Hollywood's John Wayne westerns gave us a tidy-looking old west with meticulously pressed costumes, freshly shorn hair and brightly lit saloons. With portraits like Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) and HBO's Deadwood (2004), we got a more physical feel for the time and place -- muddy streets, scraggly beards and bad teeth...

2011

Nov

'HELL,' NO! AMC'S 'HELL ON WHEELS' BREAKS ITS SMART SERIES STREAK By David Bianculli

In the past five years, in its current quest to provide original quality TV series, AMC has given us Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon, The Walking Dead and The Killing. Except for a frustrating non-ending to the first season of The Killing, and a disappointing non-renewal of Rubicon...But with Hell on Wheels, the cable network's new Western series about railroad expansion in the post-Civil War era, AMC's run of impressive, innovative television goes completely off the rails...

2011

Nov

RIPPING YARNS: 'WHITECHAPEL' EXTENDS JACK THE RIPPER'S DRAMATIC KILLING STREAK By Theresa Corigliano

Technically, I may not be a Ripperologist, but I have always been fascinated by the story of the infamous serial killer who haunted London's East End in the 19th century and was never found. Years ago, I worked on the miniseries with Michael Caine, who starred as Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard...

2011

Nov

BETWEEN A 'ROCK CENTER' AND A HARD PLACE: NBC NEWSMAGAZINE'S PREMIERE RATINGS By David Bianculli

You know the old line about lies, damned lies, and statistics. Same for TV ratings -- and while many reports about audience levels for the Monday premiere of NBC's newsmagazine Rock Center generally wrote the new show off as a flop, I beg to differ. And have the lies and damned lies to prove it...

2011

Nov

TO SALUTE STEVE JOBS, PBS PRESENTS AN UNUSUALLY TIMELY SPECIAL THAT ILIKE By Tom Brinkmoeller

Less than a month after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, PBS airs an hour-long special program about him Wednesday night that probably could never have been turned around so quickly, cleanly and completely had Jobs not been such an egocentric and ruthlessly competitive genius...

2011

Nov

'FABRIC OF THE COSMOS' IS NO SIMPLE CLOTH By Eric Gould

The British scientist J.B.S. Haldane famously mused on the universe, and has since been quoted as many times as there are stars in the sky. In 1927, he wrote, "...Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we 'can' suppose." Meaning, we're simply not even capable -- yet -- of imagining what we need to know...

2011

Nov

'ROCK CENTER' IMPRESSES IN FIRST OUTING -- BUT ON NBC, IS QUALITY ENOUGH? By David Bianculli

Monday's inaugural edition of NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams was an unusually polished and impressive first outing for a TV newsmagazine -- good mix of stories, thoughtful and engaging conversation, even a fun surprise guest. But with the most mindless of lead-ins, a two-hour installment of The Sing-Off, did anyone watch?...

2011

Oct

WHAT DID YOU WATCH, OR RECORD, SUNDAY NIGHT? By David Bianculli

What Did YOU Watch, Or Record, Sunday Night? I hope you caught the first installment of PBS's America in Primetime Sunday night -- and if so, I'd love to know what you thought. But then it occurred to me: Sunday night, at this point in 2011, is so bursting with good TV, I'd be very interested in hearing about whatever you watched, and what you thought of it -- and, if any, which shows you recorded to save for later...

2011

Oct

A HALLOWEEN MASTER OF DISGUISE By Eric Gould

It's Halloween, and since it's the time of year for the utterly icky and strange, there's no better occasion to flip through the archives for a show that introduces us to a spineless, pale Cephalopoda with large, smart-looking eyes that shifts shape, and that can also attack with an eight-armed face...

2011

Oct

TOM YELLIN: THE TV WORTH WATCHING INTERVIEW By David Bianculli

Tom Yellin, co-founder of The Documentary Group, used to produce the ABC News Peter Jennings Reporting specials, among other fine programs. His latest project, created with director Lloyd Kramer and others, is America in Primetime, the four-part PBS documentary series premiering Sunday at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings). I'm so impressed with this study of television that I wrote about it for TVWW and for NPR...

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