DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2015
Nov
18
 
 
Both of the films shown in prime time by TCM tonight were released in 1967, and caused quite a stir because of their content and performances. This one is the fact-based crime thriller, In Cold Blood, based on the superbly written book by Truman Capote. What makes this stark movie version work so well, above all, is the riveting lead performance by a former child actor named Robert Blake.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
18
 
 
People waking up Wednesday morning to news that police had raided an apartment in the Paris suburbs, and killed two terrorists, were perhaps not surprised, if they had seen this Monday night introduction to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
Two of the Big Four broadcast networks have put out detailed summations of their revamped midseason schedules while NBC is dribbling out information and CBS remains silent save for the biggest splash of them all -- Super Bowl 50...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
Producer Dick Wolf seemed to be on the verge of Hollywood extinction several years ago when NBC began separating itself from his longstanding Law & Order “brand” -- But if the wolf seemed at the door, the Wolf man himself declined to run scared...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
Survivor is arguably the most recognizable reality-competition program on U.S. TV — and yet it’s easy to forget the effect Survivor once had on the culture...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
I really, really like The Grinder. Tonight, the oil-and-vinegar brothers, played by quiet Fred Savage and showy Rob Lowe, take to the road together, where Lowe’s egotistical celebrity Dean vows to retreat into a more passive and anonymous persona. That resolve may melt, though, once they’re stopped by a traffic cop…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Executive producer Dick Wolf, granddaddy of the Law & Order NBC franchise, has built a new TV mini-dynasty with the addition of his third drama series set in Chicago. Joining Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., beginning tonight, is Chicago Med, adding a hospital setting to his firehouse and police precinct setting.  Nick Gehlfuss is one of the stars, playing the hospital’s chief ER resident. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
After Liv (Rose McIver) eats the brains of a dead magician, it’s not long before presto!: She’s performing magic tricks in her spare time, while trying to solve the circumstances of his death. I like the premise, as well as the episode’s title: Abra Cadaver.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
NEW DAY AND TIME: Don’t worry, Friday night TV viewers. Shark Tank will continue to be televised at its old day and time. It’s just that ABC needed to plug a hole, fast, when Wicked City, the unpleasant serial-killer drama that started the season in this time slot, tanked so completely that ABC yanked it after just three outings. Sometimes, crime doesn’t pay. And sometimes, bad shows are canceled swiftly. So thanks, Shark Tank reruns, for picking up the slack, and offering a mu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
17
 
 
Tonight’s new Frontline, in its first segment called Isis in Afghanistan, takes an in-depth look at terrorism  – but not in France. The first and primary report, by Afghan reporter Najibullah Quraishi, looks at how ISIS is recruiting a new, frighteningly young generation of jihadists in Afghanistan. The show’s second story, by reporter Mobeen Azhar, looks at the fight between Pakistani police and the Taliban militants in Karachi. Check local listings.