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

 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
CBS’ partnership with the Kennedy Center Honors dates to their inception back in 1978... and its latest agreement should be applauded as one of those rare instances in which a broadcast network bows to class rather than big ratings...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
Here’s my architectural digest of this episode: If you’ve flown a lot, you’re probably seen some of Eero Saarinen’s buildings and designs. He designed the airport terminal at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles and the TWA Flight Center at JFK. Oh, and the St. Louis Gateway Arch? That’s his, too. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
This 1944 movie is one of my absolute favorite comedies, and Cary Grant goes at it with an all-out abandon that really works beautifully. His reactions and double takes are like a Tex Avery cartoon come to life – and with good reason. It’s a movie version of a stage play about homicidal spinster sisters, who invite unfortunate men into their parlor to poison them. And it’s hilarious.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
One of my favorite TV shows of the year, this special never disappoints, and always instructs. Tonight’s honorees, as always taken from the widest swath of show business, are Al Pacino, the Eagles, Martha Argerich, Mavis Staples and James Taylor. If you’re in for inspiration, and some wonderful music and comedy, this is the place. For a full review, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
NBC is repeating the series pilot of its popular new drama series – so if you’ve managed to go this long without learning about its central secret, just hide from the Internet a few more hours.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
27
 
 
This edition of Frontline examines the refugee crisis facing Europe, but does so at ground level, using its crews to follow first-person stories of suffering, relocation, oppression and, sometimes, hope. For a full review, see Alex Strachan's TV That Matters. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
26
 
 
Fans of Trio, the fleeting musical collaboration among Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, can find a rare glimpse of the group in action Monday night on getTV...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
26
 
 
Well, I sure screwed this up. It figures I couldn’t escape from 2016 without getting sick one last time. This one appears to be a standard nasty cold – no hospital visits required – but it sure did knock me out for the count last night and, to this point, today. Sorry today’s Best Bets are posted so late, especially since they arrive too late to point to the absolute beginning of this outstanding Breaking Bad marathon. Mea culpa. To Keith Robin, and all you other wonderfu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
26
 
 
No, it isn’t, because this was broadcast live earlier this month. But it’s a good chance to revisit, or visit, the latest staging of NBC’s live theatrical productions, a tradition that goes back on TV more than 60 years. Here’s to tradition, and history – because I go back more than 60 years, too...  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Dec
26
 
 
This one-man play, billed as a comedy, technically is neither “one man” nor wholly comic. Written by Duncan Macmillan and performed by Jonny Donahoe, it’s a play in which the audience around Donahoe is called on, many times, to participate. It’s also a play in which the leading character tries to process the confusion, as a child, of his mother’s suicide attempt – the first of many. The boy’s reaction is to compile what he hopes is a persuasive list of t