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.
-
The Jan. 6 hearings have been packaged like TV shows: Each episode has a plot, and some special guest stars, announced in advance. As a miniseries, the verdict is in: This particular show is a hit.
-
A new six-part documentary, directed by Ethan Hawke, pulls from interviews with the couple as well as with their Hollywood friends to provide an unvarnished view of their careers and lengthy marriage.
-
Part comedy, part drama, Nathan Fielder's new show is a social experiment of sorts, where people work within elaborate sets to try to figure out ways to resolve complicated real-life situations. -
The Breaking Bad spin-off has been excellent since it debuted in 2015. As the series wraps up, the final episodes will determine just how great a show Better Call Saul ends up being.
-
Bridges plays a former CIA operative who re-surfaces after decades off the grid in FX's seven-episode miniseries. The Old Man will hook you with its slow build and shifting perspectives.
-
Evil, which premiered on CBS in 2019, has shifted over to the Paramount+ streaming service, where it's taken full advantage of its relocation. The latest season keeps increasing in intensity.
-
HBO's miniseries centers on a group of creatives working on a remake of the 1916 serial The Vampires. Part comedy, part satire of the film industry, Irma Vep is a winning combination.
-
Most of Netflix's special features Macdonald running through his set in one unbroken take. The rest is a small group of comics, including David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, talking about their friend.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
