TV as Votive Candle: The Funeral of Whitney Houston
Mourning is an odd thing these days, especially for celebrities. Especially if the death is sudden, the cable news networks go into overdrive, interviewing anybody who had a remote connection…
Saturday TV: ‘Win Win,’ ‘Bad Teacher’
Let’s talk about movies that were thoroughly ignored by the Oscars. How about Pal Giamatti as the struggling lawyer and parttime wrestling coach in Thomas McCarthy’s “Win Win” (Cinemax, 10…
Friday TV: NAACP Image Awards, More Whitney Memories
Sanaa Lathan, left, and Anthony Mackie, stars of the film “Vipaka,” host The 43rd NAACP Image Awards (NBC, 8 p.m.) from Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Nominees include Macke, Viola…
Thursday TV: ‘Exporting Raymond,’ Questioning Black History Month
America still leads the world in one export: entertainment. And in addition to its big screen movies and pop culture, its TV shows run all around the word. Sometime they’re…
The Littlest ‘Survivor’
Among the new things on “Survivor: One World” that starts tonight on CBS – other than the splitting of genders, elimination of Redemption Island, changing of hidden immunity rules, or…
Wednesday TV: ‘Survivor’ Start, Shue Fits on ‘CSI’
There will be few new twists when the new “Survivor: One World” (CBS, 8 p.m.) begins tonight. It’ll be men vs. women, for one thing, but both tribes will live…
Ameena Matthews for President
In Steve James' powerful documentary “The Interrupters,” that debuted on “Frontline” tonight, a star and leader and role model was introduced to the nation in the form of Ameena Matthews.…
FTD Fail, Candy Hearts and Other Valentine Stories
Got a timely Valentine's Day e-mail today. It was from the FTD.com floral spot that I had done some business with the other day. "Despite our best efforts, due to…
Tuesday TV: ‘The Interrupters,’ ‘The Loving Story’
On a special, super-long episode of “Frontline” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” fame and Alex Kotlowitz, author of “There Are No Children Here” tell…
Sharon Malone’s Education of the Old South
One of the most remarkable documentaries in Black History Month is the one that premiered tonight on PBS, “Slavery by Another Name,” which recounts the decades of forced labor that…