Hollywood mourns, and Turner Classic Movies shuffles its schedule. Tributes to both movie/TV director Arthur Penn, who died Tuesday at 88, and golden-age star Tony Curtis, who died Wednesday at 85, have been inserted into TCM's October lineup...

2010

Sep

'30 ROCK' ROASTS TV CHEF By Tom Brinkmoeller

It was easy to wonder whether something of a gastronomic nor'easter was brewing last week in the exclusive East Hampton community in which Ina Garten lives, after "30 Rock" trained its parody rifle on The Barefoot Contessa herself and her husband...

2010

Sep

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOU! AND YOU, AND YOU... By David Bianculli

As we near the end of 2010, television certainly doesn't seem that interested in remembering its own past, much less celebrating it. But someone should... so here we are. Did you know, for example, that today -- Wednesday, Sept. 29 -- is the golden anniversary of the premiere of My Three Sons?... Or that, this weekend, The Andy Griffith Show also turns 50?...

2010

Sep

BUSY DAY: HOSTING 'FRESH AIR,' TEACHING FILM AND TV, PUBLISHING PAPERBACK AND WRITING FOR TVWW... AAAAND LOVING IT! By David Bianculli

Today's such a busy day, even by my standards, that I barely have time to type what's going on. But since I do, I will. Starting with the fact that today, I host NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and conduct two TV-related interviews. We start off with Terence Winter, creator of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and conclude with Jim Parsons, Emmy-winning star of CBS's The Big Bang Theory...

2010

Sep

NBC'S 'UNDERCOVERS' SIGNALS CHANGE IN NETWORK "CREATIVE REASONING" By Gerald Jordan

The conversation still is vivid in my mind. CBS had just previewed Scarecrow and Mrs. King for television critics from across the country and the hour-long drama looked as though it would be popular...The time was 1983, and African American actors still were pushed to the margins when television networks looked to fill leading dramatic roles. The reasons, though, seemed flimsy...

2010

Sep

HOLY SMOKE AND MIRRORS By Tom Brinkmoeller

I can't figure this one out. A recent CBS news release announced the network was planning to broadcast a weekend daytime religious program called "Faith in Action: Young People Making a Difference." I didn't know such things still were being made...

2010

Sep

CANCELED: FOX'S 'LONE STAR' By Diane Werts

Wow. That didn't take long. Lone Star is dead. Not after a lone episode, but after just two. Fox plugged the plug Tuesday by scheduling Lie to Me for an early return next week in the Texas saga's Monday 9 p.m. ET time slot. Critics like me extolled Lone Star, but apparently we're the only ones who watched it...

2010

Sep

SPOILER ALERT: I'M ABOUT TO RANT ABOUT SPOILER ALERTS By David Bianculli

This is getting ridiculous, this "Spoiler Alert" hypersensitivity. Now that VCRs and DVRs and DVDs have given everyone the opportunity to watch what they want to watch when they want to watch it, now some of them want to be protected from their enjoyment being spoiled before they DO watch it. Within limits, that makes sense But guess what, folks? There ARE limits...

2010

Sep

IN THE 'TENTH INNING' OF PBS'S 'BASEBALL,' KEN BURNS PITCHES SOME FRESH HISTORY By Mark Bianculli

Let me begin this article the way I imagine Ken Burns would want me to -- with some context. In 1993, William Jefferson Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States. In the Middle East, PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed a peace agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In Walpole, NH, and in New York City, filmmaker Ken Burns was putting the finishing touches on his definitive 18-hour documentary about America's pastime, Baseball. And in Philadelphia...

2010

Sep

HE'S KENNY BLEEPING POWERS! By Eric Gould

Eastbound & Down returns this Sunday (10:30 p.m. ET on HBO) with Danny McBride taking another turn as the obnoxious, washed-up major league pitcher who looks like he's getting another chance at pro ball in the Mexican league...

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