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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

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
 
 
2009
Mar
12
WITH "KINGS," NBC DOES SOMETHING DIFFERENT -- AND INTERESTING By David Bianculli
 
 
The best thing about NBC's new series "Kings," is how unusual it is. It's like "Dallas," but with a biblical spin, and with lots of allegorical undertones. It's not subtle, but it IS different. On NBC, which seems hell-bent on churning out enough TV guano to choke itself to death, that makes it almost shockingly intriguing...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
11
NBC'S "CHOPPING BLOCK": OFF WITH ITS HEAD By David Bianculli
 
 
Any show that replaces "Knight Rider" on the NBC schedule has to be an improvement. But why, and how, did tonight's new "Chopping Block" series (8 p.m. ET) make it so marginally close? As TV cooking-competition reality shows go, Chopping Block deserves an immediate beheading...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
10
DOES KEN BURNS NEED A NEW SPONSOR -- OR A FEDERAL BAILOUT? By David Bianculli
 
 
You can't blame this on the current economic crisis, because Ken Burns has known for a year what only now is being made public: General Motors is ending its decades-long corporate sponsorship of Burns and his invaluable PBS documentaries...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
10
WATCH THIS: 'DOCTOR WHO' REGENERATION MARATHON By Diane Werts
 
 
Back in 2005, fans of the UK's 40-year-old fantasy cult fave Doctor Who were hopeful but not necessarily optimistic. The BBC franchise that began back in 1963 as a somewhat cheesy kids' adventure was being reinvented -- yet again -- much like The Doctor himself...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
10
WEIRD & WILD: JONAS BROTHERS + PURITY RINGS = 'SOUTH PARK' By Diane Werts
 
 
South Park is back for its 13th season Wednesday, with another stew satirizing a tasty menu of topical ingredients...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
8
NATHAN FILLION MAKES ABC'S "CASTLE" A COMFY PLACE TO VISIT By David Bianculli
 
 
If you're a Joss Whedon fan -- and all quality TV enthusiasts should be -- you're already sold on Nathan Fillion's roguish charms, thanks to his starring roles as the space cowboy in Firefly and the hammy hero in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." In ABC's "Castle," anyone who watches should be equally enthusiastic...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
6
"BREAKING BAD" RETURNS BRILLIANTLY, WITH EVEN MORE INTENSITY By David Bianculli
 
 
Last season, American Movie Classics' "Breaking Bad" was one of the more delightful surprises of the year. Bryan Cranston's performance, creator Vince Gilligan's dark vision, and the show's relentless, involving dramas and crises -- they combined for a seven-episode blast of high-octane, darkly comic, intensely dramatic television...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
5
LATE-NIGHT TV CHESS: THANKS TO A BISHOP, CRAIG FERGUSON IS KING By David Bianculli
 
 
Archbishop Desmond Tutu showed up for an improbable, unprecedented visit to CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Wednesday. It's the show the Ferguson folks should submit for Emmy consideration this year -- and it's also the show that should end all sensible speculation regarding the late-night TV wars. I have seen the future of late-night TV, and his name is Craig Ferguson..
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
5
WATCH THIS: 'BREAKING BAD' MARATHON By Diane Werts
 
 
Bryan Cranston's Emmy-winning turn on Breaking Bad runs allatonce this Friday night, in a seven-hour first-season marathon. It's a must-see, for catching up with this smart, funny, shocking series before the second season starts on AMC Sunday night...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Mar
5
WEIRD & WILD: THERE'S 'LIFE ON MARS' (AND DEATH ON 'MARS') By Diane Werts
 
 
Big week on Mars. Some bad news: ABC cancels the American version of the retro copfest Life on Mars, ending its run after this single season...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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