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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PBS's documentary details how Sondheim's landmark 1970 musical was adapted to the current Broadway version — pivoting on a gender switch that rewrites the central role as a woman instead of a man.
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Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" act ignited an obscenity case in the '70s. We listen back to two archival interviews with the late comedian, and David Bianculli reviews a new HBO documentary about him.
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The new series is an exciting throwback, connecting the dots and pulling characters and plot points not just from Discovery, but also from the very origins of the Star Trek series itself.
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Gaslit tells the story of Watergate, focusing on Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife President Nixon's attorney general. The Offer focuses on the making of the first Godfather movie.
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Showtime's new 10-part series dramatizes the lives of three presidential spouses: Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, and Michelle Obama, played by Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Viola Davis.
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AMC's new series takes a detailed look at the intersection of crime, policing and the courts. But while its story is compelling, 61st Street is ultimately marred by a script that seems too obvious. -
Julia is a wonderful, eight-episode series that tells of story of how Child brought her recipes — and her enthusiasm for demystifying French cooking — to television.
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Adam McKay's new HBO series about the Los Angeles Lakers goes out of its way to be out of the ordinary. But its showboating is in keeping with the style of the basketball team it chronicles.
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The original series, which debuted in 1990, leaned heavily on current news stories. The new show does the same. Its debut episode centers on the crimes of a TV personality reminiscent of Bill Cosby.
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Hulu's new series tells the story of Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, whose private sex tape was stolen in 1995 and subsequently distributed over the Internet.
