The 70th annual Peabody Awards have just been announced -- and once again, the winners are a heady reminder of how great TV can be when it tries... This year, that would include such worthy recipients as FX's Justified, TNT's Men of Certain Age, and three documentaries from currently beleaguered National Public Radio...

2011

Mar

STUDENT BLOG #7: SEE A LITTLE, LIKE A LOT -- WATCH THE STARZ, IT'S 'CAMELOT' By David Bianculli

[The latest guest column from a Rowan University student is another from Rich Greenhalgh, who in the past has tried to explain the content, intent and appeal of such things as TV zombies and imported anime. Today, he takes on the newest version of the King Arthur legend -- Camelot, which premieres Friday at 10 p.m. ET on the Starz network -- and claims it's a very good fit for Starz, and for him...DB]

2011

Mar

SHOWTIME'S 'UNITED STATES OF TARA': LIKE ITS HEROINE, IT'S GOT MORE THAN ONE PERSONALITY By David Bianculli

The third season of Showtime's United States of Tara begins tonight at 10:30 ET -- and this is the year this series vaults to the top echelon of TV's most compelling, complex current series. It may be categorized as a comedy -- but this year, while the laughs remain abundant, Tara's various identity crises make this half-hour show as gripping and thrilling, and as impressive, as an episode of Dexter...

2011

Mar

HBO'S 'MILDRED PIERCE' REMAKE TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF MINISERIES FORMAT By David Bianculli

For many decades now, every time I start previewing a new TV miniseries, it's with a dual sense of anticipation and dread. Anticipation, because when done well, this is one of my favorite TV genres. Dread, because when you know from the first minute that it's probably a clunker, a multi-hour miniseries is a chunk of your life you'll never get back...HBO's "Mildred Pierce" lets you know from the very first minute that it's something special. And it is...

2011

Mar

HBO 'BIG LOVE' FINALE REVIEW: DON'T CLICK HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO DISCUSS DETAILS By David Bianculli

HBO's Big Love ended Sunday night...If you've already seen it, read on past the jump. If not, and don't want the details revealed and discussed, stop right here, and come back to this column once you've done your homework. But once again, for the record, the newsman in me resents having to wait for the slowpokes. If a show's finale means that much to you, watch it live...

2011

Mar

DO YOU HAVE TO BE AN IDIOT TO BUY A NEW PHONE PLAN? OR JUST LOOK LIKE ONE ON TV? By David Bianculli

One's an isolated event, two's a pattern, three's a crowd, and more than that's a definite trend. So here's a new TV trend: In commercials for new phones and phone plans, the people using them tend to be insufferable idiots. So is that the target audience? Or just the unavoidable conclusion?...

2011

Mar

'BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER' -- GREAT ALBUM, AND NOW TERRIFIC TV, TOO By David Bianculli

The new 40th-anniversary reissue of Simon & Garfunkel's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water LP is something you really, truly owe it to yourself to see. Yes, see. Because, while the music on the CD is as timeless and brilliant as ever, the two TV specials on the accompanying DVD are what make this new mixed-media release a gold mine, rather than a mere upgrade...

2011

Mar

I SAID IT FIRST, AND NOW NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AGREES: HE SHOULD HOST A TV VARIETY SHOW By David Bianculli

Two years ago, after Neil Patrick Harris delivered standout turns as host of The TV Land Awards and, for CBS, the much bigger stage of the 2009 Tony Awards, I wrote the following sentence of praise: "If Justin Timberlake doesn't want to be the guy to single-handedly save the TV variety show, maybe Neil Patrick Harris does." And now, it turns out, there's no "maybe" about it. He wants the job -- and CBS should be the network to give it to him...

2011

Mar

SOME PLEDGE SHOWS ARE WELL WORTH WATCHING -- IF YOU CAN FIND THEM By David Bianculli

Want to see a new televised concert version of Billy Joel's 2008 farewell to Shea Stadium? You should, because it's a true TV treat. Finding it, though, is more of a trick. Like other good but hard-to-pin-down public TV offerings this month, it's a pledge special -- the TV-scheduling version of Whack-a-Mole...

2011

Mar

WHY I LIKE NBC'S NEW 'AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT' SERIES -- BUT FIRST, WHY I LIKE OUR TVWW CORRESPONDENTS By David Bianculli

I'm about to provide a review of NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, which premieres Sunday (8 p.m. ET). And as a veteran TV critic, an amateur chef, and a fan of Bravo's Top Chef (whose producers created this new reality-competition series), I feel eminently qualified to do so...

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