David Bianculli

Critic David Bianculli remembers watching the original news coverage of Kennedy's assassination — four days of unprecedented television — when he was 10 years old. He recalls how from that point on, TV, not radio, was the dominant medium for breaking news.

The British musical private-eye drama, which first aired in 1986, starred Michael Gambon as a novelist hospitalized with a horrible skin condition who tries to write a Hollywood screenplay in his mind. David Bianculli explains why the miniseries is "TV's most polished, audacious masterpiece."

High-profile changes in returning shows --Two and a Half Men and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — offer the most excitement in broadcast TV this fall. Critic David Bianculli says the new shows mostly disappoint, though you may be intrigued by Sarah Michelle Gellar in CW's Ringer.

David Bianculli laments the silence that greeted the golden anniversaries of classic shows such as My Three Sons and The Andy Griffith Show -- and wonders why TV doesn't have an equivalent to Turner Classic Movies.

There are two types of history to consider when trying to put CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite into context. There's the history of broadcast news and there's history itself. TV critic David Bianculli offers an appreciation of the venerable newsman.

TV historian David Bianculli worries that the death of analog television isn't politically neutral: It threatens to leave the neediest viewers in the Dark Ages.

There's nothing like binge-watching a season or three of first-rate television. Herewith, holiday gift suggestions for the serious TV-watchers on your list.

Critic David Bianculli is a big Beatles fan, and to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he turns to other homages: On today's Fresh Air, Bianculli reaches into his record collection and pulls out favorite cover versions of the songs from the album.

David Bianculli offers a look at new shows arriving this season

Host and Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli comments on television programming in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.