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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

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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

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2020
May
31
I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE By David Bianculli
 
 
This miniseries may be one of the most depressing TV dramas I’ve ever seen – but it’s so well-acted, and so patiently unfolding, that I’m captivated by it. Mark Ruffalo plays twin brothers: one who has been hospitalized for cutting off his own hand during a psychotic episode, and the other brother, who is trying to handle his post-trauma care. As it turns out, the “sane” brother is almost as haunted as his sibling – and the supporting players, who includ
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
BILLIONS By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week’s episode ended with Axelrod (Damian Lewis) using home-turf advantage, and details of memories from his youth, to outmaneuver his competition in charming a hearing board in favoring his bid at a local land grab. But as soon as he tasted victory, he almost choked on the aftertaste of shame, and couldn’t wait to flee the Yonkers neighborhood he had just argued so passionately to help rebuild. It’s a complicated character, a complicated dynamic, and a complicated show &n
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS By David Bianculli
 
 
The confrontation between the communities intensifies tonight – and caught in the middle is Nathan Lane’s detective, whose investigative trail leads him into a thicket populated by angry Chicanos, scheming Nazis, and meddling demons. And that’s just for starters…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
QUIZ By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? showed up on ABC in 1999, reviving the quiz show, offering the chance of winning a fortune on live TV, and changing the fortunes of that network in the process. But before that, Millionaire had been developed as an equally popular show in the United Kingdom. And while the U.S. version, hosted by Regis Philbin, carried on for years without scandal, the original British version, hosted by Chris Tarrant, was not so lucky. In it
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, John Oliver took the Memorial Day weekend off. Tonight, with so much having happened so far this week (and still happening), I really, really could use his perspective right now. Please.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
AMC OFFERS 'QUIZ,' THE COMPLICATED STORY OF THE 'MILLIONAIRE' CHEATING SCANDAL By Mike Hughes
 
 
Back in 1998, all of England seemed obsessed with Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
'LAUREL CANYON' IS A WONDERFUL REMEMBRANCE OF REMARKABLE MUSIC By David Hinckley
 
 
Laurel Canyon, a docuseries on the music from that fondly remembered Los Angeles outpost of yesteryear, hits the right chords...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
31
1992: 'NIGHT COURT' ADJOURNS By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 1992, NBC's Night Court ended its nine-season run...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
30
2004: HBO INTRODUCES 'SOMETHING THE LORD MADE' By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 2004, HBO debuted the telefilm Something the Lord Made...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
30
THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW MARATHON By David Bianculli
 
 
All 11 hilarious seasons of The Carol Burnett Show, which premiered on CBS in 1967 and ran until 1978, are about to become available as a streaming offering, for the first time, on the Shout! Factory website and YouTube channel, beginning Monday, June 1. To promote and celebrate the launch, Shout! is presenting a 48-hour marathon of Carol Burnett Show programs, sampling highlights from the entire run. Tune in, and it’ll be very difficult to tune out. And afterward, you&
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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