Television

Critic at large Laurie Stone reviews comic Billy Crystal's new HBO special, "Midnight Train to Moscow." The premise is that Crystal has been invited to be the first American stand-up artist to perform in the Soviet Union. In addition to his act, there are cameo appearances by a flock of Crystal characters.

Explorer and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau. The son of famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel has spent much of his life aboard their ship, "Calypso," traveling the world and learning about its wonders and peoples. Jean-Michel is now director of expeditions for the Cousteau Society, and he led the Society's recent voyage to Papua New Guinea. His logbook from that expedition has just been published, and the trip will also be featured as the first episode of a new T-V series, "Cousteau's Rediscovery of the World."

Singer Deborah Harry. She was lead singer of the group "Blondie," which started out in the late '70's as a punk band and by the early '80's was topping the charts. Since the breakup of "Blondie," Harry has gone on to a solo career and several film and TV roles, most recently in "Wiseguy." Her latest album is called, "Def, Dumb and Blonde."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews "The Hollywood Detective," a made-for-TV movie starring Telly Savalas and new episodes of "Kojak" as part of the ABC Mystery series.

Musician Paul Shaffer. Shaffer is the ultimately hip leader of "The World's Most Dangerous Band," the house group on "Late Night with David Letterman." Previously, Shaffer was a session musician in New York, band leader on "Saturday Night Live," and music director for the Blues Brothers, the alter egos of Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. Paul Shaffer has just put out his first album, called "Coast to Coast." It's a collection of tunes representative of the musical variety of the country, with legendary stars from those regions sitting in.

T-V writer and producer Mark Frost. Frost is collaborating with director David Lynch on a new series, "Twin Peaks." Frost calls it "Payton Place meets Blue Velvet."

Animation director Chuck Jones talking About the Road Runner, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Pepe Lepew.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of the PBS series "Trying Times." The 6 episodes this season continue "Trying Times" tradition of taking a comedic look at modern life. Among the stars this season are Stockard Channing, Sally Kirkland, Judge Reinhold, and Christopher Guest.

Actor Harry Carey, Jr. He was a member of John Ford's stock company, with roles in such films as "Three Godfathers," "Rio Grande," and "Red River."

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone examines the role of women in two current offerings, the T-V sit-com "Anything But Love" starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and the movie, "sex, lies, and videotape."

Screenwriter William Link. With his partner Richard Levinson, Link created more than a dozen T-V series, including "Columbo" and "Mannix." They also wrote the books "Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television," and "Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time Television."

Buck Henry. He's best-known as a frequent guest host on Saturday Night Live. Henry's other accomplishments include writing the screenplays for "The Graduate" and "Catch-22," creating the TV series "Get Smart" in collaboration with Mel Brooks, and co-directing the film "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the last of the new fall shows to premiere. Robert Loggia stars as an F.B.I. detective in a spin off of last year's NBC miniseries, "Favorite Son," called "Mancuso, F.B.I."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of the drama series "Wiseguy."

Television critic David Bianculli has an appreciation of "Saturday Night Live." The ground-breaking comedy show is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Television critic David Bianculli looks at the CBS Monday night comedy lineup, particularly "The Famous Teddy Z," starring Jon Cryer as an unlikely talent agent.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews two new shows on ABC that debut this Tuesday night (September 12). "Chicken Soup" is a sitcom about a middle-aged Jewish man and Catholic woman who fall in love, in spite of their differences and in spite of his meddlesome mother. "Chicken Soup" stars comic Jackie Mason and actress Lynne Redgrave. "Life Goes On" is a drama about how a family deals with a child with Down Syndrome. Patti Lupone stars as the mother, Bill Smitrovich as the father.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews "Dream Season," a production of NFL Films that creates dream teams that compete in dream Super Bowls. Through computer generation and sophisticated editing, the producers take film from the last 20 years of televised football and extract key sequences featuring players from from top teams of their times and match them with other top opposing teams from different times. The effect is the video equivalent of the `what-if-the-'85-Raiders-played the-'87-Redskins' questions typical of radio call-in shows.

Television producer Steven Bochco. He is, arguably, one of the most influential creative people in television. With shows like "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A.Law," Bochco can claim credit for a whole TV genre: intensely realistic dramas that use an ensemble cast and multiple, interweaving plots that quickly cut back and forth. Those programs helped make NBC the top network and the perceived leader for innovative programming.

Actress and director Lee Grant. As an actress, Grant won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Shampoo," Emmys for her work on "Peyton Place" and "Electra," and an Obie for "The Maids." As a director, she won an Academy Award for her documentary "Down and Out in America." This month, HBO is showing Grant's latest production, "Battered." It's a documentary about the victims, and perpetrators, of domestic violence. "Battered" airs as part of HBO's "America Undercover" series.