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
Sep
9
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: You have to find FXX to watch this series, but it’s worth the trouble. Chris Geer and Aya Cash, portraying self-obsessed non-romantics Jimmy and Gretchen, are a lot funnier, and more appealing, than the other overly abrasive couples making the sitcom rounds these days. And this season, since Jimmy and Gretchen have moved in together, they’re an actual couple, so they’re playing on the same rom-com field. Only they’re scoring more…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
9
 
 
For his second show, Stephen Colbert is going ultra-eclectic: His scheduled guests are actress Scarlett Johannson, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and rapper Kendrick Lamar. For my review of his first show, see Bianculli’s Blog, or listen to NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross today and visit the Fresh Air website later this afternoon.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
9
 
 

To open and close his inaugural Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS, the host sang: “The Star-Spangled Banner” to kick things off, and, with a stage full of musical guests, “Everyday People” to wrap things up. It was a Sly opening-night move…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
While growing up, Rob McLachlan had little idea that his career as a cinematographer would one day encompass more than a dozen features films, some 25 TV movies-of-the-week and countless U.S.-based, filmed-in-Vancouver TV series...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
This has been quite an exciting, and exhausting, tournament so far – and yesterday’s games, particularly the tough loss by Andy Murray and, later, the intense win by Roger Federer that ended just before midnight, were long, grueling cappers to a wonderful tennis weekend at Flushing Meadows. And while today offers several matches, none is as anticipated as the quarterfinal match, at 7 p.m. ET, between Venus and Serena Williams (seen here at Wimbledon 2015). You know the stakes, and th
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
Last week’s installment in this new PBS series profiled Queen Elizabeth II. Tonight’s presents a close-up profile of another type of royalty: Muhammad Ali, one of the biggest global superstars ever. And using his own words, in this case, is sheer poetry – often literally. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
Parts 2 and 3. We’re up to 1862 in this stunningly informative and involving narrative of the Civil War – and the texture of the show, though not the war, changes tonight, as Mathew Brady begins taking military and battlefield photographs.  For full stories on this series and fresh interviews with filmmaker Ken Burns, see Noel Holston’s The Grassy Noel and my own Bianculli’s Blog. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
Here’s a new story about 9/11, delivered just days before the anniversary of that tragic event. Just after the second tower collapsed at the World Trade Center, a former Marine Sgt. Thomas joined other rescuers, and extricated two cops buried under the rubble. He kept working at the site for weeks, then vanished – only to surface, 14 years later, to identify himself and tell his story. Here it is – and here he is.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Simply put, this is the most eagerly anticipated, expertly promoted TV premiere of 2015. The opening night guests are George Clooney and Jeb Bush – but it’s Stephen Colbert that viewers will be coming to see, especially to watch the man underneath the former Colbert Report fake-conservative mask. My prediction? He’ll be terrific – and instantly successful.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Sep
8
 
 
Even though TV is a visual medium, the men and women behind the visuals are often shunted aside in the annual rush to anoint TV’s best...