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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

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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Aerial View

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MNtv

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TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

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Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2019
May
14
FOSSE/VERDON By David Bianculli
 
 
This sixth episode of Fosse/Verdon is called “All I Care About Is Love,” taking its title from a song from the Broadway musical Chicago. That musical, in which Bob Fosse fashioned a later-career showcase for Gwen Verdon, is the subject of tonight’s episode – and so is the physical stress Fosse put himself under at the time. The movie All That Jazz, directed by Fosse himself, covered this ground already. This time, though, it’s done without changing the names.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
STATE OF THE UNION By David Bianculli
 
 
Part 7. With nothing more than dialogue, and an occasional dash down the street or impulsive shove, Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike have made their characters here come fully to life. They play a married couple, at this point living apart and seeing a therapist, trying to decide whether to heal or put an end to their marital relationship. This 10-part series is written by Nick Hornby and directed by Stephen Frears, who collaborated on the wonderful movie version of High Fidelity. And by now
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
HBO'S 'WHAT'S MY NAME: MUHAMMAD ALI' IS IN THE RING AND IN HIS WORDS By Ed Bark
 
 
Weighing in at two hours, 40 minutes and airing in one sitting, HBO’s What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, is as thrilling today as it was in his yesteryears...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
14
WOMEN TAKE ALL THE LEADS IN ABC'S FOUR FALL NEWCOMERS By Ed Bark
 
 
ABC scrimped on new fall series Tuesday, but not on women marching at the heads of them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
13
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
We’ve arrived at the Top 8 semifinal performances – and tonight, the contestants are given access to the Beatles song catalog, as a promotional tie-in to the upcoming movie Yesterday – which, by the way, looks positively charming, as evidenced by the film’s promo.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
13
THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES By David Bianculli
 
 
Mark Cousins directs this new study of Orson Welles the filmmaker, actor and private person. The approach by Cousins is both hyper-personal (he narrates, asking questions of the long-dead icon) and arbitrary (the film is divided into almost capricious sections and sub-sections), but, like any film that looks closely at Welles’ life and work, is worth a look, and bound to offer up a previously unknown nugget of insight or vintage interview fragment. The true treat with tonight’s TCM W
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
13
STATE OF THE UNION By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the start of the second and final week of this marvelous mini-miniseries: 10 episodes, about 10 minutes each, running weekdays, starring Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike as a married couple meeting for a quick drink, and chat, before their weekly marital therapy sessions. We never see the sessions, but the pregame show is so raw, funny and revealing, State of the Union has become one of my favorite TV shows of the year – and so far, it’s less than an hour long. Catch up o
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
13
PEACOCK DROPPINGS: JIMMY SMITS GETS ANOTHER GO ON NBC'S FALL LINEUP By Ed Bark
 
 
NBC is leaving four nights unchanged and adding just three new series to its fall prime-time lineup...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
13
FOX'S NEW SEASON WILL SAY FAREWELL TO 'EMPIRE' AND HELLO TO WRESTLING By Ed Bark
 
 
The Fox broadcasting network, newly under Disney ownership, announced a “start-up mindset” Monday that included news of one-time ratings juggernaut Empire being canceled after its sixth and final season concludes next year...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
12
KILLING EVE By David Bianculli
 
 
It doesn’t happen often on this series, that Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and Eve (Sandra Oh) get to share the same screen and interact with one another – and when they do, it’s always tense, exciting and unpredictable. It happened briefly in last week’s episode – and get ready, because it happens again tonight. And just because Villanelle is sporting pink hair, that doesn’t mean she’s intent on acting sweet or girlish…
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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