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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
 
 
2020
Feb
14
HIGH FIDELITY By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new series (with all of Season 1 dropping today in Hulu) takes the John Cusack character from the 2000 movie – which, in turn, was based on the very readable book by Nick Hornby – and reinvents the protagonist as a young black woman. Some of the resulting notes may sound a little off, particularly regarding the passionate musical tastes of someone living a generation later, but the structure and soul are sound. There’s still a lot of talking and confessing
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
14
LINCOLN RHYME: HUNT FOR THE BONE COLLECTOR By David Bianculli
 
 
The Bone Collector, who’s been shown to this point as a slowly simmering subplot, percolates a bit more energetically tonight, now that he’s moved to the same city as his nemesis Lincoln Rhyme. The episode title shows its hand: “Game On.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
14
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
They’ve made some changes to the lineup of tonight’s Graham Norton Show, pushing back Justin Timberlake to next week. This week, if the BBC America website is correct, the guests to be seen tonight include Mark Ruffalo, David Schwimmer, Tamsin Greig (that hilarious actress from Episodes), and Alicia Keys.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
13
DELVING DEEPER INTO THE HISTORY OF MEXICO'S ILLEGAL DRUG BUSINESS ON 'NARCOS: MEXICO' By David Hinckley
 
 
The romantic view of marijuana as a bit of harmless good-time fun takes a hit in the resumption of the Netflix series Narcos...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
13
TOMMY By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the second episode of this new Edie Falco series, and it reveals a lot more about her character's past, especially about her family. It's the slow but sure-handed reveal of these aspects of the private Tommy that makes this Tommy worth watching. That, and, of course, the always captivating Edie Falco.   
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
12
ROBERT CONRAD: THE TOUGH GUY AND HIS DISTASTE OF TELEVISION CRITICS By Ed Bark
 
 
Robert Conrad didn't mind playing rough, both physically on-screen and verbally with TV critics who found fault with his shows...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
12
NATURE: "WILD FLORIDA" By David Bianculli
 
 
I’m very excited about this because I have a closer than usual link to what might be called Wild Florida, the topic of tonight’s new Nature installment. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, right next to the Florida Everglades. One of my early jobs as a young adult was as a night watchman at a 300-acre park and bird sanctuary in North Miami. Wild Florida. Then, during a swamp-draining draught of 1974, I was part of the United States Geological Survey crew assigned to map
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
12
MODERN FAMILY By David Bianculli
 
 
This long-running series, now in Season 11 and beginning its final quintet of new episodes, may or may not get the final send-off it deserves. But I hope it does, because Modern Family not only influenced society with its positive portrayal of a gay couple, but presented so many delightful performances, from its young actors as well as its established pros.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
11
'BATTLE FOR HONG KONG' ON PBS' 'FRONTLINE' IS A MULTI-LAYERED PORTRAIT OF A ONE-SIDED FIGHT By Alex Strachan
 
 
Out of China, always something new. It's a sign of the turbulent times we're living in that Tuesday's absorbing — and topical — PBS Frontline program, Battle for Hong Kong, seems, well, no longer so topical all of a sudden...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Feb
11
'FOR LIFE' TRIES TOO HARD BUT DON'T CONVICT IT TOO QUICKLY By David Hinckley
 
 
The real-life tale of Isaac Wright Jr., who lawyered himself out of a wrongful drug conviction and a lengthy prison sentence, needs no enhancement...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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