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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Playing a retired millionaire who unexpectedly wins his bid to become mayor of Los Angeles, Danson takes the spotlight and shines, sticking every landing on every line. -
COVID-19 precautions kept us physically apart, but Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli says shows such as Schitt's Creek, Better Call Saul, Fargoand Lovecraft Countryprovided virtual connection. -
Bryan Cranston is a judge whose life is torn apart when his teen son is involved in a car accident with a mobster's son. The legal twists and dramatic turns are nonstop in this Showtime miniseries.
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The Carol Burnett Show,which aired from 1967-1978, recently started streaming. We listen back to Terry Gross' 2003 interview with Burnett, and TV critic David Bianculli checks in with her now.
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Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant star as a married couple on the brink of unraveling in David E. Kelley's new HBO miniseries, based on Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel, You Should Have Known.
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Based on a trial from 1969, Aaron Sorkin's new Netflix film draws from actual transcripts — as well as a series of flashbacks to political unrest that took place in Chicago in the summer of 1968.
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Showtime's five-part documentary about the famed Los Angeles club contains plenty of laughs. But it also says a lot about fame, about the drive to succeed, competition and friendship. -
The new installment of the FX anthology series deals with racism and sexism in 1950 Kansas City. But don't let the period trappings fool you: Fargo'sconflicts sizzle with resonance to today's world. -
Violence and humor create a complicated character arc in a Netflix series that serves as a prequel, of sorts, to Ken Kesey's famed novel. Sarah Paulson gives a star turn as Mildred, AKA Nurse Ratched.
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A new Peacock documentary chronicles the week in 1968 when Belafonte, then a prominent civil rights advocate, hosted the late night show. Guests included Aretha Franklin and Martin Luther King, Jr.
