2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2019
Nov
13
CAKE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This delightfully unpredictable and varied sample of animation and short film pieces concludes with what I consider a very successful initial, experimental season. Not since USA Network’s original Night Flight in the 1970s, and Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken in the 2000s, has a late-night TV show served up such entertaining potpourri. For a coincidental but appropriately sweet connection between Cake and TV Worth Watching, see yesterday’
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
13
THE CRY By David Bianculli
 
 
MINISERIES FINALE: Jenna Coleman has been remarkable in this four-part mystery miniseries – and tonight, as the mystery is solved, she’s even better. And the ending, I promise, will stay with you for a long time. I saw this when it premiered on Sundance’s streaming service, Sundance Now, a year ago, and I’m still haunted by it.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
13
NEWS FLASH: REPORTS OF CONVENTIONAL BROADCAST TV'S DEATH ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED, AND HERE'S WHY By Alex Strachan
 
 
What are you watching during November sweeps? Exactly. It's worth digging beneath the surface of these early-season numbers in traditional broadcast television, though...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
13
THE PREPPY MURDER: DEATH IN CENTRAL PARK REVISITS HOW THE CASE UNFOLDED By Mike Hughes
 
 
The Preppy Murder documentary tells us a lot about life in the 1980s, and maybe about life now...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
13
DAN RATHER TALKS WITH BOB COSTAS ON 'THE BIG INTERVIEW' By David Hinckley
 
 
Everyone should have the option of enjoying the kind of semi-retirement into which Dan Rather has settled...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
12
DISNEY PLUS ENSURES DISNEY IS STILL DISNEY By David Hinckley
 
 
Disney's new streaming service, Disney Plus, rolls out today, and as usual, Disney does nothing small...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
12
DISNEY+ LAUNCH By David Bianculli
 
 
STREAMING NETWORK LAUNCH: This changes things. Big time, and immediately. Changes in TV history tend to arrive incrementally, but Disney+ arrives today, hitting the TV landscape like a giant asteroid. It’s less a day-one dip into the waters than an all-out naval assault. The original series premiering today on Disney+ are impressive, and many will be detailed in separate listings below. But the backlog, the existing offerings available to stream immediately for $7 a month (or $70 if y
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
12
FORKY ASKS A QUESTION By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: These short Pixar treats are only three minutes long, but they’re delightful and addictive. They star the spunky spork from Toy Story 4, and address such questions as today’s premiere query, “What is money?” The one I adore, “What is a friend?,” arrives Friday – and when I road-tested it in previews with my granddaughter, Reina, we ended up making a running joke of imitating the name of Forky’s new best friend: “Wha
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
12
LADY & THE TRAMP By David Bianculli
 
 
MOVIE PREMIERE: Do we need a “live-action” version of this classic Disney animated film? Well, no. But this new remake actually is kind of charming. I miss the Siamese cats singing “We are Siamese if you please…” (they still sing, but a different, new song), but Lady and the Tramp still share a great plate of spaghetti and meatballs (Mmmmm, meatballs!). And the old hound dog, voiced by Sam Elliott, couldn’t be more perfectly cast.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Nov
12
MARVEL'S HERO PROJECT By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This documentary series is the one show, of all the new offerings on Disney+, that made me cry – because it’s so inspirational. The premise sounds so corporate, but it’s all heart: the folks at Marvel comics identify young people who are making a difference in the world or overcoming personal difficulties, and awards them by making them the hero of a limited-edition Marvel comic. “Sensational Jordan” is the title of the premiere episode – and
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley