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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
 
 
2016
Apr
11
'THE DETOUR' IS ANOTHER ROAD LESS TRAVELED ON FORMERLY FORMULAIC TBS By Ed Bark
 
 

Comparisons to the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies no doubt are expected and not entirely unwelcome. It’s a pre-sold title, after all, and The Detour can only hope to do as well with its winding, mind-bending road trip from Syracuse to a would-be beach vacay in Fort Lauderdale...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
KEN BURNS: WHY JACKIE ROBINSON WAS BASEBALL'S MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER By David Hinckley
 
 
Ken Burns agrees that we can’t remember Jackie Robinson enough. He just wants us to remember the real Jackie Robinson. So he’s taken the Robinson segment of his Emmy-winning 1994 “Baseball” series and expanded it into a four-hour documentary...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
GOTHAM By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s episode, Jim Gordon steals his own police file to help clear his name – and goes to Ed Gygma for help. At the same time, the future Penguin is starting to get in the position to even his own score as well – so it’s the future Penguin, the future Riddler, and the future Commissioner Gordon all on the loose tonight.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight, the playoff round begins – with the winners going to the live shows.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
JACKIE ROBINSON By David Bianculli
 
 
Part 1 of 2. This is Ken Burns’ latest documentary series, co-created with his daughter Sarah Burns, and her husband, David McMahon – and it’s wonderful, as usual. It’s a two-part, four-hour study of Jackie Robinson, an expanded take on what he first explored in one of the innings of Ken Burns’ Baseball. The real surprise and treat here is Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, still alive, and still feisty and honest and outspoken. This photo makes it seem as thoug
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
BATES MOTEL By David Bianculli
 
 
This series has started to get really down and dirty into Norman’s twisted psyche. Last week, Norman and a friend escaped from the mental facility and visited a strip joint, where Norman got a lap dance from an eager-to-please stripper. The only thing was, Norman felt uncomfortable in the V.I.P. room, so his inner Norma took over instead. And, the way it was filmed, his outer Norma too, making it quite a kinky scene as we saw things from Norman’s, then Norma’s, point of view. W
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
11
BETTER CALL SAUL By David Bianculli
 
 
Once again, I’m behind. But I’m caught up enough to know that this is the penultimate episode of the season, and the plot has something to do with documents that have been tampered with.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
10
KIM DICKENS SHARES FUN FACTS FROM 'FEAR THE WALKING DEAD' By David Hinckley
 
 
So here are two fun zombie facts from Kim Dickens as AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead returns for its second season...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
10
IF IT’S 'THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE,' IT DOESN’T SEEM SO UNSEEMLY By David Hinckley
 
 
Starz’s steamy new series The Girlfriend Experience works hard to rebrand the ancient tradition of men paying women for sex. And why not? Finding a genteel name for that practice is almost as time-honored a tradition as the practice itself...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Apr
10
2016 MTV MOVIE AWARDS By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL: Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson co-host this year’s annual, meaningless movie awards show. It makes sense to ignore it on its merits, but this annual special usually generates news based on the antics of either the hosts or some of the presenters. So in writing about this, I’m caught between the Rock and a Hart place. This MTV show is simulcast, by the way, on several corporate sister networks, including BET, Comedy Central, TV Land, and VH1.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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