Accessibility links
David Bianculli David Bianculli is a guest host and TV critic on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
thumbnail
Stories By

David Bianculli

David Bianculli

TV Critic and Guest Host, Fresh Air

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.

Story Archive

Monday

Review

TV Reviews

Apple TV+'s 'Morning Show' is running better than ever as it enters Season 3

Fresh Air

The Morning Show enriches itself in its latest season by adding Jon Hamm to the cast and boring more deeply into a few major issues, including institutional racism and blackmail by computer hackers.

Apple TV+'s 'Morning Show' is running better than ever as it enters Season 3

Listen · 6:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1200129924/1200154159" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Review

TV Reviews

Part fairy tale, part horror, 'The Changeling' is a drama that mostly satisfies

Fresh Air

LaKeith Stanfield plays a young man who achieves his dreams and goals — only to have them descend into nightmares. While the ending of this Apple TV+ series underwlems, the acting keeps you watching.

Part fairy tale, part horror, 'The Changeling' is a drama that mostly satisfies

Listen · 7:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198419422/1198460611" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Review

TV Reviews

'Only Murders' returns for Season 3 with a new case to solve and surprises galore

Fresh Air

Hulu's comedy-mystery series is back, and solving the crime is only part of the fun when the unlikely podcasting trio played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez get involved.

'Only Murders' returns for Season 3 with a new case to solve and surprises galore

Listen · 8:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1193181258/1193229179" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Review

TV Reviews

Here's what to watch during the ongoing writers strike

Fresh Air

The work stoppage has curtailed late-night talk shows and put the fall broadcast season in disarray. Critic David Bianculli says there's still some excellent TV to watch, if you know where to look.

Here's what to watch during the ongoing writers strike

Listen · 8:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1191900350/1192168965" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Review

Book Reviews

Two books capture the comedic genius of TV legends George Schlatter and Ernie Kovacs

Fresh Air

Schlatter's autobiography Still Laughing is a compendium of stories about entertainers he's known and worked with. Ernie in Kovacsland is a treasure chest of memorabilia from Kovacs' shows.

Two books capture the comedic genius of TV legends George Schlatter and Ernie Kovacs

Listen · 7:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1189744871/1189796233" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Review

TV Reviews

Lawman Raylan Givens returns in this daring, totally 'Justified' reboot

Fresh Air

Timothy Olyphant once again plays Elmore Leonard's quick-tempered U.S. marshal in Justified: City Primeval, an eight-part sequel brimming with colorful, volatile characters.

Lawman Raylan Givens returns in this daring, totally 'Justified' reboot

Listen · 45:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1188111127/1195500973" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

If you love film, you should be worried about what's going on at Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies offers a well-curated, wide variety of offerings, spanning more than a century of film history. Above, Gene Kelly pictured in 1952 during the filming of Singin' in the Rain — a movie that aired on TCM earlier this month. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
AFP via Getty Images

Opinion

Movies

If you love film, you should be worried about what's going on at Turner Classic Movies

Fresh Air

Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced a shake-up at the network, which for years has offered a well curated film selection. Critic David Bianculli says TCM wasn't broken — and didn't need fixing.

If you love film, you should be worried about what's going on at Turner Classic Movies

Listen · 8:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1184544944/1184843190" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Review

TV Reviews

'Morimoto's Sushi Master' is as tasty as reality TV cooking can get

Fresh Air

Eight sushi chefs compete at specific, well-designed challenges for head judge Masaharu Morimoto and celebrity chef judges in this six-part competition show on the Roku Channel.

'Morimoto's Sushi Master' is as tasty as reality TV cooking can get

Listen · 7:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1183976352/1184038985" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

5 new 'Black Mirror' episodes have dropped — and there's not a dud in the bunch

In episode "Demon 79" an employee at a department store (Anjana Vasan) is visited by an apprentice demon (Paapa Essiedu). Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Netflix

Review

TV Reviews

5 new 'Black Mirror' episodes have dropped — and there's not a dud in the bunch

Fresh Air

These are the first new Black Mirror episodes since before the pandemic. The show continues to be among the best anthology TV series ever made.

5 new 'Black Mirror' episodes have dropped — and there's not a dud in the bunch

Listen · 7:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1182425919/1182793026" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Little Richard Documentary celebrates the talent — and mystery — of a legend

Rock 'n' roll legend Little Richard is the subject of a new PBS American Masters documentary. He's shown above rehearsing at London's Wembley Stadium in 1972. Tim Graham/Evening Standard/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Tim Graham/Evening Standard/Getty Images

Review

Movie Reviews

Little Richard Documentary celebrates the talent — and mystery — of a legend

Fresh Air

A new PBS American Masters documentary showcases the influence of Little Richard, a dynamo performer who never let himself be defined for long by any one musical category or sexual identity.

Little Richard Documentary celebrates the talent — and mystery — of a legend

Listen · 9:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179426606/1179781328" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Hats off to an illuminating new documentary about Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore, shown here in 1969, won seven Emmy Awards over the course of her career. E. Milsom/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
E. Milsom/Getty Images

Review

TV Reviews

Hats off to an illuminating new documentary about Mary Tyler Moore

Fresh Air

HBO's Being Mary Tyler Moore draws on interviews and home movies to create a complex portrait of Moore, from her complicated private life, to her groundbreaking career.

Hats off to an illuminating new documentary about Mary Tyler Moore

Listen · 6:43
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1177058025/1177532413" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Review

TV Reviews

Move over Studs Terkel: Obama's on the job in Netflix's modern take on 'Working'

Fresh Air

Hosted by the former president, this documentary series puts a new spin on Terkel's influential 1974 book of interviews, cataloging the concerns of people on all levels of the economic scale.

Move over Studs Terkel: Obama's on the job in Netflix's modern take on 'Working'

Listen · 9:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1176203238/1176463455" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Review

TV Reviews

Pete Davidson is an endearing work in progress in 'Bupkis'

Fresh Air

The former SNL cast member stars as a somewhat autobiographical, sometimes exaggerated version of himself in this entertaining new series, co-starring Edie Falco and Joe Pesci.

Pete Davidson is an endearing work in progress in 'Bupkis'

Listen · 7:08
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1174962036/1175017420" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

'White House Plumbers' puts a laugh-out-loud spin on the Watergate break-in

The actors Justin Theroux (left) and Woody Harrelson play G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt in the new HBO miniseries White House Plumbers. The show premieres on May 1. Phillip V. Caruso/HBO hide caption

toggle caption
Phillip V. Caruso/HBO

Review

TV Reviews

'White House Plumbers' puts a laugh-out-loud spin on the Watergate break-in

Fresh Air

Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux are co-conspirators in HBO's outrageous five-part series about the men behind the Watergate break-in. White House Plumbers is definitely worth seeing and savoring.

'White House Plumbers' puts a laugh-out-loud spin on the Watergate break-in

Listen · 7:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1172777715/1173092496" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Review

TV Reviews

This heavy-handed 'Fatal Attraction' reboot is weighed down by clunky detours

Fresh Air

The chemistry feels forced in this 8-part Paramount+ remake of the 1987 classic film. But great performances by Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan might just carry you through Fatal Attraction.

This heavy-handed 'Fatal Attraction' reboot is weighed down by clunky detours

Listen · 7:54
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1172195107/1172510345" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Sinister twin sisters wield all the power in the latest 'Dead Ringers' adaptation

Rachel Weisz plays twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly in the Amazon Prime series Dead Ringers. Niko Tavernise/Prime Video hide caption

toggle caption
Niko Tavernise/Prime Video

Review

TV Reviews

Sinister twin sisters wield all the power in the latest 'Dead Ringers' adaptation

Fresh Air

The 1988 film Dead Ringers was told from a male point of view. Now Rachel Weisz masterfully plays twin gynecologists who are often at cross purposes in this six-episode Prime Video series.

Sinister twin sisters wield all the power in the latest 'Dead Ringers' adaptation

Listen · 8:27
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1170631480/1170889123" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Review

TV Reviews

This recent 'Succession' was among the best hours of TV our critic has seen in years

Fresh Air

The third episode of Succession's fourth and final season ripped away the show's center in a brilliant and unexpected move. If you haven't seen it yet, it's time to catch up.

This recent 'Succession' was among the best hours of TV our critic has seen in years

Listen · 6:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1169206917/1169252366" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Review

TV Reviews

Season 2 of 'Schmigadoon!' is bursting with enthusiasm and Broadway talent

Fresh Air

This new season of the Apple TV+ series leans on musicals of the 1960s and '70s. Subtitled "Schmicago!," season 2 is tighter and better-plotted than the original, and also more inventive.

Season 2 of 'Schmigadoon!' is bursting with enthusiasm and Broadway talent

Listen · 7:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1166803692/1167468997" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Review

TV Reviews

Mel Brooks serves up more delightful surprises in 'History of the World: Part II'

Fresh Air

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.

Mel Brooks serves up more delightful surprises in 'History of the World: Part II'

Listen · 9:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1161301232/1161360031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Review

TV Reviews

'Hello Tomorrow!' seals the deal with a decidedly retro vision of the future

Fresh Air

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.

'Hello Tomorrow!' seals the deal with a decidedly retro vision of the future

Listen · 7:34
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158996739/1159366098" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Review

TV Reviews

Now in its 10th season, John Oliver's 'Last Week' is still as fresh and funny as ever

Fresh Air

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.

Now in its 10th season, John Oliver's 'Last Week' is still as fresh and funny as ever

Listen · 7:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158493782/1158553930" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential

Ill-informed TV correspondent Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) travels around the world in Cunk on Earth. Andrea Gambadoro/Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Andrea Gambadoro/Netflix

Review

TV Reviews

Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential

Fresh Air

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.

Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential

Listen · 6:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1153800012/1154265732" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Review

TV Reviews

A therapist stumbles on a whole new way to treat patients in 'Shrinking'

Fresh Air

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.

A therapist stumbles on a whole new way to treat patients in 'Shrinking'

Listen · 7:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1152786118/1152837700" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Review

TV Reviews

Natasha Lyonne shows off her 'Poker Face' in a clever series inspired by 'Columbo'

Fresh Air

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.

Natasha Lyonne shows off her 'Poker Face' in a clever series inspired by 'Columbo'

Listen · 6:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1151332373/1151388375" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org