As the Sochi Olympics winds down, we have just two days left of ice skating, with the ladies program Wednesday and Thursday. However, the gold medal performance, in my estimation, already goes to NBCSN’s new skating commentators, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir...

2014

Feb

THE XXII OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES By David Bianculli

With so few days left in the Sochi Olympics, things are getting serious. Today, beginning at 9 a.m. ET, you can watch taped coverage, on MSNBC, of the remaining semifinal in women’s curling, with Sweden vs. Switzerland (the other semifinal, Canada vs. Great Britain, was shown live earlier on USA Network). And starting at 10 a.m. ET, you can see hours of live coverage of ladies’ figure skating on NBCSN, and experience the impressive commentary duo of Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. For

2014

Feb

INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO By David Bianculli

Tonight’s new edition of Inside the Actors Studio profiles an actress who’s proven impressively chameleonic during her short but impressive career: Amy Adams, who’s played everything from a three-dimensional Disney princess in Enchanted to a feisty schemer in American Hustle. And when James Lipton asks her to identify her favorite swear word, chances are she’s already uttered it on screen, in American Hustle.

2014

Feb

TOPPER By David Bianculli

When I was young, watching the TV series Topper, I didn’t know a movie version had preceded it. But here’s proof. In this enjoyable 1937 comedy, Constance Bennett and Cary Grant play the elegant ectoplasmic spirits who haunt the living, trying to spice up their lives a bit.

2014

Feb

THE REAL POMPEII By David Bianculli

With the new disaster movie Pompeii premiering this weekend, National Geographic is presenting this new documentary, which visits the actual Italian site of history’s most famous volcanic disaster. I’ve toured Pompeii, and seen these frozen-in-the-moment body casts for myself. (I’ve also stared lengthily at the surviving painted-on-the-walls “menus” at the local Pompeii whorehouses, which listed available services in such matter-of-fact detail, it was like reading a

2014

Feb

FLEMING: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOND By David Bianculli

MINISERIES FINALE: I wasn’t very impressed with this new miniseries account of James Bond author Ian Fleming’s early exploits. Staring Dominic Cooper, it’s a bit overdone, and left me neither shaken nor stirred. But for those who haven't followed it thus far, here comes the finale. However, on a scale of 1 to 10, I rank it far below 007.

2014

Feb

THE XXII OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES By David Bianculli

The scheduled days and times for certain events in Sochi are being postponed because of fog – and other events are less compelling for U.S. audiences because its athletes have, with a few exciting exceptions, underperformed. And many of the events scheduled to be replayed in NBC’s prime-time coverage tonight are outdoors, so be prepared for the unexpected. On the schedule, among other things: women’s bobsled. To watch it packaged, tune in to NBC beginning at 8 p.m. ET; to see i

2014

Feb

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: “THE RISE AND FALL OF PENN STATION” By David Bianculli

A marvel of engineering that served as the central hub for connecting passenger trains along the Eastern corridor, Penn Station was a beautiful New York structure that was completed in 1910 – and demolished in 1963. That may come as news to visitors to, and even some residents of, the city, who travel in and out of Penn Station every weekday. But, as this documentary explains – with some breathtakingly gorgeous photographs and vintage film footage – there was another, previous

2014

Feb

CONAN By David Bianculli

One of the previous hosts of NBC’s Tonight Show, albeit briefly, is Conan O’Brien, who tonight provides a special edition of Conan that would have been eminently Tonight Show-worthy. To honor the death last week of pioneering TV comedian Sid Caesar, O’Brien has scrubbed his originally planned show for tonight to turn over most of it to a visit, and conversation, with Mel Brooks, who began writing for Caesar in the late 1940s, even before they both worked on that landmark master

2014

Feb

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON By David Bianculli

It’s night number two of The Tonight Show under Jimmy Fallon’s regime, and look who he’s got as guests for tonight’s show. One guest is Jerry Seinfeld, who was Jay Leno’s opening guest the night he returned as host of The Tonight Show. Seinfeld, coincidentally, also was one of the celebrities imitated by Fallon when he auditioned for Saturday Night Live. (For details, and a video of that audition, see Bianculli’s Blog.) Other guests tonight: Kristen Wiig, who,

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