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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Mariska Hargitay has only the vaguest memories of her mother, Jayne Mansfield, the sex-symbol movie star who died in the 1967 crash. Now, Hargitay examines her family history in a new documentary. -
By examining the value of libraries in the distant and recent past, this PBS film makes a compelling case for the importance of the American public library system today. -
Fresh Air critic David Bianculli watches more TV than anyone he knows. He found it impossible to come up with a top 10 list this year — and is reveling in the abundance of exceptional shows. -
Season 4 brings a fresh influx of guest talent to Only Murders in the Building — but the new faces don’t outshine the crimefighting, podcasting stars: Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. -
Though this BBC America/AMC series has provocative things to say about identity, memory, love and loss, it fails to reproduce the best element of the original Orphan Black: the crazy, colorful clones.
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A new German miniseries about Franz Kafka is loose enough to have characters break the fourth wall, and bold enough to slip from scenes of the Czech writer's life to imagined scenes from his stories.
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The twists are plentiful in this eight-part Apple TV+ remake of Scott Turow's 1987 bestseller, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor accused of murdering a colleague.
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Loosely based on a true story, Richard Linklater's film about a professor working with the police features strong performances, shrewd writing and a light and funny tone.
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The Paramount+ show about the paranormal continues to surprise. Sometimes the demons manifest themselves in very scary ways. Other times, they’re sexy — or silly.
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Each episode of Mulaney's six-part Netflix special is structured loosely around a specific L.A. topic — earthquakes, palm trees, coyotes — and features a mix of real-life experts and stand-up comics.
