBI, and has all the

2016

Dec

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CHRISTMAS By David Bianculli

What do you give to the SNL viewer who has everything – or has seen everything? Another chance to relive, and enjoy, such classic Christmas skits as Alec Baldwin with his scrumptious little Schweddy balls, or Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg with their precious little “Dick in a Box” gifts. Hmm. Sense a holiday-themed SNL pattern?

2016

Dec

STAR By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Empire creator Lee Daniels, who made hip-hop a red-hot TV world, also is a big fan of musicals in general and Dreamgirls in particular. So when he captured the brass ring with the music-obsessed Empire, and Fox asked what he’d like to do next, Daniels came up with Star, the story of three young female singers who join forces to break into the music biz in hopes of becoming sexy, sassy pop stars. It starts as heavily weighted as a fairy tale, with Star (Jude Demorest) escap

2016

Dec

SECRETS OF THE DEAD: "VAN GOGH'S EAR" By David Bianculli

There’s been some recent research into the life of Vincent Van Gogh, including the discovery of letters and other evidence suggesting the true, previously unsuspected motivation for the now-famous artist’s also famous act of self-mutilation, cutting off part of his own ear. Why, and how much? Those are two of the questions addressed here – and for those overly attached to the long-accepted story of Van Gogh’s drastic action, the revelations in Van Gogh’s Ear may fee

2016

Dec

RECTIFY By David Bianculli

SERIES FINALE: After three seasons of very intelligent, well-paced character exploration, Rectify comes to a close, with an episode titled “All I’m Saying.” Will it finally reveal the identity of the true killer, the person who perpetrated the crime for which Daniel (Aden Young) served nearly 20 years on death row before being released? Or is that less important than how Daniel deals with his release, and how those around Daniel deal with him? However it ends, I expect Rectify

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