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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

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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

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
May
10
THE SILVER AGE OF RADIO: 'FRESH AIR' CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY By David Bianculli
 
 
NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross turns 25 years old this week. The long-running Philadelphia show’s first national broadcast was May 11, 1987. I feel both proud and old to say I was a part of that maiden voyage, providing a piece on the finale of NBC’s Hill Street Blues…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
THE BIG BANG THEORY By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: For once, and earlier this month than usual, the commercial broadcast networks demand most of the evening’s attention, as a lot of series either present or prepare for their season finales – weeks earlier than usual. This sitcom, for example, finally puts Howard (Simon Helberg) on the launch pad, with flashbacks to his hurried marriage to Bernadette (Melissa Rauch). For a new Everybody's a Critic feature from a real-life Penny, who writes about her marriage to a real
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
30 ROCK By David Bianculli
 
 
This isn’t a season finale, but it’s a sweeps-month stunt-casting episode, featuring the return of Elizabeth Banks as Jack Donaghy’s wife, Avery – who, when last seen, had been kidnapped while filming Hot Blondes in Weird Places in North Korea, and forced to marry the son of  Kim Jong-Il. Since then, of course, there’s been a change of leadership in real-life North Korea – and a change in Banks’ real-life fortunes as well, since she’s one of
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
THE OFFICE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: As part of his tireless lobbying efforts, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) offers free family portraits to his office mates – while Jim (John Krasinski) sees an opportunity to victimize Dwight with a career-best prank. Oh, and James Spader makes another appearance as Robert California – but since Spader had a one-year deal as the new head of The Office, this may well be his swan song.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
PARKS AND RECREATION By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: It’s Election Day in Pawnee, with Leslie (Amy Poehler) squaring off against her wealthy competitor, dimwitted but amiable Bobby Newport (played by Paul Rudd). How dim-witted? At the local precinct voting house, he informs the media that he’ll be voting for Leslie – adding to her, in a confused whisper, that to vote for himself would be illegal, right?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
THE MENTALIST By David Bianculli
 
 
Every season, near the end of the run of episodes, this series revives the specter of Red John, the killer who murdered Jane’s family nine years ago now. And on the anniversary of their deaths, Red John sends a young emissary to meet Jane (Simon Baker) at a graveyard and extend her hand – not in friendship, but with another iconic reminder of his continued malevolent presence.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
EVERYBODY'S A CRITIC: A REAL PENNY, MARRIED TO A REAL SHELDON, DISCUSSES 'THE BIG BANG THEORY' By TVWW Guest Contributor
 
 
An average American girl meets a brilliant-but-odd guy. Today's EVERYBODY'S A CRITIC guest columnist, Emily Steinway, lives a life that parallels CBS's The Big Bang Theory...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
10
1989: GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID DEBUTS ON TNT By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1989, TNT debuted the made-for-TV movie Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid. The film, starring Val Kilmer, told the story of legendary American outlaw William H. Bonney. Kilmer's co-stars included Wilford Brimley, Duncan Regehr, John O'Hurley and Ned Vaughn. Author Gore Vidal had an uncredited role as a preacher in the film...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
HILL STREET BLUES MAY 11, 1987 By David Bianculli
 
 
After supplying reviews for two years on the local version of Fresh Air in Philadelphia, this was my first TV review for the nationally broadcast NPR version – included as part of the opening-day broadcast. On May 11, 2012, NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross celebrates its 25th anniversary...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
May
9
1961: FCC CHAIRMAN NEWTON MINOW DELIVERS HIS 'VAST WASTELAND' SPEECH By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1961, at the the National Association of Broadcasters convention, the newly-appointed Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow delivered his "Vast Wasteland" speech, which challenged broadcasters to create more intelligent, educational programming...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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