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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Nothing is sensationalized or trivialized in Bell's four-part documentary, which reckons with Bill Cosby's legacy both as a barrier-breaking Black star and as a sexual predator.
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Set in New York City the early 1880s, this ten-part costume drama is basically an American Downtown Abbey, complete with rich and poor, power brokers and household workers.
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During her career and after her death, Monroe was objectified and scrutinized — mostly by male writers, biographers and historians. CNN's new docuseries tells her story from a fresh perspective. -
White's television career spanned the history of TV itself. Best known for her roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, she died Dec. 31, at age 99. Originally broadcast in 1987.
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Picking up where The Mandalorian left off, this new fantasy series on Disney+ features well-defined characters, exciting action and special effects that are as good as in any Star Wars movie. -
Aaron Sorkin's latest film zeroes in on one very stressful week in the lives of Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), when Lucy was accused of being a Communist.
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The new three-part Disney+ docuseries Get Back is a true treasure. It offers an inside look at The Beatles' creative process, as well as amazing footage from their legendary rooftop concert. -
A new documentary bounces randomly, rather than chronologically, through Vonnegut's life, with music, editing, photography and sequencing that are fully in line with what, and how, Vonnegut wrote.
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Eight years after its conclusion, Showtime revives its serial killer drama. The show once again centers on a twisted father-son relationship, but now Michael C. Hall's character is the dad.
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The Many Saints of Newark centers on a teen version of mob-boss Tony Soprano. Despite standout performances by its stars, the film offers a confusing narrative, without any real sense of clarity.
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Netflix's new 10-part series, which is based on Stephanie Land's best-selling memoir, tells the story of a woman who leaves her husband in the middle of the night, then gets a job as a maid-for-hire. -
Remakes of TV classics don't have to be bland. The Wonder Years now centers on a Black family's experiences in 1968; Scenes from a Marriage flips the script on traditional gender roles.
