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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

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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Aerial View

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MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

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TV Eye

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Must-Click TV

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Raised On MTM

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Crossing Jordan

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2020
Apr
14
KEN BURNS PRESENTS "THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY" By David Bianculli
 
 
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: Part 2 of 2. This two-part, four-hour documentary has Ken Burns as its primary executive producer, and is based on the book by physician and New Yorker writer Siddhartha Mukherjee. Veteran Burns collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward is co-writer, and anything he has a hand in writing, going all the way back to The Civil War, manages to be both emotionally involving and eye-openingly instructive. Last week’s first two-hour installment of The
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
13
HOW ABOUT A NEW ROM-COM FOR ANOTHER NIGHT IN? ABC HAS 'THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY' By David Hinckley
 
 
We could really use a great rom-com right about now. With The Baker and the Beauty, we get a decent one...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
13
BETTER CALL SAUL By David Bianculli
 
 
Did you see last week’s episode? The one directed by series co-creator Vince Gilligan? Well, I did, and I’m still reeling about it. How astounding. The action sequences, the photography, the writing, the acting… every element unsurpassable, and I still have no idea what’s going to happen this week. Consider that episode the Better Call Saul equivalent of the “Pine Barrens” episode of The Sopranos – and then some.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
13
THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA By David Bianculli
 
 
This is Episode 5 of this David Simon and Ed Gross miniseries. And if you’ve felt like every time you’ve tuned in, things have gotten a little more bleak, you’re right. Even with a wedding on the horizon, it’s the Philip Roth-based fictional equivalent of watching the news today. Nothing but bad news, wherever you turn. But I digress.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
13
DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE By David Bianculli
 
 
Many of the secrets behind the organization behind the game that is at the heart of Dispatches from Elsewhere were revealed last week. And yet, there remain many, many mysteries – including whether the four key players will keep playing, and growing, separately or especially together. My dispatch, from here, predicts yes.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
13
1978: 'THE HANNA-BARBERA HAPPY HOUR' BEGINS By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 1978, NBC debuted The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour, a variety series hosted by life-size puppets, Honey and Sis...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
12
1987: FOX DEBUTS '21 JUMP STREET' By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 1987, Fox debuted its hit series, 21 Jump Street...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
12
SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEES By David Bianculli
 
 
What’s a sports network to do, when live sports aren’t being played to be televised? One thing is to replay old sports matchups, and the other is to expand the definition of “sports.” Today, ESPN does both, by repeating seven hours’ worth of old Scripps National Spelling Bees. The alleged action begins at noon ET, with a replay of that nail-biter from 1997 (pictured). That’s followed by the national spelling bees from 2004 and, even more recently, fr
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
12
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: LIVE IN CONCERT! By David Bianculli
 
 
For Easter Sunday, NBC is repeating its 2018 live musical TV production of Jesus Christ Superstar, starring John Legend, and featuring Sara Bareilles and Alice Cooper. So yes, it’s a big night for network TV: Jesus Christ is returning, on NBC!
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Apr
12
KILLING EVE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Every year, Killing Eve gets a new showrunner, but manages to maintain a consistent tone. That’s due largely to its leading ladies, Sandra Oh and especially Jodie Comer, who plays the chameleonic Russian assassin. Every year, with every murder Villanelle commits and every award Comer wins for playing her (she’s fresh off an Emmy Award), her character becomes even more unhinged and entertaining. Season 3 begins with all the principals separated and in hiding
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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