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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
 
 
2010
Dec
1
"WHO" CARES? I DO: MISSING CRAIG FERGUSON "DOCTOR WHO" MUSICAL NUMBER FINALLY SURFACES By David Bianculli
 
 
In previous recent posts, we detailed the last-minute pulling of a musical cold open for a Doctor Who-themed installment of CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", and how angry he was to have rehearsed the production number for two days, and written special lyrics to the instrumental Doctor Who theme, only to have CBS yank the bit because music rights hadn't been secured.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Dec
1
HEY, LOOK! OUR CONTRIBUTORS REACT TO CBS'S MORNING SHIFT AND LESLIE NIELSEN'S DEATH -- TODAY ON "FRESH AIR," I TALK MARK TWAIN By David Bianculli
 
 
I'm very, very proud to point out what's going on around here. Our TV WORTH WATCHING contributors are on top of breaking news. Tom Brinkmoeller, in his latest "RAISED ON MTM" column, puts the latest scheduled CBS morning-show shift in a context that's both impressive and depressing. Bill Brioux, in his latest "TV FEEDS MY FAMILY" report, salutes Leslie Nielsen, who died Sunday, and recounts his memorable interviews with the playful actor.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
30
LATEST CBS OVERHAUL SUGGESTS MORNING TV IS NOT FOR SISYPHUSES By Tom Brinkmoeller
 
 
Successive American presidents in the '60s and '70s ordered all-out bombings in Vietnam as an arguably oxymoronic weapon of peace. Peace, of course, lost. In a smaller scale of carpet bombing, CBS News presidents, stretching back to the '60s, have ordered repeated obliterations of the network's morning-news troops. The latest happened Tuesday...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
29
LESLIE NIELSEN'S WHOOPEE CUSHION By Bill Brioux
 
 
When the Naked Gun movies came out in the late '80s and early '90s, friends would not sit next to me in the theaters -- I laughed that much. So, when I was invited to have lunch with and interview Leslie Nielsen in the mid-'90s, when he was in Toronto promoting his mostly made up autobiography, The Naked Truth, I jumped at the chance...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
26
CHRISTMAS TV: 'BUFFY,' 'MEEK,' MERRYTHON By Diane Werts
 
 
Wake up to seasonal spookery this Thursday morning. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" make "amends," while Santa's got a brand new bag that holds everything everybody wants in the "Night of the Meek" episode of "The Twilight Zone." Full listings here...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
23
TV DVD: ONLINE RELEASES TO THE RESCUE! By Diane Werts
 
 
If there's anything TV DVD collectors hate, it's collecting seasons of a series that the distributor discontinues before it's complete. "Hill Street Blues" ran 7 seasons, but only 2 are out on DVD. "NYPD Blue" fans scored 4 seasons on disc, but 12 were aired...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
23
"GOD, THAT'S GOOD!": PBS PRESENTS BRILLIANT SONDHEIM BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION By David Bianculli
 
 
Wednesday night, the PBS "Great Performances" series presents a two-hour concert that lives up to that series' title from start to finish. Taped March 15-16 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert" celebrates Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday, and it's an absolute, start-to-finish delight...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
22
ALL I AM SAYING, IS GIVE "LENNONYC" A CHANCE... By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight at 9 ET, the invaluable PBS arts documentary series American Masters presents its latest offering: "LennoNYC", an examination of John Lennon's final, New York City years. It's not comprehensive, but it does contain some rarities and solid insights -- and whether or not you're a diehard Beatles fan, it's well worth watching. And hearing. Especially hearing, because the outtakes and acoustic versions of Lennon songs are treasures in themselves...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
21
MICHAEL VICK: FOOTBALL RECORDS, FIGHTING DOGS AND, JUST MAYBE, REDEMPTION By Eric Gould
 
 
If you think it's all art and design here at The Cold Light Reader, get ready for some football. Last week's Monday Night Football telecast brought us gridiron fans an athletic display so amazing, it will probably never be seen again -- and at the same time, reprised a topic so reprehensible, it will never be easily dismissed. Nor should it be...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2010
Nov
21
CHRISTMAS TV LISTINGS! (OR AT LEAST SOME OF THEM) By Diane Werts
 
 
Looking for Festivus? Consider it found! This week's listings have a couple of new additions for Friday (Nov. 26). Take a look...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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