Those of us who've been too busy to shop (ahem), or too undecided about gifts (ahem, ahem), or just too foot-draggy (oops), have one last shot at some really cool DVD treats for the holiday...

2011

Dec

TERRY GROSS AND I TALK TV TODAY ON NPR'S 'FRESH AIR' By David Bianculli

Today (Tuesday, Dec. 20) on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, I once again get to enjoy one of my favorite annual holiday rituals: talking TV with Terry. We cover the Top 10 shows on TV, of course -- but also, in a conversation spanning everything from politics to Snooki, we cover a lot of other ground as well. Including my favorite moment, as Terry listens in amused disbelief as I provide aural proof of what I consider the worst TV show of 2011...

2011

Dec

DICK SMOTHERS WANTS TO COMPETE ON ABC'S 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' -- AND I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA By David Bianculli

1960s, before starring with brother Tommy on CBS's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Dick Smothers sang and danced as Tweedledee, to his sibling's Tweedledum, in a 1966 TV musical called Through the Looking Glass. Later in the Sixties, Dick competed in automobile races, driving Formula B race cars. And five decades later, Dick Smothers is still dancing, and still driving, but in different directions...

2011

Dec

SHOCKER! GLOBES GET TV NOMS RIGHT! By Ed Bark

Let's hear it for the Golden Globes. No, seriously. The much-maligned Hollywood Foreign Press Association by and large did an intelligent job of picking and choosing the best television has to offer in nominations announced late last week...

2011

Dec

'ONE LIFE TO LIVE' FACES ITS OWN DEATH WITH A DOOZY OF A STORYLINE By Ed Martin

ABC Daytime's One Life to Live -- a show with more creative energy coursing through it than much of what passes for bigger-budget prime-time fare -- won't breathe its last until Jan. 13. But the show is already giving itself a grand send-off...

2011

Dec

THE MODERN LIFE: WELL LIVED, WELL DESIGNED By Eric Gould

One of the many successes of AMC's much-honored Mad Men is its art direction. And now here's a documentary about two American designers who directly shaped the postwar modernism that's such an integral, sexy part of that series...

2011

Dec

BOOKS FOR YOUR FRIENDS, WRITTEN BY MINE By David Bianculli

As one final push for holiday gift suggestions, this weekend I'm recommending a handful of new books (and one e-book) I like a lot. And all of these 2011 books, in addition to being excellent reads, have one other thing in common: They're all written by friends of mine. Descriptions of the books, and the friendships, follow...

2011

Dec

DIFFICULT TO BE BOWLED OVER BY SOME OF THESE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SHOWDOWNS By Gerald Jordan

Bernie Madoff guessed wrong. His Ponzi scheme would have yielded bucks just as big as the millions he bilked, and he would have been able to hide in plain sight, had he done just one simple thing: corral investors to sponsor college football bowl games...It's true...

2011

Dec

GOOD GRIEF! 'CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS' ALMOST MISSED ITS CHANCE TO BECOME A TV TRADITION By David Bianculli

We've gotten a lot of response to our coverage this month of ABC's treatment, and occasional mistreatment, of A Charlie Brown Christmas -- and we're not through yet. Want to hear how the special almost was killed by CBS the very year it premiered, way back in 1965? Of course you do... This story comes courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer and its TV critic, John Kiesewetter, a good journalist, and good guy, who just repeated his own vintage Peanuts story, the same trick I pulled just the oth

2011

Dec

'FEAR FACTOR': CALL OUT THE INSTIGATORS, BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR By David Bianculli

NBC's Fear Factor is back on the air -- and, at the same time, polluting it. During Monday's two-hour comeback premiere, Fear Factor presented an outrageously gross stunt that showed everyday people, eager to do just about anything for money, wallowing in a giant vat of animal waste. And then I thought -- wait a minute. I've seen that before...

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