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
Aug
16
 
 
[ASST. EDITOR'S NOTE: We're happy to tell you the Kickstarter goal for the film has been met!--LD] We’ve all had someone or something that greatly influenced our lives while we were growing toward adulthood.  Sometimes that may have been a parent, a teacher, or maybe a friend’s parent. For lots of us, it was someone on TV...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
After three days of play, the leader at the PGA Championship is Jason Day, with a three-round total of 15-under par. Jordan Spieth, who has won two majors already this year and barely missed winning a third, is in second place two strokes back, at 13-under. That alone will make today’s final an exciting prospect. But there are plenty of other talented golfers within striking distance, including Justin Rose and Branden Grace at 12-under. TNT begins coverage at 11 a.m. ET, and CBS takes over
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
Prime-time musical concert specials aren’t what they used to be – because if they were, they’d generate bigger ratings, and wouldn’t be relegated to the dog days of August. But here’s one – an imported concert from England, where Ed Sheeran drew massive enough audiences in July to fill Wembley Stadium three sold-out nights running. On opening night, his special surprise guest was Elton John, who joined him on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Thi
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Parts 1 and 2 of 6. Oscar Isaac stars as a Yonkers politician in this fact-based story from David Simon and his collaborators, who include director Paul Haggis. It’s a detailed examination of what went wrong, and right, when a judge ordered the politicians of Yonkers, NY to enforce a federal ruling about the integrated placement of low-income housing. It’s a story, in this telling, that demands, yet rewards, close attention. For my full review, see Bianculli&rsqu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
SEASON FINALE: I feel like this series, wonderful as it is, is just getting started – and here it is, presenting its final show of the season. In it, the Hawkins family defies a police search and tries to hide and protect the fugitive “synths” – while the synths, and some of the humans, struggle to stay alive. (And what happened in last week’s episode, in that regard, was particularly touching.)
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
Now that Masters and Johnson are becoming household names, things are getting really interesting. They’re becoming hotel names as well, and their sudden celebrity status doesn’t exactly help them get away in private. Also tonight, a famous couple checks in to the Masters and Johnson “laboratory,” which is looking more and more like a hotel room – for good reasons. And they’re not the only other couple getting closer this week…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 
Tonight’s installment is episode nine, and is titled “Just a Little Crazy Talk.” In this half-hour, though, there’s lots of crazy talk – and, even for a show that concerns the military, a lot of guns.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
16
 
 

On Sunday, HBO presents the latest drama from The Wire creator David Simon. Not surprisingly, it’s complex, thought-provoking, meaningful – and very entertaining…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
15
 
 
In focusing on Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as the day’s featured star, TCM is stressing the sound, rather than silent, movies, and includes all four of his most famous roles. While the 24-hour salute begins at 6 a.m. ET, the quartet of major classics begins at 1:45 p.m. ET with 1947’s Sinbad the Sailor (opposite Maureen O’Hara, pictured), followed immediately at 4 p.m. ET by 1939’s Gunga Din (opposite Cary Grant). Then, in prime time, it’s another powerful double feature:
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
15
 
 
Afternoon storms wreaked enough havoc at yesterday’s Round 2 of the PGA Championship to knock over the on-course scoreboard, and ended up suspending play until this morning. So after the last of the Round 2 players complete their 18 holes, the golfers making the cut to today’s day three begin competing. What it means is more pressure, more uncertainty – and, on a single day of TV coverage, more golf. At 2 p.m. ET, the action in Round 3 shifts to CBS.