Television

Commentator Laurie Stone has some thoughts about comedian Richard Lewis, standup comic, and star of the show "Anything but Love."

Television critic David Bianculli previews the upcoming animation series by cartoonist Matt Groening. It's called "The Simpsons" and begins on January 14th on the Fox Network.

Charles Solomon is the author of Enchanted Drawings: A History of Animation. His book traces the art form from the magic lantern shows of the 1600's through the silent films of the 1920's to such modern-day phenomena as Roger Rabbit and the California Raisins.

Comedy writer Eddie Gorodetsky. He's written for SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. His latest gig is with HBO's newly-launched Comedy Channel, where his job title is "head writer and original programming consultant," but his role is all-encompassing.

Television critic David Bianculli looks at four new TV shows. The only problem, David says, is that three of them are resurrected series.

Television critic David Bianculli gives his picks for the best shows of the 80s..the big surprise is that relatively few of them were on the three major networks.

Writer Randy Cohen. He's an Emmy award-winning writer for "Late Night With David Letterman." A collection of his pieces, "Diary of a Flying Man," has just been published.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews three new Christmas specials. He says their irreverent twists on traditional Christmas stories represent a refreshing trend this year away from the flood of "Charlie Brown" type Christmas specials.

Commentator Leslie Savan has some thoughts on Nissan's "Infiniti" and Toyota's "Lexus" car ads.

Cartoonist Matt Groening (pronounced GRAY-ning). He's the creator of the Simpsons, the all-too-real cartoon family featured on the Tracy Ullman Show. The Simpsons are starring in their own prime time Christmas special on the Fox network, and starting January 14th, "The Simpsons" will appear as a regular show...the first animated prime time series since "The Flintstones." Matt Groening also draws the comic strip, "Life In Hell," which appears in many alternative and college newspapers.

Actor Ed Begley, Jr. He's best known for his role as the bumbling Dr. Victor Erlich in the television show, "St. Elsewhere." Before that, he's appeared in "Spinal Tap," where he had a non-speaking role as a drummer during the "paisley period," in "The Accidental Tourist," and in "Scenes from a Class Struggle in Beverly Hills." He's also done stand-up comedy. He's starring in the new movie, "She-Devil," with Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the season premiere of "Beauty and the Beast."

Tom Shales, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for the Washington Post. He has a new collection of essays, "Legends: Remembering America's Greatest Stars," which takes a look at such stars as Jackie Gleason, Bing Crosby, Natalie Wood, and Gilda Radner.

Commentator Laurie Stone reviews Home Box Office's "Comedy Channel." The channel is the brainchild of Eddie Gorodetsky.

Television critic David Bianculli considers the networks' penchant for the docudrama and looks at NBC's upcoming movie, "Howard Beach: Making the Case for Murder."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews "The Neon Empire" a new mini-series on Showtime which stars Martin Landau, Gary Busey, and Ray Sharkey. It follows in the footsteps of NBC's belated "Crime Story."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews "Girltalk." It's a documentary that explores the lives of several women...all of them runaways, many of them from abusive homes. The program airs as part of Public Television's series, "P.O.V." (That's short for point of view).

Television critic David Bianculli reviews two new miniseries--"A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens, and "Till We Meet Again" by Judith Krantz.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of ABC's "Nightline," and television critic David Bianculli examines how the show went from a special on the hostage crisis to one of the most important programs in broadcast journalism.

Television critic David Bianculli previews "Cross of Fire," a four-hour NBC miniseries based on true events in the 1920s, when a charismatic leader of the Ku Klux Klan came to power in Indiana.