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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
 
 
2014
Dec
9
SONS OF ANARCHY By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES FINALE: Last week’s episode was, to put it mildly, full of surprises. Not only the plot developments that were presented and wrapped up in unexpectedly accelerated fashion, but the unannounced and unexpected guest appearances by Michael Chiklis and, making a masterful return appearance as Gemma’s dad, Hal Holbrook. Holbrook, apparently, is capable of nothing but slam-dunk killer performances these days, no matter the size of the role.  And after last week’s expanded
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
9
THE COLBERT REPORT By David Bianculli
 
 
Stephen Colbert is calling it quits this month on The Colbert Report, so he can step in behind David Letterman’s desk as the next host of Late Show on CBS. Meanwhile, the next host of The Late Late Show, set to replace Craig Ferguson next year, is James Corden, who happens to be Colbert’s guest tonight on The Colbert Report. Wonder of they’ll find anything in common to talk about?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
9
THE PRESIDENT AND THE PUNDIT By Monique Nazareth
 
 
As The Colbert Report draws to a close, Stephen is getting the A-list guests. On Monday (Dec. 8), it was President Barack Obama who stepped in, not only as a guest, but to take over “The Word” segment...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
PLEASE, SIR, WE'D LIKE YOU TO BUY SOME MORE By David Bianculli
 
 
Here, for your holiday shopping ease, is a collection of new and classic TV shows on DVD.  All of them guaranteed to please, so long as you match the right gift to the right person...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
JANE THE VIRGIN By David Bianculli
 
 
Here’s another first-run episode, as this charming freshman series continues to find new directions, and new ways to have fun, while continuing to propel its central “virgin birth” plot line. This week: fun and games in the music industry.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
REGARDING SUSAN SONTAG By David Bianculli
 
 
Here’s another HBO Monday documentary presentation reflecting the taste of long-time HBO nonfiction guru Sheila Nevins – whose track record is testament to a career of very good taste indeed. Tonight’s offering, written and directed by Nancy Kates, is a biography of influential writer Susan Sontag, who died 10 years ago.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART By David Bianculli
 
 
Two months ago (man, was that only two months ago?), I interviewed Norman Lear, the TV producer who gave us All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times and many others, for an event at Philadelphia’s Free Library. Well, Lear, at age 92, keeps making the rounds – and tonight, he’s showing up on The Daily Show, where his interviewer is Jon Stewart. Now that’s movin’ on up…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
THE COLBERT REPORT By David Bianculli
 
 
The last few weeks of Stephen Colbert’s guest roster on The Colbert Report are being reserved for special guests – and here’s one. President Barack Obama. This isn’t likely to be the last time Colbert interviews Obama, but it will, most probably, be the final time Colbert conducts the Obama interview in character as his conservative alter ego.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
8
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON By David Bianculli
 
 
Craig Ferguson, too, is doing his just-friends farewell countdown of special guests for his final weeks. Tonight, two guests who have delighted Ferguson on previous oocasions, mostly with their willingness to explore, and say, the unexpected: Carrie Fisher and Dave Atell.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
7
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: "DOWNTON ABBEY" By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s been almost a year since PBS presented Season 4 of Downton Abbey. Next month, it’ll be time for a new season – but beginning tonight, it’s a chance for a walk down memory lane, where the lane is green and lush and everything that happened in Season 4 happens all over again. In other words, it’s a season of memory-jogging reruns. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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