Funny, how life comes full circle, isn’t it? In the “Inspector Morse” series, Sgt. Lewis was the long-suffering, everyday bloke to Inspector Morse’s exasperated — and exasperating — cultured intellectual.

Both Morse and the actor who played him, the superb John Thaw, are gone now. In “Inspector Lewis” — the smartly done sequel series airing at [...]

I had to drop everything I was doing and take a moment to swoon with satisfaction at the thought of today’s announcement that Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to play the Vampire Lestat. With Johnny Depp set to play Barnabas Collins, are we entering the golden age of vamps?

With “Julie & Julia” opening today, you might be interested in knowing that PBS is dishing out Julia Child’s shows on its video portal at http://www.pbs.org/video.

With all do respect to Meryl Streep, I can’t imagine a greater impersonation of Julia than Dan Aykroyd’s on the old “Saturday Night Live,” and that’s because he hit on [...]

With the dog days of summer approaching — although they’re not really dog days, are they,  in a summer that’s more like spring —THIRTEEN is keeping us entertained. Tonight, the PBS station has one of the biggest musical stars of the 1950s, Mitzi Gaynor, at 8, followed by one of the biggest folkies of the [...]

Maybe it’s just the sweaty charm of star James Purefoy, but NBC’s “The Philanthropist” is beginning to grow on me. (Has any other actor ever glistened so beautifully?)

Last week’s foray into a Parisian prostitution ring was a solid outing and convinced me — as it has other bloggers – that Purefoy might’ve made a good [...]

“La Sonnambula” — which PBS’ “Great Performances at The Met” airs at 9 p.m. tomorrow and noon Sunday on THIRTEEN — is the exact opposite of last week’s offering, “La Rondine.” That opera had a first-rate production but only second-rate music (by the usually reliable Puccini) and mannered performances by Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, [...]

Couldn’t help but be saddened by the passing of Karl Malden, along with all the recent celebrity losses. My sisters and I would always watch “The Streets of San Francisco,” in part because they were in love with Michael Douglas. Malden, however, was terrific there as in everything.

I’m glad some bloggers have mentioned his demonic [...]

I’ve been spending more time watching “The Mentalist” of late, and I must say I find myself in the camp of viewers who think Rosalind is not the girlfriend of serial killer Red John but Red John him (her) self.

Think about it: Rosalind is a redhead. John could be a boyfriend’s name, a maternal surname [...]

At 9 tonight on THIRTEEN, PBS’ “Great Performances at the Met” airs Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” which was part of its “Live in HD” series this past season. The production itself — by the late Anthony Minghella, who directed the overrated “The English Patient” — is a mixed bag. But the singing, particularly by soprano [...]

I don’t know about you, but my experience of billionaires so far has been limited to Tony Stark (enchanting but admittedly fictional) and TV sightings of Mayor Mike Bloomberg (seemingly extremely capable although a tad crotchety.)

NBC is seeking to change all that with “The Philanthropist,” bowing at 10 tonight on Channel 4 locally, with the [...]

Just in time for summer vacation — or rather in this economy, a summer vacation of the mind — comes “Six by Agatha” — six tales by Agatha Christie on PBS’ “Masterpiece Mystery!” that mark the return of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot while Julia McKenzie takes over from Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. The [...]

Am I the only one who finds HBO’s vampire series “True Blood” somewhat, well, bloodless in the passion department? The show, now in its second season, is known for its sex and violence. And yet, the profusion of sex and violence makes it decidedly lacking in eroticism.

To the fan who recently wrote me inquiring if Josh Groban was coming to PBS soon, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” He stars with Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal in ”’Chess’ in Concert” on PBS’ “Great Performances” tonight (9 p.m., THIRTEEN locally). And — Josh Groban groupies, please take note — he’s by far [...]

Nowhere in all the analysis of Susan Boyle has anyone mentioned the obvious: She’s a lovely woman with a lovely voice. But these don’t make a performer. And they don’t make a great artist.

Art requires discipline, training and technique, so that when things go wrong — and they always will — you can go to [...]

Caught NBC/Channel 4’s interview with Conan O’Brien yesterday, in which he lamented the lack of great ethnic food in L.A. (though not Mexican). Conan mentioned Shun Lee (fabulous Chinese in Manhattan) and said he’d love to get some takeout chicken dish and fried rice (hold the mushrooms) from Shun Lee and have it delivered to [...]

There are fewer qualities more necessary than leadership and, judging from the sorry state of our world, fewer more elusive.

And yet, we know a great leader when we see one. Since the postwar era and particularly after 9/11, one man perhaps more than any other has defined what it means to lead — British prime [...]

Just another shout-out to “Masterpiece Mystery!” and its latest series, “Wallander,” with Kenneth Branagh as the tormented Swedish detective. I liked it from the first. But now it’s really growing on me.

Well, NBC had to do it. The Peacock Network had to break my heart and end “Life,”  with the superb Damian Lewis — Give him another series! — as the House of the detective world. I had a feeling, of course, when the final episode tied everything up in a way that was both predictable [...]

As everyone with two X chromosomes on the 23rd pair has no doubt absorbed by osmosis, Alex O’Loughlin is returning to the tube. The former vampire on CBS’ late, lamented “Moonlight”  and eternal hottie plays a serial killer on the Eye Network’s “Criminal Minds” May 11. Plus, he has a development deal with CBS, which [...]

Introducing “Lucia di Lammermoor” — which PBS’ “Great Performances at the Met” will rebroadcast at noon Sunday on THIRTEEN — host Natalie Dessay — a leading Lucia herself — described the character as “another woman done in by men and circumstance.”

I got to thinking about that, especially as HBO is presenting the new telefilm “Grey [...]