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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
Oct
26
THE TIME HAS COME: I'M GROUNDING MYSELF UNTIL MY ROOM IS CLEAN By David Bianculli
 
 
The Best Bets will continue daily, but I'm taking a few days from writing a blog because I just can't stand it any more. Not the blogging -- the mess. My basement office, and everything in it, desperately needs some attention...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
23
GUEST BLOG #59: TOM BRINKMOELLER LEADS US ON A "NATURE" WALK By Tom Brinkmoeller
 
 
[Bianculli here: This weekend, contributing writer Tom Brinkmoeller tracks down the executive producer of the long-running PBS series "Nature," to explain the birds and the bees. Or, at least, the bees and the stallions...]
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
23
IN MEMORIAM: VIC MIZZY, SOUPY SALES By Diane Werts
 
 
They're sucking all the fun out of TV. "They" would be the grim reapers of time and evolution. While the latter agent of change seems intent on making TV as grim and/or convoluted as possible...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
21
POSTSEASON BASEBALL DELIVERS DRAMA, IF YOU CAN SEE IT, FIND IT -- OR STAY AWAKE FOR IT By David Bianculli
 
 
A friend called Monday night, knowing I was a big Phillies fan, to share in the joy of Philadelphia's bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out comeback victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, right after Jimmy Rollins hit the game-winning two-run double. The phone call woke me up. I'd passed out on the couch the inning before, after a long teaching day...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
19
BACK FROM MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD -- AND WHAT A WARM, INSPIRING PLACE IT WAS By David Bianculli
 
 
I just spent a few glorious days at the Fred Rogers Center, an inspiring facility at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. It's a place devoted to the development of children, and worthwhile children's media, and it's populated by employees, executives, fellows and advisors that leave no doubt that Mister Rogers' mission is in the best of hands...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
16
NEW MONTY PYTHON MEGA-DOCUMENTARY: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY ENTERTAINING By David Bianculli
 
 
Beginning Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET, The Independent Film Channel presents a six-day, six-hour documentary series honoring the 40th anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus. You can expect new details, big laughs, fresh insights and, yes, you can even expect the Spanish Inquisition...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
16
SCARY STUFF: HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVALS By Diane Werts
 
 
It isn't just Monty Python hitting the air on IFC this Sunday. That's also the night the channel starts its Indie Screams festival as we head toward Halloween...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
15
GUEST BLOG #57: TOM BRINKMOELLER ON TV'S COOLEST ROAD TRIP By Tom Brinkmoeller
 
 
[Bianculli here: Contributing writer Tom Brinkmoeller delights in unearthing TV treasures from the remote spectrum of broadcast TV. This time he's outdone himself, and champions a show I've never even HEARD of, much less seen...]
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
14
TAKING A TRAVEL DAY -- TO MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD By David Bianculli
 
 
Today I'm heading out over the Ben Franklin Bridge and deep into the western part of Pennsylvania, heading for Latrobe, PA, for the annual meeting of the Fred Rogers Center Advisory Council. This year, for the first time, I'm a member of the council...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2009
Oct
14
THE LATEST: FOX REALITY BECOMES NATGEO WILD By Diane Werts
 
 
Turns out those crazy folks at Fox already had plans for their Fox Reality channel position before declaring the end of FRC this week. They quickly announced that NatGeo Wild will soon be airing animals in place of . . . well, that one is just too tempting, isn't it?...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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