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

 
 
2020
Jan
30
 
 
SERIES FINALE: The Good Place was atop my list of last year’s Top 10 TV Series, and tonight it ends. It ends with an extended finale, followed by a special reuniting the show’s cast members in a celebratory post-mortem. Or maybe that isn’t the best term to use, since, technically, this entire series was post-mortem. At any rate, Ted Danson gets to wax rhapsodic in a prime-time special about his series that just ended – just as he did back when Cheers c
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
29
 
 
EDITOR'S NOTE: Ed Bark recalls interviewing Jim Lehrer and Kobe Bryant, both of whom we lost within the last week...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
29
 
 
I’ll take Impeachment for 2020, Alex… Today, the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Donald J. Trump moves into a new phase. We’ve heard from the prosecution, and the defense, and now we move on to the questions part of the proceedings, when Senate members get to ask questions of either side. But they’re still silent in the chamber: They have to write their questions on special note cards, and hand them to presiding U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who wi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
29
 
 
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, most of us learned, long long ago, that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Apparently, that allegory extends to planetary bodies as well. The first editions of this Nova series dedicated to The Planets set aside an hour each for the planets Jupiter and Saturn – but this week’s edition, called Ice Worlds, includes both Neptune and Uranus, as well as the recently
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
28
 
 
History tends to remember a few rebels and reformers. They're authors and politicians, mostly. But then there's the guy – now semi-forgotten – who was once the world's most famous chemist...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
28
 
 
No one likes government regulation. No, sir. It's bureaucrats getting in the way of productivity. When leaders kill burdensome regulations, the people cheer. Except there's this thing that people like even less than regulation...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
28
 
 
America’s second televised Presidential impeachment trial began a week ago today. So if you’re considering this Week 2 of this 2020 political miniseries, the plot sure has thickened. What looked like a downhill greased luge run to acquittal might end up with a few slalom bumps ahead, thanks to all the newly reported information about John Bolton’s book manuscript. The presidential defense team returns to the Senate floor today at 1 p.m. ET, for arguments that could go unto the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
28
 
 
Tonight and tomorrow, CNN will have to pull itself away from Senate Impeachment hearings to present its own political TV specials: a series of hour-lost up toning town halls, each presenting a different aspirant for the 2020 Democratic nomination for President. At 8 p.m. ET, Bernie Sanders is first tonight. He’s followed by Pete Buttigieg (9 p.m. ET), Andrew Yang (10 p.m. ET), and Tom Steyer (11 p.m. ET).
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
27
 
 
James Cameron’s blockbuster of an icebreaker movie, Titanic, was released in 1997, making it 23 years old. Coincidentally, that’s how old Leonardo DiCaprio was when he starred in it: he was 23. And his co-star, Kate Winslet, was 22. And now, all these years later, DiCaprio, in particular, is on top of the world… though both Winslet and Cameron have done just fine, thanks.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
26
 
 
Taylor Swift was rumored to be a surprise act at tonight’s Grammys, but now those rumors have been quashed. Still, there’s no lack of talent scheduled to perform live on stage tonight: Lizzo and Bilie Eilish (both pictured), Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Run-DMC, and BTS. There’s also a tribute to Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich, who absolutely deserves it, having steered the best moments of this awards show for 40 years now. Alicia Keys hosts.