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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
 
 
2019
Aug
10
WEST SIDE STORY By David Bianculli
 
 
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner and Stephen Sondheim currently are collaborating on a new movie version of West Side Story – which makes it even more interesting to revisit the original. This classic version was filmed in 1961 – when New York was smaller and grittier, when Sharks were Sharks and Jets were Jets, and when the neighborhood dances couldn’t be more… colorful.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
9
FX GREENLIGHTS 'ATLANTA' SEASON FOUR… BEFORE SEASON THREE By Eric Gould
 
 

If you're a fan of Donald Glover's Atlanta (and if you're not, what are you waiting for?), you'll be pleased to know that this week FX announced they are renewing the series for a fourth season... before the third has started filming...

 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
9
THE ARTISTRY OF ZIGGY STARDUST IN 'DAVID BOWIE: FINDING FAME' By David Hinckley
 
 
Rock ‘n’ roll history is littered with the frustrating stories of artists who were musically brilliant and almost comically inept in navigating the other parts of the music business. The name David Bowie will never appear in those stories...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
9
GLOW By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: GLOW, an acronym for the once-actual 80s TV phenomenon known as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, has come to its current season with several old conflicts resolved, and many compelling new ones introduced. Marc Maron, as the group’s director, is finding an unexpected, and for him unusual, equilibrium, with his job as well as his recently discovered daughter. The performers in the ring are bonding in various ways out of it – and this season introduces a new
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
9
JETT By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: The season of Jett began with the title character, played by Carla Gugino, being forced by one bad guy to secretly work for her while continuing to pretend she was still loyal to another bad guy. In tonight’s season finale, Jett finally learns why her new mob handler, Miljan Bestic (Greg Bryk), is so feverishly resentful of her former one, Charlie (Giancarlo Esposito). And because it’s not a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss, Jett has made some
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
9
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
Last week, after a brief hiatus, Bill Maher returned in a mood that made it seem like he was taking the news headlines personally. So much for resting up and recharging during a vacation. Tonight, his scheduled guests include former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
8
JOHN LANDGRAF ADDRESSES THE BUSINESS OF TELEVISION IN GENERAL AND FX IN PARTICULAR By Roger Catlin
 
 
Executive sessions at the TV Critics Association press tours tend to kick off a network's day, setting the tone for the rest of the presentations...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
8
SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: AVA GARDNER By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight’s saluted star on TCM is Ava Gardner, and the offerings in the early part of the tribute presented tonight lean more on the less frequently televised side. The evening begins at 8 p.m. ET with the 2017 documentary Ava Gardner, the Gipsy of Hollywood. (Their spelling, not mine.) Then, at 9:15 p.m. ET, comes 1958’sThe Killers, a steamy mystery co-starring Burt Lancaster. It was his first film, but how could anyone look anywhere else but at her (pictured)? That&rs
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
7
BRITISH POLICE DRAMA COMES TO BROADCAST NETWORK TV WITH 'BULLETPROOF' By David Hinckley
 
 
Police procedurals from other countries, some English-speaking and some not, have become the lifeblood of multiple streaming and cable services these days...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2019
Aug
7
'BH90210,' NOT SURPRISINGLY, ISN'T WORTH THE HYPE By David Hinckley
 
 
The latest Beverly Hills 90210 reboot, cleverly titled BH90210, calls to mind two lines from the television criticism game...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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