DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2015
May
29
 
 
Most of the cheap-to-produce network summer shows are total tossaways. This one isn’t, and its return always is welcome. A show that reliably can make you laugh out loud? Not many sitcoms today can do that – and this is all improv.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
29
 
 
The Orson Welles month-long Fridays salute ends with one final evening of shows, starting with this 1949 classic thriller, based on Graham Greene’s study of postwar paranoia. Joseph Cotton co-stars.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
29
 
 
My answer to that question, so long as ABC keeps making this series, is: Change the channel.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
29
 
 
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has its new music director and conductor, number 15 in its storied history. It’s Andris Nelsons, who begins his tenure by inviting two close associates, soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who help him perform some of his favorite works, starting with the piece that made Nelsons, at age 5, want to pursue music: Wagner’s Tannhauser Overture. For a full review, see Tom Brinkmoeller’s Raised on MTM. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
29
 
 
David Oyelowo, who starred as Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, stars in this one-man, one-setting show, playing a U.S. Army vet living in a suburban house that he never leaves, and experiencing the fabric of reality rending around him.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
28
 
 
SEASON FINALE: At least I think this is the finale. But honestly, the way ABC has been staggering the original installments of this series, I’m not entirely certain. What I do know, at this point, is that 500 Questions is more worthy of a simple notation than any sort of hearty recommendation. So here’s the ending, maybe, if you’re interested.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
28
 
 
When ABC launched Lost years ago, you had to watch the next few episodes just to see if the show knew what it was doing, and was going somewhere interesting. With Lost, the answer was a resounding yes. With Pines, the deeper you get into it, the shallower it seems. Tread lightly.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
28
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This is the dumbing of the Age of Aquarius. Even with David Duchovny as the star, this period mystery series, introducing a pre-murder spree Charles Manson, never gels, never makes proper dramatic sense, and never provides viewers a real reason to stay tuned. CBS did a marvelous miniseries about the Manson case, Helter Skelter, that covered his early years much more quickly – and much, much more effectively. And that was way back in 1976, when miniseries were new. For a fu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
28
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Louie C.K.’s “Road Trip” continues, and concludes, with tonight’s Part 2, putting an end to another too-brief, but utterly brilliant, season of the comedian’s very personal, very imaginative comic explorations.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
May
28
 
 
And after the season finale of Louie, here’s a full-length Louis C.K. comedy special, originally offered via his website for $5. Placed right after his bold season-finale opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, it’s another indication why he’s one of the best comedians working today. Enjoy him wherever you can.