Television

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.

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.