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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
 
 
2012
Jun
7
NBC PRESCRIBES 'SAVING HOPE' FOR SUMMER By Ed Bark
 
 
NBC's new summertime medical drama, Saving Hope, may be a nice curative to the networks' usual hot weather regimens of ill-considered or sick-in-the-head reality series...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
THE TV LEGACY OF RAY BRADBURY By David Bianculli
 
 
Ray Bradbury sparked television from its early Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Twilight Zone days to his own anthology series, The Ray Bradbury Theater, and beyond...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
JAILHOUSE ROCK By David Bianculli
 
 
This 1957 Elvis Presley movie caught him at the zenith of his early stardom, exuding so much confidence and swagger that not even the flimsiest of musical plots could contain or dilute him. And watch, for fun, for an unlikely co-star – Dean Jones.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
TRUE BLOOD By David Bianculli
 
 
As we get deeper into the Season 4 repeats (setting us up for Sunday’s Season 5 opener), HBO tonight presents episodes in which Sookie (Anna Paquin) delves into her still-nascent faerie powers to combat the new vampire-controlling spells by the sinister Marnie (Fiona Shaw, at left).
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF JEFF FOXWORTHY By David Bianculli
 
 
Beginning tonight on Thursdays, Comedy Central is repeating its classic roasts in a 10-week summer binge of insults appropriate only for cable, if that. The inaugural revisit features Jeff Foxworthy, whose friendly character assassins for this evening in 2005 included others who have profited from Foxworthy’s “redneck” comedy sub-genre: Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
ROCK CENTER WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS By David Bianculli
 
 
NEW NIGHT: Shifting this high-quality but very low-rated newsmagazine to Thursdays at 10 may be recognized, by future TV historians, as the moment NBC officially gave up on its decades-long claim to Thursday “Must-See TV.” But I’ve liked this show from the start, and tonight offers several examples of why it should be seen. One example: Mary Carillo’s report on a determined athlete who’s trying to qualify this weekend on a spot on the 2012 London Olympics squad, run
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
7
YO: THE STORY OF 'YO: MTV RAPS!' By David Bianculli
 
 
From 1988 to 2004, Yo! MTV Raps was one of the early – and, on MTV, one of the only – places to see hip-hop music, stars and videos on mainstream media. So if the triumvirate of original hosts strikes you with nostalgia or intrigue – those hosts being Ed Lover, Dr. Dre and Fab 5 Freddy – here’s a new VH1 documentary that celebrates that particular corner of music TV history. LL Cool J and Sipha Sounds are seen from an early show at left.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
6
GLEE: THE 3-D CONCERT MOVIE By David Bianculli
 
 
I can’t imagine a movie less suited for, or potentially improved by, 3D, but this 2011 concert film, for fans of Glee, at least provides performances by, and interviews with, the series’ most popular leads: Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Heather Morris, Amber Riley, Dianna Agron and others. 
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
6
2012 STANLEY CUP FINALS By David Bianculli
 
 
The Los Angeles Kings exhibited even more dominance in its 4-0 rout of the New Jersey Devils Monday night, a display featuring as much stifling defense as imaginative offense. As a result, the Kings now have a 3-0 series lead, home ice, and every reason to hope to see, and hold, the Stanley Cup at the end of tonight’s potential sweep.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Jun
6
2012 CMT MUSIC AWARDS By David Bianculli
 
 
I’m seriously thinking of tuning in this year just to watch the interplay between the odd-couple hosts: Toby Keith, who’s a natural for this setting, and Kristen Bell, who isn’t – but who had a background in musical theater before starring in Veronica Mars. Tonight’s scheduled performers include Kenny Chesney, Hank Williams Jr. and Carrie Underwood.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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