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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

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

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
 
 
2017
Feb
28
FX'S 'TABOO' HAS BEEN A DARK BUT WORTHWHILE DIVE By Eric Gould
 
 
Taboo’s tales of old empire corruption, oppressed underclass, occult tourism and last week’s immersion into torture porn hasn’t been family fare, to put it mildly... And yet, the series has continued to fascinate with its dark beauty...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
28
MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THANK GOD FOR JOKES By David Bianculli
 
 
SPECIAL PREMIERE: Netflix has been signing more and more comics lately to headline comedy specials, suddenly rivaling HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central as a major player in this regard. Tonight, Netflix gets first dibs on bringing Mike Birbiglia’s well-received one-man stage show to TV. Netflix’s Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes, which streams beginning today, is the answer to a prayer. It may be only Birbiglia who was praying, but hey…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
28
THE VOICE By David Bianculli
 
 
CYCLE PREMIERE: The two-night cycle premiere continues, with Gwen Stefani joining Blake Shelton (her present significant other), Alicia Keys, and Adam Levine, returning judges from the previous cycle. This is the Blind Auditions portion of the series – still, after all this time and all these cycles, my favorite part.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
28
THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE By David Bianculli
 
 
Humphrey Bogart stars in this 1948 John Huston movie, Walter Huston almost steals it from under him as a grizzled prospector, and Alfonso Bedoya (pictured) gets to deliver the classic line, “I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” TCM is up to the Ts in its alphabetical month-long Oscar salute, and this film really does fit the term Treasure to a T.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
28
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO CONGRESS By David Bianculli
 
 
Back in 2009, appearing before a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama was outlining his plans for health care reform when one member of the audience, Republican House member Joe Wilson, shouted out, “You lie!” That wasn’t a State of the Union Address (Obama had given that earlier in the year) – and technically, neither is tonight’s Joint Session address by President Donald Trump. But eight years later, President Trump is in the same hall, addressing the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
28
TABOO By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Tom Hardy, as James Delaney, has been through hell lately – and tonight, comes out the other side, squaring off against Jonathan Pryce’s Stuart Strange for a bloody good finale. (Insert comma if you like.) Tom Hardy stars. For a full review, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
27
OSCARS 2017: BIGGEST MISTAKE IN AWARDS SHOW HISTORY By David Bianculli
 
 

The climax of Sunday’s 89th Academy Awards on ABC was the most amazing ending in televised awards show history. It was also the biggest mistake in awards show history, by far. But before long, it also will become the most-viewed moment in Oscar history…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
27
BILL PAXTON -- AN APPRECIATION By David Hinckley
 
 
You can walk down the street of almost any American town and see a thousand people who look like Bill Paxton...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
27
‘THE OBAMA YEARS: THE POWER OF WORDS’ WOULD BE STRONGER IF IT INCLUDED MORE OF HIM ACTUALLY SPEAKING By David Hinckley
 
 
A new Smithsonian Channel special makes such a strong case for former President Barack Obama’s speechmaking skills that it’s frustrating the special doesn’t include more of them...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
27
ACORN DEBUTS ‘CODE OF A KILLER,’ A SHOW ABOUT CRIME AND DNA WITHOUT THE BELLS AND WHISTLES By David Hinckley
 
 
Acorn TV’s latest import, Code of a Killer, defies most rules of contemporary TV crime drama...
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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