MINISERIES PREMIERE: This new six-part adaptation of the classic Joseph Heller WWII novel, one of my favorite books as an impressionable teen reader, takes full advantage of the miniseries form to get deeper into the book – making it darker and more meaningful as it goes on, with the missions required to fly and the body count slowly but steadily rising. The young soldiers are mostly relatively fresh faces, including Christopher Abbott as Yossarian, but watch for certain officers who are played by scene-stealing consummate stars, such as George Clooney and Kyle Chandler. This Catch-22 shows fidelity not only to Heller’s absurdly comic dialogue, but to the increasing dread of wartime service. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, listen today on your local public radio station, or visit the Fresh Air website later this afternoon. And for reviews here on TVWW, see Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes and David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

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