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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

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All Along the Watchtower

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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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TV Feeds My Family

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TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

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TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2020
Jan
31
OF STUDENT FRATERNITIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES: THIS IS NETFLIX'S 'ARES' By Alex Strachan
 
 
Ares, an eight-episode Dutch thriller from Netflix about a young college student trying to fit in with the "in" crowd, has a simple premise that's much better in the execution than a single-line synopsis would have you believe...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
BOJACK HORSEMAN By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES RETURN: The last half of this animated show’s final season begins tonight, with its equine protagonist seemingly making it through rehab and headed for better times. But no matter how hard he tries, Bojack always will wake up with a horse’s head in his bed…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
TAYLOR SWIFT: MISS AMERICANA By David Bianculli
 
 
DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL: This new Netflix documentary special is impressively personal, including not only very early home videos and peeks at her teenage diaries, but frank discussion of her eating disorder problems and personal insecurities. “I’m only here because I work hard and I’m nice to people.” And rather than limit the content to onstage and backstage footage, which is on view enough to attest to both her popularity and talent, Miss Americana includes, and
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
U.S. SENATE PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT TRIAL By David Bianculli
 
 
By the end of the night, one commentator said this morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, all this could be over. As I type this, it looks that way – which makes today’s proceedings, and votes, and TV coverage, especially significant. And historic.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli
 
 
It’s quite possible that, as Bill Maher begins his monologue on live TV, the verdict in the Senate Impeachment trial of President Trump will be delivered. That’s a reason to watch. Other reasons: Maher’s scheduled guests tonight include Pete Buttigieg and Rick Wilson.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
This week’s scheduled guests on The Graham Norton Show are some of the most entertaining and unguarded in this show’s history: Robert Downey, Jr., Emma Thompson, and Hugh Laurie. Individually, they’ve been a riot. Together? Who knows? And also on the bill: Terry Gilliam, who pays tribute to his late Monty Python comedy mate, Terry Jones.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
31
'THE GOOD PLACE' GAVE US A WONDERFUL ENDING FILLED WITH SUBTLE AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE LESSONS By David Hinckley
 
 
To say The Good Place had the right ending is not to say it had the ending a lot of its fans wanted...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
30
STAR TREK: PICARD By David Bianculli
 
 
The second episode of this new Star Trek series establishes more of the conflicts and characters – especially the sort of Star Fleet equivalent of a “Deep State” conspiracy. It still takes a while before this drama gets off the ground, literally as well as figuratively. Yet with Patrick Stewart back as Jean-Luc Picard to entertain the next generation, it all holds up, and holds our interest. At least for now.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
30
U.S. SENATE PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT TRIAL By David Bianculli
 
 
The second day of questions and answers is televised today – after which, based on latest reports, things could move swiftly towards a vote or two, and a conclusion to this latest chapter in the history of the Trump presidency. The latest, but probably not the last…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2020
Jan
30
THE GOOD PLACE By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES FINALE: The Good Place was atop my list of last year’s Top 10 TV Series, and tonight it ends. It ends with an extended finale, followed by a special reuniting the show’s cast members in a celebratory post-mortem. Or maybe that isn’t the best term to use, since, technically, this entire series was post-mortem. At any rate, Ted Danson gets to wax rhapsodic in a prime-time special about his series that just ended – just as he did back when Cheers c
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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