Even if you were hoping for the timeliness of The Social Network to upset the staidness of The King's Speech at Sunday's 83d Annual Academy Awards, the ABC telecast provided drama until the end -- and lots of nice moments, and story angles, and even some welcome changes to carry over for next year...

2011

Feb

FOR A VALUABLE SECOND OPINION, LOOK TO ENGLAND -- AND TO BBC NEWS AND RICKY GERVAIS By David Bianculli

With the Oscars arriving Sunday night, and several parts of the world in upheaval from revolutions or earthquakes, there's no better time to look for a different perspective than now, and no better place than England -- with BBC News for the latter, and Ricky Gervais for the former...

2011

Feb

'AMERICAN IDOL' HAS FOUND ITS HEART, AND ITS SALVATION, IN JENNIFER LOPEZ By David Bianculli

Beatles night on Fox's American Idol didn't please please me -- the judges were much more impressed than I. But at the end, as the trio of judges began whittling the ranks down to the final 24 (a process that continues Thursday night at 8 ET), Jennifer Lopez became the new heart of Idol by being a very stern judge -- of herself...

2011

Feb

NEWS, COMEDY, DRAMA -- BROADCAST TV'S SHINING EXAMPLES OF EACH By David Bianculli

Except for sports, most broadcast TV genres just aren't as dominant, or even as good, as they used to be. But though cable has grabbed most of the ground and momentum, there are still islands of excellence where broadcast television proves, week in and week out, it still can present the best. Ladies and gentlemen, as Exhibits A through C, I give you: 60 Minutes for news, Modern Family for comedy, and The Good Wife for Drama...

2011

Feb

SHOWTIME'S 'EPISODES': NO SECOND SEASON YET, BUT THERE BETTER BE ONE By David Bianculli

Showtime hasn't yet committed to a second season of its charming and clever Episodes series, which presents its first-season finale Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. ET -- but should, and fast. When a show comes out of the box this impressively, and wraps up its first batch of installments with such compelling brilliance, viewers deserve more...

2011

Feb

ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON: ON 'JEOPARDY,' COMPUTER BITES MAN By David Bianculli

Ken Jennings, until now the best contestant ever to play Jeopardy!, was trounced by IBM's Watson supercomputer in this week's two-game, three-day duel -- but in the final "Final Jeopardy," accepted defeat in a way that was lovably, laughably human. Beneath his correct answer of "Bram Stoker," Jennings added, "I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords"...

2011

Feb

ANOTHER PROPOSAL TO CUT FUNDING FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING? WHAT A BIG BIRD-BRAINED IDEA By David Bianculli

This one was inevitable: With Republicans in Congress winning seats in the 2010 midterm election and feeling their oats, and with budget cuts a hot-button issue on both sides of the aisle, Republicans are proposing a complete elimination of public funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money to both PBS and public radio. What's a supporter of public broadcasting to do? Simple: Remember your history...

2011

Feb

MOIST EYES, HEAVY HEART, CAN'T WATCH: 'FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS' DELIVERS A BITTERSWEET FAREWELL By David Bianculli

No spoilers here, since NBC viewers won't see the finale of Friday Night Lights for about half a year. But DirecTV subscribers -- the ones who spent Wednesday night watching the final episode of the five-year drama about family and football life in a small Texas town -- witnessed a loving, thoughtful, inspirational ending to an equally loving, thoughtful and inspirational series. The only thing that put the bitter in its bittersweet is that it's over, for good...

2011

Feb

WITH RETURN OF FX SERIES, ENTHUSIASM, PRAISE AND LOYALTY ARE 'JUSTIFIED' By David Bianculli

Last year's first-season finale of FX's Justified didn't end merely with a cliffhanger. It ended in the middle of a chase scene -- and as the down-home law-and-disorder drama series begins its second season tonight (Wednesday) at 10 ET, it picks up right where it left off. But before long, we're thrown into a whole new story line of second chances, new villains, and an artful mix of comedy, drama and character that does series inspiration Elmore Leonard proud...

2011

Feb

SHAWN RYAN SWIMS UPSTREAM, GOING FROM FX TO FOX, WITH NEW 'CHICAGO CODE' COP SERIES By David Bianculli

Most TV producers, and most quality TV shows, are fleeing from broadcast to cable TV in droves. (Or, at least, mini-droves.) Opportunities are better there, restrictions are looser, and many of the programs are more ambitious. But Shawn Ryan, who helped lead that revolution with FX's The Shield, is going against the grain -- by moving to broadcast TV for his new cop series, The Chicago Code, which premieres tonight at 9 ET on Fox...

Posts 1-10 of 12 1 2

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption