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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
 
 
2008
Oct
16
FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WAS...A DEBATE! AND A GREAT ONE... By David Bianculli
 
 
Wednesday's third and final presidential debate of the 2008 election campaign was something we haven't seen this year, or in many previous election cycles. This debate, in both structure and execution, was... an actual debate...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
15
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS ON FOX, POSSIBLE "HAIL MARY" PASS ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE By David Bianculli
 
 
The last time John McCain felt great pressure to do something to gain attention and shift momentum in his direction, he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. So what will he do tonight, when he and Barack Obama debate one last time, before the largest TV audience available in one place before the election? Who knows? Which is why the debate really does qualify as must-see TV...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
14
TONIGHT'S "FRONTLINE" IS TRULY "CHOICE" TELEVISION By David Bianculli
 
 
One day before the final presidential debate of 2008, the PBS "Frontline" series presents an invaluable primer: Its latest installment of "The Choice," this time profiling candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Don't miss it...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
13
BOB SCHIEFFER: HAVING CANDIDATES SCRAP DEBATE RULES WOULD BE "THE DREAM" By David Bianculli
 
 
While interviewing CBS's Bob Schieffer for my "Broadcasting & Cable" column, about his preparations and expectations for Wednesday's final 2008 presidential debate, I threw him what might have been a curve, but which he caught gracefully and gratefully...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
10
FUNNY THING: POLITICS MAKES COMEDIANS WORK OVERTIME By David Bianculli
 
 
The 2008 presidential election campaign is no laughing matter. Except, on TV, it really is. Big time. Tina Fey, on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," has scored a coup for the ages by devastatingly imitating Sarah Palin. Jon Stewart, on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," just canceled a planned vacation week next week, because this was too volatile -- and politically rich -- a news cycle to ignore...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
9
LOTS OF NEW SHOWS TONIGHT, BUT ONLY SOME ARE WORTHWHILE By David Bianculli
 
 
Tonight's biggest must-see show is one that NBC didn't send for preview, because it couldn't. It's the premiere of the first of several October prime-time Thursday special editions of "Weekend Update," broadcast live at 9:30 p.m. ET. Plan your night around that, for starters. As for the rest...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
8
WHO CAME OUT AHEAD IN THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE? "THAT ONE..." By David Bianculli
 
 
In the post-debate analysis of Tuesday's second prime-time faceoff between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, Jeff Greenfield told Katie Couric on CBS that the key water-cooler topic the next day was certain to be McCain's dismissive reference to his Democratic opponent as "that one." Good call...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
6
TINA FEY AS SARAH PALIN: ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS IN THE "SNL" POLITICAL PANTHEON By David Bianculli
 
 
She's only been strutting her stuff on the national stage for a month now, yet she gets more confident, more riveting, and more anticipated with each appearance. She's amazing to watch, and more talked about, right now, than anyone else with whom she's staring the stage...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
3
DISSECTING THE DEBATE: ONE MORE EPISODE IN THIS SEASON'S BEST TV DRAMA By David Bianculli
 
 
I'm hesitant to dissect Thursday's vice presidential debate in political terms. But in TV terms -- looking at performances, drama and its place as the most compelling television drama of the season -- there's a lot worth noting...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2008
Oct
2
TONIGHT'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: THREE PREDICTIONS, ONE RECOMMENDATION By David Bianculli
 
 
Just to set the table for tonight's one and only vice presidential debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, here are three predictions... and one recommendation...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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