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

 
 
2016
Jan
31
 
 
“Racing cars and pigs – who could better that?” Only Downton Abbey, which also presents a visit to Downton by Neville Chamberlain, where politics are thick and tempers are simmering – until an unexpected outburst, at that very tony dinner, that shakes the household to its core. For a rundown and reaction of each week’s Downton Abbey episode, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
31
 
 
Tonight’s episode is called “Yum Time.” Given the sexual predilections of this show’s primary characters, that might be construed as some sort of happy-ending sexual act – but it’s actually the name of a candy Axelrod (Damien Lewis) used to love as a kid, and whose current incarnation distresses him enough to do something about it. I can relate. If I had Axelrod’s money, I might buy up Chips Ahoy! – just to make them go back to the cookie’s o
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
In tribute to the late Abe Vigoda, who died Tuesday at age 94, Antenna TV is presenting a six-hour marathon of Barney Miller episodes showcasing Vigoda as his most beloved character, the world-weary, and everything-else-weary, Fish. The tribute begins at 4 p.m. ET, but the key hour is the last, at 9 p.m. ET, when the nostalgic TV network repeats the one-hour “Goodbye, Mr. Fish,” the “retirement” episode in which Fish left the precinct. Actually, he was heading off to a sp
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
Tonight’s episode in this period series is called “Marked Twain” – and yes, indeed, it features a plot in which the esteemed author, in the latter years of his life, visited Canada to give a lecture, and was shot at by someone upset with his writing and views. Murdoch and company set out to protect this visiting American writer – and while the plot is intriguing on its own merits, what makes this episode worth a visit is the actor playing Mark Twain: It’s Will
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
TBS and TNT are simulcasting tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one of the honorees, for her lifetime body of work, is Carol Burnett. The SAG Awards honor both film and TV work, and in the leading actor and actress categories for both television and film, only Viola Davis of How to Get Away with Murder keeps the SAG slate from being as all-white as this year’s Oscar list. I’m just saying…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
To keep Doctor Who fans occupied between seasons, BBC America is replaying, over the next stretch of Saturday nights, the entirety of Season 9, with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman as the Doctor and his traveling companion Clara. What makes these more than mere repeats is the addition of what BBC America is calling “Doctor’s Notes” superimposed on the episodes, pointing out various details and “in jokes” you might have missed the first time around. Like in tonight&r
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
It’s a big night for convicted or accused murderers in prime time – especially ones whose cold cases have been exhumed and examined in high-profile documentaries. Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix’s Making a Murderer, was the subject of a Dateline NBC report just last night, and tonight Investigation Discovery gets into the game, following up with both new and vintage interviews with attorneys, witnesses, and other involved parties.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
In this 48 Hours installment, Robert Durst, the subject of HBO’s Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, is revisited. That’s because one of his cases may be revisited, if he accepts a plea deal on a gun charge next week, which would pave the way for a possible murder trial in California, regarding the death of his friend Susan Berman. Erin Moriarty is the correspondent.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
30
 
 
In politics, a man who changes political positions to match the prevailing mood is labeled a flip-flopper...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jan
29
 
 
This one-hour homage to the late, truly great Mike Nichols is different from most American Masters installments in that the story of its subject is told primarily by the subject. Nichols is interviewed about his life and career, at great length, by an off-camera Julian Schlossberg, who produced not only this American Masters outing, but a previous one on Nichols and his former comedy partner, Elaine May. And Elaine May is the director of tonight’s installment, which explains, and justifies