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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

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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

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2019
May
10
MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Season 5 ended with Coulson (Clark Gregg) going off to Tahiti to die, with May (Ming-Na Wen) by his side. Coulson, like a proper Marvel character, already had died and come back to life before, long before the events of the current Avengers movie. For Season 6, Gregg will continue to be involved: He directs tonight’s Season 6 premiere, and is slated to show up on camera this season, but playing a different, darker character. Other things we know about this season of Agents
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
10
WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: This four-part look at the Wu-Tang Clan traces the history, influences and legacy one of hip-hop’s most defining artistic collectives. If you don’t know your RZA from your GZA, or even how to pronounce those particular performers and Clan members (and especially if you do), give this series a try. Other members, of course, include Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
10
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
This week’s scheduled guests include journalist Michael Lewis, columnist Matt Lewis, and political commentator Van Jones.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
10
STATE OF THE UNION By David Bianculli
 
 
In Part 5 of this abbreviated 10-part series (each episode is about a dozen minutes long), it becomes clear that all the therapy sessions we haven’t been watching between Tom (Chris O’Dowd) and Louise (Rosamund Pike) – in State of the Union, we see only the period before each session – haven’t helped them resolve their conflicts and issues. In fact, as we start tonight’s installment, Tom has moved out.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
9
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
Well, it’s taken a very long time, but the impressive reign of The Big Bang Theory is about to end. This is the penultimate episode, “The Maternal Conclusion,” which is smart enough to make room for one of the show’s most entertaining recurring guest stars: Christine Baranski as Leonard’s mom, Beverly.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
9
IZOMBIE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s episode is called “Dead Lift,” and has Liv (Rose McIver) continuing to look into the murder case with the missing body. The difference this week is that she’s doing it after sampling the brains, and absorbing the personality, of a fitness guru. So whatever steps she takes this week to solve the crime, expect plenty of reps.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
9
STATE OF THE UNION By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s new, typically brief episode of State of the Union has Tom (Chris O’Dowd) trying to persuade Louise (Rosamund Pike) to back his particular story about why his arm is in a cast.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
9
KLEPPER By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Even before it premieres, attention must be paid. In an advance segment promoted and sampled for this new Comedy Central series, host Jordan Klepper, a savvy Daily Show alum, invited the Clintons to sit down with him and have the former First Lady, senator and presidential candidate read, while her former President husband watched with glee, from the Mueller report, as though she were recording an audio book of a horror story. I’m not certain whether that’s part of t
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
8
LUCIFER By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Why shouldn’t biblical characters be able to enjoy new life, and be revived after a brief period of dormancy? Lucifer, the satanic character and his Fox TV series, were canceled after three seasons. But Netflix stepped in and picked up Lucifer for a Season 4, resurrecting the show. And if you can stand one more biblical reference, this new season introduces one of the very first characters from the Old Testament: Eve, played by Inbar Lavi, who joins Lucifer (Tom Ellis) in
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
May
8
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
At the end of last week’s show, there was a surprise incendiary ending: The vampire clan leader was accidentally sunlit to death. Tonight’s show, written by Flight of the Conchords co-star and Shadows co-creator Jemaine Clement, is called “The Trial.” It may be devoted to the consequences of last week’s unexpected conflagration – but at any event, according to FX, promises to be loaded with surprise guest stars, who may or may not be under some of those hoods.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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