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

 
 
2015
Feb
24
 
 
Parts 3 and 4. These two hours conclude this new nonfiction series, and pick up the action in 1930, with most of the first hour devoted to treatment of Italian-Americans before, during and immediately after WWII. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
24
 
 
SERIES FINALE: Tonight, NBC is holding off its one-hour Parks and Recreation finale until the 10 p.m. ET hour – a very late showing for a sitcom, even one NBC supports as poorly as this. Then again, it might benefit substantially from its lead-in, the second half of this year’s two-hour, two-part season premiere of  The Voice.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
24
 
 
Tonight’s episode is called “Alive Day,” a veterans’ term used, in this case, by Choo-Choo (Duke Davis Roberts), one of the fascinating characters in this final season of Justified.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
24
 
 
This 1979 movie, starring Peter Sellers as an often overestimated (or is he?) quiet little man, is a delightful film. Based on Jerzy Kosinski’s modern fable, it’s directed by Hal Ashby in confident, sly style.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
SEASON OPENER: For tonight’s opening Season 8 installment, the blind auditions – this show’s best feature – begin again. The judges in the swivel chairs this time around (and around, and around) are stalwarts Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, both of whom have turned this NBC musical showcase into new levels of stardom, Pharell Williams, and, returning after some time off, Christina Aguilera. The new season will not resemble those high-concept promos from the Super Bowl, in
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
This new Smithsonian TV documentary about the convicted murderer and composer of “Goodnight Irene” and other standards is televised the day before a new major boxed set, Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, is released on CD. But it stands on its own, in no small part because it includes not only vintage clips, but newly recorded testimonials from such enthusiasts as Van Morrison. Many questions are answered, but here’s one of mine: I have no idea when people starte
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
Very few comedies have won the Oscar as Best Picture. Woody Allen’s Annie Hall did, in 1977, and deserved it, even against a field that included the first installment of Star Wars. It’s a great movie, Diane Keaton gives a fabulous performance – and if you watch the film now, almost 40 years later, you can catch traces of all of today’s most cutting-edge TV comedies, up to and including Louie.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
Less than 24 hours after winning an Oscar, Laura Poitras’ 2014 documentary about federal whistleblower Edward Snowden premieres on TV tonight, on HBO. Will you be watching, and listening? According to Snowden, someone usually is.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
I’m excited: I haven’t seen tonight’s Episode 4 in advance, because AMC sent only the first three installments for preview. So I’m anticipating this episode as eagerly as any TV-viewing “civilian,” including, perhaps, you. Here’s hoping we all have a great time.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Feb
23
 
 
Knowing that every remaining episode featuring Jon Stewart is something to cherish, I suggest that some of them may be even more valuable than others. Like tonight’s, because Stewart, who is enough of a wonk to be fluent talking about the intricacies of national and global economies, has as his guest Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Don’t look for Lagarde on, say, The Tonight Show – but don’t miss her here.