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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

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TV That Matters

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Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

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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
 
 
2015
Dec
31
HAPPY NEW YEAR! USPS CELEBRATES WITH A 'STAR TREK' STAMP By David Bianculli
 
 

The U.S. Postal Service waited until the end of 2015 to announce its stamp roster for 2016, but one set of stamps deserves immediate special attention on TVWW. It’s a stylishly designed quartet of stamps devoted to the golden anniversary of Star Trek…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Dec
24
THAT TIME OF YEAR: MY TV TOP 10, BOTTOM 5, AND A 'FRESH AIR' CHAT WITH TERRY GROSS By David Bianculli
 
 

It’s that time of the year: holiday visits and visitors, annual Top 10 TV lists, and, tonight on NPR’s Fresh Air, my end-of-2015 debriefing with Terry Gross. Lists, links and holiday greetings follow…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Dec
23
ANOTHER GREAT YEAR FOR TV: DAVID BIANCULLI ON THE BEST (AND WORST) OF 2015 By David Bianculli
 
 
(From NPR) When it came to new programming, broadcast TV didn't impress critic David Bianculli much this year. But if you add in cable and streaming services, then the story changes...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Dec
16
A LONG TIME AGO, FROM A TALK SHOW FAR, FAR AWAY By David Bianculli
 
 
With the new Star Wars hitting theaters (perhaps you’ve heard?), there’s no better time to revisit what I consider the funniest Star Wars lampoon of all time, hands down. Or paws down, since it involves Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the acerbic canine puppet alter ego of comedian and writer Robert Smigel. In May 2002, upon the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Dec
8
2015 VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
This year’s scheduled musical performers include Selena Gomez and Ellie Goulding, and the Victoria’s Secret models this year include first-timer Gigi Hadid. She’s pictured here, for identification purposes – but personally, I only watch these Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show specials for the articles.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Dec
3
NETFLIX WISHES YOU 'A VERY MURRAY CHRISTMAS' By David Bianculli
 
 

You might expect a Christmas special by Bill Murray to be an entertaining mixture of songs, comedy and special guests – and his new Netflix special is precisely that. But his A Very Murray Christmas is unexpected in at least one respect: It’s irony-free…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
28
OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS READY - AND THERE'S A (FREE) WAY YOU CAN GIVE TO US, TOO By David Bianculli
 
 

This time of year, what do The Great American Dream Machine, Better Call Saul and dozens of other great DVD boxed sets have in common? They’re all gift suggestions from myself, here or on NPR’s Fresh Air, or from other TVWW editors and writers…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
20
TWO NEW SERIES STREAM FRIDAY, AND BOTH ARE WELL WORTH WATCHING - 'MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE' ESPECIALLY By David Bianculli
 
 

The best new series of the year is about to drop on Amazon Friday, with every episode of Season 1 available at once: The Man in the High Castle, based on the Philip K. Dick novel…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Nov
6
THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE By David Bianculli
 
 
I’ve been waiting for a collection of this groundbreaking 1971-72 PBS series to be released on home video for decades – ever since I bought my first Sony Betamax in 1977. Well, it took a while, but here it is...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Oct
19
WHY AND HOW KEVIN SPACEY CHANNELED JIMMY STEWART FOR CAROL BURNETT ON COLBERT'S 'LATE SHOW' By David Bianculli
 
 

One of the best bits to date from CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be repeated Tuesday: Kevin Spacey’s literally poetic salute to Carol Burnett. And I recently got the whole behind-the-scenes story, from both Burnett and Spacey themselves…

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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