For viewers disgusted by the obsessive news coverage of Michael Jackson's death and memorial extravaganza, Judge Sonia Sotomayor's weeklong grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee provided enough serious TV news to satisfy...

2009

Jul

ROMAFICTIONFEST: KEEPING SCRIPTED TELEVISION ALIVE, PART II By David Bianculli

Yesterday I reviewed some of the intriguing completed TV series screened in Rome last week at RomaFictionFest, an international gathering of creative and executive types interested in scripted television. Today I'll detail the best pitches for shows that haven't been made yet -- covering everything from a musical biopic of a largely unexplored chapter in the life of Frank Sinatra, and the story of a pygmy from the Congo who was displayed in a cage at the Bronx Zoo a century ago...

2009

Jul

ROMAFICTIONFEST: KEEPING SCRIPTED TELEVISION ALIVE, PART I By David Bianculli

Tonight on the five commercial broadcast networks, there are a total of 14 hours of prime-time programming. Only four of them are scripted, and only one 30-minute program, ABC's "Better Off Ted," is not a rerun. That's why last week's RomaFictionFest is such a big deal. If quality scripted television is an endangered species, RomaFictionFest is a renewing, encouraging greenhouse...

2009

Jul

AD BREAK: ACTORS/CHARACTERS DO COMMERCIALS, EARTH CONTINUES SPINNING By Diane Werts

The Flintstones smoked Winstons. The Clampetts hawked Corn Flakes. Ozzie & Harriet loved their kitchen's natural gas. And Hogan's Heroes savored their Jell-O...

2009

Jul

GUEST BLOG #31: TOM BRINKMOELLER ON 'SUNDAY MORNING' DELIGHTS By Tom Brinkmoeller

[Bianculli here: One of the best things about TV WORTH WATCHING, if I do say so myself (and I do), is that its writers are encouraged to follow their passions. Today, contributing columnist Tom Brinkmoeller's passion takes him to an old TV friend: a show that's been around since the Carter administration, but remains one of broadcast TV's most watchable, least hyper nonfiction newsmagazines...]

2009

Jul

THANKS TO THE JACKSON MEMORIAL TV COVERAGE, WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS -- BUT SHOULD WE? By David Bianculli

Just because I was in Rome, that didn't mean I couldn't watch the Michael Jackson memorial TV coverage...I was part of an audience she estimated as "tens of millions," and which CNN International later claimed was "more than 1 billion." All of those viewers saw something, at the very end, I'm not certain they should have...

2009

Jul

MICHAEL JACKSON COVERAGE GOES MEGA -- AGAIN By David Bianculli

Last week on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, an overview of the saturation media coverage of Jackson's death was capped by a reporter who noted, for the record, that Michael Jackson can only die once. Maybe...

2009

Jul

WHEN IN ROME... By David Bianculli

On the 4th of July, while by tradition I should have been grilling a gamey roster of exotic meats, I was instead airborne, flying from Philadelphia to Rome. I'm here for business, which is a pleasure, but I'm also prepared, between duties, for a week of all-out celebration...

2009

Jul

WEIRD & WILD: THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW By Diane Werts

The Incredibly Strange Film Show has to be one of my all-time favorite series, exploring the heights -- or should I say depths? -- of indie B-moviemaking in all its bloody, breasty, low-budget glory. The perpetrator of this loving '80s look at the likes of Russ Meyer, Ray Dennis Steckler and a dozen other gonzo directors was Jonathan Ross...

2009

Jul

SNEAK PEEK: KEN BURNS 'NATIONAL PARKS' ONLINE By Diane Werts

Can't wait to see Ken Burns' fall epic The National Parks: America's Best Idea? Online site PBS Video lets you watch a half-hour preview anytime...

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