There are all kinds of TV worth watching, right? Eye-opening, mind-bending brilliance, insight and information. Sure. But also eye-opening, mind-bending, time-killing, camp-courting awfulness. So long as you realize which kind you're getting yourself into...

2010

Aug

"DEADLINE -- U.S.A.," AN OLD MOVIE WITH A STILL-TIMELY MESSAGE By Eric Mink

Journalism wallows in one existential crisis after another. Take your pick: Internet technology is killing the news profession; the Great Recession is suffocating a business model already on life support; concentration of ownership is destroying media's vital competitive drive...How startling, then, to discover not only a measure of reassurance about all this, but also some genuine wisdom, in a 58-year-old Hollywood movie...

2010

Aug

THE NEW COOKING CHANNEL IS HALF-BAKED By Tom Brinkmoeller

[Bianculli here: The former Fine Living Network has downsized with the times, and now presents itself as The Cooking Channel. Contributing writer Tom Brinkmoeller has seen the new incarnation, and posed questions to network representatives, and still finds both the channel's programming, and the slogan, somewhat lacking...]

2010

Aug

FLICK PICKS: TCM'S SUMMER UNDER THE STARS By Diane Werts

It's here -- Turner Classic Movies' big annual month that daily devotes 24 hours to a single star. Wish I could say that August's Summer Under the Stars is one of my favorite cinephile events, but the truth is, I dread it...

2010

Aug

NEWS FROM THE 2010 SUMMER TCA PRESS TOUR -- FROM SOME FAVORITE COLLEAGUES By David Bianculli

I'm not at this summer's Television Critics Association press tour, but already, the tour has generated news in both an unexpected executive shift and in the annual awards bestowed upon TV shows and talent by the TCA itself. So today I'm steering TV WORTH WATCHING readers towards reports from the tour by two veteran writers and, I'm proud to say, members of this website's still-widening roster...

2010

Jul

WATCH AMC'S "RUBICON" -- AND WATCH IT CLOSELY! By David Bianculli

Since AMC got into the one-hour drama series business, it's made one masterpiece after another. One was Mad Men, the other was Breaking Bad, and both are still on the air. Starting Sunday night at 8 ET, they're joined by a third new series, a modern-day spy thriller called Rubicon. Is it another TV triumph? Too early to tell. A TV show that should be watched? Most definitely...

2010

Jul

GOOD SPORTS: SATURDAY '30 FOR 30' MARATHON ON ESPN CLASSIC By Diane Werts

Though I'm a huge sports fan, there are still athletes and events I don't know anything about -- until I see films about them in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series. The Birth of Big Air just premiered in conjunction with the current X Games, and now I'm fascinated by high-flying BMX innovator Mat Hoffman...

2010

Jul

DVD UPDATE: OUT OF NOWHERE, 'THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW' By Diane Werts

How great is it when DVD resurrects TV shows that you'd forgotten even existed? That's what happens this week with The Mothers-in-Law, the 1960s sitcom pairing Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as the title neighbors, normally warring yet suddenly stuck together by their progeny's surprise elopement...

2010

Jul

GUEST BLOG #108: ERIC GOULD TAKES ON VIDEO BAD GURLS: MILEY, CHRISTINA, KATY By Eric Gould

Dearest TV Worth Watching Readers: Since I (unintentionally) opened the Pandora's Box topic of the female psyche in current music videos two weeks ago, out sprang the multi-headed Hydra of Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry. Our Fearless Leader of this website, and my long-time mentor, had clearly lost part of his towering mind -- the Smothers Brothers book having taking such a toll on him, he threw these women onto my lap for some kind of understanding and critique...

2010

Jul

GUEST BLOG #107: ERIC MINK REMEMBERS, AND OFFERS AN APPRECIATION OF, VETERAN NEWSMAN DANIEL SCHORR By Eric Mink

There's a great Yiddish word for Dan Schorr: noodge. Either a noun or a verb depending on context, the word describes both a kind of conduct and the kind of person who engages in the conduct. The most apt definition I found for "to noodge" is "to annoy with persistent complaining, asking, urging, etc." You can quibble about style, but I'd argue that great reporters have a lot of noodge in them...

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