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

THE FINAL BOWL MATH TEST: DIVIDING 4 TO GET 1 By Gerald Jordan

A tuxedo isn’t necessary, although it does seem quite appropriate tonight. When the nation’s top four college football teams collide on New Year’s eve to decide who’ll meet two weeks from now in suburban Phoenix to crown the national champion, this day – more than all the others during this ESPN-prolonged bowl buffet – matters...

2015

Dec

THE LEGACY OF 'DOWNTON ABBEY': AN INCUBATOR OF FEMINISM By David Hinckley

But by the time the most popular series in PBS history wraps up this March, empowered women could be one of its strongest legacies...

2015

Dec

THE TWLIGHT ZONE MARATHON By David Bianculli

Whenever you read this, tune to Syfy, and you’ll see an episode of Rod Serling’s classic series The Twilight Zone – then another, then another, all presented in chronological order. Imagine, if you will, a New Year’s tradition that, this year, offers up the entire series, in order. rather than random episodes presented out of sequence.

2015

Dec

THE MARX BROTHERS MARATHON By David Bianculli

All day until 8 p.m. ET, tune to TCM, and you’ll see a Marx Brothers movie. What better way to end a year? Their classic A Night at the Opera, from 1935, is at noon ET, and my favorite, their 1933 Duck Soup (pictured), is presented at 6:45 p.m. ET. But whenever you tune in, you’ll laugh. That’s a TVWW promise…

2015

Dec

DICK CLARK'S PRIMETIME NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE 2016 By David Bianculli

Split between Los Angeles and New York, and Fergie and Ryan Seacrest, here’s the now-tenured New Year’s Eve TV celebration. Times Square is the province of Seacrest – and his free-range assistant correspondent, Jenny McCarthy. Scheduled to perform live: One Direction, Demi Lovato, Carrie Underwood and others…

2015

Dec

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC NEW YEAR’S EVE: LA VIE PARISIENNE By David Bianculli

This year’s musical celebration takes on even more importance. Following in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, this year’s New York Philharmonic musical special is an all-French program. The compositions performed include Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess, as well as Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals – for which Nathan Lane provides the introductory poems. Check local listings.

2015

Dec

NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE By David Bianculli

Over on CNN, Anderson Cooper rings in the New Year, trying to inject dignity into the CNN proceedings – while co-host Kathy Griffith, for the most part, tries to do just the opposite.

2015

Dec

MOZART IN THE JUNGLE By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Last year at this time, this series and Transparent helped Amazon establish itself as a serious contender in the original programming streaming business. Today, Amazon Prime drops Season 2 of Mozart in the Jungle, its vibrant series dramatizing the artistry and intrigue behind the scenes of a symphony orchestra. Lola Kirke stars as Haley, an oboe player who earns a chair in the fictitious New York Symphony. For a full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

2015

Dec

I GET THAT A LOT By David Bianculli

SPECIAL: Once again, CBS presents an end-of-year I Get That a Lot special, in which celebrities are thrown into menial places and jobs, and toil there until someone asks them if they know they look just like… themselves. It’s a vanity special, and an even more diluted TV idea than the oldest Candid Camera gags – but on a slow TV night, it works. But really, would anyone have a problem identifying the “real” Kristin Chenoweth, for example?

Posts 1-10 of 203 1 2 3 4 5

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