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
Oct
10
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Postponed by BBC America from last week, tonight’s episode really should be the new one with Matt Damon, kicking off Season 18 of this raucous British talk show. I said this last week, but it bears repeating: The last time Damon was on the show, alongside Mill Murray and Hugh Bonneville, he told Norton at the end it was the best time he’d ever had on a talk show.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
10
 
 
The latest salvo in a very hot year that began with a superb third season of shows and a Peabody Award, tonight Amy Schumer guest hosts Saturday Night Live. The musical guest: The Weeknd. Considering the artist's odd spelling preference, perhaps this ought to be considered his premiere appearance on Saturdy Nght Lve. Personally, I can’t understand why anyone would want to embrace an unnecessary vowel movement. But that’s just me.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
10
 
 
Bracingly bold and well told, BBC America’s The Last Kingdom has the added plusses of being breathtakingly shot and very capably acted out...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This 10-part comedy series begins streaming today on Amazon – and it’s a period comedy poking fun at and recalling the 1980s, in the same vein as ABC’s The Goldbergs or Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. Like the latter, Red Oaks takes place during the summer – in this case, the summer of 1985, at a country club in New Jersey. David Meyers (Craig Roberts) is a high school kid who finds work as an assistant tennis pro, and tries to
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
PREMIERE: This documentary begins streaming today on Netflix – though, at least for now, you have to search for it by title, because it isn’t being displayed prominently the morning of its launch. Maybe it’s because it’s a subtitled political documentary about the rise of civil unrest in the Ukraine against its oppressive leader and police force. Because it unfolds day by day, and uses multiple camera views (as well as eyewitness accounts) to capture the growing protests
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
It’s postseason baseball all afternoon and all evening – though you have to watch three different networks to see all four games. Starting things off, on the MLB Network at 12:30 p.m. ET, is Game 2 between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto is favored to win the entire Series – but that didn’t keep them from losing Game 1, despite home-field advantage. Then, at 3:30 p.m. ET, to find the other American League playoff game, turn to Fox Sports 1, for Game 2 of
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
The more baseball history you know, the more meaningful these National League playoff games seem to be. The first of today’s two contests, Game 1 of the Chicago Cubs vs. the St. Louis Cardinals contest, pits these two teams against one another for the first time in postseason play.  And, of course, the Cubs are on a long-standing quest, because the team hasn’t won a World Series since… well, even casual fans know the rest. And after that game, another National League Game
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: I was surprised when this marginal sitcom was renewed, and closer to shocked when it was announced that, after an experiment with a live telecast last season, would be performing this entire season live – the first sitcom to do so since Fox’s Roc revived the once-universal practice for the 1992-93 TV season. One difference:  Before it went live, Roc was funny.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
In this two-hour special edition of Dateline NBC, the topic and title are: The Cosby Accusers Speak. And what makes this especially interesting is that it’s presented by NBC, the network that, three decades ago, Bill Cosby almost singlehandedly revived with the popularity of The Cosby Show. And, two decades before that, made monumental strides for minorities on TV by co-starring on I Spy. But the accusations by all these women (27 of them appear en masse in this special alone) appear to be
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
9
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Acquired from Great Britain, this three-part miniseries plays like, and feels like, a lower-budget, lower-profile version of The Exorcist – and, like that blockbuster thriller, comes from a book telling of the possession of a young girl. This case, based on an actual account, dates back to 1977 in London, when an 11-year-old girl, played by Eleanor Worthington-Cox, begins acting strangely – even for a pre-teen girl. Co-stars include Timothy Spall and Juliet Steve