2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
2001
 
 
 
 
2000
 
 
 
 
1998
 
 
 
 
1990
 
 
 
 
1989
 
 
 
 
1987
 
 
 
 
1985
 
 
 
 
1982
 
 
 
 
1980
 
 
 

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
 
 
2012
Sep
30
THE SUNDAY DILEMMA: SO MUCH TV, SO LITTLE TIME... By David Bianculli
 
 

I love quality TV as much as the next guy. More than the next guy, probably. But on Sunday nights, even I find myself saying enough is enough. Or, maybe, too much…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
ONCE UPON A TIME By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: One of the few new bright spots on broadcast TV last season, Once Upon a Time took its fairy-tale premise, and its Disney imprimatur, and emerged with the best mythic mystery series since Lost. That enchanting season ended with a cliffhanger, as all the residents of Storybrooke were freed from their amnesiac spells, and Mr. Gold – a.k.a. Rumpelstiltskin – enveloped the town with a mysterious purple mist. What will the mist do? Tonight’s Season 2 opener, obvious
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
CALL THE MIDWIFE By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Everyone who enjoyed Downton Abbey should make a special effort to catch this new British import, which begins a six-week run tonight on PBS. This BBC production is set in London’s East End in the 1950s – the same time and place that, in England, inspired the long-running soap opera EastEnders. But the focus this time, based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, is a woman who worked as a midwife in the poor section of London in the Fifties. Young Jessica Raine plays the
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last season, we learned that the dangerous man chasing Kalinda, and now Alicia, was Kalinda’s husband. Tonight we find out more about him – and meet him in the flesh, rather than as a scary voice on the phone.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
DEXTER By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last season ended with Dexter’s sister, Debra, witnessing her brother plunging a sword into the torso of the Doomsday Killer. The new season begins where that left off, with Debra holding a gun on Dexter and demanding an explanation. Talk quickly, Dex. For a full review of this season premiere, and of Homeland, see or hear my report on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
HOMELAND By David Bianculli
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last week at this time, Showtime’s Homeland was racking up one Emmy win after another. This week, it begins Season 2, and immediately proves that those wins were no fluke. Six months have passed in the narrative since we last saw Carrie (Claire Danes) and Brody (Damian Lewis), but this first episode of the season gets us, and them, up to speed in no time. For a full review, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
30
1960: ABC BREAKS NEW TV GROUND WITH 'THE FLINTSTONES' By Christy Slewinski
 
 
On this day in 1960, ABC introduced The Flintstones, TV's most popular Stone Age family...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
'BREAKING BAD BANTER' ON 'THE COLBERT REPORT' By Christy Slewinski
 
 
The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert challenged his guest, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, to a “Meth Off,” to see just how many street names for methamphetamines the showrunner could recall...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
HOMELAND MARATHON By David Bianculli
 
 
Coming late to the Homeland party, or just want a refresher? Basking in its multiple Emmy wins for this stellar drama series, Showtime has decided to preface tomorrow’s Season 2 premiere by giving viewers a chance to watch all of Season 1 in a conveniently scheduled 12-hour, 12-episode marathon. It starts at noon ET, ends at midnight, and includes 12 hours of fabulous television. For my review of the Season 2 premiere, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2012
Sep
29
DOCTOR WHO IN THE U.S. By David Bianculli
 
 
BBC America has been presenting Doctor Who specials almost weekly, and here’s another one. This one is a nod to all the times the Doctor has steered his Tardis to somewhere (and somewhen) in the United States, from Central Park to the wild wild West.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
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