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DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

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All Along the Watchtower

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Uncle Barky's Bytes

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

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Ed Martin's TV Mix

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TV Feeds My Family

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Raised On MTM

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2021
Jan
29
THE LITTLE THINGS By David Bianculli
 
 
MOVIE PREMIERE: Three Academy Award winners co-star in this new cop drama, the story of the hunt for a serial killer. Denzel Washington plays a California deputy sheriff on the trail of a devious murderer, Rami Malek plays a detective, and Jared Leto is, let’s say, a person of interest. Given the trio of leading players, this whole HBO Max movie premiere should be of interest – and what’s more, The Little Things is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, who did suc
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
29
CITIZEN KANE By David Bianculli
 
 
Included in this Orson Welles movie masterpiece is the story of a man who rises to celebrity and prominence, uses his celebrity to run for public office, spreads untruths in the media aggressively and for his own nefarious purposes, and plans, all the while, to accuse the election of being rigged in the event he loses. This movie was made in 1941. Too bad that, 70 years later, there’s nothing we can find in it that’s relatable to our modern experiences.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
29
CICELY TYSON 1924 – 2021 By David Hinckley
 
 
If you were hunting for portrayals of strong black women on TV or movie screens in the early 1970s, the modest number of choices at least covered a wide range...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
29
1989: 'SHINING TIME STATION' JOINS THE PBS LINEUP By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 1989, PBS affiliate WNET introduced the hit children's series, Shining Time Station, featuring the still-popular Thomas the Tank Engine character...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
28
1973: 'BARNABY JONES' STARTS SOLVING MYSTERIES By TV WW
 
 
On this day in 1973, CBS introduced the mid-season replacement, Barnaby Jones...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
28
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN By David Bianculli
 
 
This Coen Brothers movie from 2007 is a masterpiece. Its cinematography is evocative and unforgettable. Its leading performances – from Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem – are remarkable. (And that’s not to minimize the contributions of supporting players Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, and Garret Dillahunt. It’s just that Jones, Brolin, and Bardem all embody unshakably original, fully realized characters.) Its dramatic tension, when it occurs, is dialed u
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
28
MR. MAYOR By David Bianculli
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, Ted Danson’s newbie mayor gets advice on a new initiative from his former adversary, and now assistant, played so wryly by Holly Hunter. And any episode that finds a way for Danson and Hunter to share more screen time is an episode well worth watching. That’s one political point on which we all should be able to agree.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
28
CLORIS LEACHMAN 1926 – 2021 By David Hinckley
 
 
Of all the things Cloris Leachman did well, maybe what she did best was play with others...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
27
BONDING By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Season 2 of this comedy about the S&M scene gets darker, but not in a bondage sense. Surprisingly, and commendably, it gets darker and deeper by taking its two main characters, and their relationships, seriously. Zoe Levin plays Tiff, who embarks on a new chapter of her life in New York by becoming a dominatrix in training. Brendan Scannell plays Pete, who’s embarking on his own New York aspirational quest – to become a successful standup comedian. The two of the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2021
Jan
27
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS By David Bianculli
 
 
Next month, CBS premieres Clarice, a new TV spinoff series based on Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs, so this seems a good time to revisit Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning 1991 film treatment. Clarice won’t be the first to draw inspiration from Harris’ serial-killer imaginings. Before Harris’ Lambs novel, in fact, the murderous Hannibal Lecter also was central to Harris’ 1981 novel Red Dragon &n
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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