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). He is at work on a fifth.
Bianculli is professor of Television Studies at Rowan University in New Jersey.
-
In 1981, Brooks wrote, directed and starred in a collection of short comedy sketches, called History of the World: Part I. Forty-two years later, he's presenting an eight-episode TV sequel for Hulu.
-
Billy Crudup plays a traveling salesman, hawking new homes on the moon in this Apple TV+ series. Hello Tomorrow! is a colorful fantasy world, populated with characters real enough to care about.
-
Oliver rarely has guests, so the HBO show relies on him to sell both the jokes and the facts — which he does, always counter-punching with a punchline whenever things start getting too serious.
-
An ill-informed TV correspondent travels the world — with hilarious results — in Netflix's new oddball show. Diane Morgan's delivery is deliciously dry, and her improv skills are formidable. -
Jason Segel and Harrison Ford play therapists who're sometimes too honest with their patients — and not honest enough with themselves — in this winning new Apple TV+ comedy series.
-
Lyonne plays a cocktail waitress with an odd psychic power: She can sense when people aren't telling the truth, which makes her a great (accidental) detective in this delightful new Peacock series.
-
There was a lot of great television this year, but the winning moment came from HBO's special, The Howard Stern Interview: Bruce Springsteen, an extended two-plus hour conversation between two icons.
-
The look and tone are perfect — and the characters, settings and subplots are just what you hoped they'd be — in this new Netflix series starring former Disney Channel star Jenna Ortega.
-
There was a time when stars like Kevin Costner and Sylvester Stallone wouldn't stoop to appear on TV. But the landscape has changed, and now it's where they're finding some of their career-best roles.
-
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is the most entertaining musical biography satire since Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Don't expect much truth in the telling here — but do expect some over-the-top fun.
