You might expect a Christmas special by Bill Murray to be an entertaining mixture of songs, comedy and special guests – and his new Netflix special is precisely that. But his A Very Murray Christmas is unexpected in at least one respect: It’s irony-free…

2015

Dec

GOOD WILL HUNTING By David Bianculli

This 1997 drama is worth revisiting, for many different reasons. It catches both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the start of their careers, when on screen, they look like, and play, the very young men they are. And since they co-wrote the original screenplay, and were awarded an Oscar for their efforts, it’s a great lesson in one very unorthodox way to launch a career – by writing your own roles. And finally, it provided a strong dramatic (and also Oscar-winning) role for Robin Willia

2015

Dec

THE WIZ LIVE! By David Bianculli

Those veteran producers of televised musical specials, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, revived the live-TV musical genre with 2013’s The Sound of Music, then went one step backward with the much lower-rated, and less satisfying, Peter Pan last year. Tonight, they’re back to try,try again, this time with a revamped production, even with some new music, of the Tony-winning 1975 The Wiz. This new television adaptation of the colorful take on The Wizard of Oz stars a newcomer, 19-year-old Sh

2015

Dec

TOY STORY THAT TIME FORGOT By David Bianculli

This 2014 Toy Story special features the gang, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, bundled up for a play date after Christmas – and forced to deal with a very different type of toys. In a word: dinosaurs…

2015

Dec

LURED By David Bianculli

This 1947 movie, starring George Sanders, is the first of tonight’s TCM salute to the actor – but this particular film is more interesting because of the drama’s female lead. Playing a woman who hopes to lure a serial killer out into the open, and into the hands of the police, is a young actress named Lucille Ball – just a few years before turning to TV in I Love Lucy. Boris Karloff co-stars.

2015

Dec

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL By David Bianculli

CBS gets another Thursday game – and this time it’s featuring two teams on opposite trajectories, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. The Packers has a record of 7-4, the Lions 4-7.

2015

Dec

AROUND THE WORLD IN 23 DAYS: THE AMAZING 'AMAZING RACE' NEARS ITS 27TH FINISH LINE By Alex Strachan

The Amazing Race, rare for reality TV, is remarkably joyful and positive, not only in its world outlook but in its portrayal of unconventional relationships...

2015

Dec

TRANSPARENT By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: The actual Season 2 premiere of Transparent won’t occur until Dec. 11, when the entirety of the second season is available to stream on Amazon Prime. But beginning today, Amazon is offering Prime members a chance at a sneak peek: you can see the Season 2 premiere episode any time, starting now. Jeffrey Tambor stars, returning to his Emmy-winning role.

2015

Dec

ARROW By David Bianculli

Part 2 of 2. Look! Up on the tube! It’s a Flash! It’s an Arrow! It’s a backdoor pilot for a new DC Comics spinoff! Tonight’s episode of Arrow, concluding a story that began last night on The Flash, is all of those, setting up yet another new superhero series to premiere next year. What will they think of next? Usually, what someone already thought of at least once before…

2015

Dec

FRANK SINATRA: A MAN AND HIS MUSIC By David Bianculli

This special first was shown on NBC in 1965, to mark Frank Sinatra’s 50th birthday. It’s Sinatra in a studio, and a small invited audience, backed by a full orchestra. That’s it, but who needs anything more? Now, somewhat amazingly, another 50 years have passed – and tonight, TCM repeats this special in its entirety, followed by many of Sinatra’s movie ventures, starting at 9 p.m. ET 1955’s Guys and Dolls, in which he co-stars with Marlon Brando.

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