Television

Kushner adapted his epic Tony-award winning play Angels in America into a screenplay for HBO (broadcast this month in two three-hour parts). The play is set in New York in the mid-1980s during the midst of the AIDS epidemic. The HBO film is directed by Mike Nichols and stars Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson. Kushner also has a new semi-autobiographical musical Caroline, or Change at the Public Theater in New York.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the HBO production of Angels in America.

Triumph, a regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, is a puppet and the creation of Robert Smigel. Smigel also created the animated short TV Funhouse on Saturday Night Live. Triumph has a new CD, Come Poop With Me, featuring such tracks as "Underage Bichon" and "Lick Myself." He's appeared on Hollywood Squares and on the MTV Video Music Awards, where he almost came to blows with rapper Eminem.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews some of the network specials marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. They include the PBS documentary JFK: Breaking the News, about how local media covered the assassination, and Court TV’s Forensic Files: The JFK Assassination: Investigation Reopened, (both on tonight). ABC also presents a special on the subject, Peter Jennings Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination — Beyond Conspiracy.

Mike Lazzo is senior vice president for the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim –- a three-hour block of cartoons targeted to adults. It includes original and acquired animation. Lazzo co-created the network’s first original series in 1995, Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Another Adult Swim series is Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, which borrows Hanna Barbera cartoon characters from the '60s, including the obscure Birdman, a masked crusader with wings who defends cartoon characters like Fred Flintstone and Scooby Doo.

His career got a jumpstart with his role as a bail bondsman in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. He's starred in Mulholland Dr., Me, Myself & Irene and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. He plays Marshall Sisco in the new ABC series Karen Sisco.

The Oscar-nominated actor, who died Oct. 11, often played police officers and private eyes. "These guys are straight shooters," he said in 2003. "I take the mantle of that and pretend it's me."

TV critic David Bianculli previews the season premiere of 24 on Fox.

Earlier this year The Simpsons celebrated its 300th episode, making it the longest-running animated series on TV.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new film The Singing Detective, starring Robert Downey Jr. Bianculli was a fan of the BBC miniseries it was based on.

Law & Order is the longest running drama on network television. After more than 300 shows, and 13 years, the "ripped from the headlines" half cop/half law show is still going strong. It's also inspired two other series: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. There's a new photography book of the show's fictional crime scenes and a new DVD of the show's first season.

She stars in the new film Wonderland. Set in 1980s Hollywood, it's about a mysterious mass murder that took place on Wonderland Avenue. Porn star John Holmes was involved somehow, but the crime was never solved. Kudrow plays Holmes' wife in the film. Kudrow is best known for her role on the popular NBC sitcom Friends, now in its 10th season. She also appeared in the films Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and Analyze This.

She earned wide critical and popular acclaim and an Emmy for her work on The Garry Moore Show (from 1959-62). The Carol Burnett Show debuted in 1967 and won 22 Emmys in a run of more than a decade. She has starred or appeared in a number of TV movies and specials. In December, she'll be a Kennedy Center honoree for her body of work. In 1981 she struck a blow for fellow celebrities by winning a lawsuit against The National Enquirer tabloid. Her memoir One More Time was recently republished in a paperback edition. There's also a DVD collection of The Carol Burnett Show.

Bill O'Reilly is host of Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor and the author of the best-selling books The O'Reilly Factor and The No Spin Zone. His new book is Who's Looking Out for You?

Critic David Bianculli discusses the new TV season.

Mizrahi is part of a new Turner Classic Movies series, Style in Motion, in which six fashion designers host an evening of classic Hollywood films that influenced their careers. The series runs Monday nights in October, with Mizrahi hosting Oct. 13.

TV critic David Bianculli looks at the new HBO drama, K Street. Produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, it premiered last night.

Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien celebrates ten years on the air Sunday September 14, 2003, with a primetime special on NBC. In 1993, he moved into the Late Night host slot when David Letterman went to CBS. Prior to Late Night, O'Brien was a writer for Saturday Night Live and writer and producer for The Simpsons.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews two prime-time cartoon series now on DVD: the complete first season of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, and the third season of The Simpsons.

Comic Bill Maher host of the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. Like his previous show, Politically Incorrect, Real Time features a roundtable of guests who make jokes and talk politics. This week's guests are actress Janeane Garofalo and California Gov. Gray Davis. Maher is also the author of When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden.