Next Sunday, in prime time, Saturday Night Live will present a live, star-studded special honoring the show’s 40 seasons. Meanwhile, tonight in prime time, it repeats a vintage episode with at least one classic bit. It’s the Oct. 27, 1990 episode with guest host Patrick Swayze, and includes the sketch in which Swayze and repertory member Chris Farley portray rival male-stripper finalists at a Chippendales audition.

2015

Feb

HERE COMES MR. JORDAN By David Bianculli

This 1941 comedy is about a heavyweight boxer (Robert Montgomery) who dies a very untimely death – so untimely that it wasn’t supposed to occur, which results in him being reincarnated in the body of a recently deceased multi-millionaire. If the plot sounds familiar, maybe that’s because Warren Beatty remade it as Heaven Can Wait in 1978, casting himself in the starring role, and changing the athlete from boxer to pro quarterback.

2015

Feb

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli

Because everyone at SNL is readying for next week’s prime-time anniversary celebration, tonight’s SNL is a rerun – of last year’s show starring the very talented Amy Adams.

2015

Feb

THE TRUE CRIME GENRE HITS A NEW HIGH WITH HBO'S 'THE JINX' By Ed Bark

Can true crime trump even True Detective? When it’s told this compellingly, you can make a very strong case...

2015

Feb

WUTHERING HEIGHTS By David Bianculli

Before there was goth, there was gothic – and this 1939 film version of Emily Bronte’s beloved romance novel is a prime example, moor or less. Laurence Olivier stars as Heathcliff, and Merle Oberon as Cathy, in a film that’s beautifully directed (by William Wyler) and cleverly adapted – by famous screenwriters Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht.

2015

Feb

SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED: "THE TAMING OF THE SHREW" By David Bianculli

This second season of close analysis of William Shakespeare’s plays continues tonight with another double dose – and, again, starts with a classic comedy and concludes with a dark drama. This week, the opening salvo comes courtesy of host Morgan Freeman, who takes us through a very lively guided tour of The Taming of the Shrew – including, of course, the famous Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton teaming. Check local listings.

2015

Feb

SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED: "OTHELLO" By David Bianculli

The dramatic portion of tonight’s Shakespeare-loving double bill is a close and very smart look at Othello, with David Harewood serving as the show’s guide through the play’s history, stage productions and film versions. This Shakespeare Uncovered series is the best thing to happen to Shakespeare on PBS since the complete mounting of The Shakespeare Plays – and that was back in the Seventies and Eighties. Check local listings.

2015

Feb

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli

The uneven roundtable discussions of Larry Wilmore’s new The Nightly Show on Comedy Central demonstrate just how hard it is to handle a coherent, much less entertaining, TV conversation among several volatile guests – yet Bill Maher has proven impressively adept at it, week in and week out. And on weeks such as this one, where there’s no superstar big name to dominate the proceedings, both Maher and his panel tend to be at their very best.

2015

Feb

GONE WITH THE WIND By David Bianculli

Sometimes, I unearth some TV statistics that positively astound me. Here’s one. For the decade of the Seventies, the Top 20 programs for the entire 10-year period didn’t have a single TV series on the list – just miniseries, Super Bowls, specials and theatrical films, in those days before premium cable and VCRs changed the delivery system for movies on TV. The concluding episode of ABC’s Roots topped the list, but – getting larger audiences than any other Roots epis

2015

Feb

SHOUT FACTORY TV By David Bianculli

Another wonderful addition to the streaming TV universe begins today – and any faithful follower of TV Worth Watching should check it out as soon as possible, then prepare to lose hour after hour diving through its inventory. That’s because Shout! Factory, the packagers and distributors of some of the best, most eclectic musical collections and vintage TV series, has just gotten into the streaming business. Just check out the Shout Factory TV website home page, and look at some of th

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