David Bianculli

Douglas, Damon Illuminate HBO's 'Candelabra'

David Bianculli — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:36:00 +0000

Before you see any of Behind the Candelabra -- when you just consider the concept of the TV movie and its casting — this new HBO Films production raises all sorts of questions: How much will be based on verifiable fact, and how much will be fictionalized? On an anything-goes premium-cable network such as HBO, how graphic will the sex scenes be?

And the most important questions involve the drama's two leading men, playing an ultra-flamboyant piano player and the wide-eyed young man who becomes his behind-the-scenes companion for five years. Michael Douglas?

In A Cluster Of New Sitcoms, 'Family Tree' Stands Tall

David Bianculli — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:29:00 +0000

Christopher Guest, co-creator with Jim Piddock of the new HBO comedy series Family Tree, obviously is having a good time making this show — and it's contagious. It's several shows in one, and every element is a self-assured little delight.

Christopher Guest, of course, has made a career — quite an impressive one — out of marching to his own comedy drummer.

'Rectify': An Ex-Con Navigates The World Outside

David Bianculli — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Rectify, a new drama series from the Sundance Channel, wants to stand out from the pack — and it certainly succeeds at that. It's a six-hour limited series, more along the British model of TV than ours here in the States. If these first six installments catch on enough, the story will continue. If not, that's it.

And Rectify is so unusual a show, with its own deliberate pace and premise and approach, that it may not build enough viewership to keep going.

This Spring, Rejoice At Rebirth Of 'Mad Men'

David Bianculli — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:04:00 +0000

For decades, when broadcast television called the shots and dominated the TV landscape, the biggest event of the year was "the fall season," when networks would unveil their new shows and return with fresh episodes of old favorites. But now, because of cable and satellite TV, the fall season isn't the only game in town.

There's the summer season, which used to be nothing but reruns; now it's the time when HBO brings back True Blood, and when AMC, in just a few months, is going to present the final episodes of Breaking Bad.

You Can't Trust HBO's 'Phil Spector,' But You Can Enjoy It

David Bianculli — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:54:00 +0000
The HBO movie Phil Spector is a production that demands attention because of the heavyweight names attached. First, of course, there's the subject of the drama: Spector himself, the man who invented the "wall of sound," and recorded hits for everyone from the Crystals, Darlene Love and Ike & Tina Turner to the Beatles and the Righteous Brothers. Oh, and who also went on trial, in 2007, for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

Two New TV Dramas Look Below The Surface

David Bianculli — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:56:00 +0000
Top of the Lake, a new seven-part miniseries premiering tonight on the Sundance Channel, was co-created and co-directed by Jane Campion, who teamed with Holly Hunter 20 years ago on the movie The Piano. Hunter is back for this new project, playing a mysterious New Agey guru of sorts. She's started a small commune for emotionally damaged women, on a remote strip of land in New Zealand.
That story could have been at the center of Top of the Lake, but it isn't.

'House Of Cards' Is Built To Last

David Bianculli — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:05:00 +0000
This week brings two new high-profile drama series. One is The Americans, premiering Jan. 30 on the FX network; it's about sleeper KGB agents living in the U.S. during the Reagan era. The other is House of Cards, a new series premiering Feb. 1.
Both of these new series are all about intrigue, and they set themselves apart from the TV pack in both setting and style.

Kevin Bacon, Seeking A TV 'Following'

David Bianculli — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:19:00 +0000
In the new Fox TV series The Following, Kevin Bacon plays a former FBI agent asked to help apprehend an escaped serial killer he once put behind bars. The show is from Kevin Williamson, who also created the Scream horror-movie franchise.
One reason Bacon is coming to television is that his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, recently left it. Both of them have spent most of their careers in motion pictures, but once Sedgwick agreed to star in The Closer, for cable's TNT, it ended up lifting her to a new level of stardom and giving her the rewards of a steady job.

Season Two Brings Changes For 'Girls'

David Bianculli — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:33:00 +0000
Of all the cable comedies returning with new episodes Sunday, Girls is the most ambitious — as well as the most unpredictable, and occasionally unsettling.
When thirtysomething premiered on ABC more than 25 years ago — yes, it's been that long — that drama series was both embraced and attacked for focusing so intently on the problems of self-obsessed people in their 30s.

'Downton' Returns With Aristocratic Class And Clash

David Bianculli — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:02:00 +0000
Downton Abbey, the drama series about the residents and servants at a grand estate in early 20th-century England, has done for PBS what the commercial broadcast networks couldn't achieve last year. It generated a hit show — one with an audience that increased over its run and left fans hungry for more. And that's a lot of hunger because when the second season was televised here in the states, it averaged 7 million viewers, more than most TV shows on any network, cable or broadcast.