2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
2020
May
21
CELEBRITY ESCAPE ROOM By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL: Feel trapped in your surroundings? Keep thinking how nice it would be to get out? Well, here comes Jack Black, playing the host of Celebrity Escape Room, in which a small group of celebrities works together – most of the time – to try and solve clues and escape from their confining environment. Ben Stiller and Adam Scott are two of the players, and they’re joined by some Friends. Specifically, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow. It’s part of the Re
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
21
EASY RIDER By David Bianculli
 
 
Written and directed by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (who also co-starred) and Terry Southern (who didn’t), this 1969 movie – Hopper directed it as well – exploded onto the scene as one of the instantly iconic movies of the Sixties. As a drama about the decade’s generation gap, and also the gaps between hawks vs. doves, rednecks vs. hippies and old vs. young, Easy Rider is about as blatant, and representative, as it gets. All that, and a young actor named Jack
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
21
THE RED NOSE DAY SPECIAL By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL: The annual Red Nose Day is aimed at raising money to combat childhood poverty, and this year’s NBC telecast earmarks its fundraising efforts for children affected by COVID-19. It’s hosted by Mandy Moore and Justin Hartley from the network’s This Is Us. And while this will,  by circumstance, be another celebrity charity events where most contributors all but literally phone it in, it’s quite a guest list: Bryan Cranston, Julia Roberts, James Ta
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
21
NAT GEO SHARES THE BRAVE STORY OF 'HEROES OF THE SKY: THE REAL MIGHTY EIGHTH' By David Hinckley
 
 
As America struggles to wind down another war that has not gone well, National Geographic is using the Memorial Day weekend to remind us of those who fought the last war that did...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
21
1990: 'NEWHART' ENDS AFTER EIGHT SEASONS By David Bianculli
 
 
This day in 1990 marked the final telecast of CBS's Newhart...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
20
2002: THE END OF 'ALLY MCBEAL' By TV WW
 
 
This day in 2002 marked the final telecast of the Fox series, Ally McBeal...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
20
MRS. AMERICA By David Bianculli
 
 
Today brings the premiere of Episode 8 of Mrs. America, which is titled “Houston.” It refers to the site of the National Women’s Conference, which is a battle ground for both the pro and con sides of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. Sarah Paulsen as Alice, and Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, really get to shine in this new episode.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
20
THE BIG INTERVIEW WITH DAN RATHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s interview guest is Don McLean. As the 1970s began, McLean burst onto the scene with two fabulous, inescapable songs: “American Pie” and “Vincent.” Both of them had to do with the impact specific artists had on him – Buddy Holly in the first, Vincent Van Gogh in the second. I’d gladly watch an entire TV hour devoted to just those two songs, and tonight, I hope to.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
20
BOMBSHELL IN CONCERT By David Bianculli
 
 
If, like me, you liked the NBC series Smash, a fictional musical drama about the making of a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe, you’ll love this. The musical within the musical, eventually titled “Bombshell,” was supposed to be fictional too. But by the time Smash was over, enough songs had been written, and production numbers staged, for “Bombshell” to look like a tantalizing prospect for the actual stage. And that actually happened, once, w
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
May
20
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s episode, an old acquaintance returns, visits, and moves in. And with this group of vampires, any old acquaintance is likely to be very, very old indeed.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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