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
13
 
 
For the first time, TCM is giving its all-day treatment to Ann-Margret, a salute that begins early in the day, and continues until tomorrow morning. The best quartet of movies begins in prime time, starting at 8 p.m. ET with 1963’s Bye Bye Birdie – if you were a fervent Mad Men fan, doubtlessly you remember the episode in which the opening of Birdie, with Ann-Margret’s effusive young sex appeal, sparked a particularly vibrant ad campaign. Other films shown tonight include 1965&
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
Jordan Spieth won the first two major golf championships of 2015, the Masters and the U.S. Open, yet came one shot short of a playoff bid at the British Open – a “failure” that he says is fueling him as he takes to the course today at the PGA Championship, played this year at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Spieth is ranked No. 2 in the world, but another young golfer, Rory McIlroy, remains ranked No. 1. And Tiger Woods? At this point in his career, the question is whether he can put tog
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
MINISERIES FINALE: This CNN documentary series concludes with a look at music, and its changes and effects, in the 1970s. There’s an awful lot happening in those last pre-MTV years, from Elton John (pictured) and James Taylor to Wings and Fleetwood Mac.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
In tonight’s episode, Griffin Dunne has a witty guest star turn as a therapist to whom Johnny Rock (Denis Leary) and his band visit for the rock-band version of “couples counseling.” Hey, it worked for the Smothers Brothers…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
SEASON FINALE: In tonight’s last episode of the season, the TV version of Marc Maron is ready to shoot his TV pilot (remember when Seinfeld did a story line about Jerry selling his series idea to NBC?). And while Maron ended up on IFC smoothly, and has done some very good things, his TV-universe counterpart has a rockier time of it, as his opening guest drops out.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
SEASON FINALE: This season, again, has only six episodes, but that’s more than enough to immerse us into the world of these characters – and make you feel their emotions. Aden Young’s Daniel Holden has had as tough a time outside of prison as when he was an inmate, and Rectify proves, if nothing else, that the past is something impossible to escape, much less forget.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
13
 
 
Bob Greenblatt, NBC's chairman, took the stage on the last day of the TCA tour today to applause he described as "tepid." Of course, TV critics don't applaud or cheer at these panels, and even if they did, after 18 days, and 100-plus sessions, they wouldn't have the strength...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
12
 
 
Just a reminder: I wasn’t bowled over by this new sitcom, which stars Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner as aggressively abrasive people who like one another, but little else. But it does feature lots of cameos by former and current Saturday Night Live players and others, so it’s not without its merits (as well as demerits). The reminder is that Hulu is rolling out Difficult People, which premiered last week, by presenting two new episodes every Wednesday – and episodes three and
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
12
 
 
Today’s “Summer Under the Stars” star on TCM is Robert Mitchum – and though the entire day and night is full of Mitchum movies, most of them are far from his best. In fact, the most intriguing Robert Mitchum offering of all today comes at 6:45 p.m. ET, when TCM presents Mitchum’s 1971 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. There are moments here that are as awkward as a TV interview can get, right up there with David Letterman’s Late Show interview with Joaquin P
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Aug
12
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new comedy series has gotten lukewarm reviews, but it has a great premise for a romantic sitcom. Kevin (Noah Reid) is working at a dull job, secretly enamored of workmate Audrey (Paige Spara). He gets a new job offer in a different country, and impulsively and drunkenly, on his last day at his old job, writes and mails a letter to Audrey revealing his secret love for her. Why not? Here’s why not: The new job falls through, and Kevin has to slink back into work at his