David Bianculli
David Bianculli is a guest host and TV critic on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A contributor to the show since its inception, he has been a TV critic since 1975.
From 1993 to 2007, Bianculli was a TV critic for the New York Daily News.
Bianculli has written four books: The Platinum Age Of Television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific (2016); Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 2009); Teleliteracy: Taking Television Seriously (1992); and Dictionary of Teleliteracy (1996).
A professor of TV and film at Rowan University, Bianculli is also the founder and editor of the website, TVWorthWatching.com.
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Violence and humor create a complicated character arc in a Netflix series that serves as a prequel, of sorts, to Ken Kesey's famed novel. Sarah Paulson gives a star turn as Mildred, AKA Nurse Ratched.
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A new Peacock documentary chronicles the week in 1968 when Belafonte, then a prominent civil rights advocate, hosted the late night show. Guests included Aretha Franklin and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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TCM's ambitious 14-hour series showcases the work of female filmmakers from around the globe, and provides hundreds of examples of both artistic and technical achievement.
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A new 10-part drama upends the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, presenting a narrative in which the heroes are Black, the setting is the racially divided 1950s, and each episode seems to have its own tone.
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A new CBS All Access cartoon focuses on the ensigns who populate the ship's lower decks — and are charged with mostly menial tasks, like fetching drinks or repairing food replicators.
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The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host, who died July 24, held the Guinness World Record for clocking more hours on camera than anyone else in the history of TV. Originally broadcast in 2011.
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Peacock launches with thousands of hours of old programs, plus a sampling of new ones. Most of the new shows are just average — except for Intelligence and The Capture, which are worth catching.
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Filmed in 2016 when the actors were at the height of their comfort and performance levels, the steadycam and close-ups make the Broadway sensation impressively impactful on the small screen.
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HBO's new 8-part miniseries stars Matthew Rhys in the title role. The show is full of delightful surprises, including its portrayal of Mason as a gumshoe — not an iconic defense attorney.
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Critic David Bianculli recommends the BBC Shakespeare plays, now available on Britbox. He's also been previewing HBO Max, a new streaming service, and the PBS documentary, An Accidental Studio.