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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
15
PAUL NEWMAN DOUBLE FEATURE By David Bianculli
 
 
Two of Paul Newman’s most dazzling star showcases are shown tonight in prime time by TCM. At 8 p.m. ET, there’s 1963’s Hud (pictured), Newman’s character study of a consummate rebel. And at 10 p.m. ET, there’s one of my favorite movies of all time: 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and co-starring Robert Redford. In the 50 years since this film’s original release, I don’t think I’ve gone a week without quo
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
SURVIVOR By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This is not a recommendation. This is the finale of the 38th cycle of Survivor competitions, which I stopped watching several years ago, after watching and supporting them for a very long time. But when even the variations became repetitive, I lost interest – just as I have done increasingly, this season, with NBC’s The Voice. But if you’re still into tribal councils and duplicitous winners, here you go again. Jeff Probst, after all this time, still hosts.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s episode was not only this treat of a TV show’s best yet – it also used the excuse of the convening of a “vampire’s council” to make room for a gaggle of unexpected, delightful cameos. Not only did Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi and Jonathan Brugh comprise their original roles from the movie that served as the inspiration for this FX spinoff series, but there were appearances by celebrity vampires – actors who had played vampires on film or TV
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
BROCKMIRE By David Bianculli
 
 
Gabby tumbled into a depression bender last week, defiling her own home with rude graffiti aimed at her cheating wife – and falling off the fitness wagon by having a fast-food “banquet” from Panda Express. By episode’s end, she’d blurted out all her personal traumas while delivering live commentary on a baseball broadcast – the exact way her broadcast partner, Brockmire, began his own downward spiral at the start of this series. Gabby, though, has some help&he
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
STATE OF THE UNION By David Bianculli
 
 
Part 8. Last night, Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd had a pre-therapy session argument about their respective tastes in pop culture: Her character likes Meet the Midwife and dislikes black-and-white films, while his character, a critic, is precisely the opposite. Really made me laugh – and love both of these characters even more. Two more episodes to go, at 10 minutes each, and I’m already bemoaning the imminent end of this intoxicating TV experiment.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
TIM CONWAY 1933 – 2019 By David Hinckley
 
 
Tim Conway spent his career making you notice the guy that no one ever noticed...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
15
FAMILIAR TV STARS REJOIN/JOIN CBS IN NEW 2019-20 LINEUP By Ed Bark
 
 
Former CBS sitcom stars Patricia Heaton and Billy Gardell are getting new whirls while a familiar face from cable’s FX, Walter Goggins, moves to a new address this fall...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
STILL LAUGH-IN: THE STARS CELEBRATE By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL PREMIERE: Original Roman & Martin’s Laugh-In cast members Lily Tomlin, Ruth Buzzi and Jo Anne Worley appear in this new celebratory special, honoring the fast-paced comedy sketch series that was among TV’s most popular shows of the early 1970s. Historically, Laugh-In borrowed from the rapid-fire joke style and sight-gag setups of Ernie Kovacs’ brilliant specials of the 1950s, and the prime-time topical comedy of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. But by firing at al
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
WHAT'S MY NAME?: MUHAMMAD ALI By David Bianculli
 
 
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: Director Antoine Fuqua and writer Steven Leckart have crafted this two-part documentary biography of the former Cassius Clay. It’s a powerful study, and both parts are shown tonight, so settle in and watch with intrigue, to get more proof about how early, and how consistently, the man calling himself “the Greatest” was battling more than rival boxers in his pursuit of freedom, justice, equality and celebrity. What’s My Name? is better than most Ali d
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
Last night, for the first time, The Voice was granted access to the songs of The Beatles, and presented duet showcases in which its semifinalists teamed for such songs as “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude.” Tonight, the results of that battle – but I can reveal my results early. The Voice didn’t do the legacy of The Beatles any favors. The show should have let it be.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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