Musicals

The British musical private-eye drama, which first aired in 1986, starred Michael Gambon as a novelist hospitalized with a horrible skin condition who tries to write a Hollywood screenplay in his mind. David Bianculli explains why the miniseries is "TV's most polished, audacious masterpiece."

Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan take us inside the world of Smash, the new NBC musical drama about the people putting together a Broadway musical.

Evening Primrose, Stephen Sondheim's made-for-TV musical about a poet and the girl he discovers living after hours in a department store hasn't been been televised since its 1966 premiere. David Bianculli says the musical, out Tuesday on DVD for the first time, showcases Sondheim's "early brilliance."

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, aka the folk-parody band Flight of the Conchords, hail from New Zealand and were named best alternative-comedy act at the 2005 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Now they're starring in an HBO series called, yes, Flight of the Conchords — which is, yes, about two transplanted New Zealanders living in New York City's Lower East side. It launches Sunday.

Two extremely popular versions of the Cinderella story were produced in the 1950s. Both are now available on DVD, and classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has a review.

TV critic David Bianculli previews tonight's episode of "Chicago Hope."

T.V. critic David Bianculli reviews "Bye Bye Birdie," a three hour TV version of the 1960 stage musical. It airs on ABC Sunday night.

David Bianculli, TV critic for the New York Daily News, reviews Dennis Potter’s Lipstick on Your Collar TV series that has been released on video.

Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new recording of Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town" and the television concert of the same show. (Deutsche Grammophon).

T.V. critic David Bianculli reviews the musical "Gypsy," starring Bette Midler.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews two shows that highlight two veteran performers: James Taylor and Bob Newhart. One is on Disney and the other on Showtime. With Newhart, this is his first full-length standup act in 25 years. They'll be broadcast on Sunday.

The new Stephen Bochco-produced series is interesting, but TV critic David Bianculli says he need to see more episodes of the musical procedural before making his final judgement. The pilot's songs are composed by Randy Newman--who won't be involved in future episodes.

The 1960 broadcast of the musical, starring Mary Martin in the titular role, returns to television. TV critic David Bianculli says, watching it again, he clapped right along with his two young children.

Television Critic David Bianculli reviews "The Singing Detective," the BBC miniseries that PBS will air in early January. The series was written by Dennis Potter, who wrote the 10-hour 1979 BBC series "Pennies From Heaven," starring Bob Hoskins.

Peter Tork was the guitarist and keyboardist of The Monkees, and band put together for a 1960s television program of the same name. Tork currently performs solo as well as part of his band the Peter Tork Project. Tork joins the show to discuss being a Monkee and his career since the band's demise.