If Bianculli can toot his own authorial horn, so can I -- especially since 'tis the season for my book Christmas on Television. Its 250 pages are the culmination of my lifelong love of holiday shows...

2009

Dec

ONLY FOUR SHOPPING -- AND VIEWING -- DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS By David Bianculli

Here's one more blatant plug, or plea, for you to pick up a copy -- or more, if you're the radiantly generous sort -- of my newly published Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Go forth and view, and shop, and be merry...

2009

Dec

GUEST BLOG #68: TOM BRINKMOELLER SAMPLES TWO VERY DIFFERENT TV COOKING SHOWS: POT ROAST VS. TRUFFLES By Tom Brinkmoeller

[Bianculli here: Contributing writer Tom Brinkmoeller's specialty is finding, enjoying, and finding out more about shows on the fringes, especially on public television. In his latest column, he presents two more, both of which sound delicious...]

2009

Dec

GUEST BLOG #67: ED MARTIN SAYS WE NEED OUR SOAPS By Ed Martin

The '00s may be the new Golden Age of primetime drama, but for fans of daytime serials they have truly been the Dark Ages, right up until the very end. With only 14 days left until the turn of the decade, and just three months after the last episode of Guiding Light...CBS and Procter & Gamble Productions recently confirmed what had been a chilling rumor circulating for months on the internet: The cancellation of As the World Turns...

2009

Dec

FLICK PICKS: EPIC FILMS FESTIVAL By Diane Werts

Big movies deserve a big documentary salute. Instead, they get one that's been compressed and contorted like a piece of origami. Disappointing -- but at least we have the blockbusters themselves to look forward on Turner Classic Movies this Sunday...

2009

Dec

WEIRD & WILD: BLAXPLOITATION BIKER CHICKS By Diane Werts

Sleazy, cheesy, cheap and surreal -- gimme more TCM Underground!Friday's late-night showcase for low-budget exploitation flicks gets some fresh meat from Turner Classic Movies with the delirious blaxploitation musical biker flick Darktown Strutters...

2009

Dec

PERFECT TIMING: SMOTHERS BROTHERS POP UP ON "THE SIMPSONS," AND ARE DREAMY By David Bianculli

When I interviewed Matt Groening for my book "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," about how strongly Tom and Dick Smothers had influenced his sense of comedy, Groening told me, almost in passing, that he was about to record the siblings for an upcoming episode of "The Simpsons". So I knew their animated appearance was coming...

2009

Dec

TV PRESENTS A FULL-SCALE PUPPET SHOW: THE 1,000TH EPISODE OF "LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON" ON CBS By David Bianculli

Tonight, to celebrate the 1,000th installment of his CBS talk show "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," the host is taking the night off -- and turning over the program to his popular alter ego puppet, Wavy the crocodile or alligator. (Even Wavy isn't sure which.) As a TV concept, it's a blast from TV's most distant past -- but also a clear indication why Ferguson, in late-night TV terms, is the wave of the future...

2009

Dec

"DANGEROUSLY FUNNY," WEEK 3: FUN, PIVOTAL, SCARY THRILL RIDE By David Bianculli

Today ends the first two weeks of publication of my "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." Tomorrow begins week three -- or, as I try not to think of it very often, the really, really scary week...

2009

Dec

WATCH THIS: 'DEXTER' GETS FRICKIN' GREAT By Diane Werts

Man, it's hard to type this. My fingernails are worn down to nubs! I've been biting like crazy, watching episodes of Dexter, getting psyched for this killer season's much-anticipated climax...

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