So Bill Cosby has signed with NBC to star in a new series. After making major TV history for NBC twice already, with I Spy and The Cosby Show, can he do it again?...

2014

Jan

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE By David Bianculli

This 1978 comedy showed how movies went viral before the age of the Internet. When this film was released, most members of the college-age generation were driven to see it, with word of mouth anointing it instantly as a special, must-see experience. It turned Saturday Night Live player John Belushi into a movie star and comedic force, and captured playful young anarchy as perfectly for the Seventies as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a decade later, would do for the Eighties. Other familiar face

2014

Jan

MILDRED PIERCE By David Bianculli

Joan Crawford walked away with an Oscar for playing a proud woman who is devoted to her daughter in ways that aren’t always reciprocated. It’s a juicy role – Kate Winslet, in an HBO miniseries version of the same story, won awards as well – but for my money, it’s Ann Blyth, as Mildred’s grown-up, icy daughter, who brings this film home and makes its melodrama so involving.

2014

Jan

RAKE By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Based on the Australian series of the same name, this new Fox show stars Greg Kinnear as a wild, unreliable character – degenerate gambler, compulsive womanizer, irresponsible friend – who just happens to be very good as a defense lawyer, once he manages to get inside a courtroom. It’s the sort of premise David E. Kelley could run with and slam-dunk, but this Americanized remake starts out a little too busy, and a bit too broad, though Kinnear is a winning TV s

2014

Jan

PARENTHOOD By David Bianculli

The serious downward spiral of the marriage of Joel (Sam Jaeger) and Julia (Erika Christensen) continues. Tonight, they plan to tell their kids that the status quo, and the living arrangements, are about to change. Meanwhile, Sarah (Lauren Graham) tries to redefine a relationship as well – with Hank (Ray Romano).

2014

Jan

THE SPOILS OF BABYLON By David Bianculli

In this week’s episode, Cynthia (Kristen Wiig) finds that her marriage to Chet (Michael Sheen from Masters of Sex) brings her no solace or happiness – and the offspring it produces, grown enough very quickly to be played by former “I see dead people” Sixth Sense child star Haley Joel Osment, brings his own brand of misery. Best of all: the bookended intros and summaries by Will Ferrell as miniseries “auteur” Eric Jonrosh.

2014

Jan

KEN BURNS DELIVERS NEW PROJECTS -- AND A LENA DUNHAM JOKE By Bill Brioux

One score and 13 years ago, Ken Burns started making documentaries for PBS. He's still going strong -- and still a reliable highlight of the Television Critics Association press tour...

2014

Jan

ELIZABETH By David Bianculli

Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Oscar for playing Elizabeth, young Queen of England, for her work in both this 1998 movie and its 2007 sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She came up empty both times, though she did win a Supporting Actress Academy Award for playing another actress, Katharine Hepburn, in 2004’s The Aviator. This year she’s nominated as Outstanding Actress for Blue Jasmine, and ought to win. But here, you can watch the first time she caught the eye of Oscar voters.

2014

Jan

MODERN FAMILY By David Bianculli

Jay (Ed O’Neill) gets another visit from his competitive friend Shorty (Chazz Palminteri), who also has an attractive younger wife, Darlene (Jennifer Tilly). And when they all get together for dinner, Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Jay have different opinions about how well the evening is going.

2014

Jan

KLONDIKE By David Bianculli

MIINSERIES CONCLUSION: How to celebrate the concluding episode of this first-ever Discovery Channel scripted miniseries? Have a Klondike bar. Or go to one…

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