In Episode 3 of this excellent new David Simon and Ed Gross miniseries, based on the fiction novel by Philip Roth, the community and religious leader played by John Turturro speaks in the synagogue in support of presidential candidate Charles Lindbergh, despite his anti-Semitic comments and policies. And as the nation rallies around him, a noose of oppression tightens around this story’s central family members.

2020

Mar

HOMEFEST: JAMES CORDEN’S LATE LATE SHOW SPECIAL By David Bianculli

When James Corden took over from Craig Ferguson and launched his version of The Late Late Show in 2015, he did so by going to the streets – and doing his show for a week, guerrilla style, by showing up at people’s homes in Los Angeles to broadcast the show remotely from those makeshift locations. Now, five years later, Corden is broadcasting from homes again – but, in this prime time special, for a very different, infinitely more somber reason. But how sombe

2020

Mar

DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE By David Bianculli

This is Episode 6 of this intriguing Jason Segel miniseries – and continues the quartet’s search for the mysterious, inspirational Clara, with whom we spent last week’s episode. The group splits up temporarily in search of new clues, and avenues of exploration. Peter revisits work, despite having just either quit or been fired – and Simone follows the clues in Clara’s artwork. I may be wrong about this, but based on some of the planted visuals so far, I wouldn&rsquo

2020

Mar

THE DAILY SOCIAL DISTANCING SHOW By David Bianculli

Last Friday, Daily Show host Trevor Noah, from the safety of his home, interviewed infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, in one of the best and most informative extended interviews with the doctor I’ve yet seen. And yes, I’ve been watching the daily presidential briefings. It was Fauci’s idea to reach out to prominent players in the social media universe, whose younger audience figures number in the millions, as an effective way to spread the word about how to

2020

Mar

CONAN By David Bianculli

Working from home, and without an audience, some late-night hosts shine, while others sputter. (Read all about it in TVWW’s Eric Gould’s latest blog in Cold Light Reader.) Tonight, Conan O’Brien joins the fray, and I’m betting on him to do well. O’Brien always has gravitated to things he thinks are funny, rather than trying to second-guess his audience, and therein lies originality, and laughter.

2020

Mar

ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE By David Bianculli

ABC News Nightline began in 1979 as a late-night 11:30 p.m. ET news program reacting to an ongoing crisis, with Ted Koppel anchoring nightly reports, initially focused on the hostage crisis in Iran. Eventually, Nightline outlasted that single-topic focus. Decades later, the program, was shifted to after midnight, so Jimmy Kimmel could compete more directly with the other network’s late-night major-league hosts. But now, in the course of the coronavirus epidemic, ABC wisely h

2020

Mar

THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT By David Bianculli

Stephen Colbert has done very funny Late Show remote programs from his home, and even from his bathtub, online. Now he’s back on CBS, but still socially distant. And since he’s one of the best comics out there when it comes to reacting to the daily headlines, he’s one of the most prominent broadcast TV voices to watch. Keep it up, please, Stephen.

2020

Mar

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! By David Bianculli

Jimmy Kimmel is now televised after midnight, and, like his cohorts on other networks, is working without an audience, remotely from home, and pretty much without a net. But watch. These are extraordinary times, and the times are providing us with some truly unprecedented television. And I’m pretty sure, in Kimmel’s desktop shots from his home, that birdcage drawing behind him is a drawing by Kurt Vonnegut. So it goes…

2020

Mar

CITIZEN KANE By David Bianculli

Next year, Orson Welles’ cinematic debut, Citizen Kane, will be 80 years old – and still ranks at or near the top of most lists of the best movies ever made. Watch it tonight, again or for the first time, and see why. The structure, the photography, the characters, the sheer intelligence of the damned thing – it all sticks the landing all these decades later, including the movie’s takes on politics, the media, and show business. It’s an amazing accomplishm

2020

Mar

IHEART LIVING ROOM CONCERT FOR AMERICA By David Bianculli

A month ago, Elton John was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and was led offstage after performing for two hours at a concert in New Zealand. A month later, with the coronavirus spreading around the world, Sir Elton is hosting this last-minute concert fundraiser on Fox, which uses the network time slot vacated by the virus-canceled iHeart Radio Music Awards to present a socially distanced music charity special. Billie Eilish performs from the privacy and safety of her own home. So doe

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