Friday TV: Behind the Joffrey Ballet
Robert Joffrey began his dance troupe with the idea of reviving the work decades earlier of Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. He did so by creating a distinctly modern ballet…
Thursday TV: Those ’50s Girls
Retro series, from “Mad Men” to “The Hour,” can be inspiring for generations who never got to live the era. Take Dollie: Except for the tattoos, the 24 year old…
Confiscating Gun Shows
Deaths in Newtown, Conn., have brought some TV programmers to their senses. For example, a new show, “Best Funeral Ever,” a kind of "My Super Sweet 16" about excessive farewell…
Christmas TV: ‘Doctor Who’ Returns
Christmas on U.S television means: Go spend some time with your familym because there’s nothing special on tonight. That’s the opposite of the UK where special episodes are planned for…
Monday TV: More Like Christmas Eve TV
There's no getting around Christmas Eve, which changes just about everything about normal Monday programming, all but wipes out late night and brings to prime time big movies. "It's a…
Sunday TV: ‘Iron Chef’ Finale, Full ‘Sound of Music’
The fifth season winner of "The Next Iron Chef" (Food Network, 9 p.m.) is named by host Alton Brown after a final competition between Alex Appleman, Amanda Freitag and Alex…
Saturday TV: Magoo’s Dickens Special Returns
It made a huge impression on me as a kid: TV’s first animated Christmas special, with a clever approach to the Charles Dickens story that would soon become so overplayed…
Friday TV: ‘Christmas in Washington’ with PSY
The Year of Gangham Style ends with its You Tube proponent PSY performing before the First Family and many others at the annual "Christmas in Washington" (TNT, 8 p.m.) concert…
Thursday TV: Snooki’s Goodbye, ‘X Factor’ Finale, Story of Nim
Nature has already destroyed Seaside Heights and now "Jersey Shore" (MTV, 10 p.m.) is being cast off after six seasons. What once seemed fun because they were so weird and…
Wednesday TV: Tiny Cheerleaders and Beauty Queens
The new “Cheer Perfection” (TLC, 10 p.m.) focuses on a top cheerleading squad in Arkansas and like “Dance Moms,” is built around a tough taskmaster, Alisha Dunlap, who keeps the…