David Bianculli

David Bianculli appears in the following:

Great New DVD Box Sets: Blasts From The Past And 'Breaking Bad'

Monday, December 23, 2013

In addition to Breaking Bad, critic David Bianculli recommends some rare television treats from the '60s and '70s that are now available on DVD. They include Here's Edie: The Edie Ada...

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Delightful 'Six By Sondheim' Leaves You Wanting Six More

Friday, December 06, 2013

HBO's new TV special is part biography, part music-appreciation lesson and part performance piece. Critic David Bianculli says it's a superbly compiled work, overseen by two of the pe...

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A 'Curb'-Like Comedy And The Return Of 'Breaking Bad'

Friday, August 09, 2013

This weekend, the AMC cable network begins showing the final episodes of its acclaimed drama series Breaking Bad, and launches a new one: Low Winter Sun. Meanwhile, HBO presents its newest made-for-TV movie — this one a comedy, starring and co-written by Larry David.

Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan's series about ...

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This Summer, Vintage TV Shows Thrive On DVD

Monday, July 29, 2013

So much TV, so little time. Even during the summer — when broadcast TV slows down and leaves mostly cable and satellite TV series, and now Netflix, to watch and review — the TV shows on DVD keep coming. And summertime is the perfect time to dive into some of ...

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Laughs And Drama Behind Bars With 'Orange Is The New Black'

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Netflix's original series Orange Is the New Black has two important TV predecessors. One is HBO's Oz, the 1997 men-in-prison drama from Tom Fontana that paved the way for HBO's The Sopranos. The other is Showtime's Weeds, which in the fourth season put one of its central characters behind bars.

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It's Showtime For Untested 'Ray Donovan' And Proven 'Dexter'

Friday, June 28, 2013

For at least as long as there have been Fall Preview issues of TV Guide, there's been a sense of optimistic excitement about the start of new television series. But more recently, producers of long-running TV shows have injected excitement into the ends of their programs' life spans as well. ...

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New 'Arrested Development' Gags Are Best Served In One Sitting

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

When Mitch Hurwitz and his collaborators began making the Fox sitcom Arrested Development 10 years ago, it was loaded with jokes — in-jokes, recurring jokes and just plain bizarre jokes — that rewarded viewers who watched more than once. But even though it won the Emmy for best comedy series ...

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Douglas, Damon Illuminate HBO's 'Candelabra'

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Before you see any of Behind the Candelabra -- when you just consider the concept of the TV movie and its casting — this new HBO Films production raises all sorts of questions: How much will be based on verifiable fact, and how much will be fictionalized? On an anything-goes ...

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In A Cluster Of New Sitcoms, 'Family Tree' Stands Tall

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Christopher Guest, co-creator with Jim Piddock of the new HBO comedy series Family Tree, obviously is having a good time making this show — and it's contagious. It's several shows in one, and every element is a self-assured little delight.

Christopher Guest, of course, has made a career — quite ...

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'Rectify': An Ex-Con Navigates The World Outside

Monday, April 22, 2013

Rectify, a new drama series from the Sundance Channel, wants to stand out from the pack — and it certainly succeeds at that. It's a six-hour limited series, more along the British model of TV than ours here in the States. If these first six installments catch on enough, the ...

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'Central Park Five': Rape, Race And Blame Explored

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Ken Burns has said that no matter what subjects he tackles in his documentaries — baseball or jazz, Mark Twain or the Civil War — they always seem to boil down to two things: "race and place."

That's certainly true with his latest film, The Central Park Five, which tells ...

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This Spring, Rejoice At Rebirth Of 'Mad Men'

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

For decades, when broadcast television called the shots and dominated the TV landscape, the biggest event of the year was "the fall season," when networks would unveil their new shows and return with fresh episodes of old favorites. But now, because of cable and satellite TV, the fall season isn't ...

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You Can't Trust HBO's 'Phil Spector,' But You Can Enjoy It

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The HBO movie Phil Spector is a production that demands attention because of the heavyweight names attached. First, of course, there's the subject of the drama: Spector himself, the man who invented the "wall of sound," and recorded hits for everyone from the Crystals, Darlene Love and Ike & Tina ...

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Two New TV Dramas Look Below The Surface

Monday, March 18, 2013

Top of the Lake, a new seven-part miniseries premiering tonight on the Sundance Channel, was co-created and co-directed by Jane Campion, who teamed with Holly Hunter 20 years ago on the movie The Piano. Hunter is back for this new project, playing a mysterious New Agey guru of sorts. She's ...

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'Downton' Returns With Aristocratic Class And Clash

Thursday, January 03, 2013

On Sunday, the PBS anthology series Masterpiece Classic begins its third season of Downton Abbey, the British period drama that has taken England — and America — by storm.

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Johnny Carson Gets The 'Masters' Treatment

Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday night on PBS, American Masters presents a two-hour biography of Johnny Carson. Carson retired 20 years ago this month, and vacated a throne that TV critic David Bianculli says ...

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Filmmaker Woody Allen Gets The 'Masters' Treatment

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Woody Allen: A Documentary is the result, though not the culmination, of three very long and distinguished careers.

First, there's Robert Weide, the writer-director whose examination of Allen's life and art follows similar — and similarly impressive — documentaries on the Marx Brothers, Mort Sahl and ...

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Media Made Monsters: Violent Children; Ally McBeal; Clinton Scandal Spin Cycle

Friday, April 03, 1998

Spin-Rinse-Repeat: The Clinton White House Scandal Spin Cycle and the Press.

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Taking TV Seriously; Ku Klux Klan

Sunday, October 26, 1997

"This is All Things Considered brought to you by the Ku Klux Klan." When the Missouri KKK wanted to underwrite All Things Considered.

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Dallas Morning; John Leonard: OTM Looks at TV

Sunday, March 09, 1997

Who leaked? How the media reported the Timothy McVeigh trial.

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